Dolphins Stunner Over Bills: Immediate reactions

Wow. I’m still absolutely shocked. How did the Dolphins pull that one off?

In the first half, the Dolphins played shut-down defense, allowing just 83 total yards of offense while putting up 16 points of their own. After an early Tua interception that seemed like a bad omen for the way the rest of the game was going to play out, he quickly recovered and finished the half with two touchdown passes. The offense looked as good as it has all season (besides the game against the Falcons), but it was the defense that really showed up. More than just pitching a shutout in the first half, they showed real fight — tackling with authority, helping each other out, forcing turnovers, and playing clean, disciplined football for the most part.

In the second half, the Bills kept scaring me by driving down the field and getting close to crawling back, which made me think, “Oh no. This is where the fun ends, and the Dolphins realize they’re the Dolphins, and the Bills realize they’re the Bills.” But whenever they got close, the Dolphins found a way to stop them.

In the third quarter, with the score still 16–0, the Bills drove all the way down the field and were near the end zone. Remember, 16–0 is still only a two-possession game, so as badly as the Bills were playing, they were just one score away from making it a one-score game. But Josh Allen made a bad throw and Melifonwu was right there to secure it for an interception. That’s when I started to believe the Dolphins might actually pull off the stunner.

The rest of the way can be summed up in two words: De’Von Achane. He took over the game and prevented the Bills from having a chance to climb back. Josh Allen made another costly mistake trying too hard to get extra yardage on a 3rd-and-1, and the Dolphins made him pay. That’s when I realized the Bills were not coming back- no matter how much my skeptical Dolphins-brain was screaming that they’d still find a way to lose.

I’m so happy to have been completely wrong about my prediction (Bills win 37–17). And although this does lower the Dolphins’ draft position — which I believe is very important for their future — if there was one game I could have circled on the remaining schedule to get the Dolphins a win, it absolutely would have been this one.

Tua didn’t always look his best today, making some careless mistakes that gave the Bills more chances to come back, but the Dolphins still won handily despite that. He was also a huge part of their first-half success after that rough opening drive, so credit to him.

More on this tomorrow. I’m still not even sure I’m not dreaming…