Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

Dolphins go down to Bills, fall to 0-2

Dolphins fall to 0-2 after loss to Bills at Hard Rock Stadium

- By Safid Deen

A fanwatches the Miami Dolphins’ 31-28 loss to the Buffalo Bills atHard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens Sunday. Therewere 11,075 fans allowed inside the stadium due to the coronaviru­s pandemic. The Dolphins fell to 0-2 on the 2020 season.

The Miami Dolphinsma­y have figured out the best way to play two games into the 2020 NFL season.

Keep the offense on for as much as possible.

And keep the defense off it. Unfortunat­ely for the Dolphins, that strategy did not work on Sunday.

It took less than five minutes for Miami’s defense to squander the only lead its offense has been able to muster this season. And the offense was only able to respond in the final minute after going back down by two scores.

Buffalo Bills quarterbac­k Josh Allen threwfour touchdowns, including a 46-yard pass to John Brown with 3:09 remaining, and the Dolphins suffered a 31-28 loss in their home opener at Hard Rock Stadium in front of the 11,075 fans allowed inside with due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

To make matters worse: The Dolphins, now 0-2, have a few days to prepare for their next game asWeek 3 begins on Thursday night against the Jacksonvil­le Jaguars (1-1), who nearly came back from a 21-10 deficit to beat the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

“Nobody likes to lose. We didn’t play well enough. We didn’t coach it well enough. We didn’t play well enough really anywhere,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said.

After a 36-minute lighting delay, Dolphins quarterbac­k Ryan Fitzpatric­k and tight end Mike Gesicki caught fire in the third the field

quarter, connecting on a one-handed catch by Gesicki that put the Dolphins at the 12-yard line. Gesicki finished with eight catches for a career high130 yards.

Dolphins running back Matt Breida had a run for 11 yards, stopped by Bills defensive back MicahHyde at the 1-yard line, but the Dolphins were unable to get any closer on the drive.

The Dolphins were stopped on four consecutiv­e plays at the 1-yard line, ending with a pass that went directly through receiver Preston Williams’ hands in a disappoint­ing ending to a pivotal 12-play drive that could’ve swung the game earlier.

“I think it’s worth it in that game especially against that type of team,” Flores said when asked why his teamdid not settle for a field goal following their longest drive of thegame. “Youhave to be aggressive to beat a good team. That’s my thought process there. But we didn’t execute.”

The Dolphins rebounded with a 10-play drive as Fitzpatric­k had a short run to the 2-yard line and running back JordanHowa­rdscored to take a 20-17 lead with10:11 remaining.

The Dolphins offense dominated the possession time for much of the third quarter and start of the fourth quarter, tiring out the Bills defense while keeping their own off the field.

But when Buffalo got back on offense, the Bills worked quickly to slow the Dolphins’ momentum.

Allen quickly connected with receiver Stefon Diggs for a 46-yard gain on rookie Dolphins cornerback Noah Igbinoghen­e, and Buffalo later scored on a 6-yard pass from Allen to receiver GabrielDav­is.

The Dolphins’ response was a three and out on their second-to-last drive.

And Allen threwhis final touchdown pass to put the game out of reach before a late Dolphins touchdown narrowed the score.

Fitzpatric­k threw an 8-yard touchdown to Gesicki with 49 seconds remaining and converted a two-point conversion to Williams. But the Dolphins were unable to recover the ensuing kick before the final minute expired.

“I feel bad because really itwas two drives. Itwas the drive in the second half after they took the lead, and it was the drive where we were inside their 5-yard line and had the fourth and1and couldn’t finish,” Fitzpatric­k said. “Those were the two drives that led to us losing the game. It’s great to throw for yards and touchdowns, but that’s not what we’re here for.”

Allen completed 24-of-35 passes for 417 yards with a147.0 passer rating with Diggs leading all receivers with eight catches for 153 yards, while Fitzpatric­k finished 31 of 47 for 328 yards with two touchdowns, including his first of the game to receiver DeVante Parker in the first quarter.

Parker’s touchdown catch and Allen’s first two touchdown passes, his second going to Diggs with 11:40 remaining in the second quarter, were unable to be seen by fans watching at home. CBS reportedly had a power outage outside of the stadium and was unable to broadcast a portion of the game from the back end of the first quarter into the second quarter.

The Dolphins gave up 342 yards of offense in the first half and 524 yards total against the Bills as Allen improved to 4-1against Miami.

Flores fell to 0-3 against Buffalo, and is now 5-13 in Miami as his second season has started with back-toback losses.

“We had a chance andwe didn’t get it done,” Flores said. “There were some bright spots, and I get that. But we’re here to win. And when you don’t win, it’s disappoint­ing.”

 ?? JOHN MCCALL/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL ??
JOHN MCCALL/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL
 ?? LYNNE SLADKY/AP half on Sunday. It was one ?? Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs (14) scores a touchdown during the first of four passing touchdowns by the Bills in the game.
LYNNE SLADKY/AP half on Sunday. It was one Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs (14) scores a touchdown during the first of four passing touchdowns by the Bills in the game.
 ?? JOHN MCCALL/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL ?? Dolphins quarterbac­k Ryan Fitzpatric­k throws a pass against the Bills during the first half of Sunday’s game.
JOHN MCCALL/SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL Dolphins quarterbac­k Ryan Fitzpatric­k throws a pass against the Bills during the first half of Sunday’s game.

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