5 Instant Takeaways: Miami Dolphins lose to Buffalo Bills, squander AFC East | Schad

MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins will not win the AFC East for the first time since 2008. No, the division champion is the Buffalo Bills.

Buffalo beat Miami 21-14, in a thriller at Hard Rock Stadium on "Sunday Night Football" that concludes the 2023-24 regular season.

The Dolphins (11-6) blew a chance to be the AFC's second seed and host a playoff game against the same Bills next Sunday.

Instead, Buffalo (11-6) is the second seed and Miami will play a road game at third-seeded Kansas City on Saturday night.

Consecutive losses to Baltimore and Buffalo to end the regular season means Mike McDaniel's second season concludes with disappointment.

Miami will not finish with 12 wins for the first time in 33 years.

Miami will not claim a top 2 AFC seed for the first time in 31 years.

The Dolphins allowed a 96-yard punt return to Deonte Harty to tie the score at 14 early in the fourth quarter, changing momentum in Buffalo's favor.

Safety Justin Bethel and linebacker Channing Tindall has two decent shots at Harty before he burst through the middle and then scored down the left sideline.

Soon after, Buffalo went on a 74-yard drive, capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen to tight end Dawson Knox.

The Dolphins had no points on five second-half possessions. It was a brutal offensive letdown at the worst possible moment.

After Miami stopped Josh Allen on a fourth-down run with two minutes to play, the Dolphins had one final shot.

Tua Tagovailoa and Miami took over at the Dolphins' 37-yard line. But the game ended when Tagovailoa was intercepted by safety Taylor Rapp on a pass intended for Chase Claypool.

Miami has a 1-11 record in its last 12 games against the rival Bills.

It may be around 2 degrees in Kansas City on Saturday night.

Here are the takeaways from Sunday's loss:

De'Von Achane's impact felt in first half

With Raheem Mostert out for a second consecutive game due to knee and ankle injuries, rookie De'Von Achane flashed once again.

Achane scored on a 25-yard touchdown run in the second quarter in which he juked Buffalo safety Jordan Poyer out of his cleats with an Allen Iverson-like crossover move.

Achane tied the Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs for the rookie lead in rushing touchdowns with 10. Achane also tied Karim Abdul-Jabbar for Miami's second-most rookie touchdowns.

Achane flashed his elite speed and elusiveness but also toughness on a few plays.

It's clear at this point Miami struck gold in the third round of the last NFL Draft.

However, Miami's ground game was not a factor in the second half on Sunday.

McDaniel said Buffalo adjusted their defense to load up against the run and he felt passing was the best path to victory.

Tua & Tyreek breaking records

It took less than two quarters for Tyreek Hill to gain enough yards to lead the NFL in receiving this year.

After Hill was traded from the Chiefs to the Dolphins, he predicted he would be even better with Tagovailoa than Patrick Mahomes, and he's been right.

Hill would have had a good shot at 2,000 yards if he didn't miss one game due to ankle injury.

Sadly, Hill was on the sideline on Miami's final offensive play of this regular season, dinged on the previous play.

Tagovailoa was intercepted on Miami's first drive but then had touchdown passes to Achane and Tyreek Hill before the end of the first half.

In the third quarter, Tua surpassed Jared Goff as the NFL's leading passer.

The last time a Dolphin led the league in passing was Dan Marino in 1992.

Dolphins D capitalizes on poor Josh Allen decisions

What a boneheaded decision by Bills quarterback Josh Allen as time ran out on him and the Bills at the end of the first half.

Buffalo trailed 14-7 and was driving, but the Bills had no timeouts. Allen completed a pass short of the goal line that was stopped by linebacker Jerome Baker.

More: Explosive punt return triggers Dolphins collapse against Bills: 'You all saw it'

Allen also had two interceptions in Miami's end zone on his first two possessions. Eli Apple and DeShon Elliott took advantage of Allen's over-aggressiveness for those interceptions.

In the third quarter, Christian Wilkins created a sack/fumble of Josh Allen, recovered by Wilkins. It was a huge play for the Dolphins, as Wilkins basically just took the ball from Allen.

Jalen Ramsey and Stefon Diggs

A huge story entering the game was if defensive coordinator Vic Fangio would permit star cornerback Jalen Ramsey to shadow Bills receiver Stefon Diggs.

At times, he did.

When in man coverage, Ramsey often shadowed Diggs, which was generally the best possible matchup for Miami.

It is true that in the first quarter, Diggs fooled Ramsey and Allen should have hit him for an 89-yard touchdown. But Allen overthrew a wide-open Diggs.

Later in the first half, Diggs beat Eli Apple on a deep pass.

This & That

The infamous "Bills Mafia" did have a strong presence at Hard Rock Stadium. But we'll estimate that 70 percent of the crowd was in favor of Miami. ... Duke Riley started at middle linebacker for Miami, but Jerome Baker made his return from a knee injury in the second quarter. ... Emmanuel Ogbah started for injured edge rusher Bradley Chubb. ... DeShon Elliott injured a calf in pregame and was questionable, but did play. Miami rotated Elliott, Brandon Jones and Jevon Holland at safety. Jones made a few impressive tackles. ... Melvin Ingram picked up a third-down sack in the third quarter, shortly after Andrew Van Ginkel (foot) left the field with trainers. Miami was absolutely decimated at edge in the fourth quarter when Cameron Goode went off on a golf cart. ... Miami started its 12th offensive line combination of the season, with Robert Jones playing left guard and Robert Hunt returning to play right guard. ... With the loss, the Dolphins' final 2024 opponents are now known: at Cleveland, at Green Bay and home for Las Vegas.

Joe Schad is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on social media platforms @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 5 Instant Takeaways: Dolphins vs. Bills