Wide receiver Jakeem Grant had a memorable performance Sunday, but it wasn't enough to help the Dolphins defeat the Buffalo Bills.
Grant returned a kickoff return for a touchdown in his second career two-touchdown game in the 37-20 loss at Hard Rock Stadium.
Grant set a Dolphins record with his fourth career kick return for a touchdown, taking a kickoff back 101 yards in the second quarter. Grant has two kickoff and two punt returns for touchdowns in his career.
He also became the fourth player in NFL history with at least two punt returns for touchdowns of 70 or more yards and two kickoff returns of 100-plus yards in his first four seasons.
Grant's second touchdown was a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter after he took a handoff from running back Kalen Ballage, who was the quarterback in the Wildcat formation. Later in the fourth quarter, Grant had a 50-yard kickoff return.
Ballage scored his third touchdown of the season with a 3-yard run as part of a wild second quarter to complete the Dolphins scoring. Buffalo outscored the Dolphins 17-14 in that quarter to take a 23-14 lead into halftime.
Wide receiver DeVante Parker became the first Dolphins player this season to reach 100 receiving yards, finishing with a career-high 135 yards on seven receptions. His game was highlighted by catches of 50 and 45 yards.
Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes, including two to Homestead High product John Brown, and ran for another. Kicker Stephen Hauschka made three field goals.
The Dolphins fought back after falling behind 16-0, thanks to a couple of big plays.
The first was Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 50-yard completion to Parker to the Buffalo 12-yard line to set up Ballage's touchdown run.
Kicker Jason Sanders then perfectly executed an onside kick to give the Dolphins the ball again, but on first-and-10 from the Miami 47, Allen Hurns mis-handled a perfectly thrown pass by Fitzpatrick and Buffalo recovered the fumble after challenging an initial ruling of incomplete pass.
Buffalo then drove 75 yards to increase its lead to 23-7 on Allen's 23-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox before Grant answered with his record-setting touchdown.
Buffalo increased its lead to 30-14 in the third quarter when Allen scored on a 7-yard scramble to the corner of the end zone.
After Grant’s second touchdown cut the Dolphins deficit to 30-20 — the Dolphins failed on the two-point conversion attempt — Buffalo answered with a 62-yard touchdown drive to increase their lead to 17 points.
The Dolphins' final two drives ended in failed fourth-down conversions, including Fitzpatrick getting stuffed on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 from the Buffalo 4-yard line. Fitzpatrick was 32-for-45 passing for 323 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and a passer rating of 91.3.
Safety Reshad Jones and defensive end Avery Moss both returned to the lineup after missing five games, but linebacker Raekwon McMillan and defensive end Taco Charlton were inactive because of injuries.
The Dolphins are back on the road next Sunday when they face the Cleveland Browns.
