Dolphins play Bills tight, but bad penalties, late interception lead to 31-21 defeat

David Furones, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Sep 18, 2025

Published in Football

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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Miami Dolphins played well enough to contend with the Buffalo Bills for 60 minutes in their house on a short week.

They played well enough to warrant coach Mike McDaniel keeping his job at this point in time with so much speculation over his job status.

They didn’t quite play well enough to overcome the mighty Bills.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was intercepted with three minutes left, and the Dolphins suffered costly game-changing penalties in dropping a 31-21 decision against Buffalo on Thursday night at Highmark Stadium.

Miami is 0-3 for the first time since 2019. Buffalo (3-0) extended its overall win streak over the Dolphins to seven, plus 14 of the past 15 and a 10th consecutive meeting in western New York, last suffering a home loss to Miami in 2016.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who improved to 14-2 against the Dolphins, including the playoffs, threw for three touchdowns as he completed 22 of 28 passes for 213 yards.

Buffalo running back James Cook, a Miami Central alum, surpassed 100 rushing yards and got in the end zone against his hometown team.

Tagovailoa, throwing an abundance of checkdowns but sprinkling in a few downfield throws, went 22 of 34 for 146 yards, two touchdowns and the late interception.

The Dolphins were driving late, down by a touchdown, but Tagovailoa was intercepted by linebacker Terrel Bernard on a pass to wide receiver Jaylen Waddle with three minutes left. Buffalo defensive tackle Deone Walker got in the quarterback’s face after beating right guard Daniel Brunskill on the pass rush.

The Bills nearly ran out the clock from there, and a 48-yard field goal from kicker Matt Prater, who missed badly earlier, made it a two-possession game with 22 seconds left.

Miami got a fourth-quarter stop with the score tied at 21, but defensive tackle Zach Sieler was called for roughing the kicker trying to block a punt on fourth-and-7.

The penalty proved costly, as Allen later found wide receiver Khalil Shakir open on the left side for a 15-yard catch-and-run for a go-ahead touchdown and a 28-21 Buffalo lead.

The Dolphins tied the Bills, 21-21, early in the fourth quarter, when Tagovailoa lobbed a pass toward an open back corner of the end zone with anticipation for wide receiver Tyreek Hill’s pivot on his route that had Hill bringing back his somersault celebration in the end zone.

Miami converted a fourth-and-4 to Waddle on the drive that was followed by an innovative play call in which McDaniel called for a short pass to the left to Malik Washington, who then threw a long lateral to running back De’Von Achane to the right.

With the teams tied at 14 coming out of halftime, Cook punched in a 2-yard touchdown that came about following linebacker Jordyn Brooks remaining engaged to Allen too long, tackling the quarterback to the ground after the play was whistled dead at the 4.

Miami went into the locker room tied when Tagovailoa found Waddle for a short touchdown on a slant.

The Dolphins started Thursday with a statement drive, going 47 yards on 10 plays that consumed the first 6:29 after Dee Eskridge’s opening kick return gave the team a short field.

Rookie running back Ollie Gordon II punched in a 2-yard touchdown as he provided a physical presence on the ground early while Tagovailoa started 4 for 4 for 29 yards, including a 15-yard pass to Achane.

The Bills responded immediately, with Allen finding tight end Dalton Kincaid open down the left side and breaking a feeble tackle attempt by cornerback Jack Jones en route to a 20-yard touchdown.

Buffalo capitalized again to take a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter with a scoring drive sandwiched between three-and-outs for the Dolphins. Allen ran left with an opportunity to take on cornerback Rasul Douglas and flipped it to backup tight end Jackson Hawes for the short touchdown.

Dolphins edge rusher Bradley Chubb sacked Allen on Thursday, marking his third sack in three games after missing the 2024 season recovering from a knee injury. Linebacker Tyrel Dodson also picked up a sack Thursday.

The Dolphins, after playing on the short week, now have 10 days between games, next facing the New York Jets at home on Monday, Sept. 29.