The Miami Dolphins signed Jordan Poyer in free agency to help them finally get past the Buffalo Bills.
Eight months later, Miami’s losing streak against Buffalo is two games longer now (six) than it was then. And Poyer’s play on his old home field Sunday was a major reason why.
Jordan Poyer’s Mistake Dooms Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins looked to have a third-down stop on the Bills’ final drive of the game, but the officials flagged Poyer for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Keon Coleman that gave Buffalo new life.
Seven plays later, Tyler Bass boomed through a 61-yard field goal to not only lift the Bills past the Dolphins 30-27 but also end any realistic playoff hopes for Mike McDaniel’s team.
“It takes it out of everyone’s hands when you go helmet-to-helmet,” McDaniel said in the moments after the Dolphins’ sixth loss in eight games this season.
“I didn’t see it live, but if there’s helmet-to-helmet contact, it is what it is. You have to hit the strike zone, which is below the neck. And so that they’ll call that every time if that’s the case. We’ll see it on film.”
Here’s what the film will show: Poyer leaving his feet and launching into Coleman as Josh Allen’s pass dropped into his receiver’s hands, driving the side of his helmet into Coleman’s facemask. That’s a pretty obvious personal foul.
jordan poyer is still helping the bills win games❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/04sA0OOAmU
— ً (@cashout4kt) November 3, 2024
Poyer, who did legally strike Coleman’s chest with his arms on the play, said postgame that he didn’t believe the flag should have been thrown.
“What can you do? I don’t know,” said Poyer, who spent the previous seven seasons with the Bills. “… I felt like I hit him right where I was supposed to hit him. The ref didn’t think so. It’s all good. It is what it is.”
What it is is another game wasted by a lack of discipline. On each of the Bills’ final two scoring drives, a third-down penalty by Miami’s defense added points to the Bills’ total.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Siran Neal (another former Bills DB) was rightly called for defensive holding on a 3rd-and-6 Allen incompletion from the seven-yard line.
The plays after the automatic first down, Allen connected with Quintin Morris on an improvised two-yard scoring pass to put the Bills up a touchdown.
The Dolphins tied it up on their next drive and looked to have a chance to win it late.
But what would have been a Bills punt from their own 31 with just under a minute left turned into a 1st-and-10 from the Buffalo 46. The Bills gained just 11 more yards on their next six plays, but it was enough to give Bass the chance he needed to win it.
“I have no doubt that the intentionality was appropriate,” McDaniel said. “Po’s a gigantic player for our team and has been phenomenal, really helping us take another step in how we prepare, how we play, how we communicate all that.
“But he knows himself that you take it out of your hands and put in the officials’ hands the second you don’t hit the strike zone. So if you hit the strike zone, it’s unfortunate. But if you didn’t, that’s gonna get called every time because that’s against the rules.”