Tua Tagovailoa, Mike McDaniel Say Dolphins Can't View Loss to Bills as 'Moral' Victory

Despite putting forth a good effort on a short week, the Miami Dolphins aren't taking any comfort in how they played in Thursday's 31-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

After the game, both head coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa told reporters they aren't looking at this as any sort of "moral" victory for the team.

"No moral victories, that's for sure," Tagovailoa said. "There's definitely some things that we can take away that are good and up to par with our standard of how we operate within our offense. ... Never good to lose, regardless of how a certain individual may have felt they performed. This is a team sport. We win together, we lose together."

McDaniel noted he's "never proud of a loss" and he refuses to take "moral victories."

Even though there's a lot of pessimism outside of the organization about where the Dolphins are at, Tyreek Hill expressed optimism that they can turn things around while acknowledging the urgency that comes with a 0-3 start.

"Being 0-3, we've got to win right now," Hill said. "We've got to find it sooner than later. I feel like this is a good start. I feel like we did something a lot of people didn't expect us to do, which is play a close game in Buffalo, against Buffalo, so we're moving in the right direction right now. So it's all positive right now."

The final score shows a 10-point loss, but the game was much closer than that. Miami tied things at 21 with Hill's touchdown catch with 12:18 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Miami's defense got a stop on the ensuing possession, but Zach Sieler was flagged for roughing the kicker on Cameron Johnston's punt to give Buffalo a fresh set of downs.

The Bills took advantage of that mistake when Khalil Shakir caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen. Miami got near the red zone its next possession before Tagovailoa was picked off by Terrel Bernard.

Stopping the run remains the biggest issue for the Dolphins. They have allowed more than 120 yards on the ground in each of their first three games. Tagovailoa has been held under 150 passing yards twice in three games. His four interceptions are tied with Geno Smith for the most in the NFL.

One reason to be optimistic, at least in the short term, is that the schedule does lighten up for the next two weeks. The Dolphins will host the New York Jets on Monday Night Football in Week 4, followed by a road game against the Carolina Panthers in Week 5.

If there is a point where the Dolphins are going to turn things around this season, it will start with this upcoming two-game stretch.