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The Buffalo Bills will continue on the next round of the playoffs after defeating the Miami Dolphins 34-31 on Sunday, January 15, however, such a narrow win against a team they were deemed 13-point favorites to beat didn’t exactly inspire confidence that this is a Super Bowl-bound franchise.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen committed three turnovers, two interceptions, and a costly fumble which led to a Dolphins defensive touchdown, giving Miami a 24-20 lead in the third quarter. There was a strip sack in the fourth quarter, but it was thankfully recovered by offensive tackle Spencer Brown.
With the Fins starting rookie third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson and their No.1 running back Raheem Mostert out injured, there was no reason for this matchup to be such a nail-biter.
During his postgame speech in the locker room, Bills head coach Sean McDermott issued a strong warning to his team that this will be a very short postseason run if they don’t cut out the self-inflicted mistakes.
“We need to take some valuable lessons from this game right here. Big time valuable lessons,” McDermott said. “You can’t expect to do that again and get a win out of it, right? Each week is going to be harder and harder. One at a time.”
McDermott himself made some questionable calls, including two ill-timed time-outs in the fourth quarter which caused analysts across the league to scratch their heads. The first one was used just before Thompson hiked the ball, which nullified Bills linebacker Tremaine Edmunds’s tackle for a loss on second down at around the 10-yard line, which would’ve set up Miami at third and long. Instead, the Dolphins finished that drive with running back Jeff Wilson rushing in for a score.
The second time-out called in the fourth quarter cost the Bills about 60 yards of field position, erasing what would’ve been a Miami turnover on fourth down.
During his postgame press conference, McDermott addressed those time-outs. “With what they had out on the field and what we were in, I wanted us to talk about it a little bit there,” he said. “We had the guy running wide open there on one of them that got thrown down the field,” he said. “It ended up being incomplete, so it wasn’t ideal. We’ve got to do a better job there.”
Allen Credited the Defense & Offensive Line for Stepping Up
Allen finished against the Dolphins completing 23-of-39 passes for 352 yards and three touchdowns which despite his miscues, was 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 during his on-field interview. “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.”
“I didn’t put us in very good situations today,” Allen continued. “Credit to our O-line. Finishing on that last drive. ‘Motor’ [running back Devin Singletary] 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.”
Allen added during his postgame presser, “All that matters is surviving and advancing. It doesn’t matter how we win, it’s if we win. Proud of our guys for playing the way they did.”
On a positive note, there were several highlights to celebrate. Eleven-year NFL veteran Cole Beasley scored his first-ever career playoff touchdown, while wide receiver Gabe Davis seemed to get his mojo back after an underwhelming regular season, finishing with six receptions for 113 yards, per ESPN, and safety Dean Marlowe, filling in for Damar Hamlin, caught his first interception since 2020.
The Bills Will Play the Bengals or Jaguars in the Next Round
Next up, the Bills will host either the Cincinatti Bengals or the Jacksonville Jaguars at home. If the Bengals beat the Ravens on Sunday night, the Bills will face Cincinnati. If the Ravens pull off the upset, Buffalo 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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