AFC East: Dolphins eliminate Jets in OT; Bills edged by Rams
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa wouldn’t want to repeat everything that was said in the Miami Dolphins’ huddle Sunday when they trailed the New York Jets in the fourth quarter.
“Just know we were getting after everyone inside the huddle,” Tagovailoa said, “to make sure you’re blocking the way you need to block, you’re running the routes the way you need to be — you need to be in the right spots.”
Whatever was said helped keep Miami’s slim playoff hopes alive as the Dolphins (6-7) overcame 8- and 3-point fourth-quarter deficits, as well as one of Aaron Rodgers’ best games in years, to beat the Jets 32-26.
Tagovailoa sealed it with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jonnu Smith in overtime to help the Dolphins spoil Rodgers’ first 300-yard passing game in nearly three years and beat the Jets for the ninth straight time in Miami. The loss officially eliminated the Jets from playoff contention for the 14th straight year.
After Jason Sanders tied it with 7 seconds left in regulation with a 42-yard field goal, Tagovailoa quickly moved the Dolphins down the field.
That came after Anders Carlson gave the struggling Jets (3-10) — who were eliminated from postseason contention for the 14th straight year — the lead with a 42-yarder with 52 seconds remaining. But Malik Washington put the Dolphins in great position to help set up Sanders’ field goal with a 45-yard kickoff return to Miami’s 46-yard line.
Tagovailoa was 33 of 47 for 331 yards and two TDs. He had just one incompletion on Miami’s eight-play, 70-yard scoring drive that was capped by Smith’s fourth touchdown of the season. Smith didn’t have a reception before catching three passes for 44 yards on the winning drive.
“A win means a lot,” said Tagovailoa, who has 300 yards passing in three straight games. “It means a lot because we have no room for error to lose another game.”
Rodgers was 27 of 39 for 339 yards, ending a drought of 34 regular-season games without a 300-yard passing game — dating to Dec. 12, 2021, while with Green Bay — and had a TD pass to Davante Adams.
Rodgers and Adams connected for a 3-yard score in the third quarter, the pair’s 79th touchdown in the regular and postseason. They passed Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown for the fourth-most by a quarterback-receiver duo in NFL history.
Adams finished with nine catches and 109 yards.
Down 8 at the start of the fourth, Tagovailoa found Tyreek Hill for a 4-yard touchdown, and Jaylen Waddle caught the two-point conversion to tie it at 23. Hill caught 10 passes for 115 yards, and Waddle added 99 yards on nine catches.
The Jets had taken a 20-15 lead in the third on Adams’ touchdown that was set up by a 42-yard pickup by Garrett Wilson, who beat cornerback Jalen Ramsey on a double move to get open. A 40-yard field goal by Carlson later stretched New York’s lead to 8 after the Dolphins went scoreless in the quarter.
RAMS 44, BILLS 42
Matthew Stafford passed for 320 yards and hit Puka Nacua for a 19-yard touchdown with 1:54 to play, and the Los Angeles Rams overcame Josh Allen’s record six-touchdown performance in Inglewood, Calif., to snap the Buffalo Bills’ seven-game winning streak
Allen passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 82 yards and three more scores for the Bills (10-3), who hadn’t lost since Oct. 6 in Houston. He became the first player in NFL history with three passing TDs and three rushing TDs in a game.
Allen capped his third long touchdown drive of the fourth quarter by scoring on a 1-yard dive with 1:00 left.
But Ronnie Rivers recovered the onside kick and Los Angeles (7-6) ran out the clock on its first win over Buffalo since 2012 and its first at home since 1983.
The Rams and Bills combined for 902 yards of offense without a turnover, while Buffalo’s 42 points were the most scored in a loss in franchise history. A team scored at least 42 points and lost for just the 22nd time in NFL history.
Hunter Long returned a blocked punt 22 yards for a touchdown for the Rams, who have won six of eight after this improbable outing to stay in the NFC West race.
Nacua had 12 catches for 162 yards and also ran for a score, while Kyren Williams rushed for two TDs as the Rams never trailed while moving above .500 for the first time this season.
Los Angeles led 38-21 entering the fourth quarter before Allen stirred Buffalo from its post-division title-clinching hangover. But after Mack Hollins’ 21-yard TD catch with 8:49 to play, Stafford led Los Angeles on a clock-consuming drive that included a gritty 11-yard pass to Tutu Atwell on fourth-and-5 near midfield with less than four minutes left.
After Nacua’s catch-and-run TD on a pick play, Buffalo drew a 34-yard pass interference penalty against Quentin Lake on fourth-and-15 from midfield on a drive ending in Allen’s third TD rush — but the Bills ran out of time.