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.

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.

Stud: Jeff Wilson, Jr., RB

Needing a spark, Miami’s offense just got a short field thanks to the Xavien Howard interception. They were then in danger of giving the ball right back as they were stopped on three-straight plays, setting up a fourth-and-eight.

Mike McDaniel elected to go for it and it proved to be the right play, thanks to Jeff Wilson. With no one open, Skylar Thompson dumped the ball off to the running back behind the line of scrimmage. He then forced a missed tackle by Matt Milano and ran for 13 yards and a fresh set of downs.

Wilson had struggled to get the ball moving on the ground, with fewer than three yards per attempt at this point. But he was able to make an impact play and allowed Miami to get into field goal range when it looked as though they were about to surrender excellent field position.

In addition to leading them to three points with that play, Wilson came up big again in the third quarter. Trailing 34-24, Wilson scored on a short touchdown run after Jaylen Waddle took a handoff to put them inside the two-yard line.

While the numbers weren’t huge, he stepped up when needed most which is why Wilson deserves some praise for his grit.

Dud: Robert Hunt, G

Whenever Miami made a big play, it seemed they had some sort of self-inflicted destruction that followed. That happened when Cedrick Wilson ran a punt back 50 yards, to give them the ball at the Bills’ 27.

An incomplete pass set up a second-and-10 and then Robert Hunt was called for a false start, moving it back to the 32. Even worse, it made it second and 15. Tyreek Hill pulled in a 13-yard pass but they had to kick a field goal two plays later on fourth and two — meaning those five yards proved to be very costly.

Stud: Cedrick Wilson, WR

With several wideouts struggling to hold onto the ball in the first half, Miami got a burst from a receiver on special teams. Following an overturned 54-yard reception from Khalil Shakir, Miami forced a punt.

It was a 47-yard kick from Sam Martin and Cedrick Wilson had a huge return for 50 yards.

That gave them the ball on the Buffalo 27 and while they again were held to three, Wilson was able to help them pull to within one score.

Dud: Skylar Thompson, QB

It’s hard to be too tough on Skylar Thompson. The rookie seventh-round pick was never expected to be starting a playoff game this season but with injuries to Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater, he was forced into action.

He didn’t get a lot of help since players such as Jaylen Waddle and even Tyreek Hill had some uncharacteristic drops but he also made a few mistakes that proved to be very costly.

In the first half, he threw a terrible pick right into the hands of Dean Marlowe. That led to a touchdown for the Bills, who were up 14-0. He threw a second in the third quarter, and this one was possibly worse.

Up 24-20, the Dolphins were facing a third and 19 at their own eight. Instead of taking the check-down and punting, Thompson went for the big play and Kaiir Elam picked him off. Again, this led to a touchdown for Buffalo as they went up 27-24.

Miami got back to within three after a couple of Buffalo touchdowns but the mistakes kept happening. Thompson had some misfires and a costly delay of game penalty late that cost his team. In all, he was 18-of-45 for 220 yards with a touchdown and two picks.