The Miami Dolphins entered Week 15 with a crucial matchup against the Buffalo Bills in front of them. They could strengthen their playoff odds with a win, or have everything become a lot murkier if they lost. And sure enough, they came up short against a tough Bills team on a snowy night in Buffalo.

The Dolphins stayed neck-and-neck with the Bills in the first half, and ended up having control of the game in the fourth quarter. But they fell apart down the stretch as the snow started to fall harder, and Miami ended up losing on a last-second field goal from Tyler Bass to make their path to a playoff spot a bit more difficult.

Miami still has very good odds to find their way into the postseason, but they are going to have to get themselves back into the win column sooner rather than later. With their third straight loss in the books, let's take a look at the three Dolphins who will shoulder the most blame for this tough loss to the Bills.

3. Tua Tagovailoa

A necessary disclaimer here will state that Tua Tagovailoa didn't have a very bad game here. His final line (17/30, 234 YDS, 2 TD) is strong, but it definitely was not his best game of the season. Still, including him on this list is admittedly a bit harsh, but this will make a lot more sense in a minute.

Tagovailoa had strong numbers, but he didn't totally pass the eye test in this game. He missed some open throws, and for the most part, the Dolphins offense looked as disjointed as it had been over the past few games. Tagovailoa's stats were padded on a huge 67-yard touchdown for Jaylen Waddle, in which Waddle was wide open and then did most of the work after catching the ball to get into the end zone.

Again, you can't really discredit Tagovailoa for this, but in a game where the Dolphins offense couldn't put the game away, Tagovailoa has to be partly responsible for the loss. It's tough to include him here, but quarterbacks have a big responsibility in winning and losing in the NFL, which is why Tagovailoa is here on this list.

2. Mike McDaniel

After a torrid opening stretch to the season, Mike McDaniel has made some rather confusing offensive decisions over the past few weeks. That included in this game, when McDaniel decided to go away from everything that had worked in the first half on offense in the second half, and watch it all fall apart in front of him.

The Dolphins got pretty much everything they wanted on the ground in the first half of this game, as Raheem Mostert was absolutely cooking in this one. Admittedly, most of Mostert's yardage came on a 67-yarder early in the game, but the Bills weren't having much success stopping him or Salvon Ahmed on the ground.

Instead of sticking with that, McDaniel decided to try to air it out in the second half rather than stick with the run game. It didn't really work, as Tagovailoa had a couple of big plays (primarily his two touchdown passes) but other than that was quiet. Had McDaniel stuck with the run a little bit longer, especially in the fourth quarter when they had the lead, maybe they could have won this game.

1. The Dolphins entire defense

It's obviously going to be tough to slow down Josh Allen and the Bills for an extended period of time, but this wasn't a great effort from the Dolphins on defense. They let Allen and company get whatever they wanted for most of the game, and crumbled in the fourth quarter when they had a chance to close out a much needed victory over a key division rival.

Allen was on fire in the air (25/40, 304 YDS, 4 TD) and on the ground (10 CAR, 77 YDS) and the Dolphins simply had no answer for him. They limited Stefon Diggs, but pretty much everyone else managed to get involved in the passing attack. Allen wasn't the only member of the Bills to have success on the ground either, as the Bills averaged 5.2 yards on the ground as a team.

The Dolphins had an eight-point lead with nine minutes left to go in the game, but promptly allowed the Bills to score a touchdown and convert a two-point conversion, and then they couldn't get off the field on the Bills game-ending drive. It was a tough matchup for the Dolphins defense, yes, but this was not a performance that serves them well as they attempt to find their way into the playoffs.