Buffalo Rumblings
It’s do or die for the Dolphins in Week 9
The Miami Dolphins enter this week’s matchup with the Buffalo Bills in dire straits. While these rivals are no brothers in arms, they’ve put together some tough battles throughout the years. Of late, though, the Bills have dominated the Dolphins, especially when the games take place at Highmark Stadium.
Buffalo has defeated Miami in 14 of the last 16 matchups, including a 34-31 victory in the playoffs during the 2022 season. The Bills haven’t lost to Miami at home since Christmas Eve in 2016. With Josh Allen at quarterback, the Bills are 12-2 against the Dolphins regardless of the location.
If Buffalo wants to keep that trend going — and maintain their current stranglehold on the AFC East — they’ll need to control some of Miami’s key players. If the Dolphins want any chance at salvaging their 2024 season, they need to win this weekend.
Here are the five Dolphins we’re watching on Sunday.
I normally wouldn’t focus on the same guys from the first matchup, but given that Tagovailoa suffered yet another serious concussion in Miami’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo in September, he’s absolutely going to be a huge focal point this week. Tagovailoa was solid in his return last week, completing 28-of-38 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown, but Miami lost 28-27.
When Buffalo beat up on Miami in Week 2, they intercepted Tagovailoa three times. Truthfully, it seems like the Bills do a great job baiting Tagovailoa into throwing to his first read by disguising their coverages well. Then, when he does come off that first read, they do a good job keeping their eyes on the target and making plays in space.
Tagovailoa is an efficient quarterback who thrives in head coach Mike McDaniel’s offensive system. Buffalo does a great job forcing Tagovailoa to make plays outside of that framework, which is not something he does well. Expect the Bills to vary their coverages, vary their blitz looks, and harass Tagovailoa all day long.
One of my major criticisms of McDaniel as a head coach is his inexplicable inability to stick with the run game. The Dolphins tend to run the football very well — they’re averaging 4.3 yards per rush this season — yet they always go away from it even when it’s working.
Last week, Achane had 97 yards on just 10 carries. In a game where the margin was never greater than 10, and even when it was that much, it was Miami with the lead, why would you give your most dangerous rusher just 10 carries?
There’s part of me that wonders if McDaniel is trying to give Tagovailoa the chance to prove that he’s an upper-echelon quarterback at the expense of the group. I don’t really have a good explanation otherwise.
For the Bills, they need to stifle Achane, who has game-changing speed. If they can do that, it will force...
