There was nothing sweet about Jordan Poyer’s homecoming.
It was all bitter.
A personal foul by Poyer on the Buffalo Bills’ final drive Sunday extended a drive that basically ended the Miami Dolphins’ season. The 15-yard penalty on third-and-9 set up a 61-yard field goal by Tyler Bass with five seconds left in regulation to give the Bills a home 30-27 win.
The Dolphins are now 2-6 on the season and pretty much done in the AFC. The Bills improved to 7-2.
Miami Dolphins-Buffalo Bills Takeaways: Defense Wilts Again
What a familiar story for the Dolphins’ defense. They hung in there in the first half, but eventually, the dam burst.
It did in the third quarter when Josh Allen threw touchdown passes on consecutive passes — each one gave the Bills the lead.
It was a brutal turn of events for a unit that battled early but collapsed for the second straight game.
A week after surrendering 21 second-half points to the Cardinals, the Dolphins gave up 24 after the break to the Bills.
TYLER BASS!!!!!!!!!!!!
📺: @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/0YUMp5a5qI
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) November 3, 2024
The Dolphins barely blitzed Josh Allen in the first half, to great success. The Bills’ longest play in the first half was just 15 yards.
Anthony Weaver’s gamble was that if you made the Bills continue to execute short, they’ll eventually make a mistake. And that certainly was true in the red zone, where the Bills managed just six total points on three first-half trips.
Jalen Ramsey snuffed out one of those three drives with an interception inside the 5-yard line on a pass from Allen that bounced off Keon Coleman’s arms.
The fourth time was the charm for the Bills, who needed a fourth-down conversion on goal-to-go to get into the end zone for the first time. Allen found Mack Hollins for a one-yard touchdown strike to put Buffalo ahead.
Two Bills offensive plays later, the Buffalo was in the end zone again. Allen found Ray Davis in the right flat, and the rookie running back did the rest. Davis shook Marcus Maye in the open field and raced 63 yards to the end zone.
Allen’s third touchdown pass of the second half came on a broken play in which he shoveled the ball to Quintin Morris. The two-yard touchdown pass was only possible because Siran Neal was flagged for defensive holding on third-and-6 from the Miami 7.
It ended up being the second-costliest penalty of the day for the Dolphins’ defense.
Miami Dolphins Offense Recap
Tua Tagovailoa deserved better. He completed 25 of 28 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns Sunday. But could do nothing but watch as Allen played hero.
The Bills and Dolphins both were determined to keep their opposition’s offense in front of them in the first half. The Dolphins did a better job of capitalizing on what they were given — particularly on their best drive in years.
Miami ground out a 14-play, 97-yard touchdown march that took 8:21 off the clock. The drive’s scoring play? A 14-yard screen pass from Tagovailoa to De’Von Achane. It was the longest drive of Tagovailoa’s career.
The Dolphins had a highly efficient first half despite targeting Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle twice combined in the first half. But it was hard to blame them, considering how well they ran the ball: 77 yards on 16 carries in the first half.
And it looked like they were going to keep rolling to start the second half, but Raheem Mostert fumbled for the sixth time in the last 16 games on the first drive after halftime, which set up the Bills’ first touchdown of the day.
Miami answered right back with a nine-play, 65-yard drive that stalled inside the 10 but still resulted in points, a 23-yard Jason Sanders field goal that put Miami up 1.
They trailed again when the Dolphins got the ball back, which set up a crazy déjà vu moment for the Dolphins, their quarterbacks, and their fans.
Tagovailoa scrambled and dove for a first down on a fourth-and-3 that was eerily reminiscent of when he did the same in Week 2 on a play that resulted in Tua’s fourth diagnosed concussion.
The Dolphins paid off that fourth-down conversion with an eight-yard run by Achane, and the score was tied.
They tied it up again on their final drive of regulation, as Tagovailoa capped an 11-play, 81-yard touchdown drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle.