Buffalo Rumblings
The Miami Dolphins entered the 2025 NFL season expecting to compete with the Buffalo Bills for an AFC East title. Instead, due to a combination of injuries, poor play, and internal conflict, the Dolphins find themselves among the worst teams in the AFC. Sitting at 2-7, Miami was a seller at the trade deadline just days after firing longtime general manager Chris Grier. South Beach may be sunny, but with the Dolphins, things look bleak.
Should Buffalo expect a cakewalk on their way to a victory this weekend? Absolutely not. Divisional games are always tough, and regardless of how poorly Miami has played this season, there’s still plenty of familiarity with Buffalo, and plenty of pride among the professionals on the Dolphins’ sideline. Buffalo has a definite edge in terms of talent, but that means nothing if the Bills lose their mental edge coming into the game this week.
If the Bills want to improve to 7-2 and 3-1 in the AFC East, they’ll need to stay focused and hem in some of Miami’s better players. Here’s our list of five players to watch this weekend.
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RB De’Von Achane
With wide receiver Tyreek Hill out for the year thanks to a gruesome lower leg injury, Achane has expanded his already tremendous role within Miami’s offense. He not only leads the ‘Phins in rushing, carrying 121 times for 606 yards and three scores, but he also leads Miami in targets (60), receptions (43), and receiving touchdowns (4, tied with wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and tight end Darren Waller). Achane is the kind of multi-purpose threat who can break a big play from anywhere on the field.
Buffalo struggled mightily in the early going against the run, but they’ve really evened out of late. The Carolina Panthers came in hot on the ground two weeks ago, but Buffalo held Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard to 20 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown. Much of that production came in garbage time when the game was already well in hand. Part of the reason Buffalo was so successful in stopping the run was that the Bills scored a ton of points, which flipped the game script and forced the Panthers to be one-dimensional.
If the Bills can contain Achane early and score some points of their own, head coach Mike McDaniel has shown time and again that he will ignore the run game — even when it’s working. Keeping Achane under wraps will be a huge part of the game plan.
WR Jaylen Waddle
Waddle was pretty quiet in the first meeting between these two teams, catching five passes for 39 yards and a touchdown in Miami’s 31-21 loss at Buffalo. However, I’d expect him to be a much more frequent target this week for a few reasons. First, Hill is out. Second, it looks like cornerback Christian Benford could be out, as well, thanks to a groin injury. Third, I assume that the Dolphins are going to need to put the...
