Bills QB Josh Allen hits historic touchdown mark as Buffalo survives late scare to beat Miami Dolphins
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — Bills quarterback Josh Allen hit a historic touchdown mark as Buffalo survived a late scare to beat the Miami Dolphins 31-21 on Thursday Night Football.
Allen threw three touchdown passes in the victory, with his last on the evening – connecting with Khalil Shakir in the fourth quarter to give Buffalo a 28-21 lead – marking his 200th through the air in the NFL.
In doing so, he moved into a tie – with Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins and Dak Prescott – for sixth-fastest player to reach 200 passing touchdowns, achieving the feat in his 114th career game. The only players to reach the mark quicker than the 2024 NFL MVP are Patrick Mahomes (84 games), Dan Marino (89), Aaron Rodgers (99) and Peyton Manning and Brett Favre (106).
His first touchdown pass of the game, a 20-yard strike to Dalton Kincaid, was his 300th (passing and rushing combined) touchdown in the NFL, including playoffs.
Allen’s moment of history capped off another assured performance for the 29-year-old and continued Buffalo’s recent domination of their AFC East division rivals – Allen is now 13-2 against Miami and has scored 45 total touchdowns in 15 games against the Dolphins, his most against a single opponent. Allen now has multiple passing TDs in eight straight home games against the Dolphins.
“Good win, never easy,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said afterwards. “I thought the grit, the mental toughness of our football team was on display throughout the game.”
Miami, who is yet to win a game this season, did have a chance to take a fourth-quarter lead after Allen’s 200th career touchdown pass. But after driving deep into Buffalo territory, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa attempted to connect with Jaylen Waddle on a quick pass, only for Buffalo linebacker Terrel Bernard to step in and get an interception.
It was the dagger to Miami’s hopes of an upset victory as – with just 3.06 remaining in the game – the Bills were able to kill most of the clock with a 10-play, 39-yard drive, capping it off with a field goal to extend the lead to 10 and wrap up the victory.
After the game, Tagovailoa – who was 22-of-34 on his pass attempts for 146 yards, two touchdowns and the interception – explained that the key turnover was the result of an excellent play by Bernard.
“I thought I was in rhythm in the timing of the play and see the flat defender go over the top of Jaylen,” Tagovailoa told reporters. “Jaylen is turning around, and I think it was a really good play by the defender. I had some cover in my face and tried to maneuver the throw, as well.
“Ten out of 10 times before looking at that same thing, I think I still try to work on the timing of hitting that. I think the linebacker made a great play on that.”
While Miami’s overall performance in Buffalo was more complete compared to their opening two games of the season, the result was the same: a defeat.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said there were no moral victories to take from the loss, despite the better display in Week 3.
“It feels like we lost a game,” McDaniel told reporters when asked about his emotions after the game. “It’s not really our expectation. What it was is to come in here and win the game and we knew we had to not turn the ball over.
“We knew we had to try to at least be even with them in the takeaway department and we had to play some good football and make some plays. We had a turnover in a critical situation. We had a critical penalty on a punt. That’s how these type of things are decided. So, it feels like a loss and feels like we have a lot of motivation to get back to work for our next opponent.”
In Week 4, the Bills host the New Orleans Saints and the Dolphins welcome the New York Jets to Florida.
The-CNN-Wire
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