Dolphins stay alive in AFC East race thanks to Bills blunder

The Miami Dolphins don't have a ton of room to brag right now after that stinker of a game they had against the New England Patriots. The Dolphins narrowly won that dumpster fire by a score of 15 to 10 and are now 2-3 on the year.

Meanwhile, in Houston, the Texans and Buffalo Bills went down to the wire despite the Texans getting off to a 20-3 lead. The Bills tied the game at 20 and had a chance to win the game in the final minute. For whatever reason, Buffalo opted to throw the ball on all three plays with all three of them going incomplete and therefore, stopping the clock.

This meant that the Bills punted the football back to Houston with 16 seconds left. C.J. Stroud completed one pass and Ka'imi Fairbairn belted through the game-winner to give the Texans the win. The Bills went from having a chance to win the game to figuring they'd settle for the tie and then straight-up losing the game.

The loss dropped Buffalo to 3-2, giving them just a one-game lead in the AFC East. Now, yes, the Bills do own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Miami but the Dolphins pulling off a win (even as ugly as that win was) while the Bills lost a winnable game is a big win for the 'Fins.

Dolphins aren't out of the AFC East race yet

Let's address the elephant in the room here: These Dolphins aren't the same as the ones we watched a season ago that put 70 points on the Broncos early in the year. These Dolphins are struggling to move the football and that looked to be the case even before Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion. They're not playing very inspired football and a win against the Patriots won't change the way fans are feeling.

But, in the NFL, wins are wins and the Dolphins took care of business in their game while the Bills squandered a golden opportunity to take a huge lead in the division. Now the Bills and Jets will play next Monday night with the division lead on the line.

If Tua Tagovailoa is cleared to play and can help provide a spark offensively for the Dolphins, maybe this team can take advantage of how this weekend played out.