Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) fumbles after getting hit by Jevon Holland (8) of the Miami Dolphins during the first quarter of an NFL game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Sept. 25, 2022.
Syndication: Palm Beach Post
All week long, the talk of the Buffalo Bills was all about injured players. The Bills dominated the Rams and Titans in back-to-back weeks, but the blowouts came with the price of injuries. The biggest being the loss of star safety, Micah Hyde, who sustained a neck injury and is reportedly out for the season. The Bills’ best interior defensive lineman, Ed Oliver, hasn’t played since the second quarter of week one with an ankle injury. That’s just to name a few. The Bills are banged up and it feels weird for Bills’ fans, who are used to watching a team that has had very minimal injuries the past few seasons. During their week three AFC East clash with the Miami Dolphins, those injuries kept mounding up.
The Bills headed into the game missing several huge pieces to their team. They were without Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Jordan Phillips, Ed Oliver, Dane Jackson, and Mitch Morse. The Bills starting secondary consisted of first-round rookie Kaiir Elam, sixth-round rookie Christian Benford (who has been great so far this season), 2019 sixth-round pick Jaquan Johnson, and 2021 sixth-round pick Damar Hamlin. Combined, there were three career starts between the four. Without Mitch Morse, backup center Greg Van Rotten got the start, and he was eventually injured. Right tackle Spencer Brown left the game with “heat illness” and never returned. Right guard Ryan Bates left with a head injury, and after two big catches, receiver Jake Kumerow left and never returned with an ankle injury. Dawson Knox, and Isaiah McKenzie also left with heat illness issues but returned. Star receiver Stefon Diggs was consistently in and out of the game with cramps and possible injuries and was laying on the ground on the sideline on the last drive. Josh Allen even had his throwing hand looked at and received X-rays following the game; the team says he is fine.
Despite all of those things, the Buffalo Bills still almost stole a game they had no business winning. The Bills literally had no reserve offensive lineman left to play if another got hurt, more than half their defense was backups, and they still almost won. The game came down to the last possible second. Josh Allen, despite a few blemishes, was once again amazing. He went 42-for-63, for 400 yards, two touchdowns, and added 47 yards on the ground. The defense held Tua to 186 passing yards and one touchdown, while limiting Tyreek Hill to two catches for 33 yards. Buffalo outgained Miami 497 to 212 and dominated time of possession 40:40 to 19:20.
The difference was self-inflicted mistakes, and not completing a few critical plays. A botched spike at the end of the second quarter eliminated the chance for a field goal attempt. A field goal was missed, and Gabe Davis dropped a beautiful should have been touchdown throw from Allen. Matt Milano dropped a walk-in pick-six. On fourth and goal from the two-yard line with under two minutes to go, Allen underthrew an open McKenzie for a should have been, easy go-ahead touchdown. In the last few seconds, there was just barely not enough time to clock the ball and attempt a game winning field goal. Despite everything, Buffalo was there the whole way. The national headlines all week are going to talk about the Dolphins defeating the Bills and improving to 3-0. Miami did just enough of allowing the Bills to beat themselves to get the win. At the end of the day, despite all the injuries, Buffalo is still the better team. They just need to get healthy and get back to their game. It is only week three and overreactions should not be in play.
