NFL
NFL Wild Card: What happened in the last regular season game between Dolphins and Bills?
As the snow started to fall at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills were in their natural habitat as they battled the warm-weather Miami Dolphins.
Allen led touchdown drives on the last two possessions for the AFC’s best Bills (11-3), finished off by Tyler Bass’s 25-yard field goal as time expired, to pull Buffalo out of an eight-point hole and to a 32-29 win on Saturday night.
Under Sean McDermott, the Bills have made the playoffs for the fourth year in a row and five times in six seasons overall
Bass, receiver Stefon Diggs, and left lineman Dion Dawkins dived headfirst and tumbled on their chests on the snow-slickened field to celebrate the game-winning field goal in front of a snowball-throwing crowd.
Poyer replied, “Almost like it was all intended to happen, right?” in reference to the onset of a lake effect snowfall that had been predicted for quite some time. So Josh shuts down the other team’s offense as the snow falls.
Allen dismissed Mother Nature’s appearance as a simple coincidence between these two events. Instead, he gave credit to his teammates for stepping up, particularly when the offense stalled in the third quarter
“We were not where we wanted to be at the end of the third quarter,” Allen said. “Still, I believed that our defense, particularly in the second half, and T-Bass in the last minutes, performed outstandingly.”
With 9:02 remaining, Allen completed a 5-yard throw to Dawson Knox and then jumped over the line for the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 29. Allen fumbled the ball, but a video check indicated that he had already crossed the goal line.
Allen used up the remaining 5:56 as he directed a 15-play, 86-yard drive to set up Bass’ field goal
With four more passing touchdowns and one more on the receiving end, Allen tied former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino for the most by an NFL player in the first five seasons of his career with a total of 171.
Through this victory, Buffalo has extended its lead over Miami in the AFC East to three games, having won five games in a row and three in as many weeks.
You have no chance of winning the Super Bowl if your team doesn’t reach the playoffs. With the help of tiebreakers, Allen’s squad has a good chance to finish first in the American Football Conference (AFC) and earn a trip to the Super Bowl.
The 8-6 Dolphins had been the AFC’s second-best team and the sixth seed heading into the weekend. Instead, they’ve dropped three in a row, thus ending their playoff hopes for the first time since 2016.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel stated his squad made a strong effort despite facing a formidable opponent. “We never made the weather a factor in our games, even though I know that many people would want to.”
The weather was a far cry from the Dolphins’ 21-19 victory against the Bills in Miami in September when the temperature was a balmy 89.
This time, the Bills took advantage of playing at home to salvage a game they almost lost.