Florida teams NFL round-up: Highs and lows for Dolphins and Bucs
This past weekend provided a mixed bag of emotions for fans of Florida’s NFL teams.
With the Jacksonville Jaguars on a bye, the Miami Dolphins faced division rivals, the Buffalo Bills, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted the New England Patriots in the ‘Bradybowl’.
Here, Florida News Blitz writer Taylor Stephenson looks at how the weekend of football unfolded in the Sunshine State.
Miami Dolphins 30-13 Buffalo Bills
We've seen this scenario many times before in Miami: a lacklustre season, a losing record, and then a victory against a divisional rival.
Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami offence started strongly, going up 16-0 before half-time, with a perfect deep ball from Tua to Jaylen Waddle for a 38-yard touchdown being the highlight.
De’Von Achane once again stood out on the Miami offence, rushing for 174 yards and two touchdowns and proving he is one of the best backs in the league once again.
The Miami defence delivered an impressive performance against reigning MVP Josh Allen and the Bills' offence, forcing two turnovers and holding them out until the 4th quarter, with the Bills’ usually dominant run game limited to just 87 yards.
Miami heads to Madrid next, where they face another struggling outfit in the Washington Commanders as the Fins look to get back-to-back victories for the first time this season.
Can the Miami fans ditch those paper bags, or was this just a flash-in-the-pan result?
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-28 New England Patriots
In what was the start of a challenging three-game run, the Bucs had hoped the bye week would provide them with time to find an answer for the rolling New England offence.
In the first quarter, it seemed we were set for an explosive shootout as both teams threw for touchdowns, but only New England continued with the big plays downfield.
The Bucs' offence stuttered after their opening drive score, failing to find the endzone until late in the third quarter, by which point the Patriots already had a healthy lead.
It was the Bucs’ inability to prevent those explosive plays that cost them the game. Patriots’ rookie TreVeyon Henderson had two touchdown runs covering 55 yards and 69 yards. Whilst MVP frontrunner Drake Maye connected with Kyle Williams for a 72-yard touchdown.
After the game, Baker Mayfield said, "This isn't the end of our season. I know that. We still have very important games ahead of us, but games like this, when you don't win them, it should sting. It should really hurt."
The Bucs can take positives going into next week against the Bills, with rookie Emeka Egbuka looking like a top wideout in the absence of Mike Evans and Chris Goodwin.
The Bucs will review the injury report, hoping for the return of some key players for Mayfield as we approach the business end of the season.
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