No one in their right mind expected the Miami Dolphins to put up much of a fight on Sunday afternoon. Especially with third-stringer Skylar Thompson entrenched as the starter. That is, no one except the Dolphins, who used the aftermath of a fight between Josh Allen and Christian Wilkins as a spark to regain momentum.
After Miami, somewhat inexplicably for a massive and shorthanded underdog, fought back from a 17-0 deficit, it kept coming in the second half. And on a first-down play on the Bills’ first possession of the third quarter, the Dolphins’ Eric Rowe sacked Josh Allen, forcing a fumble.
In the ensuing madness, as everyone on the field scrambled for the ball, Miami’s Zach Sieler — a listed 304-pound man — wound up scooping and scoring to give his team an unthinkable 24-20 lead. (Let’s also not forget that Tony Romo had a pre-play jinx.)
Just a bonkers play all around for a very large human being:
BIG MAN TOUCHDOWN ALERT! 🚨 ZACH SIELER! 🚨
📺 – #MIAvsBUF on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/0Ek5QTD8fd
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) January 15, 2023
The fumble was Allen’s third turnover of the afternoon. In a game where all the Bills likely had to do was play their game and show up, the only thing that would’ve kept the Dolphins hanging around was a sloppy spate of Allen turnovers. And that’s precisely what happened for a quarterback who had 18 giveaways (!) in the regular season.
It’s pretty much a developing worst-case scenario for the Bills in their playoff opener.