Dolphins on Top, Bills in Control

The Buffalo Bills made sure the AFC East championship is up for grabs, and Miami Dolphin Coach Jimmy Johnson sure wasn’t happy about it.

“They beat the hell out of us,” Johnson said after the Dolphins (7-2) were held to 101 yards of total offense--the team’s second-lowest output ever--in a 23-3 loss to the Bills (7-3) Sunday.

Johnson displayed his disgust in a postgame news conference that lasted 45 seconds.

“We obviously weren’t ready to play,” Johnson said. “Buffalo blocked us; we didn’t block them. We couldn’t tackle them. We had a lot of things going on, talking about how good we were, and quarterback controversies and everything in the world except talking about our opponent.”

Miami is tied for first in the AFC East with Indianapolis, but has lost twice to Buffalo--which could hurt the Dolphins in playoff tiebreaker situations. New England (6-2) is also a contender for the division title.

Damon Huard, starting again in place of the injured Dan Marino, completed only nine of 25 passes for 65 yards with one interception and was sacked three times. The Dolphins ran for only 60 yards and lost leading rusher Cecil Collins for the season with a broken leg.

For Buffalo, Steve Christie kicked field goals of 31, 48 and 47 yards into the wind in the first quarter, while Jonathon Linton’s four-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the first rushing touchdown allowed by Miami this season. It was also the first touchdown allowed in 14 quarters by the Dolphins, who also gave up a 53-yard touchdown pass play from Doug Flutie to Eric Moulds late in the third quarter.