Miami Dolphins studs and duds: Comeback attempt falls short

The Miami Dolphins gave it all they had but fell short against the Bills. Here are the players who stood out as studs and duds in the playoff loss.

Down to a rookie quarterback, no one gave the Miami Dolphins a shot in this one. While they did fall 34-31 to the Buffalo Bills, they proved they belonged in the playoffs as they took the AFC East champs to the wire.

Here we look back at the game and identify some studs and duds for the Dolphins who came up just short in their bid for an upset.

Miami Dolphins studs and duds from Wild Card Round

Stud: Jevon Holland, S

The big play that stood out for safety Jevon Holland was when he picked off Josh Allen near the end of the half. A pass meant for Cole Beasley was deflected and bounced into the air where Holland came in and caught it for the turnover. Miami then scored their first touchdown of the game and tied it up at 17 on the two-point conversion.

As good as that play was, he came up with a better stop in the second half. After Miami took the lead on a defensive touchdown, Buffalo was gaining some offensive traction. Devin Singletary advanced the ball to the Miami 47 and Allen went deep for Dawson Knox on second and seven. Knox appeared to be pulling it in but Holland got there in time to break the play up and help stall another drive.

Stud: Jaelan Phillips, EDGE

Buffalo had their way with the Miami defense throughout the game but they did still have a few moments where their pass rush stood out. One came in the second quarter when they finally held the Bills to a field goal when Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler combined for a sack on Josh Allen.

While those two got the credit, it was Jaelan Phillips that made the play happen. Phillips moved right around Spencer Brown and got pressure on Allen. That forced Allen to move up in the pocket and when he did, Wilkins and Sieler were there to clean up the play.

Phillips made another couple of impact plays in the third quarter on back-to-back snaps. First, he read the read option perfectly and stuffed James Cook for a five-yard loss. On the ensuing snap, Allen had to hurry his throw and dumped it off for a three-yard gain to Dawson Knox. Allen had to hurry and get rid of it as Phillips again found his way into the backfield and hit Allen as he was getting rid of the ball.