Buffalo’s matchup with the Miami Dolphins followed the same pattern as every other game they’ve played in 2013. It was a close game that went down to the wire, and the young Bills seemed to be finding another way to lose, which has definitely been their pattern in road contests this year. They started out great, jumping out to a 14-0 lead with a pick-six interception return for a touchdown by rookie Nickell Robey and putting together a nice drive topped off by a short Fred Jackson TD run. Then they reverted to the mistake-prone outfit they’ve been at times this year – the offense sputtered, while the defense allowed Miami QB Ryan Tannehill to recover from 2 early picks to engineer 3 touchdown drives, erasing the Bills’ early lead. Suddenly, the negative patterns for the defense were there again. Exhibit A: Miami, which has struggled to run the ball with any effectiveness all year, started gashing the Bills’ defense on the ground. Exhibit B: Tannehill, on course to set an NFL record for a quarterback being sacked in a season, hadn’t been touched much all day.
Then as the game progressed deeper into the second half, Buffalo seemed collectively determined to rewrite the script. Fill-in quarterback Thad Lewis put together a couple of drives that resulted in field goals, completing some timely third down throws to keep those drives alive. Stevie Johnson, playing at less than 100% with a back injury, got a couple of those first downs with some hard running after the catch. Jackson, playing hurt, gutted out some crucial runs. The defense tightened up and began both stopping the run and pressuring Tannehill. With the game on the line, the unit’s big money player, Mario Williams, made a big-money play when he forced the Dolphin QB to fumble, which was recovered by Kyle Williams. That play set up what proved to be the winning points, as ex-Dolphin Dan Carpenter booted his third field goal of the game to put his team ahead. Still, Miami had a chance to come back, and it came down to a final-play Hail Mary. The play never had a chance, as three Bill defenders were there to make sure there were no home-team heroics. It was encouraging to see Buffalo applying pressure to Tannehill on that final drive, rather than sitting back hoping to keep Miami out of range for the winning field goal. They forced the issue instead, and the result was mostly errant throws by the Dolphin QB.
So the Bills’ first road win of 2013 was certainly a satisfying one, against a division rival on a day when the division leader, New England, lost in overtime to the Jets. The AFC East standings are now a lot tighter, and the win should give Buffalo some confidence going into another grueling road contest next week at New Orleans.