Dolphins collapse late, cough up 4th quarter lead in loss to Bills
The Miami Dolphins are not ready for the big leagues. Everything was in front of the Dolphins in the 4th quarter of a chaotic showdown in the AFC East against their divisional rival, the Buffalo Bills. With 6 minutes remaining in regulation, the Miami Dolphins had rebounded from an abysmal first half to claim a 20-17 lead against their rivals to the north — only to see them concede two scores in 3 minutes of game clock en route to a 31-28 loss to the Bills at Hard Rock Stadium.
No matter how you slice it, this Dolphins defense isn’t playing competitive football. Miami entered the locker room at halftime having conceded over 300+ yards of offense, a terrible showing that proved to offer the a minor miracle of seeing Miami take a 20-17 lead in the 4th quarter. The Dolphins offense flipped the switch and entered clock control mode — successfully hoarding the football for the entirety of the third quarter to help turn this game on its head.
But yet, amid an injury to cornerback Byron Jones, the Dolphins fell flat on their face trying to hold the Bills at bay – giving up a critical 3rd-down score to rookie Gabe Davis on a throw that should have been contested for potentially hitting the ground before coughing up another deep score on a throw that safety Bobby McCain was caught flat-footed on — despite the fact that it was 3rd and 9 from midfield. McCain’s inability to get deep allowed Bills receiver John Brown to work over the top of the defense for a back-breaking 46-yard touchdown to put the Bills up 31-20 with 3:18 remaining in the game.
McCain’s misplay serves as a single example of Miami’s more prominent defensive issues — the team proved completely unable to provide resistance and stop Bills quarterback Josh Allen through the air. Allen, one week after logging his first career 300+ yard passing performance against the New York Jets, logged his first career 400+ yard passing performance against the Dolphins. For all of the Dolphins’ defensive investments, Sunday marked a pitiful performance that showed a complete inability to match up with the receivers of the Bills once Jones exited the contest.
The Dolphins fall to 0-2 with the loss, effectively putting any hopes that this team rebounds to make the postseason on life support. Instead, Miami will look to simply play competent football on both sides of the ball on a short Week against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3 of the NFL season. The Dolphins had better hope they figure things out quickly after allowing 524 yards of offense to the Bills in their second pathetic effort of the season in as many tries.
