The Bills‘ emotional season continued during the wild-card round with another inadvertent numerical nod to injured safety Damar Hamlin.
Buffalo defeated the Dolphins 34–31—with the margin of victory, three, equalling Hamlin’s jersey number.
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Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field during the Jan. 2 Monday Night Football game against the Bengals. The second-year safety out of Pittsburgh has recovered gradually and felt well enough this week to return to Buffalo’s facility.
On Jan. 8, with Hamlin watching from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the Bills defeated the Patriots 35–23 to close their regular season. Running back Nyheim Hines returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, marking the first kick-return score for Buffalo in three years and approximately three months.
The Bills advanced to the divisional round with the win, where they will play either Cincinnati or the Jaguars.
