Advertisement

Things we learned in Miami Dolphins’ 48-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills

chris perkins, steve svekis, south florida sun-sentinel
·15 min read

This was awful. The Miami Dolphins (3-1) were the story of the NFL heading into this weekend’s games, having defeated the Denver Broncos by 50 points last week, and now, after losing at Buffalo, 48-20, to the Bills on Sunday, they’re just another team trying to figure out how to get to the next level.

This wasn’t a playoff game, or even a late-season game, so it’s not as though it’s a crushing loss. But it’s a painful loss.

Holding the Dolphins offense to 20 points was a major accomplishment for Buffalo, and possibly something that offers answers for future opponents.

It’s on to next week’s home game against the New York Giants, but first, here are some more takeaways from Sunday:

Dolphins at Highmark

The Dolphins now have an eight-game losing streak at Highmark Stadium, including losing last season in the regular season (32-29) and playoffs (34-31) in January.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen is now 7-0 against the Dolphins at Highmark Stadium with 21 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Clearly, Highmark Stadium is a place the Dolphins don’t want to be in the playoffs. — Chris Perkins

The loss could have been expected, but not the margin

The Dolphins lost by 28 points at Buffalo after winning by 50 last week. Amazing.

The previous six teams in NFL history that scored 60 or more points in a game had a 1-5 record the next week.

Related Articles

Sunday’s loss means the seven teams that scored 60 or more are now 1-6 the next game.

But, guess you can say the Dolphins did it in style with their point differentials.

Tua does OK

Quarterback Tua Tgaovailoa ended Sunday 23 of 35 for 282 yards passing, one touchdown, one interception and four sacks. He had a 92.8 passer rating. It was a decent showing, but not nearly enough to carry the offense.

Tagovailoa’s interception came in the third quarter when he overthrew wide receiver Robbie Chosen and hit Buffalo safety Micah Hyde right between the numbers.

Buffalo had nine quarterback hits, but none was worrisome.

There wasn’t much more to say. Tagovailoa scrambled and slid in the third quarter for four yards on second-and-10 from the Bills’ 15-yard line.

But overall it was a fairly non-descript performance from Tagovailoa.

Another Armstead injury

Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead left the game in the second quarter with a left knee injury. That’s no surprise. Armstead has missed an average of more than five games per season for the previous seven years.

The real downer is Armstead, who didn’t return to the game, was already getting injury treatment on his right knee and right ankle. And he was also being treated for a back ailment.

Armstead missed the first two games of the season but came back and played well last week against Denver.

Armstead was again replaced by Kendall Lamm, meaning the Dolphins were down two offensive line starters because center Connor Williams (groin) didn’t play against Buffalo.

Late last week Armstead detailed his weekly regimen, which includes having people come in from Dallas and New Orleans on Mondays and Tuesdays to give treatment to his body. He gets weekly massages, shockwave therapy, weight training and stretching in addition to hot tub and cold tub treatments.

“I’ve probably got a LeBron-type regimen,” Armstead said in reference to NBA superstar LeBron James.

Regardless, you have to wonder whether the 32-year-old Armstead will be healthy for the December/January stretch run and playoffs.

Rough day for Kohou

Cornerback Kader Kohou gave up three touchdowns to wide receiver Stefon Diggs to highlight a rough day. Kohou was also flagged for a 43-yard pass interference against Diggs in the second quarter after being flagged for a 15-yard personal foul when he shoved Diggs in the first quarter.

The Kohou-Diggs matchup was dictated by Buffalo because the Dolphins keep their cornerbacks, Kohou and Xavien Howard, on their respective sides of the field and elected not to have Howard, who usually stays on the left side, shadow Diggs, which they’ve done in the past.

Kohou’s pass interference was largely because Kohou never turned his head around to look for the ball even though he deflected it away from Diggs. The late hit was because he shoved Diggs after Diggs was one step out of bounds following a reception.

At halftime, Diggs had five receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns.

By the way, Dolphins cornerbacks entered with seven penalties, four by Howard and three by Eli Apple. Kohou had one penalty declined.

In other cornerback news, Justin Bethel kept his job in the nickel, replacing Apple for the second consecutive week. Apple was a healthy scratch.

Special teams do OK

Special teams didn’t have a blunder Sunday after having at least one in each of the previous three games.

Braxton Berrios’ 23-yard first-quarter kickoff return was the Dolphins’ first kickoff return of the season. And curiously, many others followed.

Buffalo had a kickoff return in the first quarter and the Dolphins, who gave up a 99-yard kickoff return touchdown last week against Denver, kept it to 24 yards. The Bills had two kickoff returns in the first half for 43 yards. Punter Jake Bailey handled the second kickoff. He’s shared kickoff duties with kicker Jason Sanders this season.

Eichenberg does OK save for two low snaps and a sack

Center Liam Eichenberg, starting in place of Williams, had a low snap early in the second quarter that might have cost the Dolphins some yardage on second-and-9 from the Buffalo 27-yard line. Tagovailoa fielded the ball, which didn’t appear to touch the ground, and threw a short pass to Berrios, who got a 2-yard gain.

Eichenberg also had a low snap in the third quarter. That play resulted in an incomplete pass. It’s unclear whether the low snap affected the play.

And Eichenberg gave up a sack in the fourth quarter.

Poor snaps have been an issue in the first three games with Williams, who missed Sunday’s game with a groin injury, responsible for most of them. The most notable was a lost fumble from the Los Angeles Chargers’ 3-yard line that likely cost the Dolphins a touchdown.

Safety Brandon Jones starts and stays deep

Safety Brandon Jones got his first start of the season because DeShon Elliott (groin) was inactive. And Jones pretty much stayed deep alongside fellow safety Jevon Holland.

That’s significant because the Dolphins play both safeties deep under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. But previously, under coach Brian Flores, who ran the defense, and defensive coordinator Josh Boyer, they played an eight-man front with Jones at the line of scrimmage as a run-stopper.

Vic Fangio vs. Ken Dorsey

One of the key matchups was Fangio against Buffalo offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. The advantage went to Dorsey, the former University of Miami quarterback, in a big way.

Buffalo’s offense beat the Miami defense in almost every way — rushing, passing, pass protection, everything.

It was a frustrating day for Fangio, the superstar hire charged with energizing the Dolphins’ lackluster defense.

The Dolphins defense is allowing 33.0 points per game on the road this season through three games. The Dolphins defense allowed 24.9 points per game on the road last season.

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen was 14 of 17 passing for 201 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in the first half. Midway through the fourth quarter Allen had a perfect 158.3 passer rating.

Diggs (five receptions 107 yards, two touchdowns) was Allen’s main target.

But Buffalo also ran the ball, totaling 64 yards on 15 carries in the first half, frustrating a defense that was No. 4 last year at 103 yards rushing allowed per game.

Dolphins run game not there when needed

Rookie running back De’Von Achane, who rushed for a Dolphins rookie record 203 yards last week, ended with 101 yards on eight carries. But the Dolphins run game didn’t provide the necessary boost despite ending with 142 yards.

Through three quarters, when Buffalo built a 48-20 lead, the Dolphins rushed for 64 yards on 15 carries, posting a respectable 4.3 yards per carry, but not forcing Buffalo to drop a safety into the box and play an eight-man front.

Miami had 20 yards rushing on seven carries in the first half.

The result was Buffalo was able to capably cover wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Through three quarters Hill had three receptions for 58 yards, and Waddle had two receptions for 28 yards. Hill also had one rush for 14 yards.

But the Dolphins’ run game, which totaled 350 yards last week against Denver, wasn’t able to keep the momentum going against the Bills.

Dolphins’ significant schedule advantage over the Bills kicks in now

The Dolphins play eight home games against only four road games the rest of the way, traveling to play the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets, Washington Commanders and Baltimore Ravens. They also play a neutral-site game in Germany against Kansas City, with it technically a Chiefs home game. Meanwhile, the Bills play six home games and six road games, while also losing a home game overseas against the Jaguars next week. Plus, the Dolphins play the Bills at Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 7, 2024. — Steve Svekis

Don Shula remains alone for four-game perfection

The Bills denied Miami its first 4-0 start in the 32 seasons of Dolphins football with a coach other than Don Shula (1966-69, 1996-2023). Meanwhile, in Shula’s 26 seasons, his teams started 4-0 six times.

Josh Allen piled up more of his incredible output against the Dolphins

Allen was basically flawless, completing 21-of-25 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns, plus tacking on 17 rushing yards and a score on the ground. In his 12 games against Miami, Allen has a Hall of Fame-caliber career 109.2 passer rating and has tacked on 591 rushing yards and five run touchdowns.

An amazing context of how many points the Dolphins have scored

If the Dolphins somehow had been shut out in Buffalo, the franchise would still have been tied for the most points scored by a Miami team in the season’s first four games, with 130. The 2002 Dolphins scored 130 points in the first four games. What is the club mark for the most points tallied by a Dolphins team in the first five games? The 164 of the record-breaking 1984 squad. That mark is toast, since Miami would break it with 15 points next week.

The Game 5 opponent, the New York Giants, has allowed 32.7 points per game heading into Monday night’s game against Seattle. Add in a short work week for New York and it stands to reason the Hard Rock Stadium scoreboard will get another strenuous workout. The rest of the way, the 1984 team will be the only competition to this juggernaut regarding the most points scored at any juncture of the season.

The Marino 1988 sack record will never be snapped

In 1988, Dan Marino was sacked a microscopic six times in his 612 dropbacks (once every 102 dropbacks, or 9.8% sack percentage). Entering Game 4, Tua Tagovailoa had been sacked once in his 102 dropbacks (also 9.8%). However, that percentage was blown up by the Bills’ four sacks in 39 Tagovailoa dropbacks.

How many rushing yards are the Dolphins on pace for?

Jump-started by the offense-a-palooza of the Denver game, where the Dolphins’ run game powered for a franchise-record 350 yards, Miami, with 142 more rushing yards against Buffalo, has a per-game average of 176.75 rushing yards (707). If the Dolphins maintain that pace for the full season, they would end up with 3,005, breaking the club record of 2,960 from the 1972 Perfect Season, but well short of the Super Bowl-era (1966-2023) NFL record of 3,269, established in 2019 by the Baltimore Ravens.

On a per-game basis, the 1972 Dolphins averaged 211.4 yards on the ground, and the Ravens had a 204.3-yard per-game clip. To break the 1972 average, this Miami team, averaging 176.7 running yards per contest, would need to finish with 3,595, 2,889 more than they have now. To hit that club record, the 2023ers would need to average 222.24 rushing yards a game over the remaining 13 contests.

Allen cleaned up his recent fumble-itis vs. McDaniel’s Dolphins

In Allen’s first 475 snaps against the Dolphins, he had only one fumble. However, in the 253 snaps since then entering Sunday, the Dolphins had forced nine fumbles by the Bills quarterback. On Sunday, though, he never lost track of the ball.

Tyreek Hill has not dominated in his regular-season games against Buffalo

While the Dolphins star has 394 career receiving yards in three playoff games against Buffalo, in six regular-season games, the Cheetah, who had 58 receiving yards Sunday, has never caught even 70 yards in passes against the Bills.

Long distances for a first down haven’t been much of an issue for these Dolphins

The Dolphins’ failure to convert on third-and-17 midway through the second quarter represented the first time all season Miami they had failed to get a first down after needing to gain more than 15 yards. Still, they have done remarkably. Heading into the Bills game, the Dolphins had faced five situations where, before fourth down, they faced at least 16 yards to go for a first down. In all five instances they went on to get a first down or score a touchdown. Conversely, Miami’s defense had allowed zero conversion in seven such instances going into the Bills game. The rest of the NFL offenses had been successful 25% (43 for 172) of the time through three games.

Here are the rest of the NFL’s offenses performance in those circumstances through Week 3: Vikings: 5 for 5 (100%); Cowboys: 2 for 5 (40%); Raiders: 2 for 5 (40%); Bears: 3 for 8 (38%); Chiefs: 3 for 8 (38%); Commanders: 3 for 9 (33%); Cardinals: 2 for 6 (33%); Lions: 2 for 6 (33%); Colts: 1 for 3 (33%); Rams: 3 for 10 (30%); Giants: 2 for 7 (29%); Seahawks: 2 for 7 (29%); Browns: 2 for 8 (25%); Falcons: 2 for 8 (25%); 49ers: 1 for 4 (25%); Chargers: 1 for 4 (25%); Ravens: 1 for 4 (25%); Titans: 1 for 4 (25%); Bills: 1 for 5 (20%); Steelers: 1 for 5 (20%); Panthers: 1 for 6 (17%); Saints: 1 for 6 (17%); Texans: 1 for 6 (17%); Jaguars: 0 for 2 (0%); Packers: 0 fo 3 (0%); Bengals: 0 for 4 (0%); Broncos: 0 for 4 (0%); Buccaneers: 0 for 4 (0%); Jets: 0 for 4 (0%); Eagles: 0 for 5 (0%); Patriots: 0 for 7 (0%).

While the Vikings had the same offensive proficiency in these long-yardage situations as the Dolphins in the season’s first three games, on the other side of the ball, they weren’t quite as proficient as the Dolphins. Miami’s defense had forced offenses off the field without a first down in all seven such situations they have faced, while the Vikings’ had allowed one conversion in four tries by the opponent.

How many Dolphins have had at least one play of at least 35 yards? Is that a misprint?

In the first three games, Miami rolled up nine plays that covered more than a third of the field, and the plays came with an unbelievable spread of six players. Hill, of course, leads the way with three of these massive plays (receptions of 54, 47 and 35 yards), while rookie running back De’Von Achane has a pair (left-side jaunts of 67 and 40). Rounding it out with one each is Robbie Chosen (68-yard reception), Chris Brooks (52-yard run), Raheem Mostert (43-yard run) and Jaylen Waddle (35-yard catch).

How did that stack up against the NFL’s other 31 teams through three weeks of the 2023 season? The next most such plays by a team was the six by the Los Angeles Chargers, with only three players pulling that weight. There was no team who had more than three players with a play of at least 35 yards. According to Pro Football Reference, the Dolphins have never had six players with at least one 35-yard play after the season’s first three games. The website’s database tracks play lengths since 1994. Since then, the Dolphins have had two years where four players had those plays (1996 and 2018).

A manual check of the record-breaking 1984 season had four such plays going to two players (You guessed it: Mark Duper and Mark Clayton). The season in the past 30 that has seen the most 35-plus-yard plays by the Dolphins over 16 games was the 23 of 2016. At the three-game pace, the 2023 Dolphins would be on track for 51 35-yard-plus daggers. Meanwhile, Achane tacked on a 55-yard run at Buffalo.

On deck: New York Giants, 1 p.m., Hard Rock Stadium

The Giants are one of the very few NFC teams the Dolphins have struggled against in their history, with Miami owning a 3-7 record. In 2021 the Dolphins earned their first win in South Florida against the G-Men, topping New York 20-9. Oct. 8 will be the earliest the Dolphins have ever played the Giants in Miami Gardens. Coincidentally, Miami played the Giants in 1972 during the perfect season, winning 23-13 at Yankee Stadium.