Dolphins Pull Away From Bills With Late Scores

The Buffalo Bills stayed close to the Miami Dolphins until Troy Drayton went out for a pass.

The wide-open tight end’s 30-yard touchdown reception with 5:11 remaining Monday night gave the Dolphins some breathing room in a 30-13 victory.

Miami led only 16-13 when Dan Marino found Drayton open at the 10-yard line, some 15 yards from the nearest defender. Following the score, the Dolphins stopped Buffalo on downs and added an insurance touchdown on Karim Abdul-Jabbar’s one-yard run at 3:45.

A halftime ceremony honored Miami’s 17-0 season 25 years ago, and the Dolphins were so inspired by the tribute that they nearly blew a 13-0 lead.

But Miami (7-4) won despite two second-half turnovers and moved into a first-place tie with the New York Jets in the AFC East. The Dolphins hold the tiebreaker advantage over New York by virtue of sweeping their two-game series.

“We knew what we were in for,” Drayton said. “We needed this because we wanted to stay in first place, keep the ball rolling and get to the playoffs.”

“About this time of year every year,” Coach Jimmy Johnson said, “a couple teams start to get on a roll and come out of the pack and get good things happening before the playoffs. We’re coming close to that.”

The Bills (5-6) dropped two games back. They’ve lost three of their past four games.

Buffalo quarterback Todd Collins, back the starter after being benched for two games in favor of Alex Van Pelt, completed 19 of 37 passes for 152 yards.

Marino was 18 of 24 for 234 yards. Rookie tight end Ed Perry scored his first NFL touchdown on a three-yard reception to cap a 90-yard drive, and Olindo Mare had field goals of 37, 30 and 35 yards.

The Dolphins, who failed to score a touchdown in a 9-6 loss at Buffalo on Nov. 2, this time took a 13-0 lead after 22 minutes.

Buffalo’s offense finally got untracked on the first possession of the second half. The Bills converted two third-and-long situations to set up a one-yard touchdown run by Darick Holmes.

Steve Christie’s 36-yard field goal made the score 16-10. After Steve Tasker recovered Irving Spikes’ fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Christie made a 24-yard field goal.

Miami regained the momentum on Drayton’s score to cap a 61-yard drive.

On second-and-11, he ran past linebacker Bryce Paup, whose attention was elsewhere. No one in the secondary was in Drayton’s vicinity, and as he trotted across the goal line with the reception, Paup stretched out his arms in disbelief.

“It was a miscommunication at the line of scrimmage,” Bill safety Kurt Schulz said.

“They blew the coverage,” Marino said. “Normally when no one covers someone, they’re really open.”