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The Buffalo Bills‘ 34-31 playoff win over Miami Dolphins on Sunday, January 15 was not pretty, but the team did enough to punch their ticket to the next round. This was the third time the two AFC East rivals have played each other this season, but in this win-or-go-home situation, emotions were running higher than usual.
In the second quarter, the Bills were up 17-3 when quarterback Josh Allen threw a deep interception to Dolphins’ cornerback Xavien Howard, after which the 26-year-old superstar got into a shoving match with a longtime foe, Miami defensive end Christian Wilkins.
After some back and forth, Bills center Mitch Morse charged in to defend Allen and drove the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Dolphins’ tackle to the ground, a bold move that caught the attention of his wife, Caitlin Morse, who was in attendance at Highmark Stadium for the Wild Card game.
While the bulk of Bills Mafia struggled to stay confident after Buffalo lost a 17-point lead, Mrs. Morse was still thinking about that on-field melee. She tweeted, “I wonder if he would defend my honor the way he defends Josh? 🤣🤣.”
Caitlin’s reaction quickly went viral on Twitter, providing some much-needed comic relief to Bills Mafia. One fan tweeted, “Something tells me this would be the ✨mild ✨ version 😂,” while another person wrote, “I can safely say yes 1000%.”
During the postgame press conference, Morse addressed the Allen/Wilkins scuffle. WKBW Sports Director Matthew Bové tweeted, “Morse says he’s never been that fired up on a football field. Said he and Wilkins talked after the game. Said it was just a competitive moment.”
As for blindly jumping in to defend Allen, “That’s your guy, that’s your quarterback. You just want to be there for him,” Morse said.
Allen Called the Game ‘Pretty Sloppy’
While the Bills were deemed 13-point favorites to defeat the Dolphins after Miami announced third-string quarterback, Skylar Thompson, would be getting the start, Allen said during a press conference earlier in the week that he expected this game to be a 60-minute dog fight, and boy, was he right.
Allen finished the game completing 23-of-39 passes for three touchdowns and two interceptions, per ESPN, which was thankfully enough for the Bills to live to see another day.
When asked to describe how the game went, “It was pretty sloppy. It wasn’t pretty by any means,” he said. “Tried to give it away there, but our defense stepped up. Guys made some plays. It’s the playoffs. Credit to [Miami]. They had a really good game plan going into it. We found a way. That’s what matters.”
Allen turned the ball over three times, including a fumble in the third quarter which gave Miami a 24-20 lead.
“I didn’t put us in very good situations today,” Allen admitted. “Credit to our O-line. Finishing on that last drive. Motor putting his head down, going and getting it… When they know you’re running, you gotta be able to do it. We were able to do it. I’m proud of our team. We have a lot of stuff to clean up and work on, but looking forward to next week.”
The Bills Will Play the Bengals or Jaguars in the Next Round
Next up, the Bills will host either the Cincinnati Bengals or the Jacksonville Jaguars at home. If the Bengals defeat the Ravens on Sunday night, Buffalo will face Cincinnati. If the Ravens win, the Bills will host the Jaguars.
Cincinnati defeated the Ravens 24-17, so the Bengals will be heading to Highmark Stadium. The game is scheduled for Sunday, January 22 at 3 p.m. ET.
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