No panic in Buffalo. That was a good Miami team.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - My sense is that Bills fans aren’t coming away from Buffalo’s 21-19 loss to Miami all that worried or concerned about either the Bills or the Dolphins.

Many are likely chalking this up to a Buffalo defeat that was almost inevitable given the impossible injury situation Sean McDermott’s team was facing before, and then during, the game.

And they probably aren’t all that impressed with the Dolphins, given that the Bills - who at various points in this game were missing 12 starters - were dangerously close to stealing the game, and had there been a precious few more seconds, might have.

But I said this before the game and was laughed at on Twitter, and I’m saying it now because I was proven correct. The Dolphins are good and they are a team the Bills should be concerned about.

New coach Mike McDaniel has revitalized their offense, and while the Dolphins defense couldn’t get off the field against the Bills, there’s a lot of talent on that side of the ball and by day’s end, despite 497 yards and 31 first downs allowed, they held Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense to 17 points and made enough plays to win the game.

This was a big victory for the Dolphins as it puts them in first place alone at 3-0, moves them to 2-0 in the division (they beat the Patriots in Week 1), and they have the early tiebreaker edge on the Bills.

Granted, there’s certainly no panic in Buffalo. But the Bills injury dilemma is worrisome, and the schedule remains difficult over the next several weeks as they face a trip to Baltimore next week, a home game against the Steelers, a trip to Kansas City, and after a bye, a home game against the Packers.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins next six games: At Cincinnati Thursday, at the Jets, home against the Vikings, home against the Steelers, at the Lions, home against the Bears. That is not exactly a gauntlet and the Dolphins could very easily build a little cushion on the Bills and stay in first place as the season makes the turn at the halfway point.

“It’s unfortunate that we lost, but we have to bounce back,” said defensive end Greg Rousseau. “It’s a long season, one game doesn’t define you. You don’t win the Super Bowl in Week 3.”

Sal’s Six Points

▶ 1. The Bills left a lot of points out there: It was an uncharacteristically sloppy game from Buffalo in so many areas, and the biggest problem was all the points the Bills failed to score. The reality was that this could have been a fairly easy victory if they had cashed in on their opportunities.

• Tyler Bass missed a 38-yard field goal;

• a botched center exchange prevented Josh Allen from spiking the ball at the end of the first half, costing a Bass field goal attempt;

• Gabe Davis dropped a TD pass in the third quarter and the Bills had to settle for a field goal;

• Matt Milano dropped what would have been a pick-six in the third;

• the Bills failed to score any points after first-and-goal at the 2 in the final two minutes;

• and then at the very end, after a holding penalty on David Quessenberry cost them valuable yards, Isaiah McKenzie, trying to get that yardage back, didn’t get out of bounds and the clock ran out before Allen could spike it.

At maximum value, that’s a potential 27 points that were thrown away and as Allen said, “Just didn’t play good situational football tonight. Offensive side of the ball, we didn’t take care of business, and that starts with me.”

▶ 2. Tyreek Hill was a non-factor: Going into the game, so much of the focus was on how much damage Hill and Jaylen Waddle were going to do against the makeshift Bills’ secondary.

Waddle finally made his presence felt on the drive that put the Dolphins ahead for good early in the fourth quarter when he got open for 32- and 45-yard receptions. But Hill was held to two catches for 33 yards, the same Hill who used to kill the Bills when the played for the Chiefs.

Overall, if you had said before the game Hill and Waddle would combine for six catches for 135 yards and no TDs, Bills fans would have jumped all over that. Unfortunately that 45-yarder to Waddle was the play of the game, though. It came on a third-and-22 and if Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer are on the field, it never happens. But with JaQuan Johnson and Damar Hamlin back deep, well, you saw the result.

“I was wishing and hoping that I was open,” Waddle said. “Tua threw a great ball and I caught it.”

▶ 3. Allen’s workload is worrisome: He plays like he’s Superman, but you have to wonder how much Allen can withstand if this continues. He dropped back to pass around 70 times counting 63 attempts, four sacks, and a few scramble runs. That’s a career high, as were his 42 completions. His final rushing total was 47 yards on eight carries.

He’s a horse at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, and there really isn’t a QB in the NFL like him when you combine size, running ability and throwing prowess. But the Bills have to find a way to start running the ball more efficiently to take some of the pressure off Allen.

On the NBC pregame show Sunday night, former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett agreed with me. “Josh Allen is spectacular, just an unbelievable player,” he said. “But they need to balance this thing out a little bit more and spread that burden around.”

▶ 4. All eyes on Allen’s throwing hand: Near the end of the game, Allen smashed his hand on a helmet or facemask as he recalled, and it looked like it was bothering him. After the game he was taken for an X-ray, though the results were not announced.

He was asked about it and he said everything was “all good.” But Allen would say that if all four of his fingers were bent backward in plain view.

Dallas’ Dak Prescott is currently sidelined because he smashed his throwing hand in Week 1. Allen finished the game, but it will be interesting to see what he looks like in practice this week. The Bills nearly overcame all their injuries to win, but if they were to lose Allen, that’s a whole new ballgame.

▶ 5. The pass rush wasn’t great: The Dolphins offense is predicated on Tagovailoa getting rid of the ball quickly and letting Hill and Waddle pile up yards after the catch. This meant it was going to be tough to sack him, though the Bills did get him twice with Rousseau in on both.

However, he also had too much time on several throws, none bigger than the 45-yarder to Waddle as he was able to stand in the pocket, pat the ball, and wait for Waddle to get open before heaving a perfect pass.

▶ 6. I almost called it: As Miami was lining up to punt from its own end zone late in the fourth quarter, I turned to my buddy Matt Parrino in the press box and said, “How about a safety here, and then the Bills get the ball back and win it on a field goal?” The words were barely out of my mouth when Thomas Morstead kicked the ball into the rear end of his own blocker, Trent Sherfield, and the ball caromed out of the end zone for, you guessed it, a safety.

The Bills got the ball off the free kick with 1:25 left and they were on their way to field goal range before everything blew up on the final couple plays. I almost nailed that one. I had to laugh when, after the game, former Jets QB Mark Sanchez - he of the infamous butt fumble - tweeted at Morstead, “Woah… stay out of my lane bro.”

What they said in the locker room

∎ QB Josh Allen on the oppressive heat: “Yes, it was warm. Breathing was tough sometimes. We had some really, really long drives. Cramps are going to happen in this heat. You can do your best to prepare for it all week, drink as much water and Gatorade and this and that, but it’s different when you’re in game time and your adrenaline starts going. It gets pretty hot on the field. There’s no way to really simulate that.”

∎ TE Dawson Knox on the Bills’ grit: “I think this game was very encouraging from the standpoint of, this team’s got no quit in us. There were guys that were jumping on the offensive line playing positions they never played. Some guys were getting their first start on our defense, and it just shows that we got guys that are ready to go.”

∎ WR Isaiah McKenzie on the wasted opportunities and the weather: “It was very frustrating because we know we can make those plays going down the field and putting up points. Today was hard. It was so hot, I started throwing up, so I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m going to just take a breather.’ So, I came out and had to come back to the locker room and get an IV. I thought I was used to this just coming from Miami, but I guess I’m more familiar with Buffalo at this moment.”

∎ FS JaQuan Johnson on the job the secondary did on Hill and Waddle: “I feel like we did a good job containing them and stopping the explosive plays. I just wish we could get (the Waddle catch) back. I felt super ready because I’ve been watching the best in the world every day. I’ve just been learning from Micah and Poyer since I got here.”

∎ DE Von Miller: “In Buffalo, that’s all we have is football. That’s all we care about is football and winning games and a loss like this early is good medicine. Adversity like this truly reveals character and we have a team full of tough guys.”

Extra points

• When the Bills scored a touchdown on their first possession of the game, it was the eighth straight game-opening TD counting the playoffs which tied the NFL’s longest streak since the Falcons did it in 2016.

• The Bills’ 90 offensive plays were one short of the club record set in 1994 (a regulation loss to the Steelers) and matched in 1996 (an overtime win over the Giants).

• Allen completed passes to 11 different players in the game which I think is the most he’s ever had in a game.

• According to my buddy, Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News, Waddle’s 45-yard catch was the first time in the McDermott coaching era that the Bills defense gave up a first down on a third-and-20 or longer situation. All it took was playing a secondary filled with rookies and inexperienced players. Opponents had been 0-for-22 on third and 20 or more against the Bills since 2017.

• Waddle now has 123 receptions in 19 career games and surpassed Anquan Boldin (121 receptions) and Michael Thomas (120) for the second-most by a player in his first 20 career games in NFL history. Only Odell Beckham Jr. (141 has more.

• The win for Miami ended a seven-game losing streak against Buffalo which tied the longest streak they’ve had. Of course, that was a long way from the Bills’ 20-game losing streak to the Dolphins from 1970-79.

• The Bills' last 20 regular-season victories have been by double digits. But since the middle of 2020, the Bills have now lost seven consecutive one-possession games.

Thanks for subscribing to the Bills Blast newsletter, and remember, all the rest of my content can be found on our Bills page. If you want to follow me on Twitter, it's @salmaiorana, and if you want to email me, it's maiorana@gannett.com.

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: No panic in Buffalo. That was a good Miami team.