Ryan Tannehill threw two second-half touchdown passes to spark the Miami Dolphins over Buffalo 22-9 and boost their bid for a National Football League playoff spot.
Tannehill completed 26-of-34 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns as the Dolphins improved to 6-4, their best record so late in a season since 2008, the last time Miami qualified for the playoffs.
“We’re pretty good,” Tannehill said. “We’re getting better week in and week out. We have a lot of confidence in the locker room, the ability we have and what we can do this year.”
The Dolphins moved percentage points behind Cincinnati (5-3 with a draw) alongside Baltimore and Pittsburgh for the last wildcard playoff berth in the American Conference while the Bills fell to 5-5.
Buffalo’s Dan Carpenter kicked field goals of 21, 33 and 46 yards to give the Bills a 9-3 lead deep into the third quarter.
But Tannehill put the game’s first touchdown on the scoreboard with a 7-yard pass to Brandon Gibson with 2:18 to play in the third quarter, capping a nine-play, 80-yard Miami march.
Buffalo quarterback Kyle Orton was called for intentional grounding on a pass from the end zone to give Miami a safety and a 12-9 edge.
Miami’s Jarvis Landry fumbled the ensuing kick but the Bills failed to capitalize when Carpenter missed a field goal attempt and the Dolphins answered by moving 63 yards in six plays and scoring on Tannehill’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Landry, who was overjoyed to atone for his earlier error.
“Making that mistake, I cost my team a bad turnover that could have swung the momentum,” Landry said. “It says a lot about this team that we can overcome adversity.”
The Dolphins will be tested by AFC West division leader Denver next week in their playoff quest.
“We just have to keep our heads down and our feet dug in and keep up with this grind,” Landry said.