Thomas’ Score Hits the Spot for Bills : AFC: A well-behaved Cox is his victim on 26-yard run, and Dolphins are beaten, 21-11.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Bryan Cox held his temper but couldn’t hold on to Thurman Thomas.

Thomas broke free from Cox’s grasp late in the third quarter for a 26-yard touchdown, his second score of the game, to help the Bills defeat the Miami Dolphins, 21-11, on Sunday.

It was the first victory for a home team in the last seven meetings between Miami and Buffalo, who have met 21 times with the AFC East division lead on the line. They now are both 4-2 and tied for first.

“Four years now, they’ve been the best team in the AFC,” Miami Coach Don Shula said. “For us to be the best team we’ve got to win a game like this, and we didn’t.”

With so much at stake, the rivalry has gotten ugly--but never more so than last year, when Cox responded to alleged racial slurs with an obscene gesture to the Rich Stadium crowd.

Sunday marked Cox’s first visit to Buffalo since the incident, and he promised to handle the fans with more class this time. In that, he succeeded.

“Everybody was saying this was Bryan Cox vs. Buffalo, but there were two good teams out there,” he said. “I kept my composure, and frankly I didn’t even pay attention to what they were saying. I thought it was important that I come out and show my team that I wasn’t going to be distracted today. . . . I came here to play football.”

After four consecutive weeks of getting flagged for 15-yard penalties, Cox kept it to an offsides against Buffalo. Despite calling Thomas a jerk on a Buffalo radio show, he helped him up after a run. Cox also gave Buffalo’s Kenneth Davis a high-five after his fourth quarter touchdown.

“I told him after the game that I was glad he handled it the way he did,” Buffalo center Kent Hull said. “I have a lot of respect for Bryan Cox. He had an outstanding game. He made tons of plays. I think he showed a lot of class the way he controlled himself.”

Thomas, who sat out last week with a sprained knee so he would be ready for the Dolphins, ran 31 times for 125 yards--his fourth consecutive game with more than 100 rushing yards. With the wind causing trouble for both quarterbacks, the Bills abandoned their no-huddle offense after two series and ran 48 times for 214 yards.

“It isn’t what you do . . . it’s how you play that counts,” Buffalo Coach Marv Levy said when asked about the change in strategy. “Our players played their rear ends off. That’s why we won.”

With less than a minute to go in the third quarter, O.J. McDuffie fielded a Bills’ punt at his own 21 yard-line but Mark Pike knocked the ball loose. After a scramble, Buffalo’s Bucky Brooks wound up with it at the Miami 26.

On the next play, Thomas ran straight ahead and into Cox’s arms. But Cox went for the shoulder tackle and Thomas slipped loose, heading to the outside and going into the end zone without being touched again.

The Bills added another touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, with Davis running it in from the five to make it 21-3.