Tua Tagovailoa of the Dolphins gestures after Miami beat the Buffalo Bills 21-19 on Sunday. AP photo
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Thomas Morstead stepped into the middle of Miami’s end zone, swung his powerful right leg and booted a punt.
Right into the backside of blocker Trent Sherfield.
Nearly the butt of a bad joke ending, the Dolphins held on for the last laugh against the reigning AFC East champions instead.
Miami overcame what was quickly dubbed the “butt punt” by shutting down Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills twice in the final minutes, improving to 3-0 with a 21-19 victory that ended with Allen desperately trying to spike the football on the edge of field-goal range.
“I don’t like these shock endings,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “But I’m just really, really happy for the team because this much I do know: Teams win football games, and if you are going to have success over the long haul, you have to have confidence that whatever phase can win a football game for you, can go ahead and do that.”
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa briefly left the game in the second quarter, returning after halftime despite appearing to be disoriented by a head injury — the team clarified later that actually, he had an issue with his back. The Saint Louis School graduate finished with 186 yards and a touchdown pass to River Cracraft.
Tagovailoa’s return raised some questions, and a person with knowledge of the matter said after the game that there will be a joint review by the NFL and the National Football League Players Association of what went into the decision to allow Tagovailoa to return to the game. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press because that probe was not revealed publicly.
By NFL rule, those in-game evaluations when concussions are suspected involve not just team medical personnel but also an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant.
“I was kind of with everyone else. When he hit his head on the ground, I assumed it was a head injury,” Mike McDaniel said. “But his legs got wobbly because his lower back was completely loose. And as he described it, he said his lower back was like Gumby or something.”
Allen was also scraped up, getting X-rays on his right hand after the game after banging it on a helmet or facemask. He insisted he was fine after.
The Dolphins’ defense did just enough to stall Allen twice in the fourth quarter, the first effort a goal-line stand that followed a go-ahead rushing touchdown by Miami’s Chase Edmonds.
Allen threw incomplete on fourth down from the 2-yard line, ending a 17-play, eight-minute drive — and seemingly Buffalo’s chances for a comeback win.
But then Tagovailoa and the Dolphins went three-and-out, leaving Morstead with little room to kick the ball away.
It wasn’t enough space. The kick clanked right off Sherfield and went out the rear of the end zone for a safety.
Allen had about a minute to guide Buffalo into field-goal range, and did so, but the Bills ran out of time. Isaiah McKenzie tried for extra yards on a completion from Allen, costing precious seconds. Dolphins players started celebrating when the clock hit zero with Allen just stepping under center.
Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey slammed his headset and began throwing paper and notebooks in the coaches’ box when time ran out.
“It was only fourteen or twelve seconds,” said Dolphins linebacker Melvin Ingram, who had a fumble recovery in the first half. “You run around, throw the ball. He runs all the way around, that clock is going to down.”
Buffalo ran 90 plays compared to 39 for Miami, outgaining the Dolphins 497 yards to 212.
“You should win those games,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “We just didn’t take care of the ball enough and come away with some takeaways.”
The Bills were without several defensive starters, including starting safety Micah Hyde, who on Saturday went on injured reserve with a neck injury, and cornerback Dane Jackson, who suffered a neck injury against the Titans last week. The Dolphins’ 21 points was the most Buffalo has allowed all season.
Tua Tagovailoa of the Dolphins gestures after Miami beat the Buffalo Bills 21-19 on Sunday. AP photoToday's breaking news and more in your inbox
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