Omar Kelly: Dolphins squander chance to inject hope into season with loss to Bills

Omar Kelly, Miami Herald on Sep 22, 2025

Published in Football

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MIAMI — We never know what moment, what play will capture a win, or lead to a loss in a closely contested NFL game, but the more chances an opponent has to decide its outcome the worse the end result might be.

The Miami Dolphins were quite generous in Thursday night’s 31-21 fourth-quarter loss to the Buffalo Bills, the reigning five-time AFC East division champions.

Whether it’s the fourth-quarter roughing-the-punter penalty Dolphins defensive lineman Zach Sieler got called for when he barreled into Bills punter Cameron Johnston, extending a drive the Bills eventually scored on to take the lead when Dolphins cornerbacks Jack Jones and Cornell Armstrong lost containment of Josh Allen’s pass to Bills receiver Khalil Shakur in the flat, which he took upfield for 15-yard touchdown reception ...

Or the Tua Tagovailoa pass to Jaylen Waddle that Buffalo linebacker Terrel Bernard stepped in front of to intercept a rushed throw Daniel Brunskill’s whiffed block of Bills rookie Deone Walker created, whenever the moment arrived for the Dolphins to step up Mike McDaniel’s team typically took a step back.

“I got to be better. I can’t make stupid errors like that,” said Sieler, a team captain who has gotten off to a slow start this season. “We have to learn from each and every play. We can’t put ourselves in positions like that.”

But that has been the story line of this young season, if not McDaniel’s three-season and three-game tenure as the Dolphins’ head coach.

Opportunities keep being squandered.

“Not one play decides the game, but it sure does feel pretty bad sometimes,” Sieler said, addressing Miami’s 0-3 start in this critical win or lose-your-job season.

Many outsiders and fans wondered if an embarrassing loss to the Bills would cost McDaniel his job, but the way Miami performed Thursday night — converted 10 of 15 third down opportunities on offense, scoring touchdowns in all three red zone opportunities, rushing for 130 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries — provided Miami’s fourth-year coach some grace.

And possibly bought him some time to turn the tide of the season. This close loss against a Super Bowl contender on the road seemingly injected some hope, if not confidence into McDaniel’s team.

But he’s not accepting any moral victories.

“I’m never proud of a loss,” said McDaniel, whose record at the helm is 28-26. “We came here to win and I refuse to take moral victories as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.”

But let’s be candid about this. Anyone who told the sports world the Dolphins would be tied 14-14 at the half with the mighty Bills would have had their head examined based on how Miami had performed in the team’s first two losses.

Miami’s offense was sloppy, and the defense was as weak as a wet paper towel. And not the Bounty kind. The Great Value single-ply kind.

But against Buffalo the offense tightened up, and the defense eventually showed up in the second half.

Tagovailoa, who finished the game with a 81.2 passer rating, wasn’t tremendously sharp, but he evaded Buffalo’s pressure all game (no sacks taken), and found open receivers to move the sticks when it mattered the most.

“This is the NFL. It’s hard! Obviously things won’t always go your way. It’s about how you want to be remembered. Do you want to be the 0-3 team that throws in the towel, and says ‘It’s over with.’ ” asked receiver Tyreek Hill, who caught five of the 10 passes thrown his way, turning them into 49 yards and one touchdown. “Or do you want to be remembered as the team that started off 0-3 and found a way to turn it around?”

Miami’s next opportunity comes on Sept. 29 in a Monday Night home game against the New York Jets, another AFC East division rival. Lose that one and Miami would begin the season 0-4 for the first time since the disastrous 2007 season, where the Dolphins only managed one win. And three of those losses would be against division opponents.

While the 2025 team’s not 2007 bad, they’ve got plenty of work to do to get on the winning side of the ledger.

“We’re trending in the right direction,” Sieler added. “We just got to right the ship and go on a run.”

Only time, and Miami’s performance in those critical game deciding moments, will tell if Miami’s players and coaches can somehow find a way to salvage this season.

“We need to get better across the board. I’m not going to say anything is good,” McDaniel said. “We haven’t won a game yet.”

____