What stood out in the Miami Dolphins Week 9 game against the Buffalo Bills?

We’ll start with the inactive list, highlighted by five players out due to injuries:

Also inactive were RB Jeff Wilson, Jr. and OL Andrew Meyer.

The Dolphins did not have an emergency third quarterback for the second straight game.

Fifth-round pick Mohamed Kamara was active for just the second time this season.

There’s no sugarcoating it: This was another crushing loss in a game the Dolphins competed in and could have easily won.

I’ve said it before – there’s just bad karma surrounding this team that seems to find a different way to lose every week.

While it’s easy to complain that the defense didn’t stop Buffalo in the second half, the reality is that this was always going to be a game the offense needed to win. And the offense was great in the second half after not being good enough in the first half.

Props to Tua Tagovailoa, who was really, really good and made a great tying run late in the fourth quarter.

Props to De’Von Achane, who had another great game as the new No. 1 quarterback. 1 indisputable.

Chop Robinson made a quick contribution when his pressure forced an incompletion to Josh Allen on third down of the first drive. It was impressive how quickly Robinson got around Pro Bowl Dion Dawkins.

After his “eating crisps on the sofa” comments, the last thing Tua Tagovailoa wanted was to throw an easy shotgun snap, but here we are on the first drive — and that one was a lot easier than the one against Arizona. That play killed Miami’s first drive.

After the drive stalled, Jake Bailey kicked a field goal and a 29-yard fumble return gave Buffalo the ball at the 37 — another example of special teams hurting and not helping the Dolphins.

Another reminder of how lucky the Dolphins were that no one signed Emmanuel Ogbah when he was without a team in the summer came when Josh Allen tried to sweep the QB on third-and-3 late in the drive. Ogbbah split the block and dropped Allen for a 7-yard loss while playing with a torn bicep.

It really was Tough opening quarter for Durham Smythe given a bigger role with Hill missing the game. He committed a false start and then was pushed back when the Dolphins had Raheem Mostert pass on third-and-1.

The Dolphins took a break when Bills safety Taylor Rapp was flagged for unnecessary roughness for helmet-to-helmet contact with Raheem Mostert, when replays showed Mostert had his head down and was the one to contact initiated. As we always say, sometimes you get calls, sometimes you don’t.

In a 3-3 game, the Dolphins got the kind of play they would need from their defense when Allen threw a perfect slant pass to Keon Coleman, but he let the ball bounce off his shoulder and Jalen Ramsey fought against him. on the carom for his first interception of the season.

The Dolphins then went on a 14-play touchdown drive that gave them the lead and took 8:21 off the clock. The drive featured ten runs plus a shovel pass to tight end Jonnu Smith.

It was disappointing that the Dolphins gave up a field goal to end the first half, but they were fortunate to benefit from some shocking calls against Buffalo. The most egregious was a hold against Dawkins when Robinson fell in front of him and just pushed him down.

The second half began with Raheem Mostert gaining 7 yards on a run and a 15-yard completion, but on the next play, the Dolphins’ fumble problem arose again when Taron Johnson knocked the ball out of Mostert’s hands, and the Bills and – they came back. While it’s a good play by Johnson, the Dolphins’ offensive linemen need to do a better job of protecting the ball.

The turnover helped Buffalo gain some momentum and set the stage for a back-and-forth second half.

Since we praised Ogbah earlier, we have to point out that he bit too hard inside on the run, and Ty Johnson popped out for a 17-yard gain.

Calais Campbell made his presence felt throughout the game, including making a great tackle on a James Cook run where he couldn’t bring him down before Buffalo scored on a fourth-and-1 completion to the former wide receiver from Dolphins, Mack Hollins.

The Dolphins responded as they did throughout the second half, showing the kind of fight that Jordan Poyer questioned in the summer. The biggest play on the road was a 28-yard hookup between Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill.

The defense gave up the lead very quickly when a bad turnover left quarterback Ray Davis wide open in the flat. He easily hit Marcus Maye in the open field for the 63-yard touchdown.

After the third quarter ended with a 27-yard completion to Hill on a nice throw from Tagovailoa, the Dolphins came back again, tying the score on Achane’s 8-yard touchdown run.

The defense, however, again couldn’t stop the Buffalo defense, starting with three consecutive completions of 10 yards or more.

The touchdown drive was kept alive after Siran Neal was flagged for defensive holding on a third-and-goal from the seven-yard line.

The Dolphins’ tying drive was Tua at his best, with a neat 12-yard completion to Jaylen Waddle near the sideline.

The touchdown catch was another great play by Tua as he gained time in the pocket before throwing a strike to Waddle’s weapons. Mike McDaniel made an interesting choice to kick the extra point for a 27-27 tie instead of going for two.

Buffalo’s last game got off to a great start for the defense, with Robinson and Calais Campbell teaming up for a sack, which was followed by an incompletion that set up third-and-14.

But Robinson made a bad rookie mistake when he gave Buffalo 5 yards on a neutral zone offense.

Still, that wasn’t as bad as the next play, which turned out to be the killer for the Dolphins. And it’s easy to complain about the roughing penalty against Jordan Poyer, but the replay clearly showed helmet-to-helmet contact.

And then, just because it’s that kind of season for the Dolphins, Tyler Bass just crushed his 61-yard field goal attempt after struggling most of the season.

And so the Dolphins were left with another loss in a game they battled and could have easily won.