Dolphins Defense Delivers With Game on the Line

The Miami Dolphins ended a seven-game losing streak against the division rival Buffalo Bills on Sunday after their defense stepped up with two huge stops of the Bills offense led by star quarterback Josh Allen.

“It was exhilarating, man,” safety Jevon Holland said about stopping the Bills twice to end the game. “That’s football. It’s why we play. It’s awesome. I was having a blast, fans out there loving it. It was great.”

Miami’s defense gave up 497 total yards in its 21-19 win Sunday, the most the Dolphins have given up in a victory since 2016 when they gave up 587 while defeating the Buffalo Bills, 34-31, in overtime.

On this day, though, when the Dolphins needed to get stops late in the game, they got the job done.

THE DOLPHINS' BIG FOURTH QUARTER

Their first big stop came on a drive that Buffalo began with just more than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Miami was leading 21-17 after running back Chase Edmonds had scored a go-ahead touchdown the previous drive.

Allen and the Bills drove 73 yards down the field in 8 minutes and 19 seconds with explosive plays in the passing game from running backs Devin Singletary and Zack Moss, setting up a goal-to-go situation.

It looked like Buffalo was going to retake the lead, but Miami’s defense made four straight stops. First and second down were runs stopped by linebacker Elandon Roberts, and then cornerback Xavien Howard almost secured a diving interception on third down but didn’t come down with it.

On fourth down, Allen had wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie open near the right pylon against cornerback Nik Needham, but pressure up the middle hurried him and his throw was well short, resulting in a turnover on downs.

"It was just gritty," defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said. "We needed all four downs to stop them, and we did just that. We stepped up as a defense. When our best was required, we stepped up. It was just awesome."

The defense’s second stop came with an assist from punter Thomas Morstead. Morstead hit a 74-yard free kick right after he kicked the ball into wide receiver Trent Sherfield’s back, while pinned in his own end zone, resulting in a safety.

The safety pulled the Bills within two, but Morestead’s kick forced Buffalo to start at its own 23 with 1:33 remaining and zero timeouts. This meant the Bills would have to drive roughly 40 yards for a realistic attempt at a game-winning field goal.

THE DOLPHINS' FINAL STOP

The drive started with a pass breakup by Holland, who closed down a deep zone window, preventing the Bills from starting with an explosive play.

Buffalo got near field goal range after Allen hit wide receiver Gabriel Davis for 18 yards and tight end Quintin Morris for 7 yards.

However, with 22 seconds remaining, Buffalo offensive lineman David Quessenberry was called for holding Emmanuel Ogbah, which pulled the Bills farther out of field goal range.

On the next play, Allen took some time off the clock before dumping the ball to McKenzie, who avoided a couple of Dolphins defenders before Melvin Ingram and  Ogbah dragged him down.

The most important part of the play was that Ingram got McKenzie down in bounds. Buffalo couldn’t get to the line in time for a spike or a game-winning field goal attempt, cementing Miami’s win.

"You can’t tell me nothing bad about Melvin Ingram ever in life," Wilkins said. "After seeing what he did on the last play, he has the ultimate respect. An 11-year pro beating a rusher, missing a sack, then making a play 10, 15, 20 yards down the field, that’s just a dawg mentality. That’s leadership. That’s ‘want-to.’ That’s will. Again, he is not the only player like that on our team. We’ve got a lot of guys that are just gritty and just compete. I’ve got the ultimate respect for him after a play like that because that takes a lot. That’s will to win."

Ingram wasn’t surprised the clock ran out on Buffalo.

“No, no. It was only 14 or 12 seconds,” Ingram said. “You run around, throw the ball. He runs all the way around, that clock is going to down. Then you have to get on the ball and get set, that’s kind of hard.”

This was not the defense's best game — just like last week wasn’t — but they made enough plays late in the game to secure an important win.

Howard believes the last two games will only help the defense despite them giving up 497 yards this week and 35 points last week.

“Like I said, we just have to keep it going,” Howard said. “We build our confidence each week, but like I said we just have to keep it going.”