But with everything lined up for the Dolphins to finally take down their AFC East rivals— from the myriad Bills injuries to having them swelter in early-season South Florida heat and humidity— Miami handled its business, even as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was momentarily knocked out of the game and a late safety put the outcome in doubt. Overcoming remarkable.
There are no division titles handed out in Week 3 — and sure, the Miami Dolphins didn’t get the Buffalo Bills at full strength.
But with everything lined up for the Dolphins to finally take down their AFC East rivals — from the myriad Bills injuries to having them swelter in early-season South Florida heat and humidity — Miami handled its business, even as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was momentarily knocked out of the game and a late safety put the outcome in doubt.
Overcoming remarkable play form Bills quarterback Josh Allen until he short-armed a late throw for a potential go-ahead touchdown and ran out of time on Buffalo’s final chance, the Dolphins topped the division behemoth Bills, 21-19, on Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium.
And Miami, off to its first 3-0 start since 2018, is in first place in the AFC East through three weeks.
The Dolphins snapped a seven-game losing streak to the division-rival Bills (2-1). Miami also extended its home winning streak to eight games, the franchise’s longest since a 10-game stretch from Dec. 17, 1984 to Sept. 14, 1986 at the Orange Bowl.
Allen, who was 42 of 63 for 400 yards and two touchdowns, plus 47 yards rushing, bounced a pass to Isaiah McKenzie in the end zone on fourth down with his team trailing by 4, 21-17.
It proved to be far from over for the Dolphins, though. Having to punt backed up after the turnover on downs, Thomas Morstead’s boot went into the back of upback Trent Sherfield, going out of bounds for a safety.
With both teams out of timeouts, Allen completed a pass over the middle to McKenzie, who could not get out of bounds vying for extra yardage. Time ran out on the Bills.
