No one circles the wagon like the Buffalo Bills.
From the 11 seed to the number two seed, what a climb by the Bills, winning the last five games of the regular season, including beating the Miami Dolphins on the road 21-14 to become AFC East champions.
Bills are AFC East champions for the fourth straight season and the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs.
Josh Allen could have been better, with three turnovers in Miami territory. Still, he finished with 359 yards and two touchdown passes for the Bills, who didn’t clinch a playoff berth until Tennessee beat Jacksonville earlier Sunday. Buffalo will host seventh-seeded Pittsburgh in the wild-card round next Sunday.
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“That is the microcosm of our season. Didn’t play the best ball early on, this team didn’t flinch. I am so proud on how resilient this team is, Allen said. “This solidifies the fact that we have a home game next week. We are in the playoffs. If you told me the beginning of the year we are 11-6, AFC East Champs, two seed playing at home, sign me up.”
The Bills were 5-5 in mid-November and faced long odds to make the playoffs. They fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey after a Week 10 collapse against Denver. From there, they won six of seven — including five straight to close the season.
“It is the best group I have been a part of in terms of togetherness,” Allen added. “6-6, a lot of people counted us out, but here we are.”
Allen is now 11-2 against the Dolphins, including the playoffs. He has 13 straight games with multiple touchdown passes, the longest streak against one opponent.
“Back against the wall, this team, we have been there before. I wish it did not have to come down to plays like that at the end,” Allen said. “I am fortunate enough to have the guys around me to make those types of plays.”
The Bills dominated time of possession and outgained Miami by nearly 200 yards.
Miami, which made the playoffs with its Week 16 win over Dallas, fell to the sixth seed and will play at AFC West champion Kansas City on Saturday night.
Dolphins had one last chance, but Taylor Rapp intercepted Tua Tagovailoa on a pass intended for Chase Claypool with 1:13 left.
Dolphins had their chance at the no.2 seed and hosting a playoff game. The last time they hosted a playoff game was 1992.
“No one is going to feel sorry for us. There are a lot of other teams that have injuries and are going through tough deals,” Tagovailoa said. “We are not making any excuses; we have to come back next week and be ready.”
Tagovailoa became the passing leader in the NFL this season (4,624). He became the first Dolphin player to lead the league in passing yards since Dan Marino in 1992 (4,116).
Tagovailoa played his first entire NFL season. At one point in the offseason, he considered retiring after suffering two concussions last season.
“It is a new season. As hard as it is, it is why you have so much joy in the game; when you come out the right side, there is nothing like it,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said. “Then the polar opposite when you let opportunities go by the waist side. We don’t have time to sulk; this is what happens in football.”
Dolphins won the AFC East in 2008 but have yet to win a playoff game since 2000.
It has been a remarkable regular season for Dolphins milestones.
The Dolphins finished the season with the NFL’s top passing offense, averaging 265.5 yards per game. It is the first time since 1993 (272.1) that the Dolphins ranked first in passing.
With 108 rushing yards tonight, the Dolphins finished the season with 2,308 rushing yards as a team. It is the first time since 2002 that the Dolphins have rushed for more than 2,300 yards in a season.
Dolphins Tyreek Hill finished the night with seven receptions for 82 yards (11.7 avg.) and one touchdown. His 82 yards gave him 1,799 for the season, which led the NFL. He is the first Dolphins player to lead the league in receiving yards in an entire season.
Though the Dolphins are playoff-bound, this team was hit hard by injuries: Bradley Chubb, Jaelen Phillips, Connor Williams, and Xavien Howard, to name a few. Some of the best players on this team did not play in the final game, impacting them against the Bills. This differs from the Dolphins team that played their best football a month ago. Injuries have wrecked the Dolphins.
The good thing about the playoffs is that everyone is zero and zero.
Hill is the NFL’s leading receiver, the first Dolphin player to achieve that. Hill has fought an ankle injury that bothered him for the past three weeks. His home caught on fire leading up to the game, and he was displaced in the middle of the week before a big game. Credit goes to Hill and the entire Dolphins team; they have battled through adversity.
Bills have been unbeatable the last couple of weeks. Allen is playing like the Madden video game cover guy for a reason. He was influential in the final game of the season.
The Dolphins made it a competitive game and came down to the last drive. It was not a blowout, but they have to play even better next week in Kansas City, hoping for fair weather to stand a chance.
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