Miami Dolphins

Dolphins bested by Bills, remain winless against AFC East

Published Nov. 8, 2015 4:20 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- Bad snaps. Porous defense. And another loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The Miami Dolphins, under interim coach Dan Campbell, are starting to resemble the sluggish, sloppy team that led to former coach Joe Philbin getting fired five weeks ago.

After winning their first two games under Campbell, the Dolphins (3-5) showed signs of regressing in dropping their second in a row, a 33-17 loss on Sunday. And an extended rest didn't seem to help a team that was coming off a 36-7 loss at New England on Oct. 29.

"That was certainly not the way we wanted it to go, or expected it to go," said Campbell. "Yeah, we know all the negatives."

There were many on both sides of the ball during an outing in which Buffalo's Sammy Watkins had 168 yards receiving and broke the game open with a 44-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.

Miami's run defense was nonexistent. After allowing a combined 229 yards in its past three games, the Dolphins gave up 266 to Buffalo. LeSean McCoy had 112 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Bills rookie Karlos Williams has 110 yards rushing and two scores.

The Dolphins' offense sputtered at critical times. The troubles began with the first snap from scrimmage, which slipped through the hands of quarterback Ryan Tannehill and through the end zone for a safety.

Add it up, and the Dolphins dropped to 0-4 against their AFC East rivals, having lost twice to Buffalo following the Bills' 41-14 win at Miami on Sept. 27.

Campbell is confident Miami can bounce back.

"You were counted out and all of a sudden you were the hottest team going," Campbell said, relaying the message he issued his players. "All we have to do is get a little momentum back "

Lamar Miller scored twice on 1-yard runs and finished with 44 yards. Tannehill finished 27 of 36 for 309 yards with two lost fumbles.

Dolphins cornerback Brent Grimes had an even tougher outing: He was burned deep twice by Watkins.

"I messed up," Grimes said. "They can make big plays, so I take the blame for it. I didn't bring my `A' game today. And hats off to the Bills. Sammy Watkins had a great game."

Grimes lost his footing while covering Watkins, who made a juggling 63-yard catch up the left sideline in the second quarter. That set up Williams' 11-yard run that put the Bills ahead 19-7.

Then, after the Dolphins closed to 19-14, Watkins had Grimes beaten by a step and didn't break stride in catching Tyrod Taylor's perfectly placed pass in the right corner of the end zone.

The Dolphins also came up short at the end of the first half. Down 19-7, Campbell elected to run a play from Buffalo's 1 with 2 seconds left rather than kick a field goal. Cornerback Stephon Gilmore knocked down Tannehill's pass intended for Charlie Sims a few steps into the end zone.

"I believed we could get it. I had faith in our guys, and I thought we could make that play to pull us closer," Campbell said.

share

Get more from Miami Dolphins Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Miami Dolphins

National Football League