The Miami Dolphins dropped to 0-3 with the disappointing loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday. The Dolphins entered the matchup, against all odds, intending to break their losing streak. And they almost came away with a surprise win against one of the best teams in the NFL, eventually losing 31-21. For head coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the word after the game was certain: the team is still fighting, but costly mistakes continue to define its season.

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Speaking in his post-game press conference, head coach Mike McDaniel highlighted the low margins of NFL games.

“Our expectation was to come in here and win the game, and we knew we had to not turn the ball over,” McDaniel said. “We had a turnover in a critical situation. We had a critical penalty on a punt. Those types of things … that’s how these types of games are decided.” The punt penalty for the Dolphins came in the fourth quarter with the score tied 21–21, which changed the tide of the game into Bills’ favor.

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McDaniel also noted the bright spots in the Dolphins’ play.

“The game plan was to try to run the football. Yeah, there were some good moments. You know, I think the guys ran hard. I think Devon and Ollie and guys were connected against a high-strain team, which leads to some extra yardage,” he stated. Running backs Devon Achane and  Ollie Gordon II provided juice on the ground, with Gordon’s first-half touchdown providing Miami with its first points.

“You have a young team, a lot of people that you’re counting on, and you need them to not be young for very much longer and continue to grow,” he said. With each encouraging sign, there was a back-breaking miscue. McDaniel recognized such reality: ”We need everybody needs to do better, and we can’t, you know, if you’re you got to ditch the ball to the flat in moments like that. And that’s what we have to learn from.”

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Two plays summarized the theme. To begin, a fourth-quarter roughing-the-kicker penalty on defensive lineman Zach Sieler erased a stop that would have caused the ball to be turned over to Miami in a tie game. The Bills just bled out three more minutes off the clock and scored the winning touchdown. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks was flagged for unnecessary roughness on Josh Allen after a sack on third-and-goal. Each of the penalties was typical of a team playing on the edge, something McDaniel admitted he is attempting to harness into “frustration that turns to focus.”

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In spite of the loss, McDaniel’s team proved resilient. But

Bernard’s third-quarter interception of Tagovailoa with under three minutes left and assisted in large part by Deone Walker’s pass rush, spoiled the Dolphins’ comeback attempt.

Tua Tagovailoa echoes accountability

​Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa echoed the same sentiment in his post-game interview.

“Yeah, no more victories, that’s for sure,” he said. “There’s definitely some things that we can take away that is good, that’s up to par within our standard of how we operate within the offense and then you know, with how the defense wants to operate as well, getting the stops.”

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Tagovailoa’s remarks reflected his night. He opened the game efficiently, taking what Buffalo’s defense gave him: quick outs, checkdowns, and middle-zone completions

. “Playing their coverage. Trying to get deep, trying to, you know, force us to take those checkdowns and then seeing if we’re going to stay consistent with taking those checkdowns,” Tagovailoa said. Miami executed that plan for much of the evening, including a 14-play drive capped by Gordon’s rushing score.

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But as McDaniel did, Tua cited the plays that got away.

”Never good to lose, regardless of how a certain individual may have felt they performed. You know, this is a team sport. We win together, we lose together,” he said. His fourth-quarter pick to Bernard was a case in point. Buffalo pressure pushed the hurry pass, and Bernard outpaced the coverage on the first turnover of the game to allow the Bills to run out the clock. Tagovailoa also emphasized the value of complementary football.

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The Dolphins changed field position twice on solid kick returns but produced one good drive short of a field goal and another to the game-sealing interception. Having a short week, Tagovailoa nonetheless attributed the team’s readiness.