Payments prevail in shut win towards Miami

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Excessive expectations had been placed on the Buffalo Payments coming in to one more divisional matchup.

However the Miami Dolphins gave the Payments their finest shot and stored the double-digit favorites shut many of the approach.

With simply over three minutes remaining within the recreation and the Payments holding a 28-21 lead, Miami drove downfield to Buffalo's 21-yard line. Then, the Payments' protection did what it does finest and got here away with an opportune takeaway.

Simply as he jumped on a fumble late within the Week 1 win over the Baltimore Ravens, on first-and-10, linebacker Terrel Bernard picked off quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on a go meant for huge receiver Jaylen Waddle. The stadium erupted as Bernard returned the interception 24 yards, establishing the Payments' offense to shut out the sport, which it promptly did, ending the following drive with a 48-yard area objective. The Payments beat the Dolphins 31-21 and improved to 3-0.

The win marks the twenty fifth consecutive recreation for the Payments with out shedding the turnover battle (together with playoffs), the longest streak in NFL historical past.

The Payments now have 11 straight division wins at dwelling — the longest streak for the reason that New England Patriots received 17 straight from 2009 to 2014.

Listed below are an important issues to know from Thursday night time for each groups:

Buffalo Payments (3-0)

What to make of QB efficiency: General, Allen had a robust day, not turning the ball over and orchestrating spectacular drives — along with throwing three landing passes to get 200 on his profession.

The Dolphins, nonetheless, took away the Payments' capacity to get the ball downfield. Allen didn't full a go thrown greater than 10 yards down the sector (0-1). That is the primary time in his profession he has failed to finish one in a recreation (min. 10 complete go makes an attempt), and the shortage of downfield passing assault hampered the offense at instances.

Pattern to observe: Third-down protection. The Payments completed the primary two weeks of the season with the most effective third-down protection within the league (6-22, 27.3%). That completely evaporated vs. the Dolphins.

The Payments struggled to get off the sector as Miami transformed 10 of 15 third-down alternatives, together with quite a lot of third-and-longs, and one fourth down. It performed a big position within the Dolphins staying within the recreation.

Turning level: The roughing the kicker penalty on the Dolphins with 10:20 remaining within the fourth quarter. The Payments' Cameron Johnston obtained able to punt on what gave the impression to be a 3rd consecutive drive ending in a punt for the Buffalo offense, however he was hit as he accomplished the kick by the Dolphins' Zach Sieler (it was really a great punt that landed on the Miami 2-yard line).

A penalty was known as that prolonged the Payments' possession, and so they took the chance to place collectively a drive and retake the lead on 15-yard landing go from Allen to huge receiver Khalil Shakir.

Subsequent recreation: vs. New Orleans Saints (1 p.m. ET, CBS)

Miami Dolphins (0-3)

This was not a staff that has stop on its coach, or its season.

The Miami Dolphins entered Thursday night time's recreation towards the Buffalo Payments on a three-game shedding streak relationship again to final season, and coach Mike McDaniel confronted intense scrutiny and hypothesis about his job safety all through the week. Followers will not be any happier after one more loss to the Payments, but it surely was a gutsy efficiency for a Dolphins staff that entered the sport as a 12.5-point underdog.

There are not any ethical victories within the NFL, particularly not whenever you're 0-3 with two losses to division opponents. However McDaniel's job is secure for an additional week — and it is a huge one. A loss to the New York Jets on “Monday Evening Soccer” may very well be an excessive amount of for the Dolphins to beat in what needs to be a good AFC wild-card race; it might additionally mark the top of staff proprietor Stephen Ross' persistence with the present regime.

What to make of the QB efficiency: Tagovailoa performed risk-averse soccer for essentially the most half, however he had his shining moments. He led a 16-play drive to tie the sport simply earlier than halftime, changing three third downs within the course of.

His second landing go was anticipation at its best, as Tyreek Hill hadn't even damaged free earlier than Tagovailoa floated the ball to a spot ultimately zone. It wasn't usually essentially the most aesthetically pleasing soccer from a $51 million quarterback, however he took care of the ball and did not give away possessions to a Payments staff that made Miami pay for turnovers final season.

Pattern to observe: Rookie working again Ollie Gordon II was a coaching camp darling and the staff's clear main rusher this preseason — however he logged solely three carries in Miami's first two video games.

Gordon surpassed that with 4 carries on the opening drive Thursday and completed with a comparable workload to starter De'Von Achane. With their newfound thunder to Achane's lightning, the Dolphins rushed for a season-high 116 yards.

Gordon's utilization has to grow to be a recurring theme for a Dolphins offense that struggled mightily to run the ball in Weeks 1 and a pair of.

Most stunning efficiency: The Dolphins' protection really obtained some stops! It entered Thursday's recreation having allowed factors on 13 of 15 possessions to start out the season. Miami practically surpassed that within the second half alone.

The Dolphins appeared to file stops on three straight possessions within the third and fourth quarters however gave the ball proper again to Buffalo after a roughing penalty on the following punt. Bradley Chubb is quietly off to a robust begin this season after lacking all of 2024 — he has recorded sacks in three consecutive video games.

Subsequent recreation: vs. New York Jets (Monday, 7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN)