The Buffalo Bills lost to the Miami Dolphins 30-13 in Week 10, ending their two-game winning streak and dropping their record to 6-3. The defeat marked the first time in 40 divisional games that Buffalo lost by more than seven points.
Buffalo’s offense, ranked among the league’s best, struggled throughout the game. The team failed to score during the first three quarters, a situation not seen since the opening game of the 2019 season. “We have to be at our best at all times,” said left tackle Dion Dawkins. “Can never let your shield down at all.”
Quarterback Josh Allen also acknowledged his role in the team’s difficulties. “It starts with me, but we didn’t execute, I didn’t execute,” Allen said. He described how early mistakes set a negative tone: “I just feel like early on, (we were) kind of beating ourselves.”
The Bills’ offensive efficiency was low in the first half, converting none of their third-down attempts and achieving a success rate of only 29.2%. Head coach Sean McDermott attributed these issues mainly to poor performance on early downs and difficult third-down situations. “Too many third down and longs, one dimensional type situation,” McDermott said.
According to Next Gen Stats, Allen’s average time to throw was 3.53 seconds—the longest of his career—often forced by receivers struggling to get open and lack of rhythm on offense. McDermott noted: “There were some times where we weren’t open… But it’s never just one thing.” He added that while having a strong quarterback is important, success requires balance: “We’ve got a great quarterback, and you want to be able to move the ball two dimensionally… But it can’t just be one phase of your offense.”
Turnovers played a significant role in Buffalo’s loss; they committed three for only the second time this season. Allen threw an interception near Miami’s end zone and later fumbled after gaining extra yards on a sneak play; running back James Cook also lost a fumble for the first time since late last season. “Anytime you turn it over three times, two in the red zone – really you can count that last one, driving kind of going into the red zone – that’s a recipe for disaster,” Allen said.
On defense, Buffalo continued its pattern of allowing explosive plays—a problem throughout this season—but unlike previous weeks could not offset those lapses with turnovers or stops. The team gave up touchdowns covering distances of 38, 59, and 35 yards against Miami; it was only the second time this year they allowed three touchdowns from beyond 25 yards out.
“(Miami) got the run game going early and wanted to control the game,” McDermott explained regarding Miami’s strategy. He pointed specifically to De’Von Achane’s long touchdown run late in the fourth quarter as decisive: “We were just trying to get the ball back… It looked like we had somebody in the hole right there, and he’s elusive… Give him credit.”
Through nine games this season, Buffalo has now surrendered nine touchdowns from plays longer than twenty yards—already surpassing last year’s total.
