NEWSLETTER
Well, that was fun for a while. The heavy underdog Miami had us all on the edge of our seats for a few minutes today, thinking we were going to see a repeat of last night. But in the end, the Bills were too much for the banged-up Dolphins.
Josh Allen and the Bills scored on three of their first four possessions to take an early 17-0 lead. Allen nailed Stefon Diggs for a 52-yard completion on the second drive of the game to set up a Dawson Knox touchdown to open the scoring.
James Cook punched it in on the next Bills possession and then Taylor Bass hit a 33-yard field goal.
But then things got interesting. Skylar Thomson started to make some plays and the Dolphins scored three field goals and a touchdown on their final four possessions of the second quarter.
Thompson’s touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki and the ensuing two-point conversion capped a 17-0 run for the Dolphins that tied the game with under two minutes to play in the half.
After a strip sack that the Dolphins recovered and stumbled into the endzone for a touchdown, Miami led 24-20.
Josh Allen settled in and scored the next 14 points to put the Bills back on top by 10. Allen hit Gabe Davis in the endzone for this beauty of a touchdown to make it 34-24.
Eventually, the Dolphins clawed back to within three points with minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Miami, their comeback effort came up just short.
The effort by the Dolphins was valiant, but the Bills were just too much for Miami. Josh Allen threw for 354 yards and three touchdowns, overcoming two first-half interceptions with a strong second half. Stefon Diggs caught seven passes for 114 yards and Gabe Davis caught six for 113 and a touchdown.
I have to say, though, hats off to Mike McDaniel. The rookie head coach had a gameplan that helped keep his team hanging around a game they shouldn’t have.
Damar Hamlin tweeted support for his teammates as he watched along from home today.
The Bills may have pulled one out for Hamlin today, but they’ll have to play much better if they hope to live up to their Super Bowl expectations.
