Buffalo Rumblings
Eleven players with injury designations means both teams have to game plan for a lot of “what ifs” in Week 9
The Buffalo Bills host the Miami Dolphins in just a few hours for a key AFC East battle. Divisional games are never each, but complicating things is the fact that both teams had extensive injury lists throughout the week. In fact, eleven players between the two teams were assigned injury designations on Friday.
At stake for the Bills is the two seed in the AFC; for Miami, it’s a last-ditch effort to save a season that went south in a hurry following a Week 2 letdown against Buffalo. With that, let’s take a look at how injuries to both the Bills and the Dolphins could impact today’s game.
Injured Bills: WR Amari Cooper (questionable), FB Reggie Gilliam (out), WR Curtis Samuel (questionable)
Injured Dolphins: DB Storm Duck (questionable), S Jevon Holland (doubtful), CB Kader Kohou (out), DE Zach Sieler (out), ILB Jordyn Brooks, DT Benito Jones
This week it’s fullback Reggie Gilliam who’ll be absent from Buffalo’s offensive game plan. Gilliam doesn’t play a whole lot of offensive snaps (he only played nine in Week 8), but when he does, it’s usually for needed short yardage. Gilliam is also a constant on special teams — helping to keep defenses away from Buffalo’s specialists.
As for the Bills wide receivers, Amari Cooper and Curtis Samuel were both limited all week. Samuel missed almost two full games, having left Week 7 in the first quarter while Cooper was injured sometime during Buffalo’s win in Week 8. Cooper’s arrival in Buffalo has made a difference in the Bills’ offense. Whether it’s because defenses are worried about Josh Allen’s newest weapon, or if it’s because he’s providing mentorship, or if it’s all coincidental no one in Buffalo will ever admit. Regardless, the wide receivers — even without Samuel and with a limited Cooper — were too much for the Seattle Seahawks to handle last week, and they’re likely to prove difficult for a very battered Dolphins defense.
On Friday, Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said that he was feeling pessimistic about the likelihood of safety Jevon Holland playing on Sunday. Add to that the fact that nickel cornerback Kader Kohou has already been ruled out, it means that safety Jordan Poyer and cornerback Jalen Ramsey may have a long day keeping up with Josh Allen — who’s thrown for 821 yards and six touchdowns over the last three weeks. In fact, Allen hasn’t posted a passer rating under 102 in that span.
Miami’s defensive front isn’t looking very strong this week either. With defensive end Zach Sieler out with a broken orbital bone, having defensive tackle Benito Jones limited this week with a knee injury is far from ideal.
If the Dolphins can’t get pressure on Allen and he has plenty of time behind the line of scrimmage, it may not matter which...
