By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills came up one catch short against the Miami Dolphins in Week 13, falling 21-17.
Josh Allen had a chance at a miracle win with a throw to Charles Clay in the end zone at the end of the game, however, it came up short. Clay couldn’t haul it in and the Bills’ chance at the postseason are over.
With that, here five takeaways from the Bills loss to the Dolphins:
Coaching questions
The day wasn’t a good one for the Bills coaching staff. First, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott challenged a very questionable call. Trent Murphy sacked Ryan Tannehill close to the goal line. McDermott challenged it. Instead of just letting the Dolphins punt, McDermott lost the challenge and a timeout. For his Bills career, McDermott is 1-for-10 on challenges.
Just before halftime, the Bills seemed OK with running the clock out. One big play later, they decided to go for a score and push the ball down field. Then instead of kicking a deep field goal, the Bills went for a Hail Mary pass with second remaining. Kicker Stephen Hauschka didn’t have his best day, but the odds of him making a kick seemed higher.
Not to mention the team’s countless gaffs on special teams, including a turnover, and McDermott’s team took 13 penalties for 120 yards. One has to wonder how much longer special teams coordinator Danny Crossman is employed, perhaps the Bills will make a change there this offseason.
Mixed results on defense
The Bills defense didn’t play a bad game. They also didn’t play a good game, either. When the Bills needed them the most, they weren’t there. Early in the contest, Ryan Tannehill was under duress. The Dolphins’ QB was sacked three times early in the game then the pressure stopped coming from the Bills. In total, Tannehill only had 137 yards passing, but he added three touchdowns. Outside of Tannehill’s interception to Micah Hyde, the Bills’ defense wasn’t up to the task late in the game. Kenny Stills scored the eventually game-winning score with two men covering him.
Buffalo gave some decent field position to the Miami offense on a few possessions. There were some good plays mixed in there, including the fact that the defense did get the ball back for the offense… eventually.
But the front office built this defense to be the side of the ball the team could lean on in time of need. That wasn’t the case in Week 13, unfortunately.
Zay Jones
The last two weeks was the Robert Foster show for the Buffalo receiving room. Foster had 199 yards on five grabs with a score over that span. Zay Jones had a strong game two weeks ago with eight grabs for 93 yards and a touchdown, but then was held catchless against the Jaguars last week. That didn’t happen against the Dolphins.
Jones had another stellar game. Jones led the Bills in receiving with 67 yards on four catches. Of those four, two went for touchdowns. Jones could’ve had an ever better game as he failed to connect with Josh Allen on a wide open look in the end zone which appeared to be a miscommunication. In a locker room that’s missing playmakers in a big way, Jones continues to develop well in his second year. With some help around him in the future, he could stand out even more.
We’ll learn about the ‘Process’
With the loss, the playoff dreams, which were already extremely thin, are now gone. Moving forward, the Bills will have nothing play for with four games remaining. McDermott always preaches and praises the “process.” That process is going to be on display over the final quarter of the season.
Will his team continue produce? Will the Bills pick up further wins down the stretch? Or… will they mail it in? Don’t expect Allen to mail it in under center, he’s understood the rest of the season is about him for sometime now, but let’s see if the process is tough one. It’s time to play spoiler.
Spoiler is a bummer, but there’s still plenty of developing for the Bills’ entire roster to do over the final four games. It’s an important stretch for the future. McDermott has to get his guys up and ready to play for each game.
Second step forward for Allen
Last week Allen returned from an elbow injury. He took a step forward, but with his legs and arm. It wasn’t perfect last week. It wasn’t perfect this week. But it was another step forward. Once again, both with his arm and legs.
With his arm, Allen was 18-for-33 passing with 231 yards, two touchdowns and two picks. One interception was on the late Hail Mary pass at the end of the half. Allen stood in the pocket with poise in the game and displayed a strong ability throwing on the run. His touchdown pass to Zay Jones in particular was impressive.
On the ground, Allen set a team record for rushing yards two games in a row, notching 135 rushing yards. On two occasions, he made middle linebacker Kiko Alonso look bad. Allen’s a strong dual-threat player and he’s starting to get rest as a runner.