Missed chances derail Miami
Playoff hopes almost over after dismal loss
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — For the third time in the last five years the Miami Dolphins were tasked with winning in Buffalo in December to extend their playoff hopes. And for the second time in the last five years Miami couldn’t make it happen.
The Dolphins, who were coming off impressive back-to-back victories over Denver and New England, lost to the Bills 24-16 Sunday and in the process did severe damage to their long-shot playoff hopes.
“Every game [you] never feel like you’re out of it; [I] still don’t feel like it,” running back Kenyan Drake said of Miami’s playoff hopes.
“We might need a little more help than usual coming into [next week’s] game but at the end of the day our goal is to win. So next week we’re going to play a great Kansas City team and hopefully get a win there and look forward to Buffalo again to try to redeem ourselves.”
Miami (6-8), which hosts Buffalo in the Dec. 31 regular-season finale, swept the Bills last season to improve to 4-6 against them since 2012. But Sunday’s game was a throwback to the stretch during which Buffalo would manhandle Miami with its physicality.
“We fought to the end,” coach Adam Gase said. “Tried to get ourselves back in it. It was too late.”
The Dolphins, who trailed by two scores for almost the entire second half, recovered an onside kick with 37 seconds left. But quarterback Jay Cutler (28 of 49, 274 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions, 47.5 passer rating) threw his third interception of the game on the first play from the Miami 37-yard line, ending any comeback hopes.
The Dolphins, who can’t finish better than 8-8, will need a small miracle to get into the playoffs. That would start with Miami defeating Kansas City (8-6) next week before Buffalo in the finale, and hoping an 8-8 record means wild-card contention.
Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor (17 of 29, 224 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, 94.6 passer rating) and running back LeSean McCoy (96 yards from scrimmage, two touchdowns) did most of the heavy lifting for the Bills, who visit New England next week. That game gives Buffalo (8-6) a chance to take another step toward its first playoff appearance since 1999, the longest such drought in the NFL.
Cutler and Drake (78 yards rushing, but only 25 after first quarter) didn’t provide as much statistically on Sunday as they did the previous two weeks.
Miami, which entered the game averaging 24 points per game in its previous six games, didn’t score a touchdown until midway through the fourth quarter.
Buffalo put the clamps on Drake (113 yards from scrimmage) in the second quarter. After rushing for 53 yards on five carries in the first quarter, Drake — who had had back-to-back 100-yard rushing games — rushed for one yard on five carries in the second quarter.
As for Cutler, he struggled mightily. A week after being great against New England with three touchdowns and no interceptions, Cutler turned in a terrible performance.
He overthrew open receivers, which was the case on his second interception, and even dropped the ball twice. The first time he dropped a shotgun snap and the second time he dropped the ball dropback, right throwing a pass.
That’s pretty much the way it went the entire game for the Dolphins, who fell to 5-3 in December/January regular-season games under Gase.
The turning point Sunday was a stretch late in the second quarter during which the Bills scored two touchdowns in span of less than six minutes. It was a crushing blow to absorb as Buffalo took a 21-6 halftime lead.
McCoy scored on a 16-yard pass from Taylor, capping an eight-play 75-yard drive and giving the Bills a 14-6 lead. The Dolphins punted and Buffalo, on his before led by Taylor and McCoy, drove 80 yards in eight plays and scored on a 9-yard run by Taylor to go up 21-6.
At that point the game was pretty much over. But just to be sure, Buffalo added a 34-yard field goal with 5:40 left in the third quarter to extend its lead to 24-6.
“It’s not a good feeling to lose this one,” wide receiver Kenny Stills said. “We had an opportunity, with a win, to potentially make the playoffs. It hurts. But at the end of the day we made too many mistakes and turned the ball over too many times. We can’t win when we do stuff like that.”