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Bills vs. Dolphins Scores, Stats, Updates, Highlights for NFL Week 9

ORCHARD PARK – Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel has been considered one of the NFL's bright, young up-and-coming head coaches since taking over the South Florida operation in 2022.

A master of offensive versatility, he has built a dangerous and explosive attack around Tua Tagovailoa that is faster than the U.S. 400-meter Olympic relay team.

But when McDaniel and his Dolphins played against the Buffalo Bills, to say things didn't go well is a massive understatement.

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On Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium, the desperate 2-5 Dolphins find themselves in a precarious position with their season likely on the line, and to save it they must find a way to beat the team they have been since Sean McDermott was in who pushed into submission became the head coach in Buffalo in 2017.

“We're trying to be the team that wins the AFC East at the end of the season, and to do that you have to play Buffalo based on history,” McDaniel said Friday. “I think I’ve been here for six games against them. Four out of six games were one-score games, two of which got out of control. So what does this mean for us? We can learn from things that happened in previous experiences, but that doesn't define us because who cares, what if we won all those games?

“It doesn’t matter for this game. You have to acknowledge the obvious when you've lost a lot to a team, you definitely want to beat them, but the games before that – our goal is to make those flawed and learn from the mistakes of the past and focus them on one Implement it in a way that makes a difference. You have a chance to win. Because regardless, to beat the Buffalo Bills you have to give everything until the end because experience has shown us that that's what counts if we're trying to win the game. I think it’s just important not to have any illusions about the past, but to really focus on learning lessons from the past and using them for the future.”

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The Dolphins responded to Tyler Bass' field goal with a 39-yarder from Jason Sanders to tie the game.

Miami gained 49 yards in nine plays, the big play being a third-and-11 conversion when Tua Tagovailoa hit Raheem Mostert for a 17-yard gain, and then the officials called an absurd personal foul penalty on tackler Taylor Rapp Mostert lowered his head and aimed the boom at Rapp. That gained 15 more yards, but after Miami got another first down, Rapp returned the favor by stuffing Mostert on a third-and-1 play.

Tyler Bass got the Bills on the field with a 40-yard field goal, but it was a bit of a disappointment for Buffalo.

Brandon Codrington's 29-yard punt return gave the Bills a drive start at the Miami 37, but after Khalil Shakir's third-down conversion, the Bills were unable to score again as Josh Allen was sacked by Emmanuel Ogbah on third down .

Miami picked up a first down. De'Vachane rushed for 7 yards and Tua Tagovailoa completed to Tyreek Hill for 6 yards. Tagoaviloa failed to handle the ensuing snap and was tackled by Greg Rousseau for a 1-yard loss. Odell Beckham had a 6-yard catch and Tyreek Hill couldn't get a ball over the middle on third-and-11. Jake Bailey had a weak 37-yard punt and Brandon Codrington picked up the ball on the run and went up the right sideline for a 29-yard return.

Buffalo received the ball first and went for a three-pointer. James Cook ran 4 yards and then was hit in the backfield, losing 1 yard. Josh Allen came under pressure on third down and threw Keon Coleman incomplete. Sam Martin hit a punt 49 yards and Cam Lewis made a great special teams tackle, knocking down Malik Washington and losing a yard on the return.

The Bills received some troubling news at wide receiver Amari Cooper and cornerback Christian Benford – who were listed as questionable – will not play against the Dolphins. Cooper was injured last week in Seattle, while Benford was injured during practice week and was limited in participation, but it looked like both would be able to play.

The fullback/special teams player is there to assist them on the sideline Reggie Gilliam Linebacker who was sidelined Friday with a hip injury Nicholas Morrowoffensive lineman Will clapdefensive tackle Zion Lodge and security Mike Edwards.

Wide receiver Curtis Samuelwho sat out the Seattle game with a pectoral muscle injury, is active and will take Cooper's place in the lineup.

The Dolphins are also missing three key players, all of whom play defense – tackle Zach SielerSecurity Jevon Holland and nickel cornerback Squad Kohou.

The Bills own Miami like no other team has since McDermott came to Buffalo. He is 14-2 all-time against the Dolphins, with two of his road wins clinching either a playoff spot (2017) or a division title (2023). He is 12-2 with Josh Allen at QB and has never lost to them at Highmark Stadium.

That's unlikely to change on Sunday, but it's important to remember that Miami comes to town as a desperate team, knowing that falling behind to 2-6 could end their hopes if they repeat their misery against the Bills not finished It's about getting back into the wild card race. Still, the Bills are the better team playing at home and they fully understand that playoff positioning is extremely important, even though they are currently in top form in the AFC East, so they need to keep picking up wins.

Bills vs. Dolphins preview stories

  • Date: Sunday, November 3rd
  • Time: 1 p.m
  • Location: Highmark Field
  • Betting line: Bills -6
  • Over-Under: 49.5
  • Money line: Bills minus 275 (bet $275 to win $100) and Dolphins plus 220 (bet $100 to win $220).
  • Play by Play: Kevin Harlan
  • analyst: Trent Green
  • Side reporter: Melanie Collins

∎ Cable/Network TV: CBS. The game will be available locally on the following stations: WROC-Channel 8 (Rochester area), WIVB-Channel 4 (Buffalo area), WTVH-Channel 5 (Syracuse area), WKTV-Channel 2 (Utica area) , WENY channel 2 (Elmira area), WRGB channel 10 (Albany area) and WBNG channel 12 (Binghamton area).

∎ Online streaming services: You can watch games on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and subscribe to NFL+, the league's own streaming service. However, you can't cast the games to your TV, you'll have to watch them on your phone or tablet.

∎ TV streaming: You can also stream games if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, DirecTV, fuboTV, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Paramount+.

You can listen to SiriusXM satellite radio on channel 382 (Bills feed) and channel 227 (Dolphins feed), and on traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations across the state. Chris Brown is in charge of play-by-play, Eric Wood is the analyst and Sal Capaccio is the sideline reporter. The network includes:

  • Rochester (WCMF 96.5 and WROC 950 AM)
  • Buffalo (WGR550, 550 hours)
  • Syracuse (WTKW 99.5/WTKV 105.5)
  • Binghamton (WDRE 100.5FM)
  • Ithaca (WIII 99.9/100.3 FM)
  • Bath (WVIN 98.3 FM)
  • Newark (WACK 1420 p.m.)
  • Dansville (WDNY 93.9 FM)
  • Elmira (WNGZ 1490 AM)
  • Auburn (WAUB 98.1 FM/1590 AM)
  • Geneva (WGVA 95.9 FM, 1240 AM)

Sal Maiorana has been covering the Buffalo Bills for four decades, including 35 years as a full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books on the team's history. He can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.

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