The Buffalo Bills brought Miami down to earth with a thud on Sunday with a 48-20 triumph, handing the Dolphins their first defeat of the NFL season and seizing the AFC East division lead.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw for four touchdowns and ran for another as Buffalo’s offense stole the spotlight from a Dolphins squad that had hung 70 points on the Denver Broncos last week.
Stefon Diggs had six receptions for 120 yards and three touchdowns and the Bills defense clamped down to limit the explosive Dolphins offense led by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
The Bills, buoyed by the regular-season return of safety Damar Hamlin nine months after his heart stopped during a game in January, suffered a setback with an Achilles tendon injury to Tre-Davious White in the third quarter.
But the Bills, who scored on eight of their first nine possessions, never trailed on the way to a third straight victory, denying Miami’s bid for a two-game lead atop the division.
The first quarter in Buffalo delivered all the offensive fireworks expected from the teams, with the first five drives producing five touchdowns and a 21-14 Bills lead.
But Buffalo’s defense began to get the measure of Tagovailoa and the Dolphins, piling up four sacks with an aggressive pass rush and limiting Miami to six points after halftime.
Diggs’s first touchdown put Buffalo up 21-14 and his second, a 55-yard catch and run that saw him shake off two defenders as he raced up the sideline, took it to 28-14.
Buffalo had pushed the lead to 31-14 before the Dolphins opened the third quarter with a TD, but the Bills scored 17 points from there.
The victory left both teams at 3-1, with Buffalo holding a slight edge on a tiebreaker.
In another key division matchup, the Philadelphia Eagles remained unbeaten with a 34-31 overtime victory over the Washington Commanders sealed by Jake Elliott’s 54-yard field goal.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns. His 28-yard scoring pass to A.J. Brown with 1:28 left in regulation gave Philadelphia a 31-24 lead.
The Commanders responded with a drive capped by Sam Howell’s scoring pass to Jahan Dotson to force overtime.
Jags win in London
In other division matchups, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers grabbed the NFC South lead with a 26-9 victory over the Saints in New Orleans while in Cleveland, Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more as the Ravens rolled to a 28-3 win over a Browns team missing star quarterback Deshaun Watson because of a shoulder injury.
The Jacksonville Jaguars emerged victorious in their 10th regular-season game in London, beating the Atlanta Falcons 23-7 at Wembley Stadium, the first of five international games on this season’s slate.
In other early games, Houston rookie C.J. Stroud threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns in the Texans’ 30-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
There was disappointment for Indianapolis rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson, who pulled the Colts back from 0-23 to force overtime against the Los Angeles Rams, only for Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, battling a hip injury, to seal a 29-23 overtime triumph with a 22-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Puka Nacua.
