The Buffalo Bills won the AFC East once again in the last game of the regular season with a 21:14 win over the Miami Dolphins and are going into the playoffs as number 2 in the AFC. The Dolphins slipped to 6th place in the conference.
Bills @ Dolphins: At a glance
- The Bills won the AFC East for the fourth time in a row and now have their second-longest playoff streak.
- Josh Allen was something of the sole entertainer of the game. His mistakes at the start put the Dolphins in front, but in the end he turned the game around for the Bills.
- Something happened to the Dolphins that hadn’t happened to them this season.
Bills @ Dolphins: The game report
The game started chaotically on both sides. For the Dolphins, Tua Tagovailoa threw a deep interception to Christian Benford, after which the Bills marched into the red zone. However, after a scramble, Josh Allen also threw an interception into the end zone to Eli Apple, while completely missing Gabe Davis under pressure. Apple didn’t do the Dolphins any favors because he carried the ball out of the end zone and was stopped at their own 5-yard line.
The Dolphins punted a little later, but Allen gave the ball right back – he threw an unnecessary desperation pass from the 35 into the end zone and DeShon Elliott said thank you for another interception. By the break there were three touchdowns in a row on both sides. De’Von Achane opened things up for Miami with a 25-yard run, Allen found Trent Sherfield in the end zone, who then made an acrobatic catch and then Tagovailoa found Tyreek Hill for a three-yard score.
However, with 1:43 minutes left on the clock, the guests weren’t done yet and marched once again into the red zone and up to the 11. Without a timeout, Allen then threw to Ty Johnson in front of the end zone. The receiver was stopped there and the clock ran down to the break. A serious mistake by the quarterback. And after a slow start after the break, he immediately made another mistake and lost a fumble in front of the opposing red zone.
However, the Dolphins were unable to break away even after that. On the contrary: Due to a blindside block by fullback Alec Ingold, they suddenly found themselves at 2nd & 30 and couldn’t get away from it. They punted and Deonte Harty carried the return 95 yards into the end zone to tie the score to start the fourth quarter. Everything was open again and the Dolphins continued to lose their skins.
The offense was quickly stopped and Allen once again led his team into the end zone with long passes to Dalton Kincaid and Khalil Shakir. From the 5, he then found Dawson Knox for the touchdown to give the Bills their first lead with just over seven minutes on the clock.
As a result, the Bills got the ball back again, took a lot of time off the clock, but were then stopped at the Dolphins’ 37 with 1:53 minutes to play on their fourth attempt, so Miami had one last chance without a timeout, which they took advantage of They didn’t, as Tagovailoa threw a second interception to safety Taylor Rapp for the final decision.
As a result, the Bills win the AFC East for the fourth time in a row and, as number 2 in the AFC, host the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round. The Miami Dolphins, in turn, have to go to the Kansas City Chiefs as number 6.
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Buffalo Bills (11-6) @ Miami Dolphins (11-6)
Result: 21:14 (0:0, 7:14, 0:0, 14:0) BOXSCORE
Bills @ Dolphins: Key stats
- The Dolphins started the second half with four punts in a row. This was the first time this season that they punted four times in a row.
- The Bills reached the red zone five times in the game, but remained scoreless three times, which was the main reason the game remained exciting until the final minutes. The Dolphins were 1-1 in the red zone, but rarely came close to it otherwise.
- The Bills won the AFC East for the fourth time in a row and reached the playoffs for the fifth time in a row. Only once did they manage to reach the postseason six times in a row (1988 to 1993).
The star of the game: Josh Allen (quarterback, Bills)
It was the complete Josh Allen experience. At the beginning he threw some adventurous interceptions and lost a fumble. But he also threw one dime after another, turned the game around for his team and then brought it to an end spectacularly, mostly with his feet. He once again took his team on his shoulders and once again carried his team to division victory.
The flop of the game: Tua Tagovailoa (quarterback, Dolphins)
The Dolphins defense kept the game open for a long time thanks to Allen’s adventurous start, but the Dolphins offense was not as effective as usual. This may also have been due to the game plan (more run game), but the bottom line is 173 passing yards (17/ 37) did very little with this offense, especially since the early interception was also uncharacteristic of Tua. The second pick was the deciding factor in the game.
The highlight of the game
Harty’s 95-yard punt return touchdown brought the Bills, who had been sluggish offensively for a long time, back into the game and gave them the momentum they needed to ultimately emerge victorious.