Dave Hyde: A disaster on top of a debacle — Tua hurt, Dolphins exposed in 31-10 loss to Bills

MIAMI GARDENS — The night the Dolphins never thought could happen ended with Damar Hamlin saying he saw Tua Tagovailoa move his limbs on the field. That let him breath easier. And, no, the Buffalo safety didn’t flash back to his near-death experience two seasons ago after making a routine tackle and seeing the Dolphins quarterback concussed.

He simply said a prayer.

“No one likes to witness that,’’ Hamlin said. “He’s my brother. We’re playing the same game. You don’t want the worst to happen.”

As Hamlin stood at his locker late Thursday night, all solemn and sincere, there was an Old Testament quality to these words coming from the poster child of football’s severe dangers, like the prophet Jeremiah lamenting the decay and disaster he saw around him. Except Hamlin was on the winning side , as usual in this meeting, and all around him in the Buffalo locker room were smiles.

“Great night,’’ he said.

It was the Dolphins lamenting the decay, disaster and infernal decision-making that put them in this spot. Again. This felt like more than just a bad loss to their big rival considering the offseason of rebuilt hope. And it wasn’t just the Dolphins’ team that got hammered by Buffalo 31-10 .

It was the full Dolphins’ organization that looked shredded.  It was like Buffalo probed every sensitive Dolphins issue if you go chapter and verse of this game.

There were roster details like how the lack of a third receiver — remember, they signed Odell Beckham Jr. to a one-year contract knowing he’d be hurt at season’s start — played directly into Tua’s first two interceptions. The third receiver in each question, Grant Dubose and Robbie Chosen, came into a desperate situation in late August and ran the kind of patterns that showed a communication issue with Tagovailoa.

Their left tackle, Terron Armstead, who was held out of practice all summer for fear of another injury, was injured. Again.

Buffalo ran at will, once for a 49-yard touchdown, over what you can call the Christian Wilkins Hole in the middle of the Dolphins defense.

Then there was Tua’s injury, as painful as it was to watch again. The splayed fingers of a concussed body? The medics around him? The players taking knees on the field? It was the kind of sad scene that’s hung over this organization like Banquo’s ghost for the past couple of years, even if they pretended it didn’t exist anymore.

The good news is Tagovailoa walked off the field, wobbly as he was. Coach Mike McDaniel kissed him on the forehead in a wonderful touch of humanity. The human condition matters. Always.

It’s the colder, more corporate condition you have to consider in the sober light of a violent game and fragile body. This was a night the foundation of the Dolphins plan collapsed, the nuts and bolts broke, coiled springs shot in all directions and the question became afterward if Humpty Dumpty can be put together again.

Lots of players got unnecessarily new contracts with the Dolphins, starting with Tagovailoa. Good or them. Who isn’t for players making more money?

But was anyone watching out for the larger organization in this? Wasn’t anyone — like general manager Chris Grier — concerned another concussion on top of Tagovailoa’s need to find the next step in his game meant there’s no rush to sign him to a four-year, $212 million contract?

This isn’t some second guess. This was the first guess for months leading up to the contract. But here they are, still losing to Buffalo, still wondering if Tagovailoa can stay healthy, much less if he can become a top quarterback. They’re again taking questions if it’s safe for him to keep playing football.

“I don’t think for me to go ahead and forecast things that I don’t know in my non-field of expertise, I don’t think that’s appropriate,” McDaniel said.

What a nightmare it all was against the Dolphins’ forever hurdle. Forget Tagovailoa’s opening two interceptions. You can explain those as third-receiver problems. But that third interception was as bad an NFL pass as you’ll see. An attempt to throw out of bounds under pressure didn’t reach out of bounds. It instead looked like an infield pop-up, was intercepted and returned 49 easy yards for a game-sealing touchdown.

And then he suffered the concussion when he tried to do too much and ran head-first into Hamlin’s shoulder. Where does he go now? Where does this team?

If this debacle against Buffalo is indicative of where the Dolphins are in Week 2, it’s going to be the longest of seasons. We’re not there yet. But you can see it from here if all the kings horses and all the kings men can’t put this season together again

As it is, they’re in the perpetual hole against their daddy, Buffalo, who improved to 12-2 against the Dolphins since quarterback Josh Allen arrived. Not that Allen needed to flash his talent too much this night. The Buffalo defense has apparently cracked the code of the Dolphins offense. It’s held the Dolphins to 20, 14 and 10 points the past three meetings. It held Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle to 67 combined receiving yards Thursday.

It was Buffalo’s J-V defense, too, with five starters out. Hamlin, to be sure, was one of those filling in for injured teammates.

“I went to make a routine tackle,” he said of that hit on Tagovailoa.

It was routine, too, except it was Tua leading head-first rather than sliding. Afterward, he went around the locker room talking to players, McDaniel related. That’s the lone good news of this night.

“A gut check for this team early in the season,’’ McDaniel said.

It’s a check of this full organization. Buffalo found every problem it tried to comb over — a third receiver, a weakened defensive interior, age-and-injury concerns and, yes, the quarterback. Thursday was a defining game considering how much Miami’s hopes were put into it.

The question of the Dolphins season is if that definition can be changed.