Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was frustrated during his postgame press conference following his team’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. While he gave Buffalo credit for being the team to beat in the AFC East, there wasn’t much he could salvage from his team’s 48-20 loss.
“I would be lying if I was pumped about anything from our team today. There is nothing to be justified with the point differential,” said McDaniel.
McDaniel has a right to be disappointed. Miami came into this game as the only remaining unbeaten team in the AFC.
Following a historic 70-point performance, this was their chance to show they’re now the favorites to win the division. Instead, the Dolphins showed there’s much more work to be done on both sides of the football if they hope to come away with the division crown.
The Bills’ offense made it look easy from start to finish, only punting twice and not committing a single turnover in a 28-point blowout with the time of possession almost even. And, four of their touchdown drives took five or fewer plays. Outside of a couple of sacks by linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, the Dolphins’ defense couldn’t come away with any momentum.
Quarterback Josh Allen completed 21 of his 25 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns. Three of Allen’s scores were caught by his star wideout Stefon Diggs, who made Kader Kohou’s day miserable in one-on-one coverage. The Miami secondary, who were without starting safety DeShon Elliott, had no answer for the Buffalo passing attack, as they ended the day with 414 yards of total offense.
The Bills’ defense showed, once again, why they’re one of the best in football. Miami scored touchdowns on their first two drives, but it was all Bills the rest of the way.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was sacked four times and threw an interception. Wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle were both held without touchdowns. Things went from bad to worse when offensive tackle Terron Armstead left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter.
Raheem Mostert had an abysmal performance, fumbling twice and losing one of them. The Miami star running back was only able to total nine yards on the ground following weeks of dominant performances.
The one bright spot for Miami’s offense was the speedster, De’Von Achane, who carried the ball eight times for 101 yards and two touchdowns. If he keeps up his performance, he might start to get the bulk of the carries in the near future.
McDaniel looks to put this loss behind his team as they return home in Week 5 against the Giants.
“You have to keep progressing. The things that are failing your team aren’t going to go away, you have to fix them,” he said. “It’s all about how you respond. This is a young team that needs to learn fast to get out of this season what they want.”
This was a tough test for the Dolphins against one of the best teams in the AFC. The team must bounce back quickly since they no longer hold first place in their division.