Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins Week 15 Recap

The Buffalo Bills are officially playoff bound after a gritty last-second Saturday night victory over the Miami Dolphins, 32-29. The game featured everything you would’ve expected, assuming you knew Quintin Morris and Nyheim Hines would score their first touchdowns in Buffalo.

Here are my main takeaways from this week’s performance…

1.) Area 51 called… They want HIM back.

Joshua Patrick Allen is a “Golden Retriever”, a “Gazelle”, a “Winter Soldier”, a “Xenomorphic Unicorn”. He is a “Prince from Another Planet”. But, most importantly, he is “Buffalo’s QB1”. The things that Allen is able to do with the football in his hands (both good and bad) are insane.

The good far outweighed the bad yesterday. Allen went 25/40 for 304 passing yards, 77 rushing yards, four passing touchdowns, and two fumbles (one lost). The three Josh Allen plays that stood out most to me were his 44 yard run in the fourth quarter, his four yard TD pass to James Cook, and his two-point conversion.

Honestly, I had a hard time finding the words to best wrap this section up because Josh Allen befuddles me with the things he does. I was speechless when he converted those three aforementioned plays. I’m sure he’ll continue to take my words (and breath) away.

“That’s Josh. My gosh. And doing it with panache!”

John Sterling (definitely talking about Bills QB Josh Allen)

2.) Red Zone = Green Zone

While the Bills offense had some inconsistent moments (i.e. the entire third quarter), they were lights out in the red zone. Buffalo, the NFL’s 11th-ranked red zone offense, converted all five of their trips into points (four touchdowns, one field goal). To put this another way… the Buffalo Bills scored all 32 of their points in the red zone.

Well done.

3.) Buffalo’s Run Defense struggled mightily

I guess the Bills Run D was visited by three ghosts and decided to atone for their miserly ways against the Jets by allowing Miami to run for 188 yards on the ground. I mean, that’s about as logical an explanation as I can think of. Seriously, what the hell happened? The Bills DL got absolutely dominated on the ground, particularly on the right side, and open-field tackling continues to be an issue. The main reason Miami’s run game was shut down in the second half was because they decided not to run the ball as much.

4.) The Bills NEED Mitch Morse

Speaking of awful line play, the Bills OL soiled themselves after Mitch Morse left the game with a head injury. Josh Allen was under pressure left, right, and center for most of the second half, culminating in that unfortunate strip sack. Morse is, by far, Buffalo’s best pass protector and losing him for an extended period of time would be catastrophic.

5.) Kaiir Elam is back!! 🙌🙌

After two weeks of handing out missing person fliers, Bills Mafia finally saw Kaiir Elam back on defense. Granted he rotated with Dane Jackson instead of outright replacing him (ugh). However, I thought he was the better of the two CB2s last night. Seeing him play sticky coverage on Tyreek Hill, specifically the play he made on that WR screen, reminded us all why Beane targeted Elam in the draft. Hopefully he gets more run opposite Tre going forward.

6.) Playoff Bound (again)!!

The Buffalo Bills, the same franchise that once went two decades without a postseason appearance, have now secured their FIFTH playoff berth in Sean McDermott’s six seasons as head coach. (Definitely a fireable offense lol.)

Quick Hitters

1. Tyler Bass, #NFLsSwaggiestKicker, is muy caliente. (Enjoy your holiday Trish.)
2. Seriously, can we tackle in the open field PLEASE???
3. The Buffalo Bills are 6-3 in one-score games!!
4. BEEEEEASEEE!!!
5. Shaq dunked on another former team.
6. All four of Buffalo’s TDs went to TEs and RBs. Kenny D is cooking with gas now.
7. Shoutout to the Bills Equipment Staff for locating Quintin Morris’ (first NFL) TD ball 👏.
8. Not Bills related, but way to go Detroit!
9. Also, way to go Pats 🤣🤣🤣.
10. Winston is still a good boi!!

Featured Image: AP Photo/Adrian Kraus