American football team Buffalo Bills win the American Football Conference Eastern Division (commonly known as AFL East) with a strong second half performance, although their initial position looked roughed.
The Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins with a scoreline of 21-14 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on 7 January, to not only win the division, but also guarantee the No. 2 seed in the AFC.
Both of these teams had a fairly awkward start as Josh Allen and Tua Tagovailoa traded picks on the first two possessions. On Buffalo’s second drive of the game, Allen again had a pick, this time inside the end zone, which prevented the Bills from having a chance to score.
Miami drove 80 yards down the field to utilize the fumble, and rookie running back for the Dolphins, De’Von Achane, scored the first touchdown of the game with a 25-yard touchdown run.
The teams then exchanged two more scoring drives prior to halftime, and when the Bills advanced the ball to the Miami 11-yard line in the final seconds, it appeared as though they would at least narrow the Dolphins’ advantage of 14–7.
Allen, however, made the poor choice to throw over the middle of the field, and they failed to get to the line in time before the first half’s clock ran out, preventing another chance for a score.
After a scoreless third quarter and an apparent dramatic swing in momentum in favor of Miami due to an Allen fumble just beyond the red zone, the second half became quite uneventful.
In the first few minutes of the fourth quarter however, Buffalo’s defense forced a punt, and return specialist Deonte Harty fielded it from his 5-yard line and carried it 95 yards to the house to tie the score at 14.
The Dolphins had a chance to tie the game after a botched fourth-and-1 from the Miami 37-yard line, and they got the ball as far as the Buffalo 40, but Taylor Rapp picked off Tagovailoa to drive the Bills toward the division title for the fourth consecutive season.
FINAL: The @BuffaloBills win the game and win the AFC East! #BUFvsMIA pic.twitter.com/m9JbB5iJz6
— NFL (@NFL) January 8, 2024
An Outstanding Comeback
After 30 of 38 passes for 359 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions, Allen’s night came to an end with a celebration with his team. Among receivers, Khalil Shakir had the most with 105 yards on six catches and Tagovailoa, in the meantime, finished 17 of 27 passes for 173 yards, two interceptions, and a touchdown.
Josh Allen is often regarded as NFL current generation’s one of the best quarterbacks, and his performance in the final stages of Sunday’s game helped prove that he is really good at the game. During the offense’s fourth-quarter touchdown drive, which gave them a lead over Miami, Allen’s performance was outstanding as he accounted for five yards on the ground and completed all five of his throws for 68 yards during the drive.
He also passed Dawson Knox the game-winning touchdown, while simultaneously managing to pull all the correct moves, as he used his legs to stop the clock and compel the Dolphins to use their timeouts, even after that drive.
Over the course of the remaining two quarters, the Buffalo defense also significantly improved and managed to completely shut out the Dolphins, even though they are regarded as one of the league’s top second-half scoring teams.
However, most significantly for the Bills, Deonte Harty’s 95-yard punt return was the turning point they needed to push their team to victory. It not only tied the score at 14, but it turned the tide entirely in Buffalo’s advantage.
Thanks in part to Dolphins linebacker Cameron Goode, who was carted off following the play, Harty was largely unharmed on the return, as Goode effectively blocked Alec Ingold and created a clean path for Harty.
Dawson Knox gives the Bills the lead!
📺: #BUFvsMIA on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/GqJJdyI3EW pic.twitter.com/5EEl5dHWqE— NFL (@NFL) January 8, 2024
What’s Next for Bills and Dolphins
On the other hand, Miami failed to perform when it was expected to play offensive. For the first time this season, the Dolphins punted on four straight possessions in the second half, but then, during the four-possession run, Buffalo had three thee-and-outs and one punt return for a 95-yard touchdown, which set off Buffalo’s ultimate comeback and victory.
In the second half, the Dolphins managed just 47 yards of total offense, which is painfully low even considering that they were missing some important players for this game, such as Jaylen Waddle and Raheem Moster.
The Bills will now return to Highmark Stadium as the conference’s second seed and take on the Pittsburgh Steelers for the NFL Wild Card Round on Sunday, 14 January 2024. The Dolphins, on the other hand, fall to the sixth seed and will play the defending Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, 13 January, at Arrowhead Stadium.
