Dolphins-Bills Week 15 Halftime Observations

Breaking down the key moments from the first half of the Miami Dolphins game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium

Here's what caught our eye during the first half of the Miami Dolphins game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on Saturday night.

-- We'll start with the inactive list, which was highlighted by running back Jeff Wilson being inactive because of the hip injury he sustained against the L.A. Chargers in Week 14. Wilson was one of the five inactive players who were on the final injury report, along with S Eric Rowe (hamstring), DB Elijah Campbell (concussion), QB Teddy Bridgewater (knee) and WR River Cracraft (calf). With Wilson inactive, Myles Gaskin returned to the lineup to join Raheem Mostert and Salvon Ahmed.

-- TE Hunter Long and CB Noah Igbinoghene each returned to the lineup for the first time since the Week 9 game at Detroit.

-- Rookie seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson once again served as Tua Tagovailoa's backup at quarterback.

FIRST QUARTER

-- The Dolphins got the ball on offense first after the Bills won the coin toss and defer, and things started off pretty well with Raheem Mostert returning the opening kickoff for 28 yards and following it up with runs of 13 and 4 yards.

-- There was a nice opening created up front on the right side of the line on both runs, with props to Connor Williams, Robert Hunt and Brandon Shell.

-- The first two pass attempts went nowhere, though, because fullback Alec Ingold couldn't hang on to a short outlet pass after pressure got to Tua quickly and on third-and-11 the Bills had everything covered deep and Tua just threw the ball out of bounds down the field.

-- It didn't help that in between the two incompletions, Robert Hunt committed a false start to turn a third-and-6 into that third-and-11.

-- Buffalo's first drive began at its own 7 after a penalty on the punt return, but the Bills got two quick first downs to move to their 33.

-- The Dolphins defense then stiffened, thanks in part of Josh Allen being off target. On third-and-8, Noah Igbinoghene had one-on-one coverage on Diggs and Allen wasn't able to fit the ball into a tight window after Igbinoghene did a good job of staying with the Bills' star wide receiver.

-- The Dolphins put together an impressive 45-yard drive the second time they had the ball, and Mostert was at the forefront.

-- After starting things off with a 9-yard run up the middle, Mostert juked linebacker Matt Milano in the open field to turn a short gain in a 20-yard pick-up on a swing pass.

-- The Dolphins converted a third-and-1 and later a fourth-and-1, gaining 3 yards on running plays each time.

-- Kudos again to Robert Hunt for his run blocking, though he had his second false start of the game.

-- Tua's best completion of the game so far came on a deep slant to Jaylen Waddle that picked up 15 yards.

-- The Dolphins had to settle for a Jason Sanders field goal when they decided to throw for it on third-and-1 from the 11, and Tua was sacked when he hung on to the ball after not finding an open receiver.

-- The Dolphins lead didn't last very long, and it was the Buffalo tight ends who hurt Miami.

-- First, there was a 45-yard completion from Allen to Dawson Knox when he ran past Elandon Roberts and found some open space between Dolphins defenders.

-- The quick four-play touchdown drive ended with a 14-yard pass from Allen to tight end Quintin Morris, who got behind safety Jevon Holland and caught the ball after it sailed Holland with his back to Allen.

-- Holy smoke! Mostert starts off the next drive with an electrifying 67-yard run when he gets outside and then shakes off several attempted tackles until he's finally brought down by a horse-collar tackle that draws a penalties, the whole thing moving the ball from the Miami 25 to the Bills 4-yard line for a first-and-goal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE ON THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, CHECK OUT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S MIAMI DOLPHINS PAGE ON SI.COM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SECOND QUARTER

-- It's a disappointing start to the second quarter for the Dolphins, who can't get into the end zone after having a second-and-goal from the 3, with two incompletions leading to Sanders' second field goal.

-- Tyreek Hill and Trent Sherfield each got his hands on Tua's second- and third-down passes but couldn't come up with the catch.

-- The Dolphins had a great chance of holding the Bills to a three-and-out on the next series after two good plays by Kader Kohou, who held the edge on a bubble screen to Diggs to allow Roberts to come in and make the tackle for a 3-yard loss and then tackled running back James Cook in the open field for only a 1-yard gain.

-- On third-and-17, the Dolphins rushed four but couldn't get any pressure on Allen, who found Gabriel Davis down the middle and hit him for a 21-yard completion.

-- Allen later hit Diggs for a 20-yard completion when he got inside position on Keion Crossen out of the slot.

-- After Andrew Van Ginkel's pressure on first-and-goal from the 10 forced an incompletion, linebacker Duke Riley took a wrong step that allowed running back Nyheim Hines to leak out of the backfield free for an easy 10-yard touchdown pass that made it 14-6.

-- The Dolphins' next drive began with another nice run by Mostert, who gained 6 yards and would have had a much longer gain if not tripped up by Tre'Davious White.

-- After the officials missed what looked like a clear DPI on rookie Kaiir Elam against Tyreek Hill, Tua connected with Jaylen Waddle for a 32-yard pick-up when Waddle easily got by White at the line of scrimmage down the right sideline.

-- The Dolphins then finished off the drive with two third-down completions from Tua to Tyreek Hill, one for 6 yards on third-and-5 and one for 15 yards on third-and-10 before Salvon Ahmed ran through yet another big hole right up the middle for an 11-yard touchdown run that made it 14-13 after the extra point.

-- Safety Jevon Holland ran off the field holding his left arm after a completion from Allen to Stefon Diggs in the two-minute drive. Holland later walked into the locker room accompanied by trainers. Holland was listed as questionable to return with a neck injury.

-- Mostert had 109 rushing yards in the first half.

-- The Dolphins defense couldn't get off the field on that two-minute drive, as Buffalo converted three third-down situations, including a third-and-4 where Allen got pressure and threw a 19-yard pass to Isaiah McKenzie while rolling to his right.

-- The Dolphins then were flagged three times in four plays to move the Bills from the Miami 19 to the 4-yard line.

-- The half ended with Josh Allen rolling to his right after taking a first-and-goal snap from the 4 and 8 seconds left and he completed a touchdown pass to James Cook after time had expired — a huge swing because Buffalo wouldn't have been able to kick a field goal. Instead, Buffalo went into halftime leading 21-13.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.