Buffalo Bills rally, win fourth straight AFC East title
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Nothing seemed to be going right for the Buffalo Bills. Into the fourth quarter, injuries had piled up, red zone issues were prevalent and several opportunities to get ahead of the Miami Dolphins in a game for the AFC East division title were squandered.
This is a team, however, that has experience in close games. All six of the Bills’ losses this year were in one-score games, including the last one, an overtime defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 12. After a Week 13 bye, the Bills had a 21% chance to make the playoffs and just a 4% chance to win the division, per ESPN Analytics.
But the close-game tides changed recently, with three of the team’s past four wins coming in one-score outings.
So, naturally, with the No. 2 seed on the line, the Bills got a spark when they needed it most to take care of a close game yet again and finished out a 21-14 win over the Dolphins after scoring only seven points in the first three quarters. The 4% turned into 100% as the Bills became AFC East champions for the fourth straight season.
The Bills are now the No. 2 seed in the AFC and will host the No. 7 seed Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 14.
The game turned when wide receiver Deonte Harty fielded a punt deep in Bills territory with just over 14 minutes remaining, weaved his way through a sea of players and bounced outside to the left. He was off to the races and darting his way into the end zone. The 96-yard punt return was the longest in Bills’ history and the first for a TD by Harty since 2019.
That score with the extra point tied the game at 14. The Buffalo defense then forced a three-and-out and the Bills’ offense put together an eight-play, 74-yard touchdown drive less than seven minutes later on a 5-yard pass by quarterback Josh Allen to tight end Dawson Knox. The Bills took up significant clock with an over four-minute drive, but turned it back over to the Dolphins with less than two minutes remaining. Safety Taylor Rapp picked off Tua Tagovailoa to end the game.
The late offensive success came despite the Bills failing to take advantage of early red zone opportunities. Buffalo converted five trips into the Dolphins’ 35-yard line into just seven points, with three Allen turnovers — two interceptions and a fumble — and the clock winding down at the end of the first half after running back Ty Johnson failed to get over the goal line following a reception. The Bills had three red zone drives end without points, tied for the most by any team in a game this season and tied for Buffalo’s most in a game over the past 20 seasons.
Allen finished the game 30-of-38 for 359 yards, 2 touchdowns and the 2 interceptions. He rushed for 67 yards on 15 carries and extended his own record of the most consecutive games with two or more passing touchdowns against a single opponent (13).
Buffalo will now have a variety of injuries to sort through after wide receiver Gabe Davis (knee), linebacker Tyrel Dodson (shoulder), cornerback Rasul Douglas (knee) and Johnson (concussion) did not return to the game.