Resilient Dolphins show playoff-worthy mettle against Bills
The Miami Dolphins might be the NFL’s most resilient team, and that fighting spirit might carry the Dolphins to the playoffs.
Miami surrendered a 14-point second-half lead against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, only to rally back for a 34-31 win in overtime to maintain control of the second wild-card playoff spot in the AFC. The Dolphins would clinch their first postseason berth since 2008 with a Denver Broncos loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
That Miami ultimately came back against the Bills, however, shouldn’t be a surprise.
This is a Dolphins team that started the season 1-4 only to claw its way back into the AFC playoff race. The Dolphins rallied for fourth-quarter wins earlier this season in road games at the San Diego Chargers and Los Angeles Rams with Ryan Tannehill at the helm. Now backup quarterback Matt Moore, who replaced an injured Tannehill earlier this month, has led two game-winning field goal drives in three weeks.
The Dolphins now have the swagger of a team that believes it will win, even when the stakes look dire and it takes a couple breaks to get there.
On Saturday in Buffalo, the Dolphins' defense at times looked helpless as the Bills racked up 589 yards of offense. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor led Buffalo to 17 unanswered points in the second half.
Miami’s first big break came when officials didn’t notice Bills cornerback Corey White signal for a timeout before Andrew Franks’ game-tying 55-yard field goal with six seconds remaining in regulation (as head coach Rex Ryan’s signal came too late). The Dolphins got another chance in overtime when Bills kicker Dan Carpenter’s 45-yard field goal attempt went wide right.
So maybe the Dolphins got a little lucky. But good teams turn those sort of breaks into wins, and Miami is doing that consistently. It’s no wonder that head coach Adam Gase routinely refers to his players as fighters.
Should the Dolphins wind up in the playoffs, either by clinching on Sunday or in Week 17, Miami will have questions to answer.
The defense appears suspect after giving up so many yards and late points to the Bills, and the team still has no solid timetable on a potential return for Tannehill, who has a sprained anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments .
But the way Miami continually fights until the end of games should make any opponent nervous, especially when the Dolphins can run the ball like they did against Buffalo. Jay Ajayi rushed for 206 yards – his third 200-yard game of the season (and second against the Billls) – while backup Kenyon Drake had 56 yards on four carries, including a 45-yard touchdown run.
Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.
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