Miami Dolphins-Buffalo Bills Week 9: The five biggest games

The Miami Dolphins lost for the sixth time in seven games on Sunday, falling to the Buffalo Bills 30-27 at Highmark Stadium.

We evaluate and analyze the game's five biggest and most important plays.

Safety Jordan Poyer said after the game that he thought he had made a clean hit on Keon Coleman when the third down was not completed, which became a first down when he was warned for unnecessary roughness, but the replays clearly showed the helmet-to-helmet contact. While this is sometimes overlooked or uncalled by officials – as was the case in the Seattle-Rams game when a similar flag was picked up against the Seahawks when helmet-to-helmet contact was seen on the replay – it is It also results in a flag being drawn more often than not. And that was a blast because instead of Buffalo having to punt from its 31, the Dolphins got the ball back and had a chance to win. The drive was kept alive. Poyer said he was just trying to pass the ball, but it missed and the intent no longer mattered.

This may deserve to be the best play because you just don't see 61-yard field goals very often, especially from kickers who have been as inconsistent this season as Tyler Bass. But in what could be seen as proof that anything that can go wrong for Miami will go wrong, Bass absolutely mastered the kick and created so much room to play.

The Dolphins had very little margin for error against a team that is simply better than them, and they lost that margin when Raheem Mostert fumbled for the second time in three weeks, this time when Taron Johnson knocked the ball out of his hands hit. The Dolphins led 10-6 and were in Buffalo territory on the first drive of the second half before the fumble occurred, and the game became a back-and-forth affair from that point on rather than perhaps them continuing to play with a lead could.

The Dolphins allowed three touchdowns in the second half, but the second came after they appeared to make a stop on third-and-goal from the seven-yard line, only to watch cornerback Siran Neal go out for a defensive hold . In the replay, it was clear to see Neal tugging on Khalil Shakir's jersey, although the DBs sometimes get away with it. Neal wasn't there on that play and Buffalo scored two plays later to take a 27-20 lead.

The first touchdown of the second half came on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line, when a stop at that point and perhaps in the outcome clearly would have made a big difference. Cornerback Kendall Fuller had former Dolphins wide receiver Mack Hollins in coverage, but fell a few steps back after Hollins ran across the field in the end zone.