ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Never mind that the mercury was a tick below freezing, just as one would expect it to be here in December. Or that it was snowing. Or that the outcome meant little outside of positioning in the NFL Draft next spring.

When Reggie Bush reached the end zone after breaking free on a 76-yard touchdown gallop in Sunday’s fourth quarter, he mimicked a kid on a hot summer day, turning the snow-slickened turf at Ralph Wilson Stadium into a Slip ’n Slide. After Bush hit the deck running and slid through the end zone, teammate Brandon Marshall followed suit and glided right past him.

“I play FIFA a lot on PlayStation,” Bush said of his impromptu celebration. “I felt like I did a little soccer slide right there.”

The double display of giddiness brought a 15-yard penalty.

But nobody was about to chastise Bush, not after he rushed for 203 yards — the fourth-highest total in franchise history — as the Dolphins dealt the Buffalo Bills a 30-23 loss.

“Just having fun, just enjoying the moment,” Bush said.

For the 5-9 Dolphins, the season has provided few enjoyable moments. They started out 0-7, lost their starting quarterback to an injury and last week lost their coach, Tony Sparano, to a pink slip. But, as linebacker Cameron Wake put it, the more adversity the Dolphins face, the better they seem to perform.

“This whole season has been everybody lining up excuses,” Wake said. “You’re 0-7. You guys are going to quit. Your quarterback got hurt. You’re going to quit. Your coach got fired. You’re going to quit. It’s cold out there. You’re going to quit. There’s been excuse after excuse and opportunity after opportunity to quit, and this team is not built that way. We just go out there every week and keep swinging.”

Bush turned in the finest performance of his NFL career, Matt Moore shook off the effects of a mild concussion to throw two touchdown passes, and Todd Bowles, who took over as coach after Sparano was fired last Monday, chalked up his first win.

“Coach Sparano meant a lot to a lot of people in that organization, especially the players on the field,” Bowles said. “It’s a somber move. But the guys fought through it.”

An offensive line that was without its injured leader, Jake Long, opened up running lanes for Bush and gave Moore plenty of time to throw. The secondary picked off three Ryan Fitzpatrick passes, including two by Vontae Davis. And for the second time this season, the Bills failed to convert so much as one third-down play against the Dolphins defense.

If not for a series of squandered touchdown chances deep inside Buffalo territory in the second quarter, the Dolphins might have made the margin more lopsided. Marshall dropped a couple of would-be touchdown passes in the end zone, but later hauled in a 65-yard TD strike from Moore to help atone for his mistakes.

Marshall dressed quickly and left the locker room before reporters had a chance to talk to him.

The Dolphins and Bills, who are now tied for third in the AFC East, have been going in opposite directions. While the Dolphins have won five of their past seven games, the Bills have lost seven in a row.

Still, the Bills on Sunday did anything but give up, something Dolphins safety Yeremiah Bell claimed Buffalo did last month in a 35-8 Miami victory in South Florida.

After Bush’s long touchdown run and slide gave the Dolphins a seemingly comfortable 30-13 lead with less than six minutes remaining, the Bills chipped into the margin with a touchdown and, after recovering an onside kick, a field goal. But they were unable to recover another onside kick with less than two minutes left, and the Dolphins ran out the clock.

Moore, who left last Sunday’s game against the Eagles with a head injury, went 10 of 20 for 217 yards. A chunk of those yards — 65 to be exact — came on the Dolphins’ opening possession of the third quarter when he found Marshall streaking down the sideline.

“The call was to take a shot,” Moore said. “I let it go, and [Marshall] did the rest.”

It was the longest scoring play of the season for the Dolphins — but not for long.

One quarter later, Bush discovered daylight when he burst through the line and took flight for the end zone.

“We really wanted to get this win for Coach Sparano [Sunday],” Bush said. “You know, obviously, it was terrible what happened, and him not being here. This win was for him.”