Bills trample Dolphins in 41-14 victory

MIAMI OK, Miami. Now it’s time to panic.

The Dolphins aren’t just the worst team in the AFC East right now.

They might be the worst team in the entire AFC.

That’s at least up for debate after their latest embarrassment, a 41-14 beatdown at the hands of the Bills in their home opener Sunday.

The Dolphins were atrocious on both sides of the ball. Their offense turned the ball over three times. And their defense allowed over 400 yards, including 277 through the air.

Good teams improve week to week. The Dolphins, meanwhile, have gotten worse each week.

The Dolphins on Sunday were determined to start fast. They did the opposite.

Miami went three-and-out to start, and then allowed Tyrod Taylor and Charles Clay to pick them apart. On the Bills’ first drive, Taylor connected with Clay, the former Dolphin, three times for 58 yards.

That included a 25-yard touchdown connection on which Clay made at least three tacklers miss.

After another Dolphins punt, Taylor went back to work on the Dolphins defense. He hooked up with Sammy Watkins for 39 yards, with Brice McCain lagging in coverage.

The Bills capitalized. Taylor connected with LeSean McCoy on a 10-yard touchdown pass, and the Dolphins were getting blown out of their renovated stadium.

Finally, the Dolphins’ defense got a stop. And when a Bills holding penalty was tacked onto the end of Jarvis Landry’s long punt return, the Dolphins had first-and-10 at the Buffalo 39.

But the Dolphins gave it right back. A perfect pass deflected off Landry’s hands and into the grasp of Preston Brown for an interception. When Dan Carpenter kicked a 26-yard field goal to put Buffalo up 17-0, the Bills were out-gaining the Dolphins 222-39.

And then, the bottom completely fell out. Tannehill gift-wrapped another interception to Brown, who brought this one back 44 yards for a touchdown.

Adding insult to injury, Carpenter the Dolphins’ former kicker drilled a 51-yard field goal to give the Bills a 27-0 halftime lead.

Finally, Tannehill and the Dolphins got it going midway through the third quarter. He directed a six-play, 56-yard drive capped by 21-yard scoring strike to Rishard Matthews.

But the Bills answered right back with a 38-yard touchdown strike from Taylor to Chris Hogan, and the game was effectively over.

(c)2015 Miami Herald

Visit Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.