The Miami Dolphins lost their Week 8 matchup with the Buffalo Bills by a final score of 26-11 on Sunday. This was the Dolphins’ seventh straight loss on the season with their lone victory coming in the season opener against New England.
Buffalo is clearly the more talented team, as they’re among the best in the league on both sides of the ball, and the standing show just that. However, there were a couple of things in this game that caught some people a little off guard, including Miami’s play-calling in the last two minutes.
The decision to not take a knee or just run out the clock caught the attention of former Dolphin and current broadcaster Jason Taylor during the radio broadcast.
“If you’re gonna run a play here, in this situation, there’s a minute left, obviously you’ve lost the game, you’re gonna run a play, and that’s the play you run,” Taylor asked. “If you’re just trying to get out of here, turn around and hand the ball off or take a knee. That’s the play you run? You run a play for a three-yard loss?”
Taylor has a point here. Miami wasn’t going to come back and win this game down nine points with less than two minutes to go. Buffalo’s defense had completely shut them down all game. They should have saved their guys from potential injury.
“There are one or two things you do here,” Taylor continued. “You either take a knee and go home without getting anybody hurt, or you run the football twice and go home with no timeouts. To motion your back out of the backfield to an empty set and throw a bubble to your running back for a three-yard loss? What is that?”
This is not the first time that co-offensive coordinator George Godsey’s play-calling has been questioned, and unless this was his last game with the Dolphins, it won’t be the last time it’s questioned.
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