October 20th, 2013

By Matt Hezoo

Ryan Tannehill was smug, leaning calmly back in his chair as he answered reporters’ questions following the Dolphins near miraculous loss Sunday afternoon to the Buffalo Bills.

“They didn’t see that one coming, that’s for sure.” The young quarterback smiled, asked about his fumble in the closing minutes of the game, which ultimately led Miami to pull out the loss. “You play a team like them, and you know that they know what they’re doing when it comes to bungling things up.” Said Tannehill. “It feels good to know we put one past them.”

In a game where both teams fought hard to stay behind, Miami was able to get the edge it needed in the closing minutes. Miami’s offensive line, which had struggled to let Bills pass rushers anywhere near their quarterback for much of the game, found a way to be porous right when they needed it most, letting Mario Williams breeze by and strip the football from a defenseless Tannehill. Kyle Williams did his best to bobble the football and possibly let the dolphins regain possession, but ultimately secured it, setting up Dan Carpenter’s 31 yard field goal and causing the Bills to go up by two, a lead from which they would not be able to recover.

“I’ve missed those before” said a defeated Carpenter, “I don’t know what to say, some days it just goes through.”

First year Buffalo coach Doug Marrone has fallen under criticism recently by those who feel he will not be able to uphold the tradition of crushing heartbreak that Bills fans have come to expect, particularly under their previous head coach Chan Gailey and his predecessor Dick Jauron. Today’s failure to fall to the Dolphins combined with the improvement of the Syracuse and New Orleans football programs during his tenure with those organizations leaves Marrone with a serious uphill battle.

Still stunned at his team’s last second inability to come away with the loss, Marrone was bluntly honest. “You know, we did everything we could to botch those last two minutes. Dan [Carpenter] put that ball right where it needed to be for them to return it, but you know we tried to give it up and came out of it with the stop. We just ran out of mistakes I guess.”

Miami head coach Joe Philbin is starting to be able to breathe easy, as his team seems to be turning their season around from a 3-0 start that had it looking like their chances at futility were all but shredded. “You know honestly we were pretty tentative about those last two games, it really weighed on us going into the bye. To get a loss against a team like Buffalo, I mean you gotta think maybe we’ve got something going here.”

Ryan Tannehill gave Miami hope early, throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown to open scoring, and adding another interception later right as it seemed the Bills might start to run away with the deficit.

Thad Lewis was a disappointment for Buffalo, only managing one interception. Lewis’ play nearly put Buffalo’s hopes for a loss on ice when on one play he connected with Stevie Johnson for fourteen yards and simultaneously draw an additional fifteen on a Miami penalty for roughing the passer.

“I’m still new to this team, you know and I’ve got a lot of work to do. Playing on a team where they’ve had guys like [J.P.] Losman and [Trent] Edwards, it’s going to take some time. I just gotta take it week to week. Last week we got it done, and this week we just fell short.”

Buffalo’s defense kept them in it right until the end. Second year player Stephon Gilmore even managed a holding penalty despite having one hand completely enclosed in a cast, as he is still recovering from an injury to his wrist received in preseason.

It was Miami’s offensive line, however, that would get the last laugh. “I knew I would get my chance.” said tackle Tyson Clabo, who allowed Williams to sack Tannehill at the crucial moment. “I kept saying to myself all game, not yet, not yet, then I saw Mario coming on that last one and I let him right on by.” Clabo, not used to being the hero, was modest, unaccustomed to being given the attention he got after the game. “I’m just doing what we’ve been doing all season,” he said, adding a chuckle. “’Course it sure does feel better to be doing it and come away with the L.”

Both teams will have another chance to prove which of the two can be more futile when the Dolphins go on the road to face the Bills at home later this season.