The Miami Dolphins’ season-long dominance in the AFC East has come to an end, thanks to a painful regular season finale. The Dolphins lost 21-14 to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, giving the Bills their fourth division title in a row and prolonging the Dolphins’ drought.
Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw a late interception that decided the game. After the game, head coach Mike McDaniel stated that, while Tagovailoa accepts full responsibility for the defeat, the outcome was not entirely his fault. At the same time, he stressed that the club cannot continue to commit turnovers.
“We can’t turn it over,” McDaniel said via Palm Beach Post’s Joe Schad. “Tua will be hard on himself. He takes full accountability. It’s definitely not all on him.”
Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins fall in a fourth-quarter collapse
Tagovailoa completed 17 of 27 passes for 173 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Overall, the Dolphins totaled 275 yards, significantly fewer than the Bills’ 473.
What made the game even more difficult for the Dolphins was that they already had a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter. The game’s turning point came with 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter, when Bills receiver Deonte Hardy went 95 yards for a punt return touchdown.
From there, the momentum flipped to the Bills’ favor. With more than seven minutes remaining, Dawson Knox scored another touchdown for Buffalo. Miami was unable to advance because they failed to score any points in the second half.
Mike McDaniel’s squad will now have to settle for the sixth seed entering the postseason…and watch as Buffalo gets crowned the kings of the division they’ve led for most of the season.
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