The three biggest Dolphins disappointments from Sunday's loss to the Bills

The Dolphins got manhandled by the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Beginning early in the first quarter the Bills showed that they were the more dominant team and why they are the top dog in the AFC East.

The Dolphins were outclassed on offense, defense, and special teams on Sunday, something that surprised Dolphins fans and pundits. Everyone headed into this game thinking that it would be an early preview of what we could expect in the playoffs. If this is what this team will do in the playoffs against top competition they're in trouble. Specifically, a lot of the blame needs to be put on the following three individuals.

1. Mike McDaniel

Mike McDaniel is a savant. He is truly the best up-and-coming coach in the NFL and the offense he has created around Tua in Miami has been excellent. However, at times, he fails to adapt mid-game when someone figures out a way to slow him down.

The Miami Dolphins rank first in scoring, rushing yards, and total yards so far this season and a lot of that has to do with the scheme that McDaniel has employed this year. His motion has created confusion and the team's speed has made it impossible for defenses to recover.

Against the Patriots we started to see some deficiencies in this offense. Against the Bills, we saw these deficiencies truly manifest. The Bills' defense came out with a plan against all of the motion to hold their ground and not play the follow-the-speed game and stayed true to their zones and Miami struggled.

McDaniel watched this happening in the passing game early and didn't adjust. He continued to try to push the ball down the field right where the safeties were. The Bills have an outstanding linebacker group and a well-coached secondary and he continued to push the ball right at them.

We watched three different corners leave the game for the Bills and I never saw McDaniel go after that position. He should have been attacking the new corners coming in but it never seemed to happen.

2. Christian Wilkins

Christian Wilkins is one of the Dolphins' best defenders. He has shown as much during his first few years in the league improving each year as a run defender and a pass rusher. However, he might want this game back.

Wilkins had a single tackle in this game. According to PFF Wilkins had a 76.9 overall grade against Buffalo and credited him with zero stops. Wilkins' grade this year has been good but not great. He was looking for the big dollar payday and has yet to show up for that this year.

Perhaps this is him still shaking the rust off after not playing in the preseason and sitting out part of training camp in hopes of a new contract. Either way, a game like this won't help in his pursuit of a big contract.

Wilkins is a former first-round pick and while he has never been a big sack guy, Miami needs him to be a disrupter. What he does best is alter the running lane and push the pocket and he doesn't always come up with the stats but affects the game nonetheless.

Miami cannot afford for Wilkins to have another game like this. Especially the next time we face Josh Allen and the Bills. Miami needs him to be in Allen's face and if you watched the game Sunday, you know that wasn't the case.

3. Tua Tagovailoa

Tua had what I would consider an awful game on Sunday. He was sacked four times, and I blame him for at least two of them. He also threw one interception on Sunday but could have easily thrown two more.

Tua was outplayed by Josh Allen on Sunday plain and simple. While Mike McDaniel didn't do a great job of adjusting mid-game neither did Tua. Tua had pressure in his face consistently for the first time this year and never sped up his clock to get the ball out.

Tua also relied too heavily on his initial read. I counted four separate instances where Tua stayed on his initial read and never read the defense to see the backside dig/post route from Waddle was wide open. Two of those plays would have resulted in a touchdown had Tua moved through his progressions and taken what the defense gave him.

This has been a strength of Tua this year. He has flown through his progressions reading the defense and hitting the open receiver in stride which has resulted in the #1 scoring offense in the league. On Sunday though, he stopped reading the defense and got tunnel vision.

Tua's play on Sunday didn't live up to the standard he has set through three weeks this year. He has been the best QB in the league up until the game against the Bills but Miami needs this to be a one-off game and not the beginning of a trend.