The Miami Dolphins forced three turnovers Sunday, all fumbles, and topped the Buffalo Bills, 24-10, to move to 7-8 on the season with one game left.
Bills vs. Dolphins results: Bush leads Dolphins to 24-10 win
Reggie Bush scored three touchdowns in a game Sunday for the first time since his rookie season in New Orleans.
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Reggie Bush scored all three touchdowns for the Dolphins on Sunday, including two receiving scores. His first score of the day was on a 17-yard pass in the first quarter from Ryan Tannehill and the second was on a one-yard rush less than a minute before halftime. That second touchdown gave the Dolphins a 14-3 lead heading into the locker room.
Tannehill then hit Bush for a 12-yard touchdown with 8:32 left in the third quarter. Four minutes later, kicker Nate Kaeding hit a 45-yard field goal to give the Dolphins their biggest lead at 24-3.
The Bills reached the end zone for the only time Sunday on a fourth-quarter drive. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown pass to Brad Smith.
Tannehill finished the day 13 of 25 for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
The big winner: Reggie Bush
Bush was the beginning and end of Miami’s offense Sunday, rushing for 65 yards and a touchdown and catching four passes for 42 yards (leading the team) and two touchdowns.
It was Bush's second career game with at least three touchdowns, and his first since he had three rushing scores and a touchdown catch as a rookie for the New Orleans Saints in a game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Running back C.J. Spiller had a big day for the losing team, finishing with 138 yards on 22 rushes.
The big loser: Ryan Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick had a nice fourth quarter going there for a little while. He led the Bills to their first touchdown of the day with 8:52 left, and in the game's final two minutes, he put Buffalo in the red zone down 24-10. With 1:14 left, and with Buffalo on the Miami one-yard line, Fitzpatrick promptly ended the game with an interception to Reshad Jones.
The only way that pass could have been more Ryan Fitzpatrick is if it was returned for a touchdown.
— Matt Johnson (@twoeightnine) December 23, 2012
It was not, for the record. Jones returned it up to the Miami 12-yard line, and the Dolphins took a knee to clinch the game.
Fantasy studs
SB Nation’s Michael Gallagher ranked Spiller as the No. 6 running back in his fantasy rankings this week, and his 138 yards were the second-most of his three-year career.
Fantasy duds
If you listened to SB Nation's Philip Beanblossom on his Week 16 wide receiver fantasty rankings, you likely would have started Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson. And why wouldn't you have? Johnson has 891 receiving yards and six touchdowns this season. But he had four catches for 10 yards Sunday. So, yeah.
What are the odds?
Miami covered the spread Sunday with room to spare. The Dolphins, who hosted Sunday’s game, were five-point favorites, and a 14-point win was more than sufficient to appease bettors with Miami tickets Sunday. The over/under was 43, so those with the under would have been similarly pleased.
Next up
The Dolphins have one game left to get to .500 on the season, and the distinct pleasure comes next Sunday on the road against the 11-4 New England Patriots at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.
The Bills, now 5-10, will finish their 2012 season Sunday against the New York Jets, also a 1 p.m. ET game, and also on CBS.
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