The Bills hold off the Dolphins 20-14

By Alex Guzman  |   Monday, October 10, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

Miami Dolphins
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The Miami Dolphins did all they could to lose this cool fall afternoon in Buffalo. A myriad of penalties, turnovers, and poorly executed plays put Dolphins in a 17-0 nothing hole in the first half. Miami made a game of it in the second half, but more mistakes stopped a furious comeback effort that allowed the Buffalo Bills to walk away with a 20-14 defeat.

The penalty situation was out of control. The first 5 or 6 penalties (in the first quarter) were called on the defense, which kept their scoring drives alive. Several more penalties would go against the offense and even the special teams managed a false start on the way to a 18 penalty performance by the Dolphins.

Turnovers were another problem. Of Gus Frerotte's 3 interceptions, the costliest came just before halftime when he forced a pass to the left corner of the end zone to Marty Booker. CB Terrence McGee stepped in front of the pass to kill another productive drive. Ronnie Brown's fumble at the Bills' 12 yard line with less than 2 minutes to go in the fourth killed our final chance to take lead for good. Again the special teams deserve an honorable mention for a botched snap from long-snapper John Denney and a muffed recovery by punter Donnie Jones. The Dolphins' defense also failed to secure several fumbles by the Bills.

MLB Zach Thomas led all defenders with 15 tackles and Jason Taylor added 2 sacks. As a unit, they only allowed 268 total yards (169 passing and 99 rushing). The defense contained Willis McGahee to 86 yards on 31 carries. The Bills were prolific on third down, however, succeeding on 6 of 14 attempts (some can be credited to penalties) and allowed Holcomb to complete 20 of his 26 passes.

Ronnie Brown had a nice game, rushing 17 times for 97 yards. He also caught 6 passes to lead all receivers. Frerotte showed considerable grit despite his turnovers, completing 21 of 33 for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns - a 30 yard strike to Randy McMichael and a 1 yarder in the back of the end zone to TE Will Heller. Despite his one TD, McMichael saw little action in the passing game and was used mostly to help on blocking schemes. The offensive line did a decent job (not counting penalties) of proctecting the QB but allowed 2 sacks in the final last-gasp drive to end the game. Chris Chambers led all wide receivers with 4 receptions but came up short on a couple of crucial plays. He dropped a deep ball down the right sideline in the first half to kill a possible scoring chance and watched passively as Troy Vincent made a play on another deep throw that died in midair.
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About Alex Guzman

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