The Miami Dolphins saw their record drop to 2-6 with a 30-27 last-second loss against Buffalo. at Highmark Stadium on Sunday.

The Dolphins lost at Buffalo for the seventh straight time and on a late field goal for the second straight week.

Before the matchup, we examined the five biggest storylines for this Week 9 matchup, so now it’s time to revisit them to see how they played out.

Before the game: The only common denominator in the Bills’ recent dominance against the Dolphins and in the AFC East is quarterback Josh Allen, who should be among the leading NFL MVP candidates through the first eight weeks of the 2024 season. Allen’s numbers against the Dolphins are borderline insane, and, although he passed for just 139 yards in the Week 2 game at Hard Rock Stadium, his passer rating was 107.1. Allen threw his first pick of the season against Seattle last week, and it would be a major boost to the Dolphins’ hopes if they could get one against him in this game.

During the game: The Dolphins were able to hold Allen under a 100 passer rating and held him to 235 yards, which looks good on the surface. The problem is that the defense had no answer in the second half and couldn’t stop the final. The Dolphins got a pick against Allen, though it was the result of rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman botching a pass into the hands of Jalen Ramsey. Allen also had a touchdown scramble taken away by a questionable holding penalty. So overall, it was a mixed bag, but ultimately a tough outing for an injury-plagued Dolphins defense that folded too much for the second week in a row.

Before the game: Here’s a completely crazy stat when you think about it: In the last three Dolphins-Bills matchups, the Dolphins don’t play a single pass longer than 24 yards. That came late in the 2023 season on a Tua Tagovailoa hookup with Cedrick Wilson Jr. The longest completion in the first game of 2023 in Week 4 at Buffalo was 23 yards to fullback Alec Ingold. And then the longest in Week 2 this year was a 21-yarder to Jaylen Waddle. That won’t give the Dolphins much of a chance to win. What the Dolphins need are long connections like Tua had with Waddle in each of the 2022 games — 45 yards in Miami and 67 yards in Buffalo. Tyreek Hill doesn’t have a single catch of at least 25 yards in eight regular season games against Buffalo, so this would obviously be a great time to change that.

During the game: It was more of the same in this one, with Buffalo making sure to protect against Hill and Waddle over the top. Tagovailoa went over the top once and the result was a 28-yard completion to Hill down the left sideline, but the reality is that the pass was late and was called off. That’s why, though, the game resulted in a big win. Tagovailoa was seen visibly upset afterward because he knew it could have easily been a 39-yard touchdown. And this was a drive where the Dolphins had to settle for a field goal, obviously a big difference in a three-point result. The Dolphins moved the ball well with their running and short passing game, but this was a rare opportunity and it was half-assed.

Before the game: Maybe the Dolphins won’t need a big game in the passing game, but that probably would be the case if the running game can produce big numbers AND end up with some first downs on the end. The Dolphins have rushed for at least 150 yards in each of their last three games, but were 1-2 in those games because the passing game failed against Indianapolis and because the defense couldn’t hold a lead against Arizona after the offense failed to run. remove the clock at the end. Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane each had a big game against the Bills the past two seasons, and Jaylen Wright also has the knack of breaking a long one.

During the game: It was another strong outing for the running game, with Miami gaining 149 yards on 31 carries for a solid 4.8 average. That included a knee by Tua late in the first half, along with his 4-yard scramble for a first down. While there was no gain of more than 16 yards, the running game consistently gained healthy chunks of yards. The only negative was the failure (again!) to pick up a third-and-1 on the team’s second drive, potentially costing the Dolphins when they settled for a field goal on the next play. Again, in a game like this, the Dolphins had no such margin for error.

Before the game: The Dolphins will need contributions from all groups if they are to pull off the upset, and something like Cedrick Wilson Jr.’s 50-yard return in the 2022 playoff game would help. The Dolphins also can’t afford a missed field goal by Jason Sanders, as they will be operating with a small margin for error.

During the game: There was little of note for the Dolphins on special teams, but what there was wasn’t good. That was Jake Bailey botching his only punt for 37 yards, and the Bills returned it 29 yards for an 8-yard gain. That play alone put Buffalo in field goal range. It’s not good.

Before the game: It should probably be listed above, but we’ll save it for last. This is the opportunity for a signature game for Tagovailoa, who was generally impressive against Arizona last weekend but was still the second-best back on the field that day. The Dolphins gave Tagovailoa his massive contract extension in July because they felt he was the guy who could get them where they wanted. Well, this is the kind of game the Dolphins will need to win and Tua needs to be the best QB on the field that day. Additionally, a big performance from Tagovailoa would likely make many “salty” fans forget about his “sitting on the couch eating crisps” comments.

During the game: Things got off to an ironically bad start when Tagovailoa fumbled on the team’s third offensive play and that led to a sack, though it may have been a sack anyway given how quickly Gregory Rousseau got to the quarterback . That sack led to the Dolphins’ only score of the game. After Tagovailoa was very sharp running the offense and came up big in the tying game in the final minutes with a third-down completion to Jaylen Waddle followed by a touchdown pass from a different angle. Hill’s drop in the third quarter was painful, even with the completion, because — again — the Dolphins had such little margin for error. Overall, though, it’s hard to find much fault with Tagovailoa’s performance.