Dolphins vs. Bills
Landry, Drake ejected after fight; end with 3-game skid
With 22-16 loss, Miami had will to brawl on field, not avoid third defeat.
MIAMI GARDENS — Sunday’s 22-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills brought a merciful end to a sometimes merciless Miami Dolphins season. But the end came a few minutes too late.
Midway through the fourth quarter there was a melee that resulted in wide receiver Jarvis Landry getting ejected for disrespecting an official and for unnecessary roughness, and running back Kenyan Drake getting ejected for flinging a Bills players’ helmet about 20 yards downfield.
The drama came after Landry, who established a franchise record for singleseason receptions with 112, scored on a 1-yard shovel pass from quarterback David Fales. Pushing and shoving ensued after Landry reached the ball across the goal line. At one point Landry appeared to almost headbutt Bills safety Jordan Poyer and possibly throw a punch.
Players from both teams gathered in the scrum on the field and one of the last things anyone saw was Drake angrily throwing a Buffalo Bills player’s helmet.
After all that, Miami kicked the extra point to cut its deficit to 22-16, and then recovered an onside kick with 1:52 left — the fourth onside kick the Dolphins have recovered this season, the most any team has recovered in a season since at least 1997.
The comeback hopes ended with 49 seconds left when Fales threw an interception to Poyer.
Despite the late-game drama, this game was ugly. The Dolphins (6-10), led by Fales because starter Jay Cutler only played one series, started poorly, trailed 10-0, at halftime, and never gained their footing.
The game could have been a metaphor for Miami’s disappointing season.
There was Hurricane Irma postponing the home opener, linebacker Lawrence Timmons going AWOL before the de facto opener, former offensive line coach Chris Foerster resigning after his video scandal, and linebacker Rey Maualuga be-
ing released after his arrest at a Miami nightclub.
Before and after there were injuries — a lot of them — such as quarterback Ryan Tannehill (knee), right tackle Ja’Wuan James (hamstring), tight end Julius Thomas (foot) and rookie middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan (knee).
Oh, yeah, there was also a five-game losing streak at midseason.
And that doesn’t even get to the disappointment of the offense, which was held scoreless in the first half Sunday for the fourth time this season.
The defense? Well, one of its low points came midway through the third quarter when Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams scored a touchdown on a 1-yard run to give Buffalo a 19-0 lead.
Yes, it was a brutal season for the Dolphins. They not only failed to make the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, but they reverted to the sort of absent-minded, inept football that made them largely irrelevant for the past 10 years.
For example, Miami had nine penalties for 70 yards in the first half Sunday, and they were 1 of 7 on third down attempts. Buffalo, on the other hand, had four penalties for 35 yards in the first half and was 4 of 8 on third down attempts. But now, at least, it’s over. However, the game didn’t end soon enough for Buffalo running back LeSean “Shady” McCoy, who was taken off the field early in the third quarter with a right ankle injury and didn’t return.
Dolphins quarterbacks Tannehill, Cutler and Matt Moore spent most of Sunday’s season finale against Buffalo on the sideline.
Tannehill and Moore were out due to knee and foot injuries, respectively, and Cutler was out because, well, there was no reason for him to play.
Miami’s playoff hopes ended last week, and the 34-year-old Cutler, who just completed his 12th season, seems unlikely to return so Miami took a look at Fales, the fourth-year player who was with coach Adam Gase, and Cutler, in Chicago in 2015. There were some bright spots Sunday. Center Mike Pouncey, who was held out of at least one practice per week to manage his ailing hip, made his 16th start of the season, the first time he’s done that since 2012, his second season.
Defensive end Cameron Wake, who had 11.5 sacks last season, had one sack Sunday to end the season with 10 sacks, the first time he’s double-digit sack totals in back-toback seasons.
Left tackle Zach Sterup, playing his first game for Miami, did a decent job.
Landry entered the game needing eight receptions to establish a franchise singleseason record, besting his mark of 110 set in 2015. He got that midway through the fourth quarter before the fracas erupted, ending with nine receptions for 92 yards.
But mostly this was about seeing an end to a forgettable season, a season that started with high hopes and good vibes after the resurgent 10-6 season of 2016, and ended with the frustrating reality that for the eighth time in the past 10 years, this team simply wasn’t good enough to get to the playoffs.
The Dolphins not only failed to make the playoffs in backto-back seasons, but they reverted to the sort of absentminded, inept football that made them largely irrelevant for the past 10 years.