Things we learned in Miami Dolphins’ 30-13 victory over the Buffalo Bills

MIAMI GARDENS — Apparently the Pop-A-Shot basketball game, former general manager Chris Grier and edge rusher Jaelan Phillips were what was ailing the Miami Dolphins this season.

Granted, that’s a joking explanation for the Dolphins defeating Buffalo, 30-13, on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, ending a seven-game losing streak to the Bills and capping one of the most tumultuous weeks of the season. But speaking with tongue planted firmly in cheek, it’s the only thing that makes sense. The Dolphins removed the Pop-A-Shot game from their locker room, fired Grier and traded Phillips to Philadelphia, and then they did something they hadn’t done since 2022 — beat Buffalo. 

The Dolphins (3-7) controlled the Bills (6-3) for the entire game, forcing turnovers, scoring in key situations and not having the mindless penalties, blown coverages and operational errors that have plagued them all season. It was a smooth game. The Dolphins’ brain trust of owner Steve Ross, president and CEO Tom Garfinkel, interim general manager Champ Kelly and executive Brandon Shore, the senior vice president of football and business administration, gleefully gathered on the sideline in the final minutes to celebrate.

Here’s what we learned Sunday:

Waddle and Achane star

Running back De’Von Achane had 174 yards rushing on 22 carries and two touchdowns, and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle had five receptions for 84 yards and one touchdown to lead the Dolphins offense against Buffalo. Achane scored on runs of 59 and 35 yards while Waddle had a 38-yard touchdown reception. Those two were the offensive threats the Dolphins needed to stave off the Bills and put fear into their defense. — Chris Perkins

Tua has good day overall

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (15 of 21, 173 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) bounced back nicely after starting out roughly with an interception on his first possession. Tagovailoa had touchdown throws on his next two possessions to wide receivers Malik Washington and Waddle.

Tagovailoa entered Sunday’s game 136 of 197 for 1,397 yards, 10 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 91.28 passer rating against Buffalo.

Allen has bad day

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen had his worst game against the Dolphins in the coach Mike McDaniel era, finishing 28 of 40 for 306 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and a fumble. Allen was ineffective all day.

In the previous eight games of the McDaniel era, Allen was 201 of 291 for 2,322 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions for a 110.93 passer rating against the Dolphins.

The Dolphins’ coverage was good Sunday and so was its pass rush. Allen often had nowhere to throw or run.

Bills mafia shows up big, gets silenced

There were lots of Buffalo Bills fans at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday. It’s unclear whether that was preferable to the empty seats that were apparent during the Dolphins’ previous home game against Baltimore.

Regardless, before the game Bills fans took over a corner of the Hard Rock Stadium parking lot at 27th Avenue and 199th Street with a flag and lots of excited fans. Bills fans were loud at the very start of the game but they were silenced very quickly and for an extended period.

Dolphins were the so-called ‘trap game’

Buffalo, you could argue, was playing the proverbial “trap game” Sunday. The Bills defeated Kansas City last week and host Tampa Bay next week. In between were the Dolphins, who the Bills had defeated seven consecutive times entering Sunday. It’s called a trap game because teams fall into the trap of thinking it’ll be an easy opponent.

Sieler gets first sack

Defensive tackle Zach Sieler, who got a three-year, $64 million contract extension during the offseason, got his first sack in the second quarter when he tackled Allen for a six-yard loss shortly before the two-minute warning. Sieler is coming off back-to-back 10-sack seasons, which is a big reason he got the extension. Of course, in those seasons he played alongside defensive tackles Christian Wilkins and Calais Campbell.

Brents starts in shuffled secondary

Cornerback JuJu Brents, who had a key fumble recovery in the second quarter, started at cornerback in place of Rasul Douglas (foot/ankle), apparently leapfrogging Ethan Bonner and rookie Jason Marshall Jr.

Brents left the game in third quarter briefly due to an injury.

The secondary was missing Douglas and safety Ashtyn Davis (quad). The Dolphins started Brents and Jack Jones at cornerbacks and Minkah Fitzpatrick and rookie Dante Trader Jr. at safeties. The reserves were safety Iffy Melinfonwu, Bonner and Marshall.

Dolphins defense comes up with big TOs

Brents recovered a fumble deep, Melinfonwu had an interception in the end zone and Fitzpatrick recovered a fumble as the Dolphins turned away potential Bills touchdown drives in the second, third and fourth quarters.

Brents recovered a fumble by Buffalo running back James Cook at the Dolphins’ 5-yard line, ending a six-play, 60-yard drive that consumed 2:30 on the game clock.

Melinfonwu’s interception came on third-and-goal at the 5-yard line and ended a 14-play, 77-yard Buffalo drive that used 9:01 on the clock on the Bills’ first possession of the third quarter.

Fitzpatrick recovered an Allen fumble at the Dolphins’ 38-yard line that was caused by linebacker Jordyn Brooks, ending a drive that was five plays, 44 yards and used 1:45.

Dolphins’ run defense shows up

The Dolphins’ front seven has been bashed and battered all season but it showed up in a big way Sunday, choking the life out of Buffalo’s running game.

Buffalo, which entered the game No. 1 in the league at 161.5 yards per game, rushed for just 86 yards, 23 yards in the first half on eight carries.

Cook, who attended Miami Central High School, was shut down Sunday. Cook entered the game with 867 yards rushing, second in the league. He ended with 53 yards, 21 in the first half on seven carries.

Miami’s run defense entered Sunday’s game No. 30 in the league at 145.6 yards allowed per game. 

Dolphins don’t blow the lead

The Dolphins blew a 17-0 lead at Carolina earlier this season, so when they got their 16-0 halftime leads on Buffalo it was viewed with a bit of hesitation. The 16-point advantage marked the biggest lead the Dolphins have had against Buffalo in the McDaniel era.

Dolphins finally hold Buffalo to fewer than 30 points

In six of the previous eight games between Buffalo and Miami, Buffalo has scored at least 30 points, Sunday’s game bucked that trend.

Earlier this season the Bills defeated the Dolphins, 31-21.

In 2024, the Bills won, 30-27 and 31-10.

In 2023, the Bills won, 48-20 and 21-14.

In 2022, Buffalo won, 32-29 and 34-31 in the playoffs. The Dolphins defeated Buffalo, 21-19, in Week 3.

Jones had a humongous day, particularly on three plays

Jack Jones played his 52nd NFL game on Sunday. So, basically three complete seasons. In that time, Jones has had seven interceptions, with an incredible four of them returned for a touchdown. And, he has been just as impactful in run defense, forcing three fumbles, including two in his mere 10 games as a Dolphin. His two here both have been massive, each having been recovered at the Miami 5 or inside of it.

As Bills running back James Cook stretched for yardage deep in Miami territory, a Jones punch knocked the ball loose, and it was scooped up at the 5 (remember also the dislodging of the ball from the Jets’ Braelon Allen as he was about to cross the goal line in what ended up as a 27-21 Miami win over the Jets). And, in the non-turnover division, it was Jones’ slide that took out Khalil Shakir’s feet and allowed for Minkah Fitzpatrick to clean up the goal line and stop the Bills’ two-point attempt, keeping the score at 16-6 in the fourth quarter, and then Jones was pulling back on Josh Allen, making him vulnerable to the great Jordyn Brooks own punchout, which effectively ended the game. — Steve Svekis

Achane keeps rising as an all-time Dolphins offensive draftee

In Sunday’s game, Dolphins running back De’Von Achane set a franchise record for most yards from scrimmage by a player in his first three seasons while a Dolphin. Achane had piled up 111 total yards by halftime against the Bills and 3,487 for his career, vaulting him by Karim Abdul-Jabbar’s 3,470 from 1996-98. After 114 second-half yards, Achane sits atop the pile with 3,601 total yards, and seven games left to be played in his third season. Wow!

The top-10 Dolphins players yards from scrimmage while with Miami in their first three years in the NFL (regular season):

De’Von Achane: 3,601;

Karim Abdul-Jabbar: 3,470;

Jaylen Waddle: 3,426;

Ronnie Brown: 3,414;

Jarvis Landry: 3,177;

Chris Chambers: 2,677;

Mark Clayton: 2,553;

Lamar Miller: 2,548;

Larry Csonka: 2,375;

Jay Ajayi: 2,232.

One tool Allen used to use to kill the Dolphins has been majorly de-emphasized

Through the 2023 season, Josh Allen had played 13 games against the Dolphins, rolling for 672 rushing yards on 77 non-kneeldown runs, for a whopping 8.73-yard average per rush, five touchdowns and 48 first downs. But, for whatever reason, Allen’s wheels have been parked in the garage recently against the aqua-and-orange. In the past four games, heading into Sunday, Allen had run only 11 times (non-kneels) for 66 yards, with no touchdowns and only a couple first downs. Sunday, he only ran when under complete duress and, of course, hugely fumbled away the ball on his final carry.

Washington’s eventful day on special teams

First, a fair catch of at the 8? Listen, Achane and Tua Tagovailoa had a great possession, piling up a 92-yard touchdown drive that was capped by Malik Washington making the 9-yard scoring grab, but still, fair-catching a booming, 58-yard punt at the 8 is poor risk-reward analysis by a return man. And, then, after the Bills scored to make it 16-6, the kickoff took Washington 2 yards deep into the end zone. His fellow back man gestured and told him to stay in the end zone, which would have placed the ball at the Miami 35. Instead, he took it out and was chopped down at the 22. Tagovailoa ended up throwing an interception on a play where the ball was snapped at the Dolphins’ 34.

Poyer looked just as effective as he did as a Dolphin

Watching Achane waste Jordan Poyer on his 59-yard touchdown after the latter had been chirping about Miami’s downtrodden start to the season was a nice dollop of schadenfreude.

On deck: Washington Commanders, Madrid, Spain, Sunday, 9:30 a.m.

The Dolphins seem to get a break with veteran backup Marcus Mariota slated to start at quarterback for the Commanders in Madrid. … Tagovailoa’s best career passer rating in a game away from Hard Rock Stadium was his sparkling 141.0 in 2023 in a 45-15 Dolphins rout of the Commanders in Maryland.