ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — For much of Sunday afternoon, the Dolphins’ Week 8 road game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday resembled the game many were hoping for back in Week 2. But over time, recurring issues doomed the Dolphins in a 26-11 defeat, dropping them to 1-7 on the season.
Miami went into halftime tied at 3 but couldn’t keep up with the AFC East-leading Bills in the team’s seventh consecutive loss of the season.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa completed 21 of 39 passes for 205 yards and an interception. He also scored on a quarterback sneak in the fourth quarter.
The Dolphins defense played arguably its best performance of the season through about 2½ quarters but couldn’t get the Bills offense off the field in key moments late in the game. Buffalo converted one of six third-down opportunities in the first half but five of seven in the second half.
As the Dolphins began the second half with three straight punts, quarterback Josh Allen threw two touchdowns on consecutive drives to push the Bills lead to 17-3 in the fourth quarter.
The Dolphins made it a 17-11 game with 9:39 left after a one-yard touchdown run from Tagovailoa and completion to tight end Mike Gesicki on the two-point conversion.
The Bills effectively iced the game with a six-minute drive that ended in a made field goal to push the score to 20-11 with 3:29 left. Safety Jordan Poyer intercepted Tagovailoa on the following possession to effectively deliver the Dolphins their seventh straight defeat to Buffalo.
The Dolphins offense left at least six points on the field in the first half. Kicker Jason Sanders missed a 36-yard field goal on the first drive of the game and then confusion on the offense’s final possession of the half led to an errant red-zone snap that hit a motioning Gesicki and was recovered by the Bills with 11 seconds remaining.
