Dolphins-Bills Week 3 Complete Observations

Checking out the key moments from the Miami Dolphins' dramatic 21-19 victory against the Buffalo Bills in Week 3

Here's what caught our eye in the first half of the Miami Dolphins Week 3 game against the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

-- We'll start with the inactive list, which fortunately for the Dolphins did not include Terron Armstead or Xavien Howard, both of whom had been listed as questionable on the final injury report.

-- Defensive tackle Raekwon Davis was inactive, but his absence shouldn't be a major factor in this particular matchup because Buffalo isn't going to beat many teams with their running game.

-- Interesting that River Cracraft was active for a third time in three games after being elevated from the practice squad, while training camp sensation and rookie fourth-round pick Erik Ezukanma again was inactive. We dived into that situation in a story earlier this week.

FIRST QUARTER

-- The Dolphins made the right call in deferring after winning the coin toss, but it didn't help the defense gave up a 75-yard touchdown drive to start the game.

-- No issue with the Dolphins challenging the ruling of a 28-yard completion from Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs on the first snap of the game because you never know how these ruling will go

-- Howard was on the verge of a big play when he tackled Diggs for what should have been a 1-yard loss on second-and-2 from the Miami 8, but he got overzealous and was flagged for unnecessary roughness to give Buffalo a first-and-goal at the 4.

-- Melvin Ingram was credited with a sack when he came up to stop Josh Allen as he was scrambling toward the end zone.

-- The Dolphins' first offensive possession was pretty ugly, as it featured a nasty drop by fullback Alec Ingold, a false start on "everybody but the center," and Raheem Mostert being stuffed for no gain on third-and-2.

-- The one bright spot was a nice 8-yard burst by Chase Edmonds up the middle.

-- The Dolphins stuffed Buffalo's first two runs on the Bills' second drive, setting the stage for Jevon Holland to do his thing. It goes without saying the Bills are doing the Dolphins a favor every time they run the ball.

-- The Bills picked up Holland's blitz on the third-and-8, but Holland just flat-out beat left tackle Dion Dawkins cleanly to hit Allen from behind and force the fumble that Ingram recovered.

-- The Dolphins cashed in on the turnover with a 6-yard touchdown drive that ended when Edmonds waltzed through a gaping hole on the left side of the line.

-- Buffalo's third drive began with five consecutive completions by Allen and some sloppy tackling on an 8-yard completion to running back Devin Singletary.

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SECOND QUARTER

-- The second quarter began with Buffalo going for it on fourth-and-2 from the Miami 30 in a 7-7 game and Allen converting with a 3-yard scramble, which was frustrating because Zach Sieler had a shot at him (albeit not a great one) in the backfield.

-- Ingram came up with his third big play of the half when he smoked tackle Spencer Brown at the line of scrimmage with an inside move and sacked Allen to create a fumble that the Bills were fortunate to recover.

-- On the next play, though, Allen threw a really pretty touch pass downfield to Isaiah McKenzie for a 27-yard gain despite pretty good coverage by Kader Kohou.

-- There was not good coverage on the 8-yard touchdown pass to McKenzie on third-and-goal when the defense failed to pick him running across the field.

-- The Dolphins answered with a brilliant 83-yard touchdown drive that featured Tua Tagovailoa at his best. He went 5-for-5 on the drive, capped by a dart to River Cracraft for an 11-yard touchdown.

-- In case it needs to be repeated, the Dolphins need to get Cracraft on the 53-man roster already.

-- The drive also featured four runs for 25 yards, including a 9-yard pick-up by Mostert through a gigantic hole created by some great blocks by Connor Williams and Robert Hunt and a 9-yard run by Jaylen Waddle on an end-around where tight end Durham Smythe pushed a Bills defender downfield.

-- After four consecutive completions from Allen moved Buffalo from its 25 to the Dolphins 45, the defense stiffened and forced three straight incompletions to end the drive. Good coverage there on back-to-back plays by Brandon Jones and Howard, the latter helped by some pressure by Emmanuel Ogbah that forced Allen out of the pocket.

-- On the last play before the two-minute warning, Tagovailoa sustained an apparent head injury when his head hit the ground hard after he was pushed by linebacker Matt Milano following a completion to Waddle to convert a third down.

-- Teddy Bridgewater replaced Tua but the drive fizzled from there, with two incompletions (including a really ugly misfire on a quick outlet to Tyreek Hill.

-- The ugliness of that drive gave Buffalo the chance to try to add points before the end of the half, which they failed to do when Allen fumbled the snap on a final spike and he turned around and threw a pass to Stefon Diggs instead. With that, the half ended in a 14-14 score.

THIRD QUARTER

-- Great news for the Dolphins as Tua returns to the game.

-- Better news as he promptly fires a 22-yard strike to Tyreek Hill deep down the middle of the field.

-- The drive quickly stalls after the Bills call a run blitz at the perfect time and Mostert is dropped for a 6-yard loss.

-- While this kind of play often goes unnoticed, big props to Justin Bethel for a spectacular job to down the ball at the 2-yard line after he dove to the end zone to bat the ball back into the field of play.

-- The Bills then went on an excruciatingly long drive that last 20 plays and took 9:22 off the clock and left players on each team gasping, dealing with heat-related issues or cramping (like Xavien Howard).

-- The defense gave up four third-down conversions, though two of them were third-and-1s.

-- The Dolphins held Buffalo to a field goal after the Bills had a first-and-goal from the 6, helped by a false start on first down and a nice pass breakup by Keion Crossen against Gabe Davis in the end zone, though the replays seemed to show that Davis might have had both feet down with the ball before Crossen knocked it out.

-- The Dolphins' first possession trailing 17-14 was a three-and-out, but it could have and should have been a lot worse because Milano jumped Tua's third-down pass to Tyreek Hill on a slant but dropped an easy interception and pick-six.

-- The third quarter ended with Buffalo in Dolphins territory after a 43-yard run by Zack Moss, who got around Nik Needham and sprinted outside down the right sideline.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- The Dolphins caught a break, which would prove monumental in the end, when Tyler Bass badly missed a 38-yard field goal attempt to keep the score 17-14.

-- The next possession featured the game-winning touchdown drive and it began with Tua finding Jaylen Waddle wide open downfield for a 32-yard gain.

-- After a strange penalty for Greg Little being illegally downfield (when Robert Hunt was ahead of him) and a sack, the Dolphins found themselves in a third-and-22 from their 48 when Waddle got behind the secondary and Tua threw a perfect bomb for a 45-yard gain to the 7-yard line.

-- Chase Edmonds capped the drive with a second easy touchdown thanks to a big hole in the middle of the defensive line.

-- Buffalo's next drive took up 8:19 and featured some frustrating moments for the Dolphins defense, including letting the Bills get out of a second-and-26 situation and later Jaelan Philips letting Moss slip by him in the open field to convert a third-and-3.

-- Buffalo eventually moved to a first-and-goal from the 2 when the Dolphins made their big stand of the game. Kudos to the defensive line for stuffing Devin Singletary after a 1-yard gain on first down and for the pressure that caused Josh Allen to throw off his back foot and short-hop Isaiah McKenzie on fourth down.

-- In between, Xavien Howard had a good pass breakup on third down after Elandon Roberts and Jerome Baker submarined Allen for a 1-yard loss on second-and-goal from the 1.

-- The Dolphins' offensive possession after the goal-line stand was not good. In a best-case scenario, the Dolphins would have gotten a first down to clinch the victory, but instead they lost 1 yard on three plays. Worse, the Dolphins threw an incompletion on third-and-11 to stop the clock after Von Miller didn't bite on the play fake and came in untouched on Tua.

-- After the funny safety, with what will become known as the "butt punt," Thomas Morstead came up huge with a 74-yard free punt that forced Buffalo to start its final desperation drive at its 23. That play cannot be underestimated in its significance.

-- The Dolphins allowed completions of 18, 9, 7 and 12 yards on that final drive, but needing one big play to make the difference, the Dolphins got it when Emmanuel Ogbah easily beat right tackle David Quessenberry and induced a holding penalty that cost Buffalo 10 valuable yards.