Bills Central

RIPPED! Buffalo Bills Botch Miami Visit, Lose 21-19, Dolphins Stay Undefeated

It is to the credit of the Miami Dolphins that in terms of assembling game-breaking talent, the AFC East contenders may have just kept pace with the defending

Mike Fisher

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It is to the credit of the Miami Dolphins that in terms of assembling game-breaking talent, the AFC East contenders may have just kept pace with the defending division champs.

But the Buffalo Bills 21-19 loss at Miami in NFL Week 3 - injury issues and goofy errors digging into the rosters and the potential of both teams - surely has Bills Mafia moaning about “almost.”

The Bills didn’t demolish the Dolphins as they did in Weeks 1 and 2, outclassing the Rams and Titans by a combined 72-17 score. And it’s worth noting that a year ago, Buffalo won this matchup 35-0 - and that didn't happen at all, either.

So the gap has closed. ... and the win was sealed despite a major Miami gaffe, a Miami punt clonking off a Dolphins blocker and going out of the end zone for a Buffalo safety, closing Buffalo's deficit to two points with 1:32 remaining ... with the Bills getting the ball on a free kick.

From there ... Nope. The Bills still couldn't score again.

The Bills had won the last seven meetings. That's over now. even now that Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle team to comprise one of the NFL’s scariest receiving duos and even in this game as Buffalo was missing four front-line defensive backs and more.

And how did “scary” go down? Via the Josh Allen-led Bills offense, which again flipped a switch and unleashed an overflow of next-level weaponry.

That meant TD production from pass-catchers Devin Singletary and Miami native Isaiah McKenzie on the way to Allen's successful passing day.

And on this day, it meant that while the gap between two rivals that entered the day undefeated at 2-0 is no longer 35 points wide … the gap remains present.

Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa leads the Dolphins' charge is trying to close that gap - and also led the list of Miami standouts who, like so many Bills, wobbled dangerously to or toward the injury list. The NFL passing leader appeared to need to leave the game just before halftime ...

... Before somehow returning (maybe, reportedly, because his "wobble'' was about a sore back and not a concussion), and helping Miami stay in the game. 

Allen, Tagovailoa said before the game, “is a beast.” In this case, though, Buffalo's best attribute may have been its depth, which collectively, leaves the 3-0 Dolphins as The Beasts of the East.

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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983. He is the author of two best-selling books on the NFL.

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