Miami Dolphins studs and duds: Comeback attempt falls short

Stud: Xavien Howard, CB

Miami finally showed some life when they scored on a 40-yard field goal and Buffalo was looking to answer. Josh Allen went deep to John Brown but overthrew him — or at least it appeared that way because Brown stopped on the route. Xavien Howard was able to get under the ball and picked off the pass.

Howard showed a lot of concentration as he bobbled the ball but was able to still bring it in. Then, he turned and ran the ball back to the Buffalo 48 to set their offense up with a short field. They couldn’t capitalize with a touchdown but did get another three, cutting the lead to 17-6.

He was beaten earlier in the game by Stefon Diggs but the interception helped him redeem himself.

Dud: Jaylen Waddle, WR

Miami’s defense tried to get the Dolphins off to a fast start as they stopped Buffalo on a fourth-down attempt on the first drive. The offense, however, wasn’t interested in getting off to a good start of their own.

On the second play of the game, Skylar Thompson went deep to Jaylen Waddle, who was open but couldn’t bring the ball in. That led to a third-and-long and a three-and-out. Then on a later drive, Miami was facing a third-and-15 and Waddle had a shot to bring in another deep ball. This time, Tre’Davious White deserved some credit as he got his hand in there but with the offense struggling, pulling that one in could have been a huge help.

His issues continued in the third as it looked as though he was about to bring in his first completion on the day. Thompson hit Waddle deep as they aimed to extend their 24-20 lead but again, the ball hit the ground. Again, the defense deserves credit as Taron Johnson knocked it out but Waddle is a premium player that should be able to hold onto some of these passes.