ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — In time, Kader Kohou will understand that more good than bad came from this Dolphins loss at Buffalo.

In time, Kohou will understand that a 32-29 defeat to its AFC East rival said more about who Miami is than who the Dolphins are not.

For now, though, Kohou is thinking about that pass interference penalty on third-and-6, with the score tied and the snow falling and only 50 seconds to play.

“That’s a tough call,” Kohou said, standing in front of his locker late Saturday at Highmark Stadium. “I wish I could get it back. But we have another game basically. So, I try not to dwell on it. I wish I would try to get it back, though.”

Kohou, an undrafted rookie, has exceeded all expectations this season. Miami, despite a third consecutive loss, exceeded most all expectations on Saturday night.

It was more good than bad. It was encouraging, actually, especially considering this was a road-weary, injury-challenged bunch sent into what was hyped to be a frozen tundra.

Yes, the Dolphins are 8-6 and the Bills are 11-3 and the focus now shifts to winning two of the final three to qualify for the NFL playoffs as a wildcard.

It’s not ideal. And perhaps qualification would send Miami to the cold and snow again.

But heading into games against the beatable Packers, beatable Patriots and beatable Jets, there are things Miami can take away and feel good about.

For example, the Dolphins rushed for an astounding 188 yards, averaging an impressive 7.5 yards per carry.

Raheem Mostert posted 136 of those yards.

“We wanted to impose our will on the run game,” Mostert said.

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On offense and defense, too, Miami was tough and physical. The Dolphins were not soft.

“We talked about it all week, man, to come in and show who we are and show what we can do,” guard Robert Hunt said. “That we could come in and run the ball and that we could be physical.”

Tua plays well in the cold, proving doubters wrong

It did not begin to snow until there were about 10 minutes left. And then it snowed heavier and heavier and the scene was of a snow globe .

But Tua Tagovailoa was solid. He was not as dynamic as counterpart Josh Allen, who may be a Dolphins nemesis for the next 10 years or more. But he was good.

Tua had touchdown passes to Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill – what’s new? – and no interceptions and, honestly, was the victim of a few too many dropped passes. Miami posted 405 yards of offense against a very strong defense.

It was cold enough. It was 29 degrees or so and Tua was not terrible and so, yes, perhaps we can stop saying that Tua has always been terrible when it doesn’t feel like we’re in Hawaii.

Defensively, the Dolphins stepped up in the second half. It was four consecutive punts and a forced fumble of Allen by Jaelan Phillips that looked for all the world like a game-defining play.

“I think we showed that we can compete with anybody in the league,” Phillips said, “If we execute the way it’s supposed to be executed. I think we’re extremely talented. And you know, we have great coaches, great players. So it all comes down to execution. And that’s what it’s going to be moving forward. You know, this time of the year, I said before, more games are lost than won.”

On this night, the Bills won, to be clear. It was Allen who showed why he possesses MVP-type talent, leading his team into position for the game-winning field goal when the final drive began at the Buffalo 7.

Let’s hope that for years to come, Allen-Tua can be like Kelly-Marino and this AFC East rivalry can be every bit as competitive and heated as it once was. It appears headed in that direction.

And lets hope that the next time these teams play here in December, with snow having fallen overnight, that the stands are cleared of said snow before kickoff.

Or lets hope that Buffalo determines some other way to prevent the embarrassment that was some fans pelting Dolphins players with snowballs and ice from happening again.

There were a few hung heads in the Miami locker room. But most Dolphins players did seem to have a realistic perspective on what had just occurred.

Yes, there was disappointment about what had slipped away.

“We did do some good things and now hopefully we can continue to improve on that,” Hunt said. “But you know, we lost the game. We wanted to win. It’s a game we should have won and it’s a game we think we could have won. So it hurts.”

More good than bad came out of the loss to the Bills

It should hurt. But in time, they’ll all realize it was more good than bad.

The Dolphins stood toe-to-toe with a Super Bowl favorite, Buffalo.

The Dolphins were not soft. The Dolphins did not play scared. The Dolphins were not routed.

Jaylen Waddle said he’s not a fan of moral victories. And that’s not a bad approach.

Waddle played at Alabama and knows what it takes to win. Waddle must also sense Miami’s not far away.

Mostert said “it sucks” to do lots of good things but come up short.

Linebacker Elandon Roberts said he’s “proud” of what this team showed on this night.

He’s right. More good than bad is the proper takeaway.

Miami and Buffalo? Aside from the snow, we now know these franchises are not that far apart.