Since 2017, only death and taxes have rivaled the certainty of the Buffalo Bills' dominance at home against the Miami Dolphins.
With just more than three minutes left in Thursday's game, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins still had a chance to change that narrative and erase an ugly losing streak.
Tagovailoa and Miami's best intentions were snatched away by Buffalo linebacker Terrel Bernard, whose interception led to a 31-21 Bills victory, the Dolphins' 10th consecutive road defeat in the lopsided rivalry.
"I wanted to protect the ball, and I think quarterback has to be responsible for it," Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said. "However, I wish I could just put it on him, but it's a tough job to do when there's someone in your face. Everybody needs to do better."
Zeroing in on wide receiver Jaylen Waddle at the snap, Tagovailoa didn't appear to see Bernard until it was too late. The Dolphins QB wasn't overly regretful regarding the play, instead praising Bernard for coming up clutch.
"I thought I was in rhythm in the timing of the play and see the flat defender go over the top of Jaylen," said Tagovailoa, who was 22 of 34 for 146 yards, two touchdowns and the interception -- the game's only turnover. "Jaylen is turning around, and I think it was a really good play by the defender. I had some cover in my face and tried to maneuver the throw, as well. Ten out of 10 times before looking at that same thing, I think I still try to work on the timing of hitting that. I think the linebacker made a great play on that."
As the Dolphins dropped to 0-3 for the first time since 2019 -- the year prior to drafting Tagovailoa -- they put forth arguably their most spirited effort of the season so far. Nonetheless, Miami was bested by Buffalo for the seventh straight time overall (including playoffs), the five-time-reigning AFC East champions continuing to flex their division might.
It also marked Tagovailoa's third straight game with at least one interception, matching a career-worst streak, which previously occurred from Week 16, 2022 to Week 2, 2023.
"It feels like we lost a game," said McDaniel, who's dealt with a barrage of scrutiny this season, of his emotions after giving the Bills a run. "It's not really our expectation. What it was is to come in here and win the game and we knew we had to not turn the ball over. We knew we had to try to at least be even with them in the takeaway department and we had to play some good football and make some plays. We had a turnover in a critical situation. We had a critical penalty on a punt. Those type of things can -- that's how these type of things our decided. So, it feels like a loss and feels like we have a lot of motivation to get back to work for our next opponent."
With four interceptions in three games, it's been an arduous start for Tagovailoa in 2025, but Week 3 was different -- until it wasn't.
Miami scored on the opening drive of the game for a 7-0 advantage and rallied twice to tie it -- with a Tagovailoa 3-yard touchdown pass to Waddle just before halftime and a Tagovailoa 5-yard scoring toss to Tyreek Hill early in the fourth quarter.
Trailing, 28-21, deep into the fourth, the suddenly fighting Fins appeared en route to another tie ballgame.
Tagovailoa had completed three straight passes, the last a 13-yard connection with Waddle on third-and-4. He was looking for Waddle again on first-and-10 from the Bills' 21-yard line, staring down the receiver with pressure quickly in his face. Bernard dropped onto the scene and dashed the Dolphins' hopes. Bernard picked up 24 yards on the return, giving the Bills the ball with three minutes to play. Six plays later, Matt Prater sewed up the Bills' win on a field goal with 27 seconds to play.
As the Dolphins move on to Week 4 and another prime-time AFC East matchup against the New York Jets on Monday, Sept. 29, they'll continue looking for the winning answers.
Doing away with the turnovers is likely tops on the list. They had just one on Thursday, but it was massive.
"No moral victories, that's for sure," Tagovailoa said. "There's definitely some things we can take away that is good and up to par with our standard of how we operate within our offense. Then, with how the defense wants to operate as well getting the stops. When they get those stops, we have to capitalize on that and allow ourselves to get points when we have those opportunities."
