Bills Stop Dolphins and Move Into First : AFC: Buffalo takes advantage of five Miami turnovers to take command in East with 47-34 victory.

MIAMI — For a while, it seemed as if the Buffalo Bills scored on every play.

Four turnovers helped the Bills outscore Miami, 38-3, in a 13-minute span, and they took charge of the AFC East race by winning Sunday, 47-34.

Buffalo’s defense scored on Mickey Washington’s 27-yard interception return and Nate Odomes’ 25-yard fumble return. The Bills led, 47-20, after striking for three touchdowns in the first six minutes of the second half, with each score resulting from a turnover.

“All of a sudden, we started to play like Santa Claus,” Miami Coach Don Shula said.

Said Buffalo receiver Don Beebe: “In the third quarter, I was thinking, ‘This is good. I don’t even have to go out on the field.’ ”

By winning the highest-scoring NFL game this year, Buffalo (10-4) assumed sole possession of first place in the AFC East with two games left in the regular season.

“If it makes everybody mad that Buffalo is still in the hunt, well, good,” tight end Pete Metzelaars said.

The Dolphins, who had the league’s best record only three weeks ago, fell to 9-5. They have lost three in a row, all at home. They have two more losses than the Bills within the division, which gives Buffalo the advantage in a tiebreaker.

“It seems to me like we’re sitting in the outhouse,” Miami linebacker Bryan Cox said. “We have to find a way to get out.”

Buffalo went into the game plagued by injuries and had been averaging only 13 points over the past six weeks. But the three-time defending AFC champion Bills rose to the occasion. They have won 13 of their last 16 games against the Dolphins, including seven of eight at Miami.

“It seems like every year, when it comes down to a game that we need to put ourselves in control of our own destiny, we fail,” said Cox, never an admirer of Buffalo. “I’m disappointed that it comes at the hands of the same team every year.”

It has been seven years since an opponent scored so many points against the Dolphins. They lost even though Scott Mitchell and Steve DeBerg combined to pass for 429 yards.

The Buffalo stampede reminded Coach Marv Levy of two postseason games for the Bills a year ago--their comeback victory over Houston and their Super Bowl loss to Dallas.

“It’s a great game if you win. I know it’s a heartbreaker if you lose,” Levy said. “When we got all the turnovers, I was thinking that on the other side it must have felt like we did against the Cowboys. Then I said, ‘The heck with it. Think about us in that game against Houston.’ ”

After falling behind, 17-9, the Bills took over. Scoring drives of 80 and 51 yards put them ahead, 19-17, and then Miami crumbled.

Washington intercepted Mitchell’s underthrown pass in the flat and raced down the sideline to score with 1:19 to play in the half. That gave the Bills 17 consecutive points in six minutes, but they were just getting started.

On the first play of the third quarter, Darryl Talley stripped the ball from Keith Jackson. Odomes grabbed it and ran to the end zone for a 33-20 lead.

“I just picked it up,” Odomes said. “It was just me, the ball and the grass.”

Two plays later, Matt Darby intercepted a pass by Mitchell and ran 32 yards to the Miami 19. Buffalo then scored on Kenneth Davis’ one-yard run.

Four plays later, Mike Lodish recovered a fumble by Keith Byars. Buffalo needed three plays to score on Jim Kelly’s 27-yard pass to Beebe for a 47-20 lead. The showdown had become a blowout.

Mitchell, who had sat out the last four games because of a dislocated shoulder, completed touchdown passes of 14 yards to Mark Ingram and 16 yards to Jackson as Miami went up, 17-9. But Mitchell was benched after his second interception in favor of DeBerg.

DeBerg’s touchdown passes of 30 yards to Terry Kirby and seven yards to Ingram trimmed the deficit to 47-34. Miami then drove to the Bills’ 27 with eight minutes to play, but an interception by Odomes--Buffalo’s fifth take-away--stymied the comeback.