It’s only the first weekend in November, but the Buffalo Bills have just about wrapped up the AFC East race.
Josh Allen and the Bills snuck past the Miami Dolphins 30-27 on Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium. Allen led the Bills on a final game-winning drive before Tyler Bass hit a career-long field goal to secure the win with room to spare.
The Dolphins looked like they were going to force a quick punt after their game-tying touchdown, but a neutral-zone infraction and then an unnecessary roughness call on Jordan Poyer on a deep shot from Allen kept their drive alive. That set up the 61-yard field goal from Bass, which sealed their three-point win.
The Bills have now swept the Dolphins this season, and they have a chance to officially clinch their division as early as Week 12. That’s something that’s only been done three other times in modern history, according to ESPN. All three of those other teams — the Eagles in 2004, the Patriots in 2007 and the Colts in 2009 — reached the Super Bowl and lost in those respective campaigns. Buffalo entered Sunday with a 3.5 game lead, too. The last 10 teams to have a lead of that size or bigger by Week 8 went on to win their division.
The Bills had to rally out of an early hole on Sunday in order to pull off the win. The Dolphins jumped up 10-6 at halftime after holding Buffalo to just two field goals in the opening 30 minutes. Tua Tagovailoa hit De’Von Achane for a 14-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter, too. That touchdown came after Jalen Ramsey intercepted Allen at the goal line on the other end of the field.
But slowly in the second half, Allen and the Bills started climbing back. Allen capped a long, 11-play drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Mack Hollins out of the break, and then he hit Ray Davis for a 63-yard touchdown late in the third quarter. Davis caught a short pass in the flat, broke a pair of tackles and made it all the way down to the end zone.
The Bills converted the two-point attempt after that score, too, which gave them a seven-point lead.
Though the Dolphins tied the game early in the fourth quarter after Achane ran in an 8-yard score, Allen and the Bills responded perfectly. They mounted a 70-yard drive that Allen ended with a 2-yard toss to Quintin Morris.
Finally, after a slow start to the season, Jaylen Waddle scored his first touchdown of the year. Tagovailoa scrambled through the pocket and found Waddle wide open in the end zone with about 90 seconds left to tie the game.
The score came after a 12-yard reception earlier on the drive and an apparent ankle injury after he took a cleat directly to his leg.
That set up the Bills’ final drive and Bass’ game-winning field goal. The Bills have now won five straight over the Dolphins dating back to the 2022 campaign, and Allen holds a wild 13-2 record over the Dolphins.
Allen went 25-of-39 for 235 yards with three touchdowns and an interception in the win for the Bills, who now sit at 7-2 on the year. James Cook led them with 44 yards on 10 carries on the ground, and Davis had 70 receiving yards and a touchdown on just two catches.
Tagovailoa went 24-of-27 for 255 yards with two touchdowns for the Dolphins. Though they didn’t get the win, the outing was still a big one for Tagovailoa — who returned to the field last week after his latest concussion sidelined him for five weeks. Only six other quarterbacks in NFL history have had at least 24 completions with an 88.9% completion rate in a single game in league history, according to The Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds.
Achane had 63 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries for the Dolphins, and Tyreek Hill had 80 yards on four catches. Miami now sits at 2-6 on the year, and they’ve dropped three straight. Their record is far from ideal, but the season isn’t over by any means. Tagovailoa came just shy of leading the Dolphins to a win against one of the best teams in the league, after all. But with the division now almost certainly out of reach, it’s going to take a big turnaround in order to make a third straight postseason appearance.