Dolphins vs. Bills Live Updates | NFL Thursday Night Football 2025 | Score, Prediction & Odds (2025)

The Buffalo Bills are 3-0, and the Miami Dolphins are 0-3 after the Bills’ 31-21 win tonight.

Buffalo QB Josh Allen completed 22-of-28 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns, while James Cook had 19 carries for 108 yards and one touchdown.

Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa had 161 yards passing and two touchdowns, but the Dolphins committed a pivotal roughing-the-punter penalty to help set up the Bills’ game-winning score in the fourth quarter.

Follow along for our reaction from our NFL experts at The Athletic.

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Numbers will show Buffalo’s offense was efficient. Josh Allen and James Cook were superb. But the group looked far from dominant against a reeling opponent. The Bills scored 41 against the Ravens in matchup of AFC powers and then amassed 30 points against the Jets before pulling the chute.

But this game was too close for too long.

Miami's defense has been a laughingstock and lost top nickelback Jason Marshall Jr. to a hamstring injury in the second quarter, yet Buffalo struggled a bit. Allen and Cook got off to hot starts. They looked unstoppable. Then the Bills got mired and seemed totally incapable of stretching the field for a good chunk of the game.

Matt Prater’s wayward 39-yard field goal attempt late in the second quarter hurt. The Dolphins tied the score at 14 right before halftime. In the third quarter, the Dolphins forced punts on back-to-back drives for the first time this season, allowing them to tie it again at 21 early in the fourth.

Thankfully, Cook was sensational. Anything less, and who knows what happens? He ran 19 times for 108 yards and a touchdown. He ripped carries of 11, 9, 26 and 11 yards. Allen gladly took what Miami’s defense allowed, completing 22 of 28 attempts for a modest 213 yards (30 yards on Elijah Moore's catch and run at the two-minute warning to ice the game) and three TDs with no turnovers. Nine targets snagged at least one pass.

Predictably, based on their early-down prowess all game, the Bills saved their best defensive play of the evening for an early down. Rookie defensive tackle Deone Walker went nearly unblocked. He got immediate pressure on Tagovailoa as the Dolphins were attempting to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. The passer made a panic throw, and Bernard read the play and sprinted in front of the pass for the game-clinching play. The Bills will not be pleased with their third-down weakness, though this came after a week in which the Jets did not convert a single third down against the Bills the entire game.

The Bills will hope to get their third-down defense back on track in Week 4 against the Saints.

Tagovailoa settled for a lot of lateral passes, but the offense made it work. Tagovailoa didn’t surpass 100 passing yards until a fourth-down conversion in the fourth quarter. He finished that drive with his second touchdown pass of the night. But after looking like he might steer clear of turnover trouble, Tagovailoa was picked off by Bernard with under four minutes to play, his fourth interception through the first three games.

Still, the Dolphins are 0-3 for the second time in 10 seasons (the last was in 2019). They aren’t completely out of the spotlight with a Monday night home game on deck in Week 4 against the New York Jets. McDaniel, who got a three year extension last year, is far from off the hot seat. But improvement from his team came just when he needed it Thursday.

Despite the loss, the Dolphins may have quieted some questions about coach Mike McDaniel’s job security … for now.

Miami came out swinging with a 10-play, 52-yard opening touchdown drive. And just when the Bills looked like they might start to run away, kicker Matt Prater missed way left on a 39-yard attempt. Down by just one score, the Dolphins waddled down the field to tie it 14-14 at halftime.

“So far so good, but it’s meaningless without another half,” McDaniel said at halftime on the Amazon Prime broadcast. “We have a lot of football to play and a lot of execution.”

Above are the latest standings in the AFC East. The Buffalo Bills gain further separation with the win tonight, improving to 3-0. The New England Patriots, in second place, are 1.5 games behind the Bills.

Buffalo is dominating the point differential in the division, currently at +31. The other three teams have a negative point differential, with the Miami Dolphins the worst at -41.

It's only Week 3, but it sure looks like the Bills are poised to win their sixth straight AFC East division title.

This is the kind of performance Bills fans have been waiting for from Dalton Kincaid.

The 25-year-old tight end caught five of his six targets for 66 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Kincaid was also a yard or two short of a second touchdown in the third quarter, getting brought down just short of the goal line on a well-executed screen.

Tonight's win against the Miami Dolphins showed the Buffalo Bills' ability to spread their offense.

In the running game, four players rushed the ball, led by James Cook (108 yards on 19 carries). The passing game saw Josh Allen throw to nine receivers. Dalton Kincaid led the team with five receptions and 66 yards with a touchdown.

If Buffalo can continue spreading the offense like this, they will be hard to beat.

De'Von Achane has become a fantasy football cheat code.

Tonight, the Dolphins running back rushed for 62 yards on 12 carries, averaging an efficient 5.2 yards per attempt.

More notably, Achane saw nine targets, catching seven passes for 29 yards in the process. Miami draws up so many short or lateral passes for the running back, doing anything to get him in space.

For three and a half quarters, Tua Tagovailoa was not lighting it up statistically, but he was giving the Dolphins a chance to win by making smart decisions and taking care of the football.

In fact, it looked like he was leading Miami on a game-tying touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter before he stared down Jaylen Waddle and had his pass intercepted by Terrel Bernard in the closing moments.

Tagovailoa's final stat line reads 22-of-34 passing for 146 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

It was evident that the Miami Dolphins showed improvement tonight. From the opening drive, the Dolphins were successful in third-down efficiency. Miami was 3-for-3 on third down in the opening drive. For the entire game, the Dolphins were 10-of-15 on third down.

Tua Tagovailoa averaged 4.3 yards per attempt. The quick pass offense allowed the Dolphins to control the clock. But for Miami, a roughing the kicker penalty and a Tagovailoa interception ultimately cost them.

The Dolphins made it closer against their AFC East foe but the result is still a third-straight loss.

Jaylen Waddle only finished with five catches for 39 yards but most of his catches came in significant moments.

The 26-year-old did not have a target in the first half until he caught a three-yard slant for a touchdown in the final moments. In the fourth quarter, he added a few critical third-down conversions but ultimately Miami still came up short.

That's two straight decent showings for Tyreek Hill. After catching six passes for 109 yards last week, the veteran wideout caught five passes for 49 yards and a touchdown that tied the game for Miami in the fourth quarter.

His stat line could have been stronger if it weren't for a few misses from Tua Tagovailoa.

The Buffalo Bills had a ton of success on the ground versus the Miami Dolphins. As a team, Buffalo had 157 total rushing yards.

The principal reason for running productivity was James Cook. The Buffalo tailback recorded 19 carries for 108 yards and one touchdown. He averaged 5.7 yards per carry.

When Cook can move the offense forward, it unlocks Josh Allen in the passing game. We saw that tonight against the Dolphins.

Per Next Gen Stats, Josh Allen and Tua Tagovailoa combined to average 1.5 air yards per completion, the lowest mark in a game in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016).

Allen attempted only one pass longer than 10 air yards, while Tua completed as many passes behind the line of scrimmage as past it (11 each).

Robert K.: Dolphins played a solid game. One they could’ve won with a couple breaks. Buffalo’s offensive play calling was a bit too vanilla for me tonight.

Michael M.: Damn man, I’m not even a Dolphins fan but that ’23 team was lowkey fun to watch. It’s so over though. It’s time to just clean house with any and everything.

Maximilian C.: Might as well have just pointed at the receiver he was going for on that interception.

Josh Allen has done it again. The Buffalo Bills quarterback showcases another stellar performance on ‘Thursday Night Football.’

Allen went 22-of-28 passing for 213 yards and three touchdowns. His passer rating was 134.1.

For the season, Allen has 755 passing yards and five touchdowns. Definitely one of the contenders to win a second consecutive MVP.