Miami Gardens, Fla. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins, 21-14, on Sunday night, clinching their fourth-straight AFC East title and the No. 2 seed in the AFC Playoffs.
Here are my Arrows from the game, starting with those pointing Up following the win:
ARROW UP:
JOSH FREAKING ALLEN
The Bills quarterback did what he usually does against the Miami Dolphins, going 30-for-38 (78.9%) for 359 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also ran 15 times for 67 yards, totaling 426 yards of total offense.
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Deonte Harty's punt return
There is no doubt Harty’s 96-yard punt return changed the entire game.
The Bills needed a touchdown on that drive, and they got it before the offense even stepped on the field to tie the game at 14-14.
Stefon Diggs
The Allen-to-Diggs connection returned with the wide receiver catching seven passes on eight targets for 87 yards.
Khalil Shakir
Shakir was terrific all night, catching all six targets that went his way for 105 yards, averaging 17.5 yards a catch.
Terrel Bernard
Bernard was all over the field, collecting nine total tackles, several of which came in important situations.
Baylon Spector
Spector had to come into the game for Tyrel Dodson, who was injured just before Miami took a 14-7 lead with a shoulder injury. He did a great job, understanding his assignments and getting to the football, collecting four total tackles.
Christian Benford
Benford continued his stellar play by collecting three total tackles, intercepting a ball on the Dolphins' first possession of the game intended for Tyreek Hill, and being credited with another pass breakup.
Taylor Rapp
Rapp was mainly used in dime situations, and came up with two huge plays at the end of the game. This included a pass breakup, and then an interception to seal it on the very next play.
Ryan Van Demark
Van Demark only played one series, having to come in for an injured Dion Dawkins, but did a great job making sure Josh Allen stayed clean and in the run game.
On that series, the Bills ran eight plays, spanning 74 yards and the game-winning touchdown.
After the extra point, Dawkins ran back onto the field to give Van Demark a big hug.
Dawkins was able to return the next series.
Trent Sherfield’s touchdown
After the Bills had already thrown two interceptions inside the Miami end zone, a pass was batted high into the air, but Sherfield stayed with it, caught it, and had the presence of mind to get two feet down, inbounds, to tie the game at 7-7.
Second half defense
In the first half, the Dolphins had 218 total yards, including 101 on the ground.
In the second half, the Bills held them to just seven(!) total rushing yards and just 57 total yards. The Dolphins' drives that half ended punt, punt, punt, punt, interception.
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Third down offense
The Bills went 9-for-15 (60%) on third down in the game.
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ARROW DOWN:
Turnovers/not finishing drives
The Bills were their own worst enemy with three turnovers and not finishing drives for points.
Josh Allen threw interceptions on the first two drives. The first was from the Miami 5-yard line, costing the Bills, at least, a field goal and maybe a touchdown to start the game. The second was Allen launching it into the end zone on 4th-and-2 from the Dolphins' 35-yard line.
Then, at the end of the half, Ty Johnson was stopped right at the goal line.
That’s, at least, nine points off the board, and possibly as many as 21.
Throw at end of the first half
At the end of the half, the Bills only had 11 seconds remaining on the clock and zero timeouts in their arsenal.
They just couldn’t throw it in the middle of the field unless it was to the end zone, but that’s what Allen did and why Johnson was short of the goal line after being hit and tackled.
They couldn’t run another play because time ran out on the half.
First down runs
Trailing 14-7 with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter, the Bills got the ball at their own 24-yard line. They ran 13 plays, which is good. However, they had five first downs on that drive and ran on every one of them.
Miami noticed the tendency and started collapsing on them, making it much more difficult on second and third down.
Ultimately, Allen was sacked and fumbled on 3rd-and-13 from the Dolphins' 21-yard line.
James Cook’s drop
On that critical drive to end the first half, before Johnson was stopped, Cook was open on the left side of the end zone and Allen threw a perfect ball. However, Cook couldn’t hold onto to the pass, costing the Bills a touchdown they ultimately never got.
Not making the last fourth down
The Bills needed one yard to win the division. They lined up for a quarterback sneak to get that one yard.
Miami knew it was coming and stopped it, taking over at their own 37-yard line with 1:53 remaining and a chance to tie the game.
Red zone offense
The Bills were only 2-for-5 in the Dolphins' red zone, the exact same low 40% they were last week against the New England Patriots.
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