MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Josh Allen walked toward the thousands of Bills fans who headed to South Florida over the weekend and waved his arms as he basked in the postgame cheers.
It felt like home.
And the fast-rising Buffalo is set to appear next weekend. The Bills are the AFC East champions for the fourth consecutive year and are the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs.
“What a tenacious group,” said Allen, who threw the winning touchdown pass to Dawson Knox midway through the fourth quarter as Buffalo defeated the Miami Dolphins 21-14 on Sunday night.
“I'm so proud of our players,” Allen continued. She said, “They fought off their tails. On the last few drives, she felt they found a groove on the offensive side of the ball. The ball coming out of their hands was the best it's been all year.”
Allen made things difficult for Miami with three turnovers, but the Bills still managed to complete 359 yards and two touchdown passes and remain in the playoffs until Tennessee beat Jacksonville early Sunday. There wasn't. Buffalo hosts seventh-seeded Pittsburgh in the wild-card round next Sunday.
The Bills were 5-5 in mid-November and faced long odds to make the playoffs. They fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey after a collapse in Week 10 against Denver. From there, they won six of his seven, including his five-game winning streak to end the season.
Miami, which advanced to the playoffs with a win over Dallas in Week 16, drops to the No. 6 seed and will face AFC West champion Kansas City on Saturday night.
“We have to go to the game tomorrow. We have to watch the film and see what we can fix and then move on,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said. “It's a short week. We know that and the road games are going to be tough for us.”
The Bills dominated time of possession and outgained Miami by nearly 200 yards, but first-half mistakes on offense halted their momentum. Buffalo led 14-7 early in the fourth quarter until Deonte Harty returned a punt 96 yards for a touchdown.
“I blacked out,” Harty said afterward. “I can't tell you what happened. I just saw the crease. It hit me. And the next thing I knew, I was free.”
Buffalo then forced a three-and-out, and Allen directed an eight-play, 74-yard drive that culminated with a 5-yard toss to Knox with 7:16 left.
“Give all the glory to the Lord,” Knox said. His late brother Luke played football at Florida International University, less than 30 miles from Hard Rock Stadium. “I'm just grateful that my number was called, but I think everyone here would have stood up tonight if their number had been called.”
Miami had one last chance, but Taylor Rapp intercepted Tagovailoa on a pass intended for Chase Claypool with 1:13 left.
Allen made 30 of 38 but was intercepted on consecutive drives to start the game. Near the end of the first half, he completed a pass to Ty Johnson just in front of the goal line, allowing time to expire and missing another scoring opportunity.
Another promising Buffalo drive in the third quarter ended with Allen being strip-sacked by Christian Wilkins.
Tagovailoa went 17 of 27 for 173 yards with two interceptions. He completed a 3-yard touchdown throw to Tyreek Hill in the second quarter and finished with an NFL-high 4,624 passing yards. In the second quarter, rookie running back Devon Ashen ran for an incredible 25-yard score to give Miami a 7-0 lead.
Hill had seven catches for 82 yards, giving him a league-leading 1,799 total yards. Four days after firefighters extinguished a blaze at his South Florida home, he celebrated his 13th touchdown of the season with a backflip in the end zone.
It was a rough start for both teams.
Buffalo safety Christian Benford undercut Tagovailoa's pass to Hill, stopping Miami's first drive. Dolphins cornerback Eli Apple then intercepted Allen in the end zone on Buffalo's first possession, ending a 12-play, 79-yard drive.
Allen entered the game as one of the league's most turnover-prone quarterbacks, recording 14 interceptions and another on Buffalo's second drive on a fourth-down heave. Dolphins safety DeShon Elliott caused this problem.
However, Miami's offense stalled as Buffalo forced four punts and turnovers in the final half. The Dolphins ended the season with two straight losses and will face a Chiefs team that won 21-14 in Germany in Week 9.
“This is a team game,” Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey said. “If the other team is struggling, we have to work harder to get them in position to play. We have to find ways to play complementary ball.”
