On December 17 at Highmark Stadium, the 10-3 Buffalo Bills came back from an eight-point deficit from the fourth quarter to defeat the 8-5 Miami Dolphins 32-29. The win gave the Bills a three-game lead in the AFC East — they would clinch the division title in Chicago a week later — and sent Miami into the postseason as a wildcard team.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who threw for 304 yards, ran for 77 more, threw four touchdown passes and jumped over Miami defenders in the fourth quarter to convert the game by two points, made a post-game prediction that night Die dolphins
“This is a really good football team,” Allen said. “Who knows if we’ll see her again. I’m pretty sure we will.”
Indeed they will. Miami went on a five-game losing streak last weekend, beating the New York Jets 11-6 to overtake the New England Patriots and secure seventh place in the AFC playoffs. That will send them to No. 2 Buffalo, who did Miami a favor by beating those Patriots to open the door for the Dolphins into the postseason.
Buffalo and Miami shared their two regular-season matchups. The Dolphins beat the Bills 21-19 in Week 3 in the sweltering South Florida heat, while the Bills secured the aforementioned 32-29 win at Highmark Stadium in mid-December – a game that ended with a blanket of lake-effect snow on the surface in white. If you do the math, that’s a 51-50 regular season aggregate in favor of Buffalo.
Despite the closeness of the previous two games, the Bills are double-digit point favorites in the playoff rubber match, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. That line may have a lot to do with the status of the Dolphins’ long and notable injury list, which includes their top two quarterbacks, Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater, earlier in the week.
Tagovailoa suffered a concussion during the Dolphins’ home loss to the Green Bay Packers on Christmas Day. It was the second documented concussion of the season for Tagovailoa, who has struggled to stay healthy all season. At the time of this writing, he has not yet been eligible to resume football activity – or even do much more than aerobic exercise – and his status for Sunday is very much up in the air.
With a healthy Tagovailoa on the field, Miami’s explosive offense rivals any team in the league. Without him…well, they’re forced to go 11-6 wins to keep their season alive. Tagovailoa has played at the MVP level for much of this season, and if he can play it will dramatically increase the Dolphins’ chances, with Allen and the Bills in a win-or-go-home situation in western New York .
The Bills are 3-0 in home playoffs all-time under head coach Sean McDermott, and they’ll look to maintain that record unblemished this weekend. Bills-Dolphins begins Sunday, January 15 at 1:00 PM EST. Find all of our pre-game, in-game and post-game coverage from Super Wild Card Weekend below.
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