Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel put his own spin on the Dolphins’ loss to the Patriots on Sunday that put his team in an 0-2 hole.
“To win games, you have to win the game and not lose the game, honestly. And that is how you lose the game,” the Miami bench boss said.
Those words rang true once again on Thursday night in Orchard Park, N.Y.
The Dolphins found a way to lose with some self-inflicted wounds in Buffalo after Tua Tagovailoa threw a game-sealing interception on a late fourth-quarter drive — minutes after the team took a roughing the kicker penalty — that all but sealed Miami’s fate in a 31-21 defeat to the Bills.
“I’m never proud of a loss. We came here to win, and I refuse to take moral victories as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins,” McDaniel said after Thursday’s loss. “It wasn’t good enough, so that’s where I’m at.”
With just over three minutes to go and Miami down by seven, the team drove down to the Buffalo 27-yard line.
On second-and-6, Tagovailoa looked to pass short to the right to Jaylen Waddle but was picked off by linebacker Terrel Bernard, who returned the ball the other way 24 yards to set up a Bills field goal.
“It’s honestly something that we have seen on tape,” the middle linebacker said, crediting his position coach Al Holcomb for showing film of similar plays this past week. “That’s one of their top quick-game concepts. We’re in a three-deep zone and I just saw it and broke on it. So yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
It was earlier in the fourth quarter, though, where Miami’s first back-breaking mistake occurred.
The Dolphins forced a punt with 10:20 to play, but Zach Sieler ran into and knocked punter Cameron Johnston to the turf, getting a 15-yard penalty and letting the Bills hang onto the ball.
Buffalo did not fail to capitalize.
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Five plays later, quarterback Josh Allen found Khalil Shakir for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 7:17 left, the score that put the Bills up for good and moved them to a 3-0 record.
Allen, who threw three touchdown passes, was 22 for 28 for 213 yards in the win.
James Cook scored on a 2-yard run and had 108 yards rushing in becoming the first player to top 100 yards against Miami in 36 outings. And the Bills (3-0) have now won 14 of 15 meetings over the Dolphins, and seven straight, including playoffs.
“Good win, never easy,” coach Sean McDermott said of what was a one-score outing before Matt Prater hit a 48-yard field goal with 22 seconds left.
“I thought the grit, the mental toughness of our football team was on display throughout the game, particularly in the fourth quarter there,” added McDermott, whose Bills next play host to the Saints in Week 4 on Sept. 28,
The Dolphins will next host the Jets on “Monday Night Football” on Sept. 29 in hopes of getting their season on track before it slips away further.
— with AP
