Bills keep Drake controlled
After big first quarter with 53 yards, Dolphins RB is held to 25 yards on 11 carries in final three periods
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake had 113 yards from scrimmage in Sunday’s 24-16 loss at Buffalo. But Drake, who rushed for 53 yards on five carries in the first quarter, was held to 25 yards rushing on 11 carries, and 50 yards from scrimmage, in the final three quarters.
“Those guys get paid to stop the ball, stop what we’re doing, and they did a really good job,” Drake said. “They really shot the gaps on a lot of the runs we had. They just made good plays, give all the credit to them.”
Coach Adam Gase said Miami was forced to abandon the run early, and not because of its deficit.
“We started having some negative plays and we were putting ourselves in third-and-long,” he said. “That kind of caused some problems there in the second quarter.”
Gase said the blocking wasn’t good when Drake gained his yards.
“As far as the reason why we were getting a lot of those yards, we were kind of losing some blocks and the[n] bouncing them outside,” Gase said.
Drake has 512 yards rushing on 106 carries this season, an average of 4.8 yards per carry. He kept his streak of big plays alive Sunday with a 31-yard run in the first quarter. He also had a 19-yard run in the quarter.
Aside from those two big gains, Buffalo held Drake to 28 yards rushing on 14 carries, which helps explain why Miami went away from the run.
Injury update
Safety T.J. McDonald sustained a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter and didn’t return. Jordan Lucas took his place in the lineup playing alongside Reshad Jones.
Miami didn’t sustain any other new injuries, but its inactive list was full of injured players including defensive end Andre Branch (knee), running back Damien Williams (illness), right guard Jermon Bushrod (foot), cornerback Cordrea Tankersley (ankle/shoulder), safety Michael Thomas (knee) and quarterback Matt Moore (foot). Rookie guard Isaac Asiata was also inactive.
Harris does well
Rookie defensive end Charles Harris (four tackles, two tackles for losses, two quarterback hits) almost had two sacks in the first quarter.
Cameron Wake got credit for a sack the first time after Harris got to Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor and lost his grip. Wake finished off the play.
Harris got to Taylor again but Taylor got rid of the ball and it fell incomplete. …
Kicker Cody Parkey, who was 3 for 3 Sunday, has made his last 10 field goal attempts. It was Parkey’s most activity since going 4 of 4 in the opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. …
This is the second time since 2014 the Dolphins defeated New England at home and then lost at Buffalo the following week. It also happened to open the 2014 season. …
Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (seven tackles, three tackles for losses) lined up at right defensive end several times and was able to generate pressure on Taylor.
Cold game
Sunday’s game, with a gametime temperature of 22 degrees, was the third-coldest in team history. Miami’s last game in such frigid conditions was a 38-31 victory in Kansas City with a temperature of 10 degrees. …
Miami’s offense, which out-gained Buffalo, 349 to 328, and held the edge in time of possession (32:25 vs. 27:35) struggled to get going.
That wasn’t the only positive trend that came to an abrupt halt this week. Miami’s defense held its previous two opponents — New England and Denver — to a combined 1 of 24 on third downs. Buffalo went 7 of 15 (47 percent).
Lots of talking
Sunday’s game featured lots of yapping between the teams, including one occasion in which wide receiver Jarvis Landry was flagged 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct when he complained to a referee about a call, an alleged pick.
“Obviously, we’re a team that the refs look at as far as pick plays and stuff like that,” Landry began, adding he told the referee it was a bad call.
“I’ve had the opportunity to talks to refs and this guy, he just didn’t want anyone to talk to him or challenge what he was saying . ... ”