It seems so long ago — before Sunday’s kickoff — the thought was the Dolphins could grab an early hold on the AFC East.
That thought ended in the ugliest first quarter you could script. Tua Tagovailoa was sacked on two of the game’s first three plays — then knocked out of the game on the second possession. Buffalo scored on a 12-second possession.
It was, 14-0, at the end of the quarter, and while the Dolphins had some chances to close it before half, that didn’t matter. This 35-0 Buffalo win was an emphatic pronouncement about where the teams are.
1. Play of the game: Tua is sacked by the Bills’ A.J. Epenesa on the Dolphins’ second possession. He was sacked twice on the opening series, was under pressure from a full-out Bills blitz most plays — but on this play Epenesa simply beat right tackle Jesse Davis. He sprinted right by him. Tua, in the shotgun formation, barely got it away for an incompletion before being planted into the ground. He tried to walk off the field before going down on it for a few minutes. He walked gingerly to the sideline, was put in a cart and driven under the tunnel. It was later reported the X-rays on his ribs were negative, but he didn’t return to the game. Game stats: One of four passing for 13 yards.
2. Davis gave up the sack to Tua, hurt his knee and was knocked out of the game — and he might not have had the worst game by the offensive lineman. We’re going to have to go to a judging panel on this one. Left tackle Austin Jackson was beat so repeatedly, it was almost notable when he did a good job. Right guard Robert Hunt had a false start on third-and-1 and another bad penalty. Let’s start here, too: Could a defense show no respect for the Dolphins offense any more than Buffalo did? They lined up seven and eight players on the line of scrimmage and blitzed repeatedly in saying the Dolphins line and Tua couldn’t pick them up or make them pay for it. The Dolphins had no scheme to counter this. On the game’s first possession, the Dolphins line allowed two corner blitzes to come free to sack Tua. That preceded Espensa’s sprint by Davis that took Tua out of the game. OK, that’s not just the line — it’s Buffalo saying they’re going to take advantage of the Dolphins playing non-blocking-tight end Mike Gesicki and small-ish running back Myles Gaskin. But Dolphins quarterbacks were sacked four times in the first half (three on Tua). I could go on and on here but this point has run too long so …
3. … let’s continue it into the third point with this: The running game is non-existent. The Dolphins ran 20 times for 71 yards on Sunday before effectively having to abandon it down, 21-0. That’s a 3.6-yard average. They ran 23 times for 74 yards (3.2-yard average) in New England. It’s just two games, but they’re two glaring games. You need to pass to win in today’s NFL. But you can help the pass with some runs. Is it the draft picks of general manager Chris Grier? Is it the fourth offensive line coach in Flores’ three years (the importance of which I wrote on earlier this summer)? Everything looks wrong on days like this.
4. Here’s what you can count on with the Dolphins: The defense. That might sound odd considering the score. They gave up a ridiculously fast touchdown — two plays, 12 seconds — on Singletary’s 46-yard touchdown at the game’s start. But QB Josh Allen didn’t have much of a day, the Bills had six first downs at half and the defense kept the game alive with two first-half turnovers (Xavien Howard interception and Jerome Baker forcing a fumble that Jevon Holland recovered). The offense did nothing with them. Sure, things got out of hand in the second half. But this is a defense that comes to play every Sunday.
5. That great Dolphins receiving corps? Wasn’t that an offseason theme? Well, here was a sequence early in the second quarter when they were down, 14-0, and trying to climb back into the day:
1- and-10 at the 32: DeVante Parker jumps for and has a touchdown catch go through his hands
2-6-11: Albert Wilson drops a first down.
3-6-11: Jakeem Grant catches a 5-yard pass, has the ball knocked out by Buffalo cornerback Taron Johnson and it’s recovered by Buffalo’s Matt Milano.
Sorry, great receiving corps don’t have sequences like that.
6. Flores opted to go for a league-low eight fourth-downs in 2020. That had to be in part because of the lack of a big back or physical offensive line. He went for three fourth-and-twos downs on Sunday and converted none. The first, an incomplete pass, resulted in Tua’s injury. The second came midway through the second quarter at the Bills 16-yard line and Buffalo leading, 14-0. Malcom Brown was stopped on a good tackle by cornerback Dane Johnson. QB Jacoby Brissett threw incomplete in the third quarter on the third attempt. I have no problem going for it in those situations. You just wonder if Flores will decide, as he did last year, this isn’t a good fourth-and-short team.
7. So Grant goes off with a bad ankle, Jaylen Waddle moves into the punt returning. First punt: Waddle muffs it and Buffalo recovers at the Dolphins 42 with 29 seconds left in the half. That resulted in a 53-yard field goal attempt hat Buffalo’s Tyler Bass pushed wide. No blood. But it figured into a sloppy and expensive first half.
8. Of course Howard had a first-half interception. You’ve come to expect it from him. He has two turnovers in two games (a game-saving forced fumble and recovery at New England). That goes with last season’s league-leading 10 interceptions. He also matched up against Buffalo’s great WR Stefan Diggs, who had two catches for 12 yards in the first half. Sure, one was a 7-yard TD in which Howard lost his shoe. The interception came in covering Diggs, too. All told, a great cornerback beat a great receiver and quarterback. All fodder as we keep tabs on Defensive Player of the Year contenders.
9. A Sunday review of the AFC East quarterbacks of the future (I was planning this before Tua was knocked out early):
1. Buffalo’s Josh Allen: Completed 17 of 33 passes for 179 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
2. New England’s Mac Jones: Completed 22 of 30 for 186 yards in 25-6 win against New York Jets.
3. Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa: 1 for 4, 13 yards (sacked three times).
4. Jets’ Zach Wilson: Completed 19 of 33 for 210 yards and four interceptions (first two passes were intercepted).
10. Next week: Dolphins at Vegas. The Raiders are 2-0 after winning against Baltimore, and at Pittsburgh on Sunday. Expect Vegas to blitz just like the Bills did. Once it works, other teams will keep trying it. The last meeting in 2020 resulted in one of the fun finishes in Dolphins history with Ryan Fitzpatrick having his head twisted one way and completing a miracle pass to Zach Hollins to fuel the game-winning drive.
