Thursday Night Football, Week 11: Dolphins Trounce Bills 22-9

The Miami Dolphins took the Thursday Night Football stage and solidified their playoff claim for this year.

NFL.com is reporting the Dolphins have made progress over the past three years under head coach Joe Philbin. After winning seven games his first season in 2012, to eight wins last year, the Dolphins stand at 6-4 and in second place in the AFC East. All six victories were double-digit victories for the Dolphins. More importantly, the Dolphins control their future by having a winning record with six games left in the season. The Bills, however, stand at 5-5 in third place in the AFC East, but are tied with a host of other teams trying to get in the playoffs.

The Dolphins asserted themselves Thursday, taking control of the game with an all-team effort. The Dolphins offense, led by the rejuvenated Ryan Tannehill, used a short passing game to stifle the Bills throughout. The Dolphins averaged 5.2 yards per play for the game, and got 24 first downs in the game, while the Bills got three. Thursday, Tannehill was 24 of 36 for 240 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions. The Dolphins’ offensive line, however, gave up 5 sacks for the game, something they will have to correct if they want to get further into the postseason.

Miami’s Lamar Miller added 86 yards on 15 carries, making the Dolphins’ offense, at the very least, effective. The Dolphins’ defense was just as effective, holding the Bills to 237 total yards, and allowed the Bills to convert only 6 of 15 total first downs, and fail on both fourth down attempts. The Dolphins’ defense also forced a penalty on Bills quarterback Kyle Orton in the end zone to score a safety.

The Bills helped the Dolphins Thursday by committing penalties on third down, three times, extending all three Miami drives.

The New York Times is reporting Tannehill threw a 7-yard touchdown to Brandon Gibson late in the third quarter. A minute, Orton committed an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone for the safety. A few minutes later, Tannehill threw an 8-yard touchdown to Jarvis Landry early in the fourth quarter. Miami kicker Caleb Sturgis opened Thursday’s scoring with at 38-yard field goal and closed the scoring with his second field goal of the night, a 32-yard kick, for Thursday’s final score.

Buffalo kicker Dan Carpenter kicked field goals of 21, 33, and 46 yards to comprise the Buffalo scoring for Thursday.

Buffalo will host the New York Jets on Sunday, November 23, while the Dolphins will travel to Denver to face the Broncos on the same day.

[Image courtesy of Turf Show Times]