Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin has explained the reasons for his conservative play-calling at the end of the first half in his side's defeat to the Buffalo Bills.

The Dolphins received the ball with 2:21 left of the second quarter and with all three of their timeouts intact, as they trailed the Bills 9-0 going into the break.

However, Philbin told his offensive coordinator Bill Lazor to run the ball to kill off the clock to prevent his side from falling further behind in the match.

"At that point in time I believe we had 45 yards of offense and three sacks in the first half," Philbin told reporters. "The last thing I wanted to do was go in the half down 16-0.

"So I told Bill [Lazor]I wanted to run the ball every single play and get to the locker room and make some adjustments and get it to a one-possession game, which is exactly what we did twice in the third quarter. That was the reason we did it."

The Dolphins now have a 1-1 record in their season following their defeat at Orchard Park.