3 Dolphins to blame for painful, likely season-ending loss to Bills in Week 9

The Miami Dolphins had their chances, and they played with more heart than they had all year, but in the end, they couldn't hold off the Buffalo Bills.

In typical Dolphins fashion, it took the entire game to rip out the hearts of Miami fans everywhere when everything else was going exactly the way it should have gone. The Dolphins had the game in their hands, but it wasn't going to end that way.

Most of Miami played fantastic football, but three members of the team, and, in reality, three plays, defined the game that may have ended the Dolphins' 2024 postseason chances.

Miami Dolphins who deserve blame for Week 9 loss to Buffalo Bills

1. Raheem Mostert has to do a better job of holding onto the football

Miami was able to turn an early interception by Jalen Ramsey into a touchdown. On the first drive of the second half, the Dolphins were moving the ball well and had crossed into Bills territory when Miami running back Raheem Mostert ran outside and made a good gain, only to have the ball punched out by a Buffalo defender.

The Bills recovered the fumble and turned what could have been a Dolphins scoring drive into a touchdown of their own.

Luckily for Miami, the play didn't cost them the game specifically, but had Mostert held on to the football, the Dolphins might have opened the second half with a nice lead that would have potentially put the ball in their hands on the final drive instead of Buffalo's.

2. Jordan Poyer did Miami no favors, but he was the integral key to the Bills victory

The Bills were facing a third and long from their own 31-yard line late in the fourth quarter, with the game tied, when Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen threw deep.

The pass would have likely been ruled incomplete, given the coverage by Miami cornerback Cam Smith, but Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer made sure the ball hit the ground by hitting Bills receiver Keon Coleman in the head with his helmet.

The refs called unnecessary roughness on the play, which gave Buffalo 15 yards and a first down. The Bills didn't move the ball much more after the second chance Poyer gifted them, but they did enough to give kicker Tyler Bass the opportunity to knock down a 61-yard game-winning field goal.

3. Anthony Weaver's defense couldn't stop the Bills when they needed to

In the first half, the Dolphins defense clearly came to play football. They held Allen and the Bills to just six points in the first half, but in the second half, they fell apart.

Miami gave up 24 points to Buffalo in quarters three and four, but the worst part was the fact they couldn't stop them at all. The Bills scored three consecutive touchdowns, and on their final drive, they ended it with a long field goal to win the game.