When the season initially started, the Miami Dolphins were on a tear. They were making headlines as they plowed through the Denver Broncos, defeating them 70-20, and players such as Tyreek Hill, Raheem Mostert, Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane were climbing up the rankings with their impressive stats. However, in a game where the AFC East division title was on the line, Miami fell short.
Miami Dolphins’ Consistency against Winning Teams is Lacking
While the Dolphins are able to take down teams that don’t have a winning record, the same can’t be said for when they’re facing those with a winning record. Fans saw it happen all through the regular season as Miami went 1-5 against clubs with a winning record, including Sunday’s 21-14 loss against the AFC East division champions the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have now won four consecutive AFC East division titles.
The offensive consistency throughout the entire game seemed to come up short in the second half, just like how it did the previous week and when they faced Buffalo previously this season.
Buffalo was able to tie up the game in the fourth quarter when Deonte Harty returned a punt 96 yards to make it a 14-14 game. The Bills would then take the lead thanks to a touchdown pass from Josh Allen to tight end Dawson Knox.
Four straight possessions by Miami would result in punts, the most for the Dolphins this season. In a drive that looked promising for the Dolphins to try and gain the lead back resulted in an interception by Bills’ safety Taylor Rapp at the Bills 22-yard line.
“If you lose to two good teams down the stretch, you leave yourself vulnerable to say you can’t beat good teams, which will be the case until you do,” Head coach Mike McDaniel said Sunday following the game. “My opinion on winning football games against records that aren’t above .500, it’s irrelevant. That narrative will occur until you do things to change it.”
While we can’t say the Miami Dolphins’ offense was too exciting to watch, their defense was able to hold Buffalo to only 14 points. The Dolphins were able to intercept Allen twice in the end-zone, and Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler led the defense as they were down Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb then lost Andrew Van Ginkel early in the third with a foot injury.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa finished Sunday’s game completing 15 of 23 for 160 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. The touchdown drive was a 3-yard connection with Tyreek Hill who finished with 75 yards on six catches.
Looking Forward
With Sunday’s loss against Buffalo, the Miami Dolphins will once again face off with the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild card round on Saturday in Kansas City. This will be the first time that Dolphins’ wide receiver will be back at Arrowhead Stadium, where he spent his first six seasons of his career.
The last time these two teams met was in Frankfurt, Germany in a game that featured the top AFC teams (at that time), and it ended with the Chiefs coming out on top, 21-14. Coach McDaniel was asked about the upcoming rematch after Sunday’s game.
“There is evolution to what you’re doing. So it’s not like it’s ever the exact same thing when you play someone in the middle of the season and play them in the postseason,” McDaniel said. “There are usually some bells and whistles attached to the scheme and game plan, so you got to be ready for a lot.”
For More Football News…
Follow me on Twitter at @sarahspooon. My written work can be found here on Gridiron Heroics and also on Wisconsin Sports Heroics.