NFL
By: Rick O’Donnell
A short week means a quick turnaround for the Miami Dolphins and it won’t be easy as they take on their Achilles Heel in the Buffalo Bills. Whatever kryptonite Josh Allen carries with him against the Dolphins, it works. A home game typically works in their favor but this won’t be a Sunday afternoon in South Florida. It’s a primetime game on Thursday night. So how do the Dolphins pull out a victory?
If you figure that out, please forward all findings to Hard Rock Stadium. Miami has failed to show force against their division rivals and often walks away after a beatdown late in the year. The good news is, it’s still September and the playoffs aren’t on the line yet.
At the end of the day, this is the game early in the season that’s a must-win for the Miami Dolphins, not because it will doom their season in week 2, but because the Dolphins need to shed the weight of the narrative they’ve been carrying.
On offense, the playmakers need to make plays. As wildly simplistic as that sounds, each year they shrink in these moments against division rivals. It’s tough to get wins in today’s NFL and even tougher to get divisional wins. With that being said, Miami needs to be night and day different than they were against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Josh Allen has proved he can take over and at times dominate the Dolphins. Miami needs to find the run game that controls the football and thus the clock. Big plays look great for a stats sheet, but you’ve got to keep the ball away from teams that can march down the field on you. If the run game looks like it did against the Jags, it might be a long night in Miami.
Speaking of Josh Allen, contain, contain, contain. The Dolphins have to find a way to contain his big play ability as well as contain the extra yardage he gets scrambling. The Cardinals had the Bills on the ropes but failed to account for Josh Allen’s ability to run the football. 2-3 yards here and there is fine, but when he rushes for 10+ yards and multiple touchdowns, you’ve got to find a way to adjust. The Dolphins did just that against the Jags not allowing them to score in the second half, but Buffalo showed they can adjust at halftime as well and comeback against the Cardinals.
Who punts less? Who has the ball last? Who can put points on the board whether it’s TDs of FGs? That’s what the game will come down to against a division rival. Will Miami have the answers to hold off their division rivals?
Thursday Night NFL Football: #BUFvsMIA