Buffalo Bills continue dominance of Miami Dolphins with shutout victory

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Perhaps it’s because many have such high expectations for the Buffalo Bills offense after their otherworldly performance in 2020 that on a day when they scored five touchdowns and won in blowout fashion, we can say Josh Allen and company sure didn’t look very good.

But that’s where things are in 2021 with the Bills. They set the bar impossibly high last season, and the natural inclination is to compare this group to last year’s, which is probably unfair.

Regardless, despite some obvious struggles for large swatches, the Bills still outclassed the Miami Dolphins 35-0 on a hot, soupy and sometimes soggy Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium.

With their sixth straight victory over the Dolphins, it ties Buffalo’s longest winning streak in the rivalry. The Bills swept the season series three straight years from 1987-89 for the previous six-game binge. The Dolphins, of course, say hold my beer on any of that as they won 20 in a row in the 1970s.

This coming week will not be a good one in the film room for the Dolphins as they made enough mistakes in this game to cover a month. They had two turnovers plus turned the ball over on downs three times; there were dropped passes and missed assignments everywhere on both sides of the ball; they allowed quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Jacoby Brissett to be sacked six times; and they had nearly 100 yards in penalties.

For Buffalo, it was a defensive performance that should be framed. They had the Dolphins’ weak offensive line in turmoil, and it prevented Miami from mounting any type of serious threat. And when the Dolphins did manage to get close to the goal line, either the Bills stopped them or they self-destructed.

In the end, Miami made just 13 first downs and gained 216 yards, an average of 3.1 yards per play.

The Bills could not have scripted a better start to this game, especially in the wake of last week’s disappointing loss to the Steelers.

They won the coin toss and deferred, sacked Tagovailoa on two of the first three plays to force a punt, and then on their second offensive play, Devin Singletary ripped up the middle for a 46-yard touchdown.

Miami’s next possession ended with A.J. Epenesa driving Tagovailoa into the dirt after as he threw errantly on fourth-and-2, giving the Bills possession at their own 48, and sending Tagovailoa to the locker room for the rest of the day with injured ribs.

Allen immediately hit Emmanuel Sanders with a pretty 35-yard pass as the receiver beat cornerback Byron Jones, putting the ball at the 6, and eventually Allen found Stefon Diggs for a five-yard TD and a 14-0 lead.

And that was the end of the Buffalo offense in the first half. The Dolphins defense became impenetrable, and it was only because of the repeated failures of their offense – being led by backup Brissett – that allowed Buffalo to remain in front.

Brissett’s first three series ended with a three-and-out punt, an interception by Levi Wallace, and a fumble by Jakeem Grant that was forced by Taron Johnson and recovered by Matt Milano at the Bills 11.

With all that good fortune, the Bills did absolutely nothing. In fact, Allen was picked off five snaps later by Xavien Howard, but was bailed out when the Bills’ Dane Jackson stopped Malcolm Brown on a fourth-and-2 play.

After gaining 98 net yards on their first two possessions, the Bills managed just 38 on their next six before halftime, the last ending when Tyler Bass was wide right on a 53-yard field goal attempt.

Ugly, ugly, ugly. And still, a 14-0 lead.

Needless to say, the Bills needed a good drive coming out of halftime, and to their credit, they got it. Allen returned to looking like the guy we saw last season. He completed five of seven passes for 56 yards, the last two being a 7-yarder to Diggs to convert a third-and-6, and then an 8-yard TD pass to a sliding Dawson Knox.

Just like that, all of the struggles of the first 30 minutes were washed away, and the Bills continually pulled away the rest of the day. Allen finished 17 of 33 for 179 yards.

If there was any chance of a miracle Miami comeback, it essentially died with just under four minutes to go in the third quarter. On a fourth-and-2 play from their own 41, the Dolphins had to go for it and they failed as Brissett’s pass to Preston Williams was broken up by Taron Johnson.

Buffalo proceeded to use 11 plays to stretch the lead to 28-0 when Zack Moss – who lost a fumble in the first half – scored on a tough 7-yard run around left end.

Finally, the Bills put the exclamation point on the victory with a 62-yard drive in the fourth quarter capped by a 1-yard plunge by Moss.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills score shutout win over Miami Dolphins