Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins 31-21 in a hard-fought matchup last Thursday night. While the Bills entered play as huge favorites (they were laying 12.5 points in some books) the game was much closer than that throughout. Only one score or less separated the two teams until Buffalo’s final drive, which culminated in a field goal by Matt Prater to seal the deal.
The Bills saw a much more focused Miami team, one that looked like it knew its season could be in jeopardy with a loss. No team is truly buried just three weeks into a season, but after yet another loss at the hands of the Bills dropped the Dolphins to 0-3 for the 2025 season, Miami faces a huge challenge to bring themselves back into the playoff picture.
It wasn’t all roses for Buffalo, as the Bills struggled some on a short week against an opponent that they know well. Here’s how our five players to watch performed this week.
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QB Josh Allen
It certainly wasn’t the prettiest statistical output from Allen in his career, and there weren’t many highlight reel-style plays that included hurdles or laterals from his wideouts. However, Allen turned in a tremendously efficient night, completing 22-of-28 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns.
One of those touchdowns was a dot to tight end Dalton Kincaid on a wheel route (we’ll talk more about him later). Another was a gorgeous flip to rookie Jackson Hawes, whose first NFL touchdown came on a circus play while Allen was evading pressure. The final one was a favorite of mine, as Allen found Khalil Shakir off an orbit motion look that saw the Dolphins defense entirely outflanked.
It was good enough to give Allen 200 career touchdown passes, leaving him just 37 shy of Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly’s franchise record. Allen also had 25 yards rushing on four carries in a game where it seemed like the coaching staff may have told him to go easy on the rushing attempts after injuring his nose the week prior. Calling that kind of effort routine feels spoiled, but it really is just what we’ve come to expect from the reigning NFL MVP.
TE Dalton Kincaid
I said we’d “insert a pass-catcher here,” and I even went so far as to speculate that the tight ends would have a good night. However, it was Kincaid who was the big target on Thursday, so he receives the spotlight treatment.
We already mentioned his touchdown catch on a wheel route, but Kincaid was Buffalo’s top receiver on the evening overall, as well, catching five of his six targets for 66 yards and a score. He’s now seen six targets in consecutive games, totaling 16 on the season. He has a touchdown grab in two of the Bills’ three games this year, and he leads the squad with two receiving touchdowns overall.
Kincaid is second on the team to Keon Coleman in targets (16), receptions (13), and receiving...
