What stood out in the Miami Dolphins' Week 9 game against the Buffalo Bills?

We start with the list of inactive players, highlighted by five players missing due to injury:

Also inactive were RB Jeff Wilson, Jr. and OL Andrew Meyer.

The Dolphins didn't have an emergency third quarterback for the second straight game.

Rookie fifth-round pick Mohamed Kamara was active for only the second time this season.

There's no sugarcoating it: This was another crushing loss in a game the Dolphins entered and could have easily won.

We've said it before: This team just has bad karma and seems to find a different way to lose every week.

While it's easy to complain that the defense didn't stop Buffalo in the second half, the reality is that the offense always had to make a play to win. And the offense was great in the second half after not being quite good enough in the first half.

Kudos to Tua Tagovailoa, who was really, really good and had a great, game-winning performance late in the fourth quarter.

Kudos to De'Von Achane, who played another great all-round game as the undisputed new number 1 defender.

Chop Robinson made a quick contribution when his pressure forced Josh Allen into an incompletion on third down of the first drive. It was impressive how quickly Robinson got around Pro Bowl tackle Dion Dawkins.

According to his “Eating chips on the couch” Comments, the last thing Tua Tagovailoa wanted was to take an easy shotgun snap, but here we were on the first drive – and this one was a lot easier than the one against Arizona. This play wiped out Miami's first drive.

After the drive stalled, Jake Bailey botched a punt, and the 29-yard return on a high punt gave Buffalo the ball at the 37 – another example of special teams hurting the Dolphins rather than helping them.

Another reminder of how fortunate the Dolphins were that no one signed Emmanuel Ogbah while he was without a team over the summer came when Josh Allen attempted a QB sweep on third-and-3 at the end of the drive. Ogbbah split the block and dropped Allen with a torn bicep for a 7-yard loss.

It was a really difficult first quarter for Durham Smythe as Hill played a larger role and missed the game. He committed a false start and then was pushed back when the Dolphins ran Raheem Mostert on third-and-1.

The Dolphins caught a break when Bills safety Taylor Rapp was cited for unnecessary roughness for helmet-to-helmet contact with Raheem Mostert as replays showed Mostert lowered his head and was the one who initiated the contact. As we always say: sometimes you get calls, sometimes you don't.

In a tied 3-3 game, the Dolphins got the play they needed from their defense when Allen threw a perfect slant pass to Keon Coleman, only for him to let the ball bounce off his shoulder and Jalen Ramsey deflect it on the carom for his first interception of the season.

The Dolphins then put together a great 14-play touchdown drive that gave them the lead with 8:21 left on the clock. The drive included 10 runs and a shovel pass to tight end Jonnu Smith.

It was disappointing that the Dolphins gave up a field goal attempt to end the first half, but they were lucky to capitalize on a few shaky calls against Buffalo. The most egregious was holding Dawkins as Robinson fell in front of him and he merely pinned him to the ground.

The second half began with Raheem Mostert gaining 7 yards on a run and a 15-yard completion, but on the next play the Dolphins' fumble problem resurfaced when Taron Johnson knocked the ball out of Mostert's grasp and the Bills recovered. While this is a good play by Johnson, the Dolphins' offensive players need to protect the ball better.

The loss of the ball gave Buffalo some momentum and set the stage for the back-and-forth second half.

Since we've praised Ogbah before, we have to point out that he bit too hard inside on a run and Ty Johnson jumped outside for a 17-yard gain.

Calais Campbell was a presence throughout the game, including great penetration on a James Cook run that he couldn't bring down before Buffalo scored on a fourth-and-1 on former Dolphins wide receiver Mack Hollins.

The Dolphins responded like they did in the second half, showing the kind of fight that Jordan Poyer questioned over the summer. The biggest play on the drive was a 28-yard hookup between Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill.

The defense gave up the lead very quickly when a bad breakdown left running back Ray Davis wide open in the flat. He easily beat Marcus Maye in the open field and completed the 63-yard touchdown.

After the third quarter ended with a 27-yard completion to Hill off a nice throw from Tagovailoa, the Dolphins came back to tie the score on Achane's 8-yard touchdown run.

However, the defense once again couldn't stop the Buffalo defense, starting with three straight completions of 10 yards or more.

The touchdown drive was kept alive after Siran Neal was warned for a defensive hold on a third-and-goal from the seven-yard line.

The Dolphins' equalizing attack was Tua at his best, with a nice 12-yard completion to Jaylen Waddle near the sideline.

The touchdown catch was another great play from Tua as he bought himself time in the pocket before firing a sidearm strike at Waddle. Mike McDaniel made an interesting decision by taking the extra point for a 27-27 tie instead of going for two.

Buffalo's final drive started off great for the defense, Robinson and Calais Campbell teaming up for a sack, which was followed by an incompletion that led to third-and-14.

But Robinson made a serious rookie mistake when he gave Buffalo a free 5 yards with a neutral zone violation.

However, that wasn't as bad as the next play, which was a killer for the Dolphins. And it's easy to complain about the roughness penalty against Jordan Poyer, but the replay clearly showed the helmet-to-helmet contact.

And because it's such a season for the Dolphins, Tyler Bass just failed his 61-yard field goal attempt after struggling all season.

And so the Dolphins suffered another loss in a game in which they struggled and could have easily won.