Plays That Defined 2022: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins

The 2022 season is in the books but there’s one little thing missing. Illustrations. Let’s pretend the 2022 season is an actual book, with each game a chapter. It’s up to us to find one play or “illustration” for each that best shows us the theme of that chapter. Make sense? I hope so because we’re about to take a look at some plays and vote. Let’s find an illustration for...

Chapter 3: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins

The Buffalo Bills were 2-0 and winning in style, beating their first two opponents with a combined score of 72-17. Surely the AFC East rival Dolphins weren’t up to the challenge of taking down the Bills! It was a close one, but the Florida sun proved to be too much of a secondary foe. The clearly wiped-out Bills had a great shot to take the lead at the end but fell short.

Devin Singletary’s touchdown (Q1; 9:03)

The Buffalo Bills had just decimated their first two opponents. Next up would be the rival Dolphins — and the stage was set perfectly. Buffalo received the ball first and marched down the field for a touchdown. Everything was looking good as of this easy-looking Devin Singletary reception and score.

Josh Allen sacked (Q1; 5:19)

If you look at a lot of the stats from this game it’s incredibly lopsided in favor of Buffalo. However, on four sacks Josh Allen fumbled the ball three times, including this one that fell into the Dolphins’ laps. Shortly after Miami tied the game. Negative plays at the worst time were a hallmark of this game.

Pass to Dawson Knox (Q3; 9:42)

On the plus side, Josh Allen passed for 400 yards in this game. On the less plus side, it took 63 attempts to get there. That’s great volume but terrible efficiency. Allen’s completion percentage was fine too. Miami was able to keep things mostly in front of them and limit the big plays. I don’t usually show plays where anyone was injured, but Knox popped back up before exiting. In this game, Buffalo saw player-after-player exit mostly as a result of the heat. Shorter plays and injuries were big facets of this game.

Blocked punt for safety (Q4; 1:33)

Buffalo’s defense allowed 21 points, which is pretty much average. Not too shabby for all the miscues and negative plays. With the game winding down and the Bills down by four, the defense forced a quick exit for Miami and a punt from their own end zone. This should have been the highlight of the game, as the Butt Punt gave Buffalo two points and the ball back.

Complete pass to Isaiah McKenzie (Q4; 0:18)

I’m sure most Bills fans remember this one. With no timeouts and the Dolphins limiting big plays, Buffalo was struggling to get into field position for the game-winning field goal. Isaiah McKenzie caught this pass around midfield and had a shot to reach the sideline at about the 45-yard line. A field goal was no guarantee from this distance, but Buffalo likely would have had time for another play, hopefully making things manageable for Tyler Bass. McKenzie tried for extra yards instead, and the game ended.