3 Dolphins to blame after getting owned again by Bills

For once, the Miami Dolphins faithful would have liked to see their favorite team have a convincing win over the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have taken the AFC Championship Game away from the Dolphins the past two seasons, resulting in the latter getting a Wild Card berth and ultimately getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

In Week 2, the Dolphins had the chance to show their rivals that they have learned from their past experiences and are ready to finally get the better of their division rival.

Unfortunately for the Dolphins, the game was essentially over by halftime when they trailed 24-10. The Bills ultimately left Miami Gardens with a 31-10 win to improve to 2-0 on the season.

It was an all-around horrific night for the Dolphins. The team saw quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffer a concussion following a collision with Bills safety Damar Hamlin. Tagovailoa walked off the field under his own power, but was ruled out for the remainder of the game less than 10 minutes after walking to the locker room.

Back to the game, when it comes to those to blame, these three stand out.

3 Dolphins to blame for Week 2 loss to Bills

3. Jordan Poyer, S

On the defensive side of things, Miami Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer had a game to forget. The former Buffalo Bills defensive back had the chance to get a bit of revenge on his former team, who opted against re-signing him after the season. But, Poyer did help out the Bills, albeit unintentionally.

In the second quarter with the Dolphins trailing 10-7, Bills quarterback Josh Allen connected with wide receiver Khalil Shakir for a 21-yard gain, setting them up at their own 35 yard line. However, the Bills were granted an extra 15 yards due to an unnecessary roughness call on Poyer, setting them up at midfield.

Poyer led with his helmet on his tackle of Shakir.

To make matters worse, the Bills scored their second touchdown of the game on a one-yard run by running back James Cook, extending their lead to 17-7.

Then there was the missed tackle attempt by Poyer on Cook's 49-yard touchdown run. Poyer had no chance of catching up with the 24 year old, and a diving tackle attempt was all for naught.

Not a great night for the veteran defensive back.

2. Grant DuBose, WR

The Dolphins could not have gotten off to a worse start. On the opening drive, Tagovailoa tried to lead the team into scoring range. The 2020 first round pick heaved a deep pass to wide receiver Grant DuBose. The pass hit DuBose directly in the hands, but bounced directly into the air. That allowed cornerback Ja'Marcus Ingram to catch the pop up and secure the interception.

As if things couldn't get any worse for the Dolphins, they watched Allen pick the defense apart. To end the ensuing drive, Allen connected with Cook for a 17-yard touchdown, putting Buffalo up 7-0.

This dropped pass by DuBose set the tone for what was an awful night for the Dolphins.

1. Mike McDaniel, HC

When looking at someone to blame for a team's loss, the head coach is usually the first one noticed. For Mike McDaniel, who recently received a contract extension this offseason, his tenure has been known for not being able to beat the Bills when it matters the most. Let's not forget the division crowns taken away from them by their rivals from upstate New York.

The game felt like it was over once the Bills took a 24-7 lead on Cooks' third touchdown of the game. Perhaps the biggest indictment on McDaniel was the play-calling on the final drive.

The Dolphins were down 24-7 on their own 30 yard line with over three minutes remaining in regulation. Despite this, there wasn't much urgency from McDaniel to try and get into scoring range quickly. Instead, McDaniel called running or short pass plays, effectively letting the clock run out despite having multiple timeouts at their disposal.

This strategy even confused the Amazon broadcast team of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit, who openly questioned why the Dolphins were letting so much time run off the clock. Michaels quipped that it was as though the Dolphins were "waiting to get into the locker room and just regroup and try something different."

Plus, McDaniel's chances on fourth down did bite him a bit. On five fourth down plays, the Dolphins converted on just one of them.

The game felt like it was over by halftime and the crowd at Hard Rock Stadium was out of it in terms of energy. That falls on McDaniel.