1966–1969: The AFL days After Miami joined the
American Football League (AFL) for the
1966 season, it played against Buffalo for the first time on September 18. The host Bills posted 48 points in the first half of the game, and won 58–24. In the second game between the teams, and the first to be played in Miami, the Bills shut out the Dolphins 29–0. In 1968, the teams played to a 14–14 tie, the only one in the rivalry. After two consecutive Dolphins victories, the Bills won the teams' second game in 1969, 28–3. In the 1970s, Miami won all 20 meetings between the teams; 12 of the victories came by 10 or more points. One of the most notable Bills–Dolphins games of this period came in 1972, the year the Dolphins completed an
undefeated season. The closest game by final score that Miami played during the season was its first game against the Bills, a 24–23 Dolphins win in the
Miami Orange Bowl. Two years later, the Orange Bowl hosted a contest that Chris Iorfida of
CBC Sports later called "A rare competitive game between the clubs during the mid- to late-1970s, and an exciting one." The Dolphins broke the record with a 25–24 result in Buffalo's
Rich Stadium on November 12 of that year. With 9–7 and 17–7 victories in 1979, Miami's streak reached 20 by the end of the decade. In 1983, the Dolphins hosted the Bills in rookie
Dan Marino's first NFL start. The Dolphins overcame a 14–0 gap to lead 35–28 in the final minute before Bills quarterback
Joe Ferguson led a game-tying comeback. The game in the Miami Orange Bowl went to overtime, where Dolphins
placekicker Uwe von Schamann was unsuccessful on two potential game-winning
field goal attempts. The Bills won 38–35 when
Joe Danelo made a 36-yard field goal attempt late in overtime; it was Buffalo's first road win in the rivalry for 17 years. Ferguson had 419 yards passing and five touchdowns in the game; the former set a franchise record. The Bills, however, won the series' last six games in the 1980s. One of the final games between the Bills and Dolphins in the decade was a 1989 encounter in which Kelly ran two yards for a touchdown on the last play of the contest, giving the Bills a 27–24 victory.
1990–1999: Fight for AFC supremacy Most of the 1990s games between the teams featured the quarterback play of Marino and Kelly, who became key figures in the rivalry, and eventually earned induction into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame. From 1986 to 1996, they had a total of 21 matchups, counting postseason games. Two seasons later, the teams met again in the playoffs, this time in the
AFC Championship Game. Players from both teams commented on the rivalry's intensity at the time;
Richmond Webb, a Miami offensive lineman, said, "I don't know how it got started – it was a long time before I got here – but these two teams don't like each other. It's like the Game of the Year every time we play them." Before the Bills' last regular season game against the
Houston Oilers, Miami
safety Louis Oliver had shirts delivered to Oilers players, encouraging them to defeat the Bills; the
Oilers did just that, winning 27–3 and allowing the Dolphins to finish first in the AFC East. In response, Bills
running back Thurman Thomas said it was "typical of the Miami Dolphins ... to have someone else do their dirty work." A week later, the Oilers raced to a 35–3 lead but collapsed in a 41–38 loss to the Bills in the
wild card playoff round, then on January 17, 1993, at
Joe Robbie Stadium, the Bills defeated the Dolphins 29–10 to advance to their third consecutive Super Bowl. The first game in the series in the 1993 season, in Rich Stadium, saw an incident where Miami
linebacker Bryan Cox gestured at Bills fans, having previously said that he would "retire from football if I am ever traded up there." Multiple Dolphins players later said the spectators responded in a similar fashion towards them. (number 7) takes a snap against Miami in 2007. (number 7) takes the snap as the Bills defense blitzes during a game in 2010. When the NFL reshuffled its divisions after the
Houston Texans joined, there was talk of the Bills moving to the
AFC North, but Bills owner
Ralph Wilson wanted to keep the Bills–Dolphins rivalry active, and thus, the Bills remained in the division. However, the rivalry declined sharply during the 2000s. The rise of the
New England Patriots and
their dominant reign over the AFC East took focus away from the rivalry. This decade was marked by the aftermath of the retirements of Kelly and Marino from the Bills and Dolphins, respectively.
The Buffalo News later wrote that the rivalry had begun declining after the end of their careers. In addition, longtime Bills head coach
Marv Levy, who had led the team during its run of success in the 1990s, had retired after the
1997 season. On the NFL's website,
Nick Bakay attributed the decline to the reduced success of the Bills and Dolphins in the following years, as there were only three playoff appearances by either team in the 2000s, all by Miami, as the Bills missed the playoffs from 2000 to 2016. Each team won half of the 20 games in the series during the 2000s. In 2008, the Bills hosted Miami at the
Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada; it was the first time the country had been the site of a regular season NFL game. Miami won the contest 16–3.
2010–2019 attempts a kick against the Dolphins in 2014. The teams split their two contests in 2010, while the Dolphins won both of their 2011 matchups. The Bills then won 11 of the following 16 games, claiming a 12–8 advantage during the 2010s decade. Coincidentally, the Bills won both games. The first game was marked by a late-game strip-sack of Dolphins quarterback
Ryan Tannehill by Bills defender
Mario Williams to set up the Bills' game-winning field goal, and the second was a 19–0 shutout by Buffalo. During an October 23, 2016 match-up between the two teams, the Bills had a 17–6 lead at one point in the third quarter, but a career game from Miami running back
Jay Ajayi helped the Dolphins to come back in the fourth quarter, winning 28–25. Ajayi became just the fourth running back in NFL history to rush for 200 yards in back-to-back games, as he had rushed for over 200 in the prior game against the
Pittsburgh Steelers. The game also featured a hit on Bills safety
Aaron Williams from Dolphins receiver
Jarvis Landry that ended Williams' season and ultimately led to his retirement. On December 24, 2016, the Dolphins won their first game in Buffalo since 2011. Buffalo, on the other hand, was eliminated from the postseason with the loss despite posting a franchise record 589 yards of offense in a single game. Its defense allowed a 57-yard run from Ajayi in overtime with only 10 defenders on the field, which set up Miami's game-winning field goal. The Bills and Dolphins did not meet again until Week 15 in the
2017 season. During the game, which also carried playoff implications, Bills running back
LeSean McCoy topped 10,000 career rushing yards, becoming just the 30th NFL running back to do so. Buffalo won 24–16 as Dolphins quarterback
Jay Cutler threw three interceptions. Two weeks later, a fight ensued after a Dolphins touchdown in the fourth quarter that led to the ejections of Landry and his teammate
Kenyan Drake. After staving off a Dolphins comeback, the Bills clinched their first playoff berth in 18 years with a win in Miami, along with a
Cincinnati Bengals victory over the
Baltimore Ravens. On December 2, 2018, Bills tight end and former Dolphin
Charles Clay dropped a potential game winning pass from rookie quarterback
Josh Allen, allowing a 21–17 Dolphins victory in
Miami Gardens. During the rematch on December 30, Dolphins linebacker and former Bill
Kiko Alonso collided with a sliding Allen, which drew a penalty and led to another fight which saw Alonso and two other players ejected. The Bills won this game 42–17. The day after this game, Miami fired head coach
Adam Gase. The Bills rounded out the 2010s decade with a season sweep in 2019, winning 31–21 in Buffalo on October 20 despite Miami staying competitive under former Bills quarterback
Ryan Fitzpatrick, and 37–20 in Miami on November 17.
2020–present: Allen vs. Tagovailoa The Dolphins began the 2020s by hiring former Bills head coach
Chan Gailey as offensive coordinator, a position he previously held with Miami from 2000 to 2001. The hiring also reunited Gailey with
Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was the Bills' starting quarterback during Gailey's tenure with Buffalo. The first meeting between the two teams in the 2020s resulted in a 31–28 Bills victory in Miami on September 20, 2020, with Allen out-dueling Fitzpatrick with a career-high 417 passing yards and four touchdowns. Buffalo claimed the division crown later in the season. The Dolphins ultimately failed to clinch a playoff berth, losing 56–26 to the Bills in the regular season finale, and were eliminated when the
Baltimore Ravens,
Cleveland Browns, and
Indianapolis Colts all won that week. With both teams in postseason contention, after a long period during which they rarely reached the playoffs, the
Democrat and Chronicle's Sal Maiorana wrote that the rivalry had the potential to regain intensity. In Week 2 of the 2021 season, the Bills won 35–0 in Miami behind a strong rushing attack and defensive performance as Allen surpassed 10,000 career passing yards in the game. The Dolphins surrendered 6 sacks to the Bills defense, also losing quarterback
Tua Tagovailoa to a rib injury in the first quarter. The 35–0 win was the largest margin of victory by Buffalo in the series. With a 26–11 Bills home win on October 31, 2021, Buffalo achieved a team-record seventh straight victory in the series. Following the 2021 season, the Dolphins fired their head coach,
Brian Flores, The Dolphins had also interviewed Bills defensive coordinator/assistant head coach
Leslie Frazier for the vacant head coaching spot. The Dolphins eventually filled the vacant head coaching position with former
San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator
Mike McDaniel. The Bills and Dolphins both made major moves during the 2022 offseason, with the Bills signing
Super Bowl 50 MVP
Von Miller to a 6-year, $120 million deal on March 16, 2022, and the Dolphins traded for star wide receiver
Tyreek Hill on March 23. The Bills' seven-game winning streak in the series ended with a 21–19 Dolphins victory in the teams' first 2022 game. Despite Buffalo running 51 more plays than Miami, several miscues by the Bills offense led to stalled drives that were key to the Dolphins winning. The Dolphins were criticized for keeping Tagovailoa, who had apparently suffered a
concussion, in the game, instead indicating that he had suffered a "back injury". The rematch that year on December 17 was an offensive shootout decided by a last-second field goal by the Bills'
Tyler Bass as Buffalo won 32–29. In contrast to the Miami home game being played in hot, humid weather, the Dolphins played the Bills tightly, even overcoming a 17–0 second quarter deficit and briefly taking the lead in the third quarter, but Buffalo held on to win 34–31 after overcoming several miscues. The following year, Buffalo beat Miami at home 48–20 on October 1, 2023, handing the Dolphins their first loss of the season one week after the latter scored 70 points on the
Denver Broncos. In their subsequent Week 18 matchup, the teams were playing for the AFC East title, as the Bills had won four straight after being 6–6 while the Dolphins had lost two of their last four games after being once 9–3. Miami led at halftime 14–7 but were shut out in the second half while Buffalo scored the go-ahead touchdown with seven minutes remaining and recorded a last-minute interception to clinch a 21–14 victory. With the win, the Bills won their fourth straight division title and the number 2 seed in the AFC while Miami was relegated to being the sixth seed. During the first matchup in 2024, which Buffalo won 31–10, Tagovailoa suffered another concussion after colliding helmet-first with Bills safety
Damar Hamlin. Despite the animosity between the two teams and their fanbases, Bills fans donated to Tagovailoa's charity in a show of compassion. The Bills won again in their second 2024 meeting, 30–27, on a 61-yard field goal by Buffalo kicker
Tyler Bass in the closing seconds. The win was the sixth in a row for the Bills in the rivalry. ==Characteristics==