MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Buffalo Bills are a class above the Miami Dolphins.
They proved it yet again Sunday night, rallying in the second half to beat the Dolphins, 21-14, and capture the AFC East for the fourth straight year.
As a result, the Dolphins will open the playoffs in Kansas City next Saturday night as the No. 6 seed.
Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins Instant Observations
Tua Tagovailoa Fails
The above headline might seem harsh.
But it’s accurate.
In the biggest moment in the biggest game of the year, Tua Tagovailoa did not meet the moment.
The last of his 27 passing attempts was into double coverage. It was intercepted by Taylor Rapp.
And as a result, freezing Arrowhead awaits.
Tagovailoa went 8 of 14 for 50 yards and an interception in the second half, squandering a fantastic defensive performance that included the forcing of three Josh Allen turnovers.
McDermott? More Like McDominant
Sean McDermott doesn’t fear the Dolphins. Sunday, he let them know it with a gutsy call late in the fourth quarter.
McDermott dialed up a quarterback sneak on 4th-and-six-inches from the Dolphins’ 35, and Josh Allen picked it up.
The fourth quarter featured complete domination by Buffalo, and Allen put the game away with a 15-yard scramble on 3rd-and-13.
Dolphins Special-Teams Catastrophe
The Dolphins need to take a blowtorch to their coverage teams this offseason.
They entered the game last in kickoff coverage after giving up a long return last week.
On Sunday, it was a punt return that wrecked them.
With the Dolphins leading 14-7 early in the fourth quarter, Deonte Harty embarrassed Danny Crossman’s unit with a 96-yard return for a touchdown.
It was the second return for a touchdown the Dolphins surrendered this year.
Christian Wilkins Loves (Facing) Josh Allen
The truck that Christian Wilkins is going to need to haul home all the money the Dolphins are going to pay him this offseason better be big.
There’s no way they can let the heart and soul of their defense walk in free agency.
He and Josh Allen wrote another chapter in their heated history Sunday, with Wilkins strip-sacking his nemesis late in the third quarter.
The sack was Wilkins’ ninth of the season — a career high.
Welcome Back, Jerome Baker
A month since his last game, Jerome Baker made his return — and not a second too soon (literally).
Baker played for the first time since injuring his knee in early December and made the Dolphins’ defensive play of the first half.
The veteran linebacker took at least three (and probably seven) points off the board on the final play of the second quarter, drilling running back Ty Johnson at the one-foot line to not only kept the Bills out of the end zone, but also kept the clock running.
The Bills couldn’t get to the line before time ran out, so the Bills went into the break down 14-7 instead of tied or down four.
Who’s Setting the Edge in the Playoffs?
Serious question: Can Baker play EDGE?
Because the Dolphins are basically out of them after Andrew Van Ginkel became the latest pass rusher to go down.
Van Ginkel got hurt while tackling James Cook on the Bills’ first drive of the second half. He walked to the locker room very slowly and did not return for the rest of the evening.
The Dolphins announced a foot injury for Van Ginkel, who became the third Dolphins pass rusher to go down in the last two months. The others? Jaelan Phillips (Achilles) and Bradley Chubb (ACL).
Strap up, Emmanuel Ogbah and Melvin Ingram.
The Eli Apple Experience
The Dolphins probably cannot win multiple games with Eli Apple as their boundary cornerback.
Yes, he had an interception (the first of two Josh Allen threw in the first half), but beyond that, his coverage was shaky.
His lowlight of the half? The six-yard touchdown pass he surrendered to Trent Sherfield on a deflected pass.
The ball hung up in the air forever, yet Apple froze. He didn’t try to pick it off, and he didn’t chuck Sherfield into the stands, which would have been allowed due to the deflection.
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