It’s only the 4th week of the NFL season, but this matchup against our division rival Buffalo Bills is quite an interesting matchup. The Bills, despite having a 2-1 record have allowed and NFL 2nd best 11.7 PPG. On the flip side, the Miami Dolphins offense have scored an NFL leading 43.3 PPG, mostly due to the 70 point output last week against the Denver Broncos. What makes this matchup so fascinating to me, the Dolphins defense was supposed to be an improved unit, perhaps even a top unit, while the Bills were expected to take a step back after losing LB Tremaine Edmunds in FA to the Chicago Bears. So far, the Bills are just a hair behind the Cleveland Browns who have allowed an NFL low 10.7 PPG, while the Vic Fangio Dolphins unit has allowed 23.7 PPG good for a below average 20th in the NFL. So something has to give here, with the NFL best offense against very close to the best NFL defense. Oh, by the way, the Bills are 2nd in the NFL in scoring, right behind our Dolphins at 30.3 PPG. Dolphins fans who are looking at this game as an easy Dolphins win simply aren’t looking at this game realistically. The last 3 meetings have been decided by 3 points or less.
One of the most surprising changes in the Buffalo Bills offense is the return of their rushing attack. We all know how dangerous QB Josh Allen is rushing the football, but last year’s 2nd RD pick, James Cook has 267 yards, while QB Josh Allen has just 89 yards rushing. Perhaps even more of a turnaround, the Dolphins rushing attack has been even more impressive, no doubt mostly due to the offensive output against the Broncos last week. While the Bills have 448 yards rushing, the Dolphins have 565 yards rushing, and the 15 lbs of muscle that Raheem Mostert added are paying dividends, as Mostert has 240 yards rushing and an eye opening 6 TD’s. The debut of rookie De’Von Achane was off the charts, 208 yards on just 19 carries for an absurd 10.9 YPC. Passing is not quite as even. Josh Allen has a pedestrian 90.3 passer rating, in large part due to his 5 TD’s and 4 INT’s with 728 yards passing. On the flip side, QB Tua Tagovailoa has a 121.9 QBR with 8 TD’s and only 2 INT’s and 1024 yards passing.
As you all know, I just hate when our players get caught in the hype machine, and our young 3rd year LB Jaelan Phillips has been absolutely crushed by it. It appears as if Jaelan Phillps will miss the Buffalo game, and it looks likely that C Connor Williams may also miss this contest with a groin injury. Williams still has a chance to play, and although LT Terron Armstead only logged a limited practice yesterday, he’s likely to play. Unfortunately, this is the wrong week to have anyone on this O-line out, especially considering how well this unit has performed. Good news is WR Jaylen Waddle has been cleared from concussion protocol and got in a full practice yesterday. If Connor Williams can’t go, Liam Eichenberg will likely play C, and while his snaps are more accurate than his predecessor Connor Williams, we all know his blocking hasn’t been up to snuff. Like I said, bad week to make O-line substitutions.
While the Dolphins were pouring it on with a record breaking 10 offensive TD’s last week, The Bills defense pounded Commanders QB Sam Howell all day long to the tune of 9 sacks, 4 INT’s and 1 forced fumble and fumble recovery. Truth is, if we’re being honest, I know I expected a much better defense here in Miami with Vic Fangio. It’s also very early in the season, we haven’t yet completed a 1/4 of the season and it can definitely take time for a scheme to take hold. It’s not that the defense has been awful, it just hasn’t been better than last year, which in and of itself is a disappointment. The Bills have 12 sacks, our defense has 8, not a huge disparity, and much like our offensive numbers are skewed by last weeks Broncos game, the Bills are defensive numbers are aided by their dominant game against the Commanders.
To be clear, it’s still very possible that C Connor Williams plays, he did log a limited practice yesterday, so I wouldn’t rule him out. It’s just that you don’t want to exacerbate an injury any further and lose that player for an extended period of time, but if he can go, as I previously mentioned, this is not the week for an O-line substitution. For some bad news, both WR’s River Cracraft (shoulder) and Erik Ezukanma (neck) both did not practice, but I remind you that Jaylen Waddle will be suiting up. This means opportunities for Berrios who has already been wonderful, and Robbie Chosen who caught his first TD last week in a Dolphins uniform. Our old friend AVG, Andrew Van Ginkel has played so well this season, and surely has had a much larger role in this defense, both week 1 where he played inside, and then of course last week because of Jaelan Phillps injury. I would like to point out something that concerns me, our 2 top tacklers thus far this season are DB’s. Safeties Jevon Holland (33), and DeShon Elliott (22) are tops, and not too far behind are CB’s Kader Kohou (16) and Xavien Howard (15). I would think this is not a good trend, and hopefully once the Fangio defensive scheme takes hold, this will even out.
I really don’t know what to expect, although I would be surprised if this was an offensive shootout. I feel like these divisional games are much more measured and careful, and although last year’s playoff game was a 34-31 shootout of sorts, I think the scores will be lower. There’s a lot on the line for such an early season matchup, but the Bills don’t want the Dolphins to have a 2 game advantage on them, and the Dolphins would like nothing more to potentially be the only undefeated team in the NFL and also hold a 2 game edge on their division rival Bills, who have won the division each of the last 3 seasons. I expect us to try and run the ball often, and don’t expect another 300 + yards rushing for the Dolphins. Josh Allen loves playing against us, he owns us, he’s 9-2, but more importantly, 6-0 at home in Buffalo. For perspective, I’ll remind you that our last 3 games against the Bills have been decided by 3 points or less (34-31), (32-29), and a Dolphins victory (21-19). All I know is this is MUST WATCH TV!
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
Colts lose
M13, beer. And crazy I never heard of that Rams WR before and during the draft.
Oh well, like coach says, how do you deal with adversity?
Defense needs a meeting of the minds. The tackling was awful. Guys were stopped for 3 yards and got 12 all day.
There was tackling? I must have missed that.
^
Bills had 417 total yards. I wonder how much of that was after contact.
383
Got the whole season to get ready for January
Fangio has to get this defense ready
Fangio has a lot of work to do
I don’t know, maybe we just don’t have enough talent on defense. We watch and study this team faithfully, so maybe we are looking at it with rose colored glasses? We’ve had two DC’s with this personnel, and it looks no different. The PPG we are giving up is atrocious.
Our D is really only bad in the secondary and the front 7. If we get that cleaned up, we’ll be fine.
haha
good call
I feel the schemes have been fine. Tackling has been a problem for 3 years. The Bills beat us physically in all 3 phases. Maybe you’re onto something.😔
Wow, that Pets player just put a move on a Cowboy defender that was nasty good
Steelers, Browns, Bengals, and Colts all lost
and the Cheats have to play Dallas
and the jest have to play Chiefs,
and the Raiders and Chargers play each other,
so we still good.
How bad was Armstead’s injury? I was on the road when it happened.
looked like a hyper extended knee … he’ll probably only miss 2-3 years.
Ouch. 😆
I think the first PI on Kohou was ticky tack. They both were just playing patty cake. He didn’t shove, grab or impede him.
yep … totally bad call
What beat us today was the physicality of their defense
as their press coverage knocked us off our routes
and their LBs bruised our RBs
and their pass rushers bull-rushed us.
We need to make a trade or 2 before the deadline.
Missing Connor Williams was huge
for our inability to give Tua time and Mostert space.
Armstead makes Devante Parker look like an NFL ironman. It’s pretty frustrating
Brandon Jones is not all the way back and
did not play as well as he was playing last year before he got hurt,
although he did get better as the game went on.
D failed, OL failed, Tua failed…it was a shitshow, imo…
Lol…I could go on…wtf happened?
If the defense showed up we’re looking at a 27-27 game 4th quarter. They were Swiss cheese. Changed what we could do on offense.
Stop it…it was a team effort.
Okay not allowed to have my own opinion?😜
Armstead is a great player but he can’t stay healthy.
Except for the ridiculous non-sack
that their QB turned into a scramble pass completion,
we held James Cook in check with only 2.4 ypc,
but it was Latavius that killed us in their rushing game.
He had 8 ypc.
The biggest surprise to me in this game, other than they completely whipped us, was how many kickoffs were run back.
🤣
Uh-oh, Raiders Adams is down in pain holding his shoulder
Tua did not fail.
He was 25/35 for 282 and a TD
and scrambled out of trouble several times.
He had the one INT where the ball sailed on him a tad,
but that happens sometimes to all QBs and was not why we lost.
His QBR was 92.8. And he connected on 71.4% of his throws,
and some of those were desperate throwaways
when under extreme pressure to save a sack.
Nobody’s perfect every week.
We lost because of poor tackling and leaky DL play.
And Fangio having no exact strategy.
I’m not going to disagree with most of your post…checking out of playcalls is part of your job…
2 fucking INTs!!!
Send a message to Krishna.😂
Tua only had the one INT.
Teams must be able to win in spite of 1 INT,
but no team can overcome giving up 31 points
before halftime.
Tim Knight says:
October 1, 2023 at 4:59 pm
If the defense showed up we’re looking at a 27-27 game 4th quarter. They were Swiss cheese. Changed what we could do on offense.
yep, once they got so far ahead because our D got only one stop in the first half,
their DL just jail-breaked on us every time Tua dropped back.
Hats off to the Bills for me. They were the better team. Much more physical. They also suffered some casualties.
TK…I was pretty disgusted with our performance…lol…just saying
I am for another hour and a half a huge Dallas fan.
I am angry…lol…
And you should be, and I understand it totally.
Cowboys up 18-3. Hard to see the Pets having enough offense to come back in this one.
The way the Bills keep beating us is they are so brutal.
Their press coverage does three very bad things.
It physically bruises our small WRs and
wears them down, so we aren’t fresh enough to stage a late comeback.
It knocks them off their routes so they can’t get deep or
be where Tua expects them to be to throw to a spot or
find that open space in the middle.
and
It negates the advantage of Tua’s quick release
because he has to hold the ball until our guys can get untangled,
which sometimes never even happens.
That’s the blueprint to beat the Dolphins,
and it’s what happened to us last year when teams figured it out.
Not sure what the cure is, but McDaniel better
come up with a new idea,
or we are going to go into another losing streak.
or we are going to go into another losing streak.
—–
Fortunately the schedule is in our favor next 2 games
Here’s hoping our sheer talent advantage gets us to 5-1.
McDaniel has to outgrow the tendency to get too cute.
There was no sense in going for a 2-pt. conversion at that time.
Not getting it took away some of the momentum we gained by getting the TD.
Just kick it and act like it’s business as usual.
There was no reason to try that fonky pass play on 4th down.
Just punt it and make them go 80 yards or more to score,
so there’s no big momentum-fueling failure
that gets the home crowd all excited again.
It also makes our OL guys feel deflated
and our D guys under intense pressure of a short field.
We also need to be very careful not to use Achane so much that he wears down or gets hurt. He’s a very small guy, and RBs take a pounding anyway.
Why not get that Big Back Brooks in there to take some of the punishment off Achane and Mostert and keep them fresh?
It just wasn’t our day. Seemed like nothing went our way. It happens.
Josh Allen has shredded us since he got into the NFL. If we can’t find a way to stop him when we play him, it’s going to be wash, rinse , repeat.
That’s true.
Imo, their DL were blasting through our shitty OL, but what seemed to work were straight runs through their D, not around…we were a sieve on the OL
We were doing okay until Armstead went down. After that it was like practice.
Very telling game…uh oh
Tua post game.
McDaniel.
Well at least the Astros pulled it out!
Naples – I’d day they used Achane pretty sparingly. 8 carries, 3 receptions, with 5 targets. It just so happens he really makes the most of his touches, gaining 101 yards on 8 carries. He’s averaging 11.4 YPC, (27 carries for 309 yards) which is otherwordly.
Tua stays very even keel in the postgame interview. I think that’s great. Very level headed fella!
Kalil Mack just got his 6th sack
The Pets getting clobbered by the Cowboys gives me a little happiness. The Jest should get clobbered too.
Looks like Herbert busted his middle finger- off hand-
Thanks Herd…very telling…like I said.
Buffalo brought their A game…I think we brought our B/C game or we’re in trouble…
Staley is an idiot. You’re facing a backup QB. wow
Cowboys just gave Belicheat the worst loss he’s ever had as a HC.
In case you were wondering
Not sure if you saw this but fairly evenly matched
Turnovers made a big difference
And a couple of untimely penalties
And our inability to keep them out of the end zone and prevent Allen from having a perfect passer rating. That’s where stats can be misleading.
The Bills executed when it counted, whereas we didn’t.
I know it sounds nitpicky but in the road with the best offense in the league – why defer?
I think we gave up an advantage out of the gate
Both teams were trading scores until the 2nd qtr
Weve been very good on opening drives too
So I don’t understand deferring the opening kickoff
I don’t think it’s nitpicky at all. I almost posted earlier that I wonder if this game might have played out differently if we took the opening possession and it was the Bills that were pressured to keep up.
Maybe it would have made no difference, but I do wonder.
Josh Allen has made many mistakes when the pressure is on
Instead he is flawless all game
I have little doubt that we don’t score on our first drive either way
And I would rather they chase us
It’s not nitpicking at all, it’s an excellent point. But typically teams defer when in the road. With the way our D played today, it wouldn’t have mattered if we received the opening kick AND the 2nd half kick.
Lol
The game was much closer than the score indicated.
Which is not to excuse Fangio
Also McDaniel really needs to get it right about those challenges. He’s awful.
Berrios played well.
He’s been a really good pickup
Not close at all. Got their asses handed to them. Couldn’t tackle, couldn’t block, never had a moment of thinking they could win this game.
I did at 21-14.
I didn’t. Lol Having to score every possession isn’t confidence inspiring.
One big positive is that it appears with the exception of Armstead who was going to get hurt soon anyway, we came away w/o any injuries.
Clearly McDaniel wasn’t happy about officiating, the comment about not looking to be fined. I couldn’t hear all the question. Not that I think it mattered.
The Bills own us like Tua owns the Patriots. I absolutely hate it but have gotten used to it. It’s crazy that we gave the Bills everything they could handle last January and couldn’t even keep it competitive past the early 2nd quarter today. This Fangio defense needs a ton of work. We were so bad I never noticed our special teams today. Offense had no answers after they adjusted which reminds me of last year’s Chargers game. Did I mention this defense looked like garbage yet?
It’s just one game but I really hate losing to the Bills, especially after the Jet’s defense demolished them earlier. Oh well, on to next week.
Well, the Jets and Bills both play defense. We haven’t shown we can stop a good offense yet
Giving up 30 pts a game ain’t it. Sigh…
Yeah, I know Fangio wants better tools but it’s pretty damn bad.
Annnnd Bellicheat remains 29 wins behind Shula.
Let’s see, at 10 wins a season, that’s … wait … never mind …
I don’t know who I want win this game. Would love to see KC lose to the Jets. But I don’t want the Jets to win…
Jets getting the ball back with an opportunity to take the lead midway through the 3rd with Wilson and Lazard outplaying Mahomes and Mauto till this point…playing out exactly like everyone thought it would…
Just remember after this week, every team has to play 14 more games.😜
Ugh 13 lol
The other thing is we don’t want the Jets to do TOO poorly this year or they will have a chance to draft one of the top QBs coming out next year.
For Tim
😂
Mike McDaniel not pleased with his Dolphins performance against Bills
James Trefry
October 1, 2023 7:05 pm ET
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was frustrated during his postgame press conference following his team’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. While he gave Buffalo credit for being the team to beat in the AFC East, there wasn’t much he could salvage from his team’s 48-20 loss.
“I would be lying if I was pumped about anything from our team today. There is nothing to be justified with the point differential,” said McDaniel.
McDaniel has a right to be disappointed. Miami came into this game as the only remaining unbeaten team in the AFC.
Following a historic 70-point performance, this was their chance to show they’re now the favorites to win the division. Instead, the Dolphins showed there’s much more work to be done on both sides of the football if they hope to come away with the division crown.
The Bills’ offense made it look easy from start to finish, only punting twice and not committing a single turnover in a 28-point blowout with the time of possession almost even. And, four of their touchdown drives took five or fewer plays. Outside of a couple of sacks by linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, the Dolphins’ defense couldn’t come away with any momentum.
Quarterback Josh Allen completed 21 of his 25 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns. Three of Allen’s scores were caught by his star wideout Stefon Diggs, who made Kader Kohou’s day miserable in one-on-one coverage. The Miami secondary, who were without starting safety DeShon Elliott, had no answer for the Buffalo passing attack, as they ended the day with 414 yards of total offense.
The Bills’ defense showed, once again, why they’re one of the best in football. Miami scored touchdowns on their first two drives, but it was all Bills the rest of the way.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was sacked four times and threw an interception. Wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle were both held without touchdowns. Things went from bad to worse when offensive tackle Terron Armstead left the game with a knee injury in the second quarter.
Raheem Mostert had an abysmal performance, fumbling twice and losing one of them. The Miami star running back was only able to total nine yards on the ground following weeks of dominant performances.
The one bright spot for Miami’s offense was the speedster, De’Von Achane, who carried the ball eight times for 101 yards and two touchdowns. If he keeps up his performance, he might start to get the bulk of the carries in the near future.
McDaniel looks to put this loss behind his team as they return home in Week 5 against the Giants.
“You have to keep progressing. The things that are failing your team aren’t going to go away, you have to fix them,” he said. “It’s all about how you respond. This is a young team that needs to learn fast to get out of this season what they want.”
This was a tough test for the Dolphins against one of the best teams in the AFC. The team must bounce back quickly since they no longer hold first place in their division.
Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa promises team will be better from loss
Mike Masala follow
October 1, 2023 6:59 pm ET
The Miami Dolphins were riding high heading into their Week 4 matchup with the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium, but things quickly changed, as they were handed their first loss of the season.
Buffalo’s 48-20 victory should be a wake-up call for the coaching staff and players on the field, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa essentially said as much after the game with a promise.
“It’s tough when you lose and you lose like this, but we’re not going to blink,” Tagovailoa said. “We’re going to continue to do what we do. We’re going to go back in. We’re going to work on the things that need to be worked fixed and need to be corrected. I can promise you one thing, we’ll definitely be better from this.”
This type of effort, which included mistakes that came in the form of penalties and turnovers, is unacceptable. On top of that, the defense struggled to slow down Josh Allen and company, allowing them to move up and down the field at will.
If the Dolphins want to prove that they’re among the league’s top teams, a day like Sunday can’t happen.
Transcript | Mike McDaniel’s Media Availability – October 1
Oct 01, 2023 at 05:45 PM
Read the full transcript from Head Coach Mike McDaniel’s press conference on October 1, 2023.
(Obviously there are a lot of things that go into a 48-20 loss. What would you say was the most glaring to you on the offense after the first two scoring drives?) – “First off, I think the Buffalo Bills proved why they are the team that our whole division is trying to beat. They’ve won it for how many years in a row now. They made some adjustments, and we didn’t, so to speak. I think it was kind of compounding. It was something that – I’ll start by making sure I’m doing right by the players, and us as a coaching staff, putting people in the right positions for success. Like you said, after the first couple drives, it was a struggle for us for a lot of the game. That’s something that can’t happen against a really good team.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa had mentioned specifically that communication on his part was something that needs to improve. We didn’t see a lot of pre-snap penalties in the first two games which were on the road. Is it as simple as it was louder? Or why was that?) – “No, I mean that’s what you want to hear from the quarterback, the starting quarterback of your franchise because you don’t want to look – you’re hoping not to have finger pointers, especially from the leader of your team. That being said, that’s all nice to hear and I appreciate him taking the bullet for a lot of people, but I think that one of the reasons that we’ll all look in the mirror and understand why we had success is because we didn’t have those things happen. I know we had kind of an injury at one point and it kind of messed me up. I was responsible for delay game for sure, but Tua’s teammates need to know the ins and outs of their responsibilities, and Tua can’t be in charge of getting everyone aligned. So there’s a lot of stuff that go on with that. It’s the National Football League. You play one of the best teams in the National Football League, you better not have that part of your game, otherwise you’ll learn the hard way, which is what we did today.”
(Anything you can put your finger on why the offense got slowed down after the first two drives?) – “Like I said, I think that a big part of it has to do with the Buffalo Bills having a really good defense. You don’t just go down the field and score at will in the National Football League over and over and over. You have two drives, that’s cool, but you have to – you’re going to punt, and they’re going to make plays too. What you can’t do is have self-inflicted wounds. Things that I think our whole locker room and our coaching staff expect to get done weren’t getting done. So that’s the entirety of everyone involved on the offense, starting with me for sure.”
(Earlier in the week, we asked Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio about shadowing Bills WR Stefon Diggs and he said, “We’re not at that point in our defense.” Was that ever a topic of discussion?) – “No, I think that’s an easy finger to point. I think there was a couple situations where I know Kader (Kohou) would like to have back. But at the same time, I think there’s a lot of people that weren’t executing a lot of times late in the play. People can get blamed for getting beat down in the field, but our expectation as a defense is to is to get home in those situations too. So it’s a collective thing that I think hindsight it seems like, ‘Yeah, well, we should.’ I mean, obviously when you get beat by 28 points, you could argue that the opposite of what you did across the board would be a better answer. We’ll find those answers internally, but I don’t think it’s as easy as making one person a scapegoat for sure. Our team, offense and defense, needs to improve, as well as the special teams, and that’s what we’ll be focusing on moving forward, for sure.”
(Did you have any issue with the pass interference call on CB Kader Kohou?) – “I mean, I’m not trying to get fined. So, I mean I did not like an explosive play, penalty or not. That that part I can speak on, but besides that, it’s inconsequential. You don’t put it in the officials’ hands, regardless of how I feel.”
(I was curious if you got an explanation from the refs on the upheld fourth down play from WR Braxton Berrios?) – “Yeah, it was kind of what I was worried about. I thought the play was too big of a play not to throw the red flag, but it was lack of view to overturn was basically the explanation. At first, I heard that they were going to adjust the spot to make it a half yard, and then that definitely wasn’t the case. So I think that it’s just something that if you want the yard, get it visibly is the way I look at it, as opposed to leaving it in the officials’ hands for sure.”
(Is RB De’Von Achane making a case for an even larger role after last week’s performance by following it up with what he did today?) – “Yeah, I’ll take a look at the tape before I hesitate to crown anybody. You’re looking at each individual play. I know he made some plays; the game is not too big for him. He’ll continue to have a role, for sure, for our offense moving forward. What does that look like in terms of ratios and touches? That that will be something that I would be remiss if I didn’t wait to see the tape before making judgments like that.”
(Did you expect a learning curve with learning a whole new defense under Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio? Where are you at with the defense right now?) – “I would be lying if I was pumped about anything from our team today. I think the National Football League is a very humbling game. If you’re not on your stuff and you’re playing a team that is, this will happen. My view is that there are natural curves of learning as you install any system. However, there is nothing to be justified with the point differential for our team. So to say that I’m happy with anything would be false. I think we have a capable team. You win and lose in this league by one score at the end of the game. I think it’s a disservice to our team to lose by four and that I made clear to the team.”
(After four games, where are you looking to improve?) – “We are 3-1 and we play the New York Football Giants next week. Right? So, that’s where we’re at. I think it would be a failure on anybody’s part on our football team to look at it more than that or less than that. We are 3-1. So what happens if you’re 4-0? You have to keep getting better, you have to keep progressing. The things that are failing your team aren’t going to go away, you have to fix them. So that’s what we’ll be of the mindset. It’s a division loss on the road and that will always hurt, especially against the team that you feel like going into it you’re capable of putting together a better performance than that. It’s all about how you respond to everything. Just like if we would have won the game, how would we respond to that? This is a young team that needs to learn fast to get out of this season what they want. This provides an outstanding opportunity, and my eyes will be open to watch every single person across the board, how they respond to it because this doesn’t define your season, either way. It’s all about how you handle things, how you handle the adversity and how you handle success in the National Football League.”
(Do you have an update on the status of T Terron Armstead) – “I’ll get more information. I know it wasn’t just a reaggravation of anything, but I’ll have more information tomorrow.”
(You used the word ‘humbling’. QB Tua Tagovailoa and WR Tyreek Hill used the same word. Any part of you worried about your team being overconfident out there on the sidelines?) – “No, because correlation or causation, you don’t know and don’t pretend to know it’s X, Y, or Z. But if they were, if anybody was, I mean, I think the lesson has been learned quite literally. But I’m not going to say that it was or just put it all on that, I think that’s the easy way out. I think you have to watch the tape and assess position by position, group by group and phase by phase to come up with something tangible that guys can get better from.”
Kelly: Dolphins Got Manhandled by Bills in Revealing AFC East showdown
Dolphins were owned at the line of scrimmage in a 48-20 Bills win, which illustrates that Buffalo is still the the AFC East power
OMAR KELLY14 HOURS AGO
Legendary professional wrestler Ric Flair said it best, and even co-authored a book about it.
“To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man,” Flair would say in his infamous catchphrase.
It was a bold, braggadocious hype statement, but one that’s fitting for the lesson the Miami Dolphins learned in Sunday’s 48-20 beatdown the Buffalo Bills delivered in this crucial but telling AFC East division battle.
The Bills, the reigning three-time champions of the AFC East, were too fast, too physical, too poised, and too well coached for the Dolphins in this home game.
Miami got pummeled on the ground all game. Buffalo’s 104 rushing yards didn’t do them justice for how much they pushed around the Dolphins.
Cornerback Kader Kohou got beaten by Stefon Diggs for two of the three touchdowns Diggs scored, seemingly getting backed on by Buffalo’s offense, which shied away from throwing at Xavien Howard, who the Dolphins chose not to have shadow the All-Pro receiver.
The last time Sunday’s game was a legit contest was when the score was tied 14-14 three minutes into the second quarter. From there, the Dolphins spent most of the game playing catch-up because of turnovers (two) and penalties (eight), and a lackluster defensive showing from defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit.
ALLEN CONTINUES DOMINANCE
Bills quarterback Josh Allen continued his dominance over the Dolphins, delivering a perfect passer-rated game (158.3) that featured him completing 21 of 25 passes, throwing for 320 yards and three touchdowns.
Allen, who has won 10 of the 12 games he’s played against the Dolphins in the regular season and postseason, also scored a rushing touchdown against Miami, which built Buffalo’s lead to 48-20 five second into the fourth quarter.
He sat out the rest of the game, replaced by Kyle Allen.
But the fact the Bills didn’t need their starters to finish off a hot Dolphins team illustrates the gap between the performance of these two rivals.
Manhandling Miami proved the Bills, which owned the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, are AFC title contenders, and sent the Dolphins and their fan base a reminder that the division title — and the automatic playoff berth that comes with it — goes through Buffalo.
The Dolphins weren’t at full strength coming into the game because of the injuries that forced starting center Connor Williams (groin), starting edge player Jaelan Phillips (oblique) and safety DeShon Elliott (ankle and groin) to miss the game.
And the Dolphins also lost Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead to a left knee injury in the first half. But the Bills also were without starters, and lost cornerback Tre’Davious White to what’s being reported as an Achilles tendon injury he suffered in the game, so there are no excuses.
Just work to be done. Lessons to be learned, and wounds to be licked before these teams meet again inside Hard Rock Stadium in the regular season finale 14 weeks from now.
Let’s hope the Dolphins, which were riding a high off last week’s 50-point victory over the Denver Broncos, are better prepared to beat the man when these two teams meet again.
It sucks reading about our loss. It was much more fun reading about breaking scoring records. It sucks losing one game and dropping 5-6 spots in the standings.
I cautioned when Fangio we brought in and everyone was crowing about the top 10 defenses he’s had HALF the years he was in charge. I warned that the other half were BOTTOM 10 teams. Guess which we got?
Where oh where art Stanger? I’m not getting any Festy vibes . . . Hope all is well pal!
I am not so worried about this loss.
If Zack Wilson can put up numbers to make Mahomes look like Zack Wilson, anything is possible in this league.
100%. This are issues on D we need to correct but I never felt like we were not a good team or don’t belong. It was just one of those games where it wasn’t our day. That’s how I feel about this loss
I think each game is like a snowball rolling down a mountain
They get out of hand quick
We are 3-1 and should put our bad Sunday behind us
Fangio has some time to build this defense
I think we are still in the transition phase
FYI
So far in the afc east
We have lost to the bills
The bills lost to the jets
The jests lost to the patriots
And the Patriots lost to the Dolphins
I agree with BBMike.
btw, BBM, I was at Notre Dame vs Duke game Saturday!! Took EARLY flight home so I could watch entire Fins game.
I think most people were cautiously “hoping” for a win, yet a close game loss could be rationalized, a blowout can cause panic. But also:
1). Denver game elevated the collective hype to cloud the pre-season game by game predictions of most people on this site. A lot of people were thinking 2-2 at this point with losses to SD and Buffalo within a brutal opening 4-game schedule.
2). 3rd road game in 4 games to start the season. In the NFL (where Cardinals upset Cowboys, Titans send Bengals to 1-3, Texans blow out Steelers, and KC barely squeaks by Jets, and on and on) … it is hard to win in the NFL… and winning on the road is even harder.
3). Bills and their fans definitely came into this game looking for RESPECT. They had a playoff energy that Fins were not able to match (on this day).
4). I remember 2020 Bucs won SB with 13-4 record in a season where they lost to Saints 38-3 AND 34-23. Division games are a bitch.
5). Our fan base (including myself) loves to look at Power Rankings, Tua’s stat rankings, etc, as proof that we deserve to be considered an elite program. It seems clear from McDaniels comments that he is trying to get this team to NOT think that way… and maybe we will follow. 🙂
We get two winnable home games before another tough 3 week schedule before the bye. This Bills game right after “Denver-hype-game” was as close to a “trap game” as you can get (mentally for the team and the fans).
Now we get to see what these guys are made of. Can they see “Ws and Ls” without scoreboards attached, cuz that is the NFL.
Best thing coming out of that game, imo, is that we have our RB for next 4 years in Achane. He’s NOT just a “track guy playing football” … he is a football player with elite track speed. He knows how to run through traffic, how to bounce off defenders … dude is a legit RB who sees the game. I get as excited about his touches as I do Hill’s touches.
He’s looking good so far. Tied for 5th in rushing TD’s with 4 and add in two receiving TD’s. For a guy that only played in two games basically being in 6th place for yards and tied for 5th in TD is really good.
Mostert and Achane should keep splitting touches. No need to kill either one of them. Let them both feast!
Yeesh
Any word on how long armstead will be out? The floodgates opened when he left the game.
He was reported to have left the stadium on crutches
I just read that he is already ruled out for next week. Sigh
That sucks, he just can’t stay healthy.
Yeah. Armstead can’t stay healthy- we knew that when we paid him a kings ransom though.
Sound like he’s going to be out for a bit
Yeah they’re saying he will be out weeks but is expected back at some point.😔
https://x.com/CameronWolfe/status/1708922369945788514?s=20
Cameron Wolfe
@CameronWolfe
Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel said LT Terron Armstead will be out Sunday vs. Giants.
Armstead will return this season but his recovery from knee injury will be measured in weeks not days per McDaniel.
Honestly I don’t know what people expect of Liam Eichenberg
He was never a center in college as far as I know
A better use of a roster spot
Failure at OT, OG and now OC
Ken
Backups aren’t good enough to start – that’s why they are backups
We don’t know to fill out the final 53 with a revolving door of players that can’t start here or anywhere else
FYI
The Giants, who haven’t been good this season, play MNF this season
And then go on the road to come to us on 6 days rest
Which is generally one of the biggest disadvantages in football
Road game after the MNF is a low win %
I am already tired of hearing about Miami’s “reality check”. You know what reality is? The dolphins are 3-1 and have beaten 3 AFC teams, one a division team and they have lost to one Division opponent. If we can get through the next 3/4 of the season at the same rate, we will be 12+ wins.
It was a reality check. We have faced two top tier offenses, and got smoked by both. If Fangio can’t get this D figured out, we aren’t going anywhere if we make the playoffs .
Agreed, disappointed in the defense thus far.
Burn that tape don’t even watch it.
Move on we have two at home just go take care of business.
A big Bryan Cox to Buffalo 🖕🖕
We’ll see you again 🖕🖕
🐬💪💥
Sucks they have our number, just like the 90’s
Yup. Can’t beat them in Buffalo. That’s going to get into their heads of that doesn’t end soon.
We can scout the Giants tonight
They aren’t as bad as you think they are
We need Phillips and Williams back
We have guys eligible for return now not the least of which is Ramsey 😁
Charlotte Sena FOUND
Amen
Great news.
Eich missed the block that was the guy who pushed Armstead sideways and hurt his knee.
Remember the PA in My Cousin Vinny that’s the judge in NY
I’d try Lester Cotton at Center.
3-1 each quarter of the season is 12-4 going into the last game rematch.
Wow
That game could be for everything or nothing for either team by then
When we host the Bills later this season, they will be without their CB1
And by that time, we should have Jalen Ramsey back.
Watching the giants game tonight like
Confession…
I got the run-blocking vs the pass-blocking prowess of Eich mixed up. I thought he was good at pass-blocking and crappy at run-blocking… perhaps it’s time to get some glasses.
Regardless, Eich vs their DTs (namely the red-hot Ed Oliver) was the matchup I was most concerned about. Damn… it was worse than I thought it would be.
I said before the game that we could not win with Eich in for Williams.
I can vouch for you having said that, sir. And all week I alluded to the pain we’d go through without Connor Williams starting.
C. Williams: #3 of 44 Centers
Eich: #44 of 44 Centers
How many top tier offenses are there?
By definition there can only be a few.
We beat one of those already … on the road.
What top tier offenses are left on our schedule?
Philly Dallas KC and … Ravens?
3 of those have already been beaten.
I call a ‘top-tier Offense’ a top-5 Offense, but that’s just me.
At the current rate of Defensive production, I wouldn’t just be concerned about a top-5 Offense… I’d be concerned about a top-20 Offense.
I love that I have a couple of running plays in madden 24 that I average over 20 yards per carry with
I have a couple of outside zone plays that I either get 4 yards or 40 yards
Notice without Williams calling the OL play, we returned to presnap penalties, although the crowd noise did contribute to that.
Williams is the 3rd best Center.
The drop to worst center is steep enough to get us a L.
If you look at the rushing stats, all the runners did fine, except for Mostert, whose snaps mostly depended on Eich .
Updated Defensive Rankings after Week 4: Miami Dolphins
Note: 2 teams play tonight, which may or probably not change our rankings
Stats come from Pro Football REFERENCE
Total points allowed: #29
Total yards allowed: #27
Yards per play allowed: #27
1st downs allowed: #29
Passing yards allowed: #26
Net yards allowed per passing attempt: #26
Vic Fangio has got to do something to correct this mess.
Like, why did Fangio choose to NOT have X cover Stefon Diggs?