MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — When Miami Dolphins rookie receiver Jarvis Landry dove into the end zone for a fourth-quarter touchdown, he was just getting started. A replay review upheld the score, and Landry then sprinted up and down the sideline in a celebration of redemption.
Landry bounced back from a potentially disastrous fumble, and the Dolphins ended a streak of three consecutive losses to Buffalo, overcoming a third-quarter deficit to win 22-9.
“It was great to swing the tide,” Landry said. “It was good not to be the little brother.”
Ryan Tannehill shook off five sacks to throw late touchdown passes of 7 yards to Brandon Gibson and 8 yards to Landry. Tannehill went 26 for 34 for 240 yards, and Lamar Miller rushed for 86 yards.
Miami trailed 9-3 before outscoring their AFC East rivals 19-0 over the final 18 minutes. The Dolphins improved to 6-4, their best record after 10 games since 2008.
“To stay over the .500 mark, to win in the division and to beat the Bills, it’s a good night,” defensive tackle Jared Odrick said.
“You have to start playing good football this time of the year,” coach Joe Philbin said.
The Bills, trying to end a 14-year playoff drought, fell to 5-5 with their second loss in a row.
“I’m tired of it, we’re all tired of it, and we know the fans are tired of it,” safety Aaron Williams said. “It hurts.”
Stymied by Buffalo’s front four in recent meetings, the Dolphins had scored one touchdown in 33 possessions against the Bills before late TD drives of 80 and 63 yards. That was quite a rally by a team that hadn’t won a close game all season.
Otherwise stout defense did the heavy lifting for Miami, which scored a safety on a penalty. Quarterback Kyle Orton had an unproductive night and injured a toe late in the game.
“We need to try to get better, and it starts with the quarterback,” Orton said. He didn’t say whether his injury was serious.
The Bills, ranked last in the NFL in red-zone touchdown efficiency, mounted grinding drives of 67 and 85 yards on their first two possessions. But Miami held them to a field goal each time, and those were their best TD chances.
The Bills have reached the end zone once in their past nine red-zone trips.