THE BUFFALO BILLS SQUISH THE FISH AND MOVE TO 2-0!!
The Buffalo Bills defeat the Miami Dolphins in Miami by a score of 31 to 28 and move to 2-0 on the young 2020 NFL season.
….yeah, another stinker of a team not at full strength, but a division win is a division win regardless the opponent. I think we’ve reached a certain level of comfort with this Bills team we haven’t had much of the last 2 decades. Not just because of these first two wins, but building off the recent team success and development of Allen an this roster. We went into this game missing our STUD LB pairing of Edmunds and Milano and I still felt completely confident in this defense to do it’s thing…and it disappointed.
With the defensive unit banged up I was also hoping the offense would come out strong and stay scoring throughout the second half, pedal to the floor and they absolutely delivered. Josh Allen was a man possessed this second half.
Let’s dive in!
The first drive was one that left Bills’ fans around the world upset. It started out with promise as Singletary took the first two offensive touches of the game getting 17 yards on 2 carries, then a pass to Diggs for 5 yards and that’s when the disappointment comes in…on 3rd and 3 Josh Allen throws to an off balance Stefon Diggs and barley misses him. If Diggs would’ve caught it he would have had 6 but instead we get a punt. Twitter was immediately ablaze as we had people blaming Josh for missing the throw, Byron Jones for falling or Diggs altering his route to avoid collision. All I care is that it was an early touchdown gone.
The Bills’ defensive line looked GOOD early again this game, sacking Fitzpatrick on 3rd and 3 to end the Dolphins’ first drive. Ed Oliver and Mario Addison bringing that BEEF into Miami’s backfield. New addition A.J. Klein particularly stood out at LB early on flying to the ball with Edmunds and Milano out.
But you know Diggs wanted to make up for it starting the next drive with a 25 yard catch off the rip. The Bills were running a lot of empty backfield with Allen operating out of the shotgun almost exclusively early. I LOVE when Allen has a nice spread set. It allows him to drive the ball downfield more and when the Dolphins run press, like they were, our receiving unit’s speed and ability to create space shines. He’s also able to read the LBs as he did on a nice 15 yard scamper on third down THAT HE ACTUALLY SLID instead of taking his usually hits.
This drive we also saw Gabriel Davis run a little wild cat QB with Allen shifting to WR and Davis taking it up the middle. Love when Daboli gets cocky. The drive ended with a nice route and catch by Reggie Gilliam for a 1 yard score. Just your casual 97 yard drive where Allen went 6/8 for 80 yards for a score and another 15 yards on the ground. 7-0 BILLS.
Then our worst nightmares…TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES leading to the stream being cut out and us forced to watch Jeff Driskel flop like a fish out of water in PIT/DEN. Dolphins score as Fitz hits DeVante Parker for a 2 yard score and we don’t get to see it. 7-7 score.
STILL UNABLE TO WATCH LIVE the Bills’ next drive led off with a 38 yard dart to Knox that he catches and them fumbled. Miami ball and a quick 4 and out gets the ball back to Buffalo and Allen started out SLINGING hitting Isaiah McKenzie for a 46 yard BOMB. Next play a 22 yard pass to Stefon Diggs (man was eating first half) for his first TD with the team to put the Bills up 14-7.
After another Miami punt The Bills took over from their 6 yard line and started FEEDING Zack Moss. Moss took the first 4 touches of the drive for 27 rushing yards as it seemed Daboli was desperately trying to get the running backs going on the ground. Then a questionable call by the refs on a McKenzie “blindside block” (we’ve seen this somehwere before) was called and limited the Bills to a field goal. THANK THE FOOTBALL GODS as Bass hits it from 39 yards. 17-7 Bills.
Dolphins with just minutes left in the half were shut down once again being led by the defenseive line. Mario Addison has been such a welcome addition to this unit and Ed Oliver is looking like and All-Pro. Bills get the ball back 1:45 left in the half and drive a bit but the drive is stopped dead after a phantom forward progress call as Josh Allen was still moving with the ball and the play called dead. The Dolphins drive with 0:33 on the clock and hit a 52 yard kick to make it 17-10 Bills.
The half comes to a close with the Buffalo Bills leading 17 to 10.
As the half ends, I have to do it again. Josh Allen has just been so impressive so here’s the “Josh Allen Super Saiyan Stat”:
Miami Dolphins combined offense: 157 yards. 1 TD.
Josh Allen alone: 269 yards (249p/20r). 68% completion. 2 TDs.
This has been Josh’s game so far as he’s hit some big throws and done a good job of reading the Miami defense…but that doesn’t come without criticisms as he has definably missed a few throws so far and gotten errant a couple of times. Overall I’m impressed with his accuracy and ball distribution so far.
The defense has looked solid thus far outside of a couple big plays. The pass rush has looked great and I’ve noticed both A.J. Klein and Tyrel Dodson making up some of the slack at LB. It just feels like we should be up more than 7. Need more discipline overall.
Halftime Grades:
Bills – B …Allen has looked great but we need to do a better with possessing the ball for longer and not allowing the Dolphins to keep it close. The Knox fumble was BAD. The way they’re playing it could be a 2 score game, but it’s not.
Dolphins – C+…Fitzpatrick hasn’t been awful and they’ve avoided turnovers so far but I don’t see their defense keeping up with the Bills’ offense the second half.
The second half was underway with the Dolphins receiving and desperately trying to get their offense going….AND A LIGHTNING DELAY! What the fuck is going on in Miami with the broadcast blacking out and then this? After about 35 minutes of the Noah Fant show the play finally resumes in Miami!
The Dolphins came out firing but a costly penalty holds them to just a 45 yard FG by Sanders to cut the Buffalo lead to 17-13. A bad throw by Allen costs a first down on the Bills’ next drive and we give the ball right back.
Then, nightmare fuel. Miami started picking apart the Bills’ defense on their next drive with Ryan Fitzpatrick looking clinical throwing the ball. A Matt Breida run takes them to the Buffalo 1 yard line…AND THE BILLS HOLD MIAMI ON 4 STRAIGHT PLAYS to take over possession and hopefully killing Miami’s momentum.
Needing to regain momentum, Josh Allen and the Bills took over at their own yard line they come up short as Josh Allen nearly threw an interception on 3rd and 2 giving Miami the ball right back at midfield late in the 3rd quarter.
The Dolphins move the ball 45 yards in about 5 minutes to score their second TD of the game, courtesy of Jordan Howard. Absolutely could tell this team was missing Edmunds and Milano on this drive. The whole defense outside of the defensive line, which is starting to struggle, looked BAD this drive. Dolphins lead 20-17 with 10 minutes left in the 4th.
With the Dolphins controlling this game, the pressure was on Josh and the offense to score. On the second play of the drive, Josh delivers a dime to Stefon Diggs for 47 yards to the Miami 28 giving the team life. In scoring position Allen takes a BIG sack but get it right back on a 24 yard strike to Cole Beasley to put us in scoring range…and a few plays later, they did exactly that. On 3rd and goal Josh Allen avoids the sack and delivers an ABOLSUTE DART to rookie WR Gabriel Davis, who made an INCREDIBLE snag to put the Bills up. Buffalo back up 23-20.
A much needed score and confidence booster for Josh Allen after a horrendous 3rd quarter. Finally got Singletary involved in the run game and some big throws by Josh.
The big drive seemed to revitalize the defense as well, they came out absolutely flying. Jordan Poyer blitzes prove to be un-guardable as the safety gets a big sack on 1st down and then Tre White with a BIG pass defense on 2nd down. Dolphins punt and the Bills have an opportunity to close this game.
The Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs combo is paying off early for the Bills as Allen hits Diggs along the sideline for a toe tap 24 yard gain that was challenged and upheld. That is 100% a throw Josh Allen doesn’t make last year, just an incredible throw and catch. I don’t think he’s missed a single throw downfield today…and he misses John Brown on a deep crossing route with an AWFUL throw…AND THEN HE HITS HIM THE NEXT PLAY FOR A 46 YARD TD. FOLKS, ALL OF BUFFALO, NY IS SCREAMING. What a play by Josh Allen. Buffalo back in control up 31-20 with 3 minutes left.
Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t one to rollover and just die down late in a game though. The Dolphins drove down the field and score as Fitzpatrick hit TE Mike Gesicki for an 8 yard TD. Then converting the 2 point conversion to cut Buffalo’s lead to 31-28 with less than a minute remaining.
Buffalo’s onside ace Micah Hyde recovers the onside kick, Buffalo runs the clock out n the victory formation and the game is over.
THE BUFFALO BILLS COME FROM BEHIND LATE AND WIN 31-28 OVER THE MIAMI DOLPHINS!
Full Game Grades:
Bills – B…they showed extreme resiliency coming back to win this game after an awful third quarter. Josh Allen was fantastic but the defense looked vulnerable today. Had it not been for Allen and Digg’s second half this grade would be less favorable. Not just missing Edmunds and Milano, but the secondary was exposed multiple times and the middle of the D-Line had troubles against the run at times. A LOT to improve on here, but they get the all-important divisional win regardless and are one step closer to taking control of the AFC East.
Dolphins – C+…their defense has some bright spots but with Byron Jones injured the secondary looked weak and Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs and John Brown took advantage of that. Fitzpatrick looked solid out there and the dolphins committee of offense talent flashed at times. Definitely a better team than last season.
Some notes of interest from the game:
- Josh Allen got his first 300 yard game last week. This week he builds off that and gets his first 400 yard game. Allen completed 24 of 35 passes for 419 yards and 4 TDs. The most impressive part? No turnovers for Buffalo’s young QB. The display he put on in the 4th quarter to win this game for Buffalo was master class. This is a guy who is 100% playing at an MVP level. Yes he had some bad misses and at times still tries too hard to make a play, but he is the real deal. I’ll say it again because I mean it, this kid has a legitimate shot to be the NFL MVP if he keeps this elite level of play up. We will never be out of a game with this offense backing him up.
- The receiving unit is phenomenal. Stefon Diggs had an incredible day with 8 catches for 153 yards and a score on a team high 14 targets. His and Allen’s chemistry is apparent. John Brown 4 catches for 82 yards and a score, including the game winning 46 yard haul. Rookie Gabriel Davis made an incredible catch for a score and Cole Beasley came up big when called upon. You wanted weapons for Allen? Well, he’s got them.
- The defense is an ABOLSUTE LIABILITY without Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano, the team’s two best LBs. It wasn’t just the LB play though, the secondary was abused multiple times today. Levi Wallace was getting beat and Tre White looked very pedestrian out there today. Fitzpatrick threw the ball 47 times and to not come up with a interception today is disappointing. Mario Addison and Ed Oliver led the way on the defensive line, but we didn’t get that same edge presence from Murphy and Hughes as we did last week. They seemed vulnerable between the tackles at times but McDermott is still toying with his rotations.
- The Buffalo running backs usage got a little bit of life today after a lackluster Week 1 from Devin Singletary and Zack Moss, but the run game was pretty much abandoned after Miami took the lead. The young RB duo accounted for 18 carries and 93 yards on the ground. It seems Daboli has game planned for heavy workloads on Josh Allen, but that could change soon and I expect these guys to really breakout soon.
- The Miami Dolphins are a much improved team compared to last season. I don’t see Ryan Fitzpatrick giving up the job to Tua anytime soon after a performance like today, but he’s a new guys every week. They have talented pass catchers in Mike Gesicki, DeVante Parker and Preston Williams and a stable of capable running backs.
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-Merekat (@Merekatkat)…Go Bills Baby.