Fitz falters in Bills loss

ORCHARD PARK, NY (WIVB) - The trends continued for the Bills.  They couldn't stop the run.  Ryan Fitzpatrick had another bad game.  The Bills lost again, their seventh in a row.  Buffalo falls to 5-9 with a 30-23 loss to the Dolphins.

It was another bad game for Ryan Fitzpatrick.  He struggled again, completing 31 of 47 passes for 316 yards and 2 touchdowns, but also throwing 3 interceptions.  He was at the helm of a Bills offense that was 0 for 11 on third downs.  In two games against the Dolpins, the Bills were 0 for 23 on third downs.

Buffalo jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 24 yard touchdown run by C.J. Spiller.  Spiller ran for 91 yards and had 9 catches.

But the Dolphins then scored the next 23 points.  Matt Moore threw touchdown passes to Anthony Fasano and Brandon Marshall, surrounding three Dan Carpenter field goals.

Up 23-7, the Bills rallied.  Fitzpatrick threw a touchdown pass to Spiller to make it 23-13.  But Reggie Bush ripped off a 76 yard touchdown run to up Miami's lead to 30-13.  Bush ran for a career-high 203 yards.

A Fitzpatrick to Derek Hagan score made it 30-20, and then the Bills recoved the onsides kick.   That led to a Dave Rayner field goal to cut the lead to 30-23.  The Bills did get the ball back with :15 seconds left, but could not move the ball.

The Bills committed 11 penalties for 92 yards, and that hurt the offense. 

In two games against Miami, the Dolphins have outscored the Bills 85-31.

Today's game was the debut of Miami interim head coach Todd Bowles, who replaced Tony Sparano on Monday.

The Bills host the Broncos on Christmas Eve, the home finale for 2011.