(Photo: Joshua Bessex / AP Photo)
It was a crazy night in Orchard Park on Saturday when the Bills hosted the division rival Miami Dolphins to town. All week the main talk was about the impending weather and how much snow was to be expected during the game. By the time kickoff came around, the snow hadn’t yet arrived (in fact, the snow didn’t arrive until the fourth quarter).
Buffalo won the toss and deferred to the second half.
Both teams would trade punts on their first possessions. Our first points of the game came on the second Miami drive of the game. They would put together a 14-play 7-minute drive but have to settle for a 39-field goal from Jason Sanders.
Buffalo would respond on their next drive, going 75 yards on just 4 plays when Josh Allen would hit Quintin Morris on a 14-yard Touchdown Pass.
Miami would kick a second straight field goal on their next drive (21 yards).
Buffalo’s next possession would also have a repeat performance, as they would drive 75 yards once again this time on a 12-play drive ending with a 10-yard Josh Allen to Nyheim Hines Touchdown Pass (14-6 Buffalo).
Miami would finally find the end zone for the first time on their next possession (Salvon Ahmed 11-yard touchdown run). (14-13 Buffalo).
The Bills would get the ball back with just under 3 minutes left in the half and a chance to score before the half… They would indeed do just that! This time they would go 82 yards and would end up in the end zone for a third straight possession when Josh Allen would hit James Cook as time expired on a 4-yard Touchdown Pass! Buffalo would head into the half up 21-13.
The Bills would receive the second-half kick and have the chance to “double dip” on points, but they would squander the opportunity as they would go 3 and out.
Miami would get the ball and score quickly on a 67-yard pass from Tua to Jaylen Waddle (they would try for 2 but would fail, making it 21-19 Bills).
The scorings would stop on the next 3 possessions as the defenses would stiffen.
The next points scored would be a Miami touchdown (Tua to Tyreek Hill 20 yards) with 2:34 left in the third, this would give the Dolphins a 26-21 lead.
The Bills offense would sputter on their next possession and would have to punt for the fourth straight possession.
Miami would punt on their next possession as well and would set the Bills up around mid-field. But on the first play of the Bills possession, Josh Allen would be stripped sacked and Miami would recover.
The Dolphins could only muster up a field goal (47-yarder) after getting great field possession. (29-21 Miami).
Buffalo’s offense would finally come to life on their next drive as they would drive 75 yards on 7 plays ending up in the end zone on a Josh Allen to Dawson Knox 5-yard Touchdown Pass. They would go for 2 to try and tie the game and Josh would Superman leap the pile and break the goal-plain to convert the try and tie the game at 29 with 9 minutes left in regulation.
Miami’s offense would have to punt after their drive stalled out and would give the Bills the ball back with 6 minutes left in the game… They wouldn’t see the ball again.
The Bills offense would drive down the field (after starting on their own 7-yard line) and would run the clock all the way down and Tyler Bass would kick the game-winning field goal as time expired to give Buffalo the 32-29 victory.
The win puts Buffalo at 11-3 on the year and also clinched a playoff berth. The Bills can clinch the AFC East next week with a win over the Chicago Bears on Christmas Eve.
-Jason Harris