3 Dolphins to Blame After Being Owned by Bills Again

For once, Miami Dolphins fans would have liked to see their favorite team pull off a convincing victory over the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have snatched the AFC Championship title from the Dolphins the last two seasons, earning the Dolphins a Wild Card spot and ultimately being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

In Week 2, the Dolphins had the opportunity to show their rivals that they have learned from their past experiences and are ready to finally get the upper hand on their division rival.

Unfortunately for the Dolphins, the game was all but over at halftime with them trailing 24-10. The Bills ultimately left Miami Gardens with a 31-10 victory, improving their record to 2-0 on the season.

It was a horrible night for the Dolphins. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion after a collision with Bills safety Damar Hamlin. Tagovailoa left the field under his own power, but was ruled out for the rest of the game less than 10 minutes after returning to the locker room.

Back to the game: when it comes to determining the culprits, these three stand out.

3. Jordan Poyer, S

On the defensive side, Miami Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer had a game to forget. The former Buffalo Bills defender had a chance to get a little revenge on his former team, which chose not to re-sign him after the season. But Poyer helped the Bills, albeit unintentionally.

In the second quarter, with the Dolphins trailing 10-7, Bills quarterback Josh Allen connected with receiver Khalil Shakir for a 21-yard gain, putting them at their own 35-yard line. However, the Bills gained an additional 15 yards due to an unnecessary roughing foul on Poyer, putting them at midfield.

Poyer started with his helmet on during his tackle on Shakir.

To cap it all, the Bills scored their second touchdown of the game on a one-yard run by running back James Cook, extending their lead to 17-7.

Then there was Poyer’s missed tackle attempt on Cook’s 49-yard touchdown run. Poyer had no chance of catching the 24-year-old, and a diving tackle attempt was in vain.

Not a good night for the veteran defensive back.

2. Grant DuBose, WR

The Dolphins couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. On the opening drive, Tagovailoa tried to get the team into field goal range. The 2020 first-round pick threw a deep pass to receiver Grant DuBose. The pass hit DuBose right in the hands, but bounced right back in the air. That allowed cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram to catch the ball and get the interception.

As if things couldn’t get any worse for the Dolphins, they watched Allen pick apart the defense. To end the ensuing drive, Allen connected with Cook for a 17-yard touchdown, giving Buffalo a 7-0 lead.

That fumbled pass from DuBose set the tone for what was a horrible night for the Dolphins.

1. Mike McDaniel, Head Coach

When looking to blame an opponent for a team’s loss, it’s usually the head coach who comes first. For Mike McDaniel, who recently got a contract extension this offseason, his tenure is known for failing to beat the Bills when it mattered most. Let’s not forget the division titles they were stripped of by their rivals from upstate New York.

The game seemed over when the Bills took a 24-7 lead on Cooks’ third touchdown. Perhaps the biggest criticism of McDaniel was his play on the final drive.

The Dolphins trailed 24-7 on their own 30-yard line with more than three minutes remaining in regulation. Despite this, McDaniel didn’t show much urgency in trying to get into scoring range quickly. Instead, McDaniel called short run or pass plays, letting the clock run down despite the many timeouts at their disposal.

The strategy even baffled Amazon’s broadcast team of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit, who openly questioned why the Dolphins were letting so much time elapse. Michaels joked that it was as if the Dolphins were “waiting to get into the locker room to regroup and try something different.”

Additionally, McDaniel’s fourth-down chances have cost him a bit. Of five fourth-down attempts, the Dolphins have converted just one of them.

The game seemed over at halftime and the Hard Rock Stadium crowd was running out of steam. McDaniel is to blame.