Dolphins-Bills Week 10 Halftime Observations

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (17) makes a touchdown catch against Buffalo Bills cornerback Maxwell Hairston (31) during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

What stood out in the first half of the Miami Dolphins' Week 10 game against the Buffalo Bills:

We'll start with the list of inactives, which featured mostly injured players not quite ready to play, a list headed by cornerback Rasul Douglas and tight end Julian Hill.

Noteworthy that rookie seventh-round pick Zeek Biggers was active for only the second time this season.

THE FIRST QUARTER

The Dolphins once again went with their new move of electing to receive after winning the coin toss and we'll excuse that one more than other ones because this was a game where they absolutely needed a fast start.

That said, the Dolphins' first drive in those circumstances again failed.

That whole drive was a disaster, as it began with a false start on fullback Alec Ingold (which did look like a bad call) followed by Miami calling a timeout. Ugh.

No issue generally with taking deep shots, particularly on third-and-long but that throw to Jaylen Waddle never had a shot because he didn't beat rookie Maxwell Hairston one-on-one and then safety Cole Bishop was back there waiting for the deep throw.

Very noteworthy on defense to see JuJu Brents start at cornerback with Rasul Douglas out. Time to see what the former Colts second-round pick can show.

Great job by Tyrel Dodson and Bradley Chubb to stuff James Cook on third-and-2 on Buffalo's first drive, and a bit surprised to see the Bills punt on fourth-and-1 instead of having Josh Allen sneak it.

Malik Washington ended the Dolphins' second drive in style, but he didn't start it very well when he fair-caught a punt in the open field inside the 10-yard line. That's just a no-no.

It didn't matter because the Dolphins used a small-ball offense to march all the way down the field, with De'Von Achane (shocker!) doing the heavy lifting.

Dodson continued his great first quarter with his pressure on Josh Allen on the fourth-and-1 that ended with Allen throwing downfield to a well-covered Jaxson Hawes. Nice work by Minkah Fitzpatrick in coverage as well.

THE SECOND QUARTER

What to start the second quarter, with Waddle easily beating rookie Maxwell Hairston downfield and Tua Tagovailoa connecting for a 38-yard touchdown despite pass interference in the end zone.

The defense really came to play on this day, and the secondary had great coverage on Buffalo's third possession. That included Brents all over Keon Coleman on a third-and-10 incompletion.

Why are the Dolphins calling their third timeout of the first half with 9:13 left on fourth down for Buffalo with less than a yard to go. This had Josh Allen sneak written all over it, and the odds of stopping it were small timeout or not.

And then, of course, Benito Jones fell into the neutral zone and gave Buffalo the first down. Ugh.

Jack Jones came up with two huge defensive plays in the first half. Recognizing a screen to James Cook and making the tackle for a 4-yard loss was good; stripping the ball away from Cook while Dante Trader Jr. was bringing him down was even better.

And it shouldn't go unnoticed that it was Brents who came up with the fumble recovery after a couple of Miami defenders first had a shot.

Really nice mix of running and passing on the drive that started at the Miami 5, and Tua's best throw of the half with the 25-yard completion to Waddle near the sideline. This was close to Tua's best half of the season.

Nice work by Jaylen Wright shedding a tackler in the backfield on an 18-yard run into Buffalo territory.

Pretty conservative call on third-and-14 from the Buffalo 29-yard line before the 46-yard field goal, but the three points still gave Miami a 16-0 lead.

And then, look-ee here, Zach Sieler with his first sack of the season to stop Buffalo's next drive. Defense absolutely balling in the first half.

The Dolphins had a chance to add to their lead, but couldn't get anything going after that 11-yard completion to Achane, and it did look as though the rain caused Tagovailoa issues and led to two incompletions that not only stalled the drive but also stopped the clock.

Didn't matter, though, it was all sunshine (metaphorically speaking) as the Dolphins went into halftime with that 16-0 lead, the first time since 2023 that Buffalo failed to score in the first half.

Yes, we all saw this coming.