## Bills vs. Dolphins: Buffalo Survives Upset Scare, Moves to 3-0 After Miami Doomed by Late Mistakes **Report Provider:** Yahoo Sports **Author:** Frank Schwab **Date Covered:** Thursday Night Football (Week 3 of the NFL season) **News Identifier:** URL provided in the source data. ### Summary of Findings The Buffalo Bills narrowly defeated the Miami Dolphins with a final score of **31-21** in a Thursday night game that was much closer than the scoreline suggests. The Dolphins, considered significant underdogs, put up a strong fight and had opportunities to pull off a massive upset. However, crucial mistakes in the fourth quarter, including a "brutal roughing the punter penalty" and a late interception by Tua Tagovailoa, ultimately sealed their fate. The Bills remain undefeated at **3-0**, while the Dolphins fall to **0-3**. ### Key Statistics and Game Highlights * **Final Score:** Buffalo Bills 31, Miami Dolphins 21 * **Halftime Score:** Tied 14-14 * **Josh Allen's Performance:** Threw **three touchdowns**, including the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. * **Dolphins' Early Lead:** Opened the scoring with a touchdown after a **54-yard kickoff return**, leading **7-0**. * **Tied at Halftime:** Despite being overwhelmed at times by the Bills' offense, the Dolphins managed to tie the game **14-14** by halftime. * **Second Half Scoring:** * Bills took the lead **21-14** with a rushing touchdown by James Cook. * Dolphins tied the game **21-21** with a touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill. * **Game-Changing Penalty:** A "roughing the punter" penalty against Zach Sieler for **15 yards** gave the Bills a first down, leading to a touchdown by Khalil Shakir and a **28-21** lead for Buffalo. * **Late Interception:** Tua Tagovailoa threw an interception to Terrel Bernard at the Bills' **21-yard line** with just over three minutes remaining, effectively ending Miami's comeback hopes. * **Bills' Final Score:** A field goal in the last **30 seconds** put the game out of reach at **31-21**. ### Notable Trends and Changes * **Dolphins' Resilience:** Despite their **0-3** record, the Dolphins demonstrated significant fight and resilience, proving to be a much tougher opponent than anticipated. * **Bills' Near Upset:** The game highlighted the Bills' vulnerability to strong performances from inferior teams and their reliance on key plays to secure victory. * **Defensive Struggles for Miami:** The Dolphins' defense was "overwhelmed in the first half" and continued to struggle to get stops against the Bills' offense for much of the game. * **Mistake-Prone Play:** The Dolphins made "back-breaking mistakes" that are characteristic of teams struggling to win, particularly in critical moments. ### Risks and Concerns * **Dolphins' Inability to Close:** The Dolphins' inability to capitalize on opportunities and their tendency to make critical errors in close games is a significant concern for their season. * **Bills' Close Calls:** While the Bills are **3-0**, the fact that they were nearly upset by a winless Dolphins team raises questions about their consistency and ability to dominate weaker opponents. ### Financial Data No specific financial data was presented in this news report. ### Key Quotes * "The Bills survived. Josh Allen threw three touchdowns, including a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Buffalo held on to a 31-21 win that was closer than the final score indicated." * "If not for a brutal roughing the punter penalty and a late interception by Tua Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter, Miami might have pulled off the first massive upset of the NFL season." * "The Dolphins seemed to have forced another punt and had everything going for them, but they took a game-changing penalty." * "Miami had a shot at an upset that would have stunned the NFL world and ruined plenty of survival pool picks. But the Bills avoided the crucial mistakes that would have cost them the win. Miami couldn’t stay out of its own way."
Bills-Dolphins: Buffalo survives upset scare, moves to 3-0 after Miami doomed by late mistakes
Read original at Yahoo Sports →Plenty of NFL fans didn’t make this week’s Thursday night game priority viewing. After all, the Buffalo Bills were expected to blow out the Miami Dolphins.Instead, the Dolphins put a big scare into the Bills.AdvertisementThe Bills didn’t blow out the Dolphins. If not for a brutal roughing the punter penalty and a late interception by Tua Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter, Miami might have pulled off the first massive upset of the NFL season.
The Bills survived. Josh Allen threw three touchdowns, including a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Buffalo held on to a 31-21 win that was closer than the final score indicated. The Bills are 3-0 and the Dolphins are 0-3 but you wouldn’t have known it Thursday night. Other than the Dolphins making the type of back-breaking mistakes that bad teams usually make when it matters.
While Amazon Prime Video and the NFL probably appreciate the Dolphins for making something out of what looked like a bad matchup, Miami isn’t getting much satisfaction from moral victories.Khalil Shakir caught one of Josh Allen's three touchdown passes for the Bills in Thursday's win over Miami in Orchard Park, N.
Y. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) (Sarah Stier via Getty Images)Dolphins hang aroundThe Dolphins were big underdogs but they let it be known right away it wouldn’t be a walkover for the Bills. Miami began the game with a 54-yard kickoff return. That led to a 10-play drive and Ollie Gordon II scoring a 2-yard touchdown for a quick 7-0 Dolphins lead.
AdvertisementThe problem was that the Dolphins' defense was overwhelmed in the first half, as it had been for the first two weeks of the season. Buffalo got a touchdown from tight end Dalton Kincaid on its first drive, a backhanded flip touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Jackson Hawes on its second drive and got into field-goal range on its third drive.
But Matt Prater missed that field goal, technically giving Miami’s defense a rare stop.The Dolphins took advantage. They went downfield and Jaylen Waddle scored a touchdown in the final minute of the half.Somehow, despite being a huge underdog and never really slowing down Buffalo’s offense, the Dolphins were tied 14-14 at halftime.
Weird things can happen on Thursday night, and the Bills had a tough time shaking an inferior Dolphins team.AdvertisementBills keep scoringWhen the second half started, the Dolphins' defense still couldn’t get a stop. Buffalo took the opening drive of the game 61 yards on eight plays, with James Cook rushing for a touchdown.
Moving the ball was very easy to that point for the Bills. That had been the case for Buffalo and everyone facing Miami’s defense this season.Then something odd happened. The Dolphins forced two straight punts. Miami picked up a fourth-and-4 with a pass to Waddle after the second punt, and that got their drive going deep into Bills territory.
Tyreek Hill caught a 5-yard touchdown and with 12:18 left, the Dolphins had tied it up, 21-21.The Dolphins seemed to have forced another punt and had everything going for them, but they took a game-changing penalty. Zach Sieler tried for the punt block and crashed into the punter, drawing a 15-yard penalty and giving the Bills a first down.
For a team that was battling against a much better team on the road, that penalty crushed its momentum. Khalil Shakir scored on a 15-yard swing pass after the penalty, and the Bills led 28-21.AdvertisementStill, the Dolphins weren’t going away. They had first-and-10 at the Bills’ 21-yard line with a little more than three minutes to go, trailing by seven points.
But then Miami made its second huge mistake of the fourth quarter, as linebacker Terrel Bernard read Tagovailoa and jumped in front of a pass to Waddle, picking it off. The Bills ran out most of the clock after that, kicking a field goal in the last 30 seconds to put the game out of reach.Miami had a shot at an upset that would have stunned the NFL world and ruined plenty of survival pool picks.
But the Bills avoided the crucial mistakes that would have cost them the win. Miami couldn’t stay out of its own way.
