AFC Game Of The Week
Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills
Dolphins: A two-week stretch in California didn’t go as well as they hoped. I knew the contest against the 49ers would be a challenge. San Francisco has been one of the hotter teams in the league as of late and that defense showed why they’re tops in the league. The game against the Chargers was a winnable one because L.A. has been up and down this year but give the Chargers all the credit because they did a good job of neutralizing that Miami passing attack. After watching the highlights of this game, one thing came to my mind. It’s the Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill show and what I mean by that is they are way too dependent on them and expect them to bail them out each play. In other words, the Dolphins don’t run the football enough for my liking and the other weapons don’t step up to help out Tua and Cheetah. In this league, you can’t expect a player or two to do everything, because when that happens, it never ends well. The Dolphins have struggled on the road this year and on defense especially. However, last Sunday night against the Chargers, they did a nice job of keeping Justin Herbert and that offense in check and to 23 points. Tonight, they will battle in a divisional showdown in Orchard Park.
Bills: This has been their mantra all year. Lose a game, go back on a winning streak. After their first loss of the year, they went on to win their next four games, then dropped the next two to the New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings. At this moment, they’re back on another winning streak as they’ve won their last four games. Also, if the playoffs were to begin at this moment, the road to the Super Bowl in the AFC would travel through Orchard Park, New York and I’ve been saying all year nobody needs home field advantage more so than the Buffalo Bills. There’s absolutely nothing like playing in the comforts of your own home. During this winning streak, I’ve been impressed with how Josh Allen is spreading the ball around to his receivers. His ability to spread the ball around is what keeps a defense on its heels. Last week against the Jets, that was a game they had to grind out and the elements were also a factor as they played in a wintry mix. It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win and now, they sit at 10-3. The defense also delivered when they had too and will need to play at that pace if they want that top seed in the conference. Tonight, they’ll be back home welcoming the Dolphins to town.
Dolphins X-Factor– Bradley Chubb: I followed him closely during his college days. He’s as pure of a pass rusher as they come. Bradley has a huge impact on his defense with his ability to pressure the Quarterback. He finds ways to get home to the passer and does it in a variety of ways. You bring guys such as Bradley in for big games and this is a big contest tonight for Miami. I look for him to be active early in getting to Allen.
Bills X-Factor– Greg Rousseau: With Von Miller out, this is who must step it up and be that guy that rallies the troops in the Buffalo defensive front. Greg is a 6’6 EDGE rusher and he uses his length to his full advantage. He gets those long arms up to bat the ball down, he can use his long strides to get to the ball and against the run, he’s the Bills best run defender. I’m counting on him to lead the way for the remainder of the year.
Final Thoughts: When these two first met, the Dolphins shocked everyone and won this game by two points. It was also one of the first times when I called the Bills out because this was the game where Josh Allen threw the ball 62 times. All these months later, here we go again and both teams are completely different. The Dolphins must ugly the game up and run the ball because the Bills will do everything to keep the passing game in check. Also, can someone outside of Tyreek step it up for Tua? Please and thank you! I’m also watching this Miami defense and I need to see them get after Josh early on. Make him a pocket passer because his mobility is what sparks the Bills offense. The Dolphins enter this week with their playoff chances intact, but I think the balance of Buffalo on both sides of the ball will be too much for them to overcome.
Prediction: Bills 32, Dolphins 21
