Week 10 NFL Deep Dive: Achane Runs Wild As Dolphins Shock Bills

By Peter Mann

The intriguing, divisional match-up between the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills provides the backdrop for this week’s Deep Dive, with many in attendance perhaps also having an eye on the action between Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their visitors, New England Patriots. 

Had the final outcome of these two contests gone the other way, then the Bills would have returned to the top of the AFC East, as it was, the Patriots edged the Bucs 28-23, whilst the Dolphins shocked the Bills with a 30-13 success at the Hard Rock Stadium.

The Bills had won the last seven meetings between the two franchises, including the 2022 AFC Wild Card Game; in-fact, over the previous eighteen clashes, dating back to 2017, the Dolphins had only won twice, narrowly in Miami in 2018, and again in 2022.

Mike McDaniel’s ailing Dolphins weren’t going to let this one become just another statistic though, neither was quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, or star running back De’Von Achane; McDaniel, in his fourth season at the Hard Rock Stadium, saw this victory keep him in the winning column as Head Coach (31-30).

His opposite number, Sean McDermott, is his ninth season in Buffalo, leading them to five straight AFC East divisional titles, but has failed to take them much further courtesy of Partick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, the Chiefs winning in four of the last five seasons.

In this meeting of the eastern giants, the Dolphins restricted their recent tormentors to zero points return through the first three quarters, leading 16-0 at the half, and by the same score going into the final quarter.

Too little too late, it would be the fourth quarter when Josh Allen dragged the Bills back into the contest, helping them post thirteen posts, but the Dolphins added another fourteen of their own for a commanding victory.

A touchdown score in the first and second quarters gave the Dolphins momentum, quarterback Tagovailoa connecting first with Malik Washington, with 4:49 left in the first, for a close-range score, then with Jaylen Waddle for a 38yd score early in the second, before kicker Riley Patterson kicked through a 46yd FG attempt with three minutes of the half remaining.

The deficit faced by the Bills at this point was the largest they’d had thus far in the 2025 campaign; it got worse in the third quarter as well when, despite there being no scores from either side, the Bills came close to reducing the deficit.

With six minutes left in the quarter, Bills star, Josh Allen, in his eighth season in Buffalo with whom he joined as first round draft pick back in 2018, fired a pass through the middle and into the endzone, however, Dolphins safety Ifeatu Melifonwu was on-hand to give the quarterback his fifth interception of the year.

Melifonwu, a third-round draft pick by Detroit Lions from Syracuse Orange, in 2021, and, having missed most of the 2024 season through injury, he moved to Miami in March this year, on a one-year contract with the Dolphins.

The Bills did finally reduce the deficit, with 12:36 left in the fourth quarter after Allen connected with Keon Coleman for a 35yd touchdown, however, the 2-point conversion attempt that followed came to nothing.

Although the visitors added another touchdown score in the closing stages of the game, tight end Jackson Hawes receiving from Allen for a 26yd score, that was sandwiched between a pair of stunning rushing scores by the Dolphins’ star running back, De’Von Achane.

The first from Achane saw him take the football, burst through a shocked Bills line, and rush for a 59yd score down the middle, the Dolphins moving into a seventeen-point lead; his second of the contest arrived around three minutes later when, just after Hawes had clawed another back for the Bills, Achane again burst through and made left for the endzone, and a 35yd score to seal the 30-13 success.

A third-round draft from Texas A&M Aggies in 2023, Achane was also a Track & Field athlete, competing in the 60m, 100m, and 200m events, earning the title of 2020 Gatorade Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year; he’s now in his third season at the Hard Rock Stadium.

Statistically for the two franchises, the Dolphins registered the following – Tua Tagovailoa 15/21, 173yds, 2TDs (pass); De’Von Achane 22cars, 174yds, 2TDs (rush); Jaylen Waddle 84yds, 1TD (rec), Malik Washington 9yds, 1 TD (rec); Riley Patterson 1/1FG, 46lng, 3/4PATs

Replying the Bills registered as follows – Josh Allen 28/40, 306yds, 2TDs (pass); Keon Coleman 46yds, 1TD (rec), Jackson Hawes 26yds, 1TD (rec); Matt Prater 1/1PAT

Victory for the Dolphins saw McDaniel’s side move to 3-7, they’ve got a lot to do still in order to not have another losing season (need to win at least six of their last seven games); they face fellow 3-7 side, NFC East’s Washington Commanders, on Sunday afternoon, at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, in Madrid, Spain.

Meanwhile, Sean McDermott’s Bills slip to 6-3, and welcome another 6-3 side in NFC South leaders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on the back of that defeat to New England Patriots, as the regular season gears up for its closing throes.

PETER MANN

NFL ANALYST

PETER IS A LIFELONG SPORTS FAN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR BASED IN COUNTY DURHAM. HE HAS FOLLOWED THE NFL AND THE RAIDERS SINCE THE 1980s, AND LOVES BOTH SPORTS AND FAMILY HISTORY. PETER HAS A DEGREE IN SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, AND CAN BE FOUND ON TWITTER @petermannwriter

 
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