Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins: Full Report Card Grades for Miami
The Miami Dolphins scored a much-needed victory on Thursday Night Football, defeating the Buffalo Bills 22-9 in perhaps the biggest must-win game of the season.
They started off fast, then gave up momentum and couldn't seem to gain it back for a good quarter and a half thanks to a Ryan Tannehill fumble when the score was tied at 3-3 early in the second quarter.
The Bills would outscore Miami 6-0 in that time, failing to capitalize.
Midway through the third quarter, the Dolphins would answer a Bills field goal with a touchdown, taking a 10-9 lead. This would be followed by a safety, and then on Miami's next offensive drive (following a Jarvis Landry fumble on the free kick and missed Dan Carpenter field goal), the Dolphins would add another touchdown.
One more field goal late in the fourth quarter and the Dolphins would wind up with the victory, all while the defense clamped down on the Bills, allowing two yards rushing in the second half and shutting down every passing lane Buffalo exploited in the first half.
For a plethora of reasons the Miami Dolphins have to feel nothing but satisfied by their 22-9 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
The first reason is easy: It's a victory. Secondly, it's a victory over a division rival.
There's more to that, though, as they scored a victory over a division rival that they have had issues defeating. Going into Thursday night's contest, the Bills had won the last three games between the two teams, as well as four out of the last five.
Buffalo also helped to keep Miami out of the playoffs in 2013. This time around, Miami's victory over the Bills could keep Buffalo out of the postseason.
Most importantly, Miami's at 6-4 with its playoffs hopes very alive and well. A 4-2 finish to the season gets the team in.
Here are the grades for Miami's victory over the Bills, one that the Dolphins will have plenty of time to enjoy with a 10-day break coming up.
Quarterback
1 of 10
It's a bit difficult to assess Tannehill's performance.
He attempted the deep ball a few times and failed, throwing it out of bounds on a connection to Mike Wallace in the second quarter. Had he thrown it toward the hashmark instead, Wallace catches the pass in stride and scores a touchdown.
His fumble in the red zone left a lingering malaise around the Dolphins offense that seemed to last for a good quarter and a half as well. The defense seemed to suffer from it as well, as the momentum was in Buffalo's favor during that time.
That's the bad of Tannehill—now for the good.
Tannehill had his best game against the Bills in his career.
He completed 26 of 34 passes for 240 yards, two touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 114.8.
Tannehill was efficient using his short passing game. He led his receivers well and spread the ball around, with eight receivers recording at least two receptions.
Had it not been for the fumble or deep-ball miscues, it's another A+ game for Tannehill. However, those mistakes made me mark his performance down lower than it should've been.
Grade: B
Running Backs
2 of 10
The Dolphins usually get a good average in rushing yards against the Bills, yet they don't seem to run the ball often.
Thursday night was a different story, as the Dolphins ran the ball 24 times, gaining 125 yards.
Lamar Miller, who still has a separated shoulder, ran for 86 yards on 15 carries while catching two passes for 12 yards.
Daniel Thomas contributed 23 yards in five carries, while Damien Williams had one of the best plays of the game: a one-handed catch on 3rd-and-24 in the first quarter that gave Miami a fresh set of downs in the red zone.
Great performance by an oft-overlooked unit. The Dolphins win when they use their running backs well, which they did Thursday night.
Grade: A
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
3 of 10
I was impressed with Miami's receivers.
With the Dolphins' game plan relying on short passes, it was on them to get the yards after the catch, and they delivered.
Brian Hartline even delivered YAC, which is something you never see this season. One of the biggest plays of the game was a 31-yard catch-and-run where Hartline gained an extra 24 yards after the catch, setting Miami up deep in Buffalo territory.
Also outstanding were Jarvis Landry, Charles Clay and Wallace. No tremendously huge plays, but they caught the passes headed toward them, converted first downs and kept the ball moving.
Grade: A
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
You're going to look at five sacks and think that the offensive line was terrible.
You couldn't be further from the truth. Keep in mind that 3.5 of those sacks came courtesy of Mario Williams on Dallas Thomas, but more importantly, ask the quarterback who's responsible for those sacks.
"Ryan Tannehill said most of his sacks vs the Bills happened because his receivers weren't winning and he had to eat it.
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) November 14, 2014"
"Tannehill: "it's not just the offensive line giving up five sacks, it's me getting the ball out of my hands and other guys blocking ..."
— Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) November 14, 2014"
What I did see was the Dolphins offensive line making holes for the running backs. I also saw the line giving Tannehill time to complete his passes.
Overall, I thought it played well considering the fact that the Dolphins have designed a new offensive line in three days.
Grade: B+
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The Bills tried to take Miami's defensive line away throughout the game with quick passes.
In the first half, it worked, as Buffalo moved down the field with precision, failing only to get into the end zone.
This ended in the second half, as Miami's defensive line was able to penetrate the Bills backfield. Runs by Bryce Brown and Boobie Dixon were stopped in their tracks, while Kyle Orton didn't have as much time as he did in the first half.
Here's an interesting stat: Miami allowed 53 rushing yards in the first half.
The total rushing yards allowed for the game: 54.
The Dolphins only got two sacks (and forced an intentional grounding penalty that led to a safety), but the effort was more than enough.
It won't get its usual high mark, but I'm sure the defensive line is content with the grade.
Grade: A-
Linebackers
6 of 10
The Bills offense was effective in Week 2 by picking on Miami's linebackers.
They tried the same thing on Thursday, and it didn't work as well.
While the Bills were able to complete short passes, they never seemed to get past Miami's linebackers.
The linebackers were also responsible for the run game getting stuffed during the second half.
Despite being picked on throughout the game, Miami's linebackers were great in this game, and a big reason why the Bills could only score three field goals.
Grade: A
Secondary
7 of 10
Miami's secondary wasn't tested too much, and most of its first-half failures came as a result of scheme.
I wanted to see the Dolphins play more aggressively, but instead they gave Buffalo's receivers a five-to-10-yard cushion.
It did get better in the second half, as Miami's pass rush went into its second gear and forced Orton to make bad throws. At least one of them should've been intercepted by Louis Delmas in the fourth quarter, but Delmas seemed more interested in the ensuing touchdown that would've been the result than catching ball, thus leading to him dropping the pass.
The two best players on the unit were Brent Grimes and Reshad Jones. Grimes shadowed Sammy Watkins all evening, and Watkins would end the night with three catches for 32 yards.
The only real thing to complain about was Chris Hogan, who caught seven passes for 74 yards. But keep in mind, that was more of a schematic issue, as he didn't get much after said catches. For that, I'd say Jamar Taylor and Jimmy Wilson (who both covered Hogan all evening) did their job and contained him.
Grade: B+
Special Teams
8 of 10
Only one complaint with this unit.
Jarvis Landry's fumble. He did make up for the play on offense and luckily it didn't hurt the Dolphins (the Bills would have to settle for a field-goal attempt missed by Carpenter), but you just don't want to see any turnovers.
It hurt more that it occurred right after Miami recorded a safety and had the momentum completely on its side.
Everyone else and every other special teams play worked out well. Caleb Sturgis was 2-of-2 on field goals with a long of 38, while Brandon Fields landed two punts inside the 20 and averaged 41 yards per punt.
Despite that, the fumble sticks out.
Grade: B+
Coaching
9 of 10
Short week, plenty of controversy and a makeshift offensive line.
Result: a 13-point victory.
The first half looked poor on the scoreboard, but Miami's first two drives actually started off very well. It's a shame that a Tannehill fumble meant that only three points could come from those first two drives, drives that featured great play-calling.
The play-calling itself was good on offense until the fourth quarter, on a drive where Miami led by 10 and was in Buffalo territory with less than six minutes left. On 2nd-and-short (and 3rd-and-short), the decision was to pass the ball, leading to a complete pass that failed to get the first down and a sack that took the Dolphins out of field-goal range.
I run it there if for no other reason it keeps the clock moving, but then again, that result occurred even with the plays called.
As for the defense, I do wish that the Dolphins secondary would've pressed more, but it did contain the receivers in the first half. With the pass rush gaining some headway in the second half, the secondary's play improved as well.
Once again, this was a short week, with some controversy from outside and a makeshift offensive line.
Good job coaching overall.
Grade: A-
Final Grades
10 of 10| Position Unit | Grade |
| Quarterback | B |
| Running Backs | A |
| Wide Receivers and Tight Ends | A |
| Offensive Line | B+ |
| Defensive Line | A- |
| Linebackers | A |
| Secondary | B+ |
| Special Teams | B+ |
| Coaching | A- |
| Final Grade | A- |
This was a great second-half performance by the Dolphins, and the first-half performance really wasn't as bad as it looked.
Two big first-half mistakes killed drives (a holding penalty on Shelley Smith on the first drive and Tannehill's fumble on the second), while in their other first-half drive they attempted to go deep but couldn't get that connection going.
The defense would bend and not break, which it seems to do often in the first half before turning it on in the second half.
This team is fantastic at making second-half adjustments, and on Thursday evening, it made the right ones, resulting in outscoring the Bills 19-3 in the second half.
For the Dolphins, they get a nice break, but it doesn't get any easier next week, as they travel to Denver to face the Broncos.
Statistics courtesy of NFL.com.
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