Miami Gardens, Fla. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Bills improved to 2-0 on the season by defeating the Miami Dolphins, 31-10, on Thursday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
Here are my Arrows Up and Arrows Down from the contest:
ARROW UP:
The defense/defensive coordinator Bobby Babich
Just a terrific job by Babich and his crew.
Despite losing Terrel Bernard early to a pectoral injury, and already with several other backups playing, they continued to stifle the Dolphins, intercepting them four times, forcing four stops on downs, and shutting them out in the second half.
DB - Ja'Marcus Ingram
Ingram had a pretty special night with two of the Bills' three interceptions. One came on the first drive of the game to immediately swing the contest. Then a pick-six to put the Bills up 31-10.
DB - Cam Lewis
Lewis did a great job filling in for nickel cornerback Taron Johnson. He was a menace all night, making plays against both the pass and run.
Christian Benford and Rasul Douglas
Both starting cornerbacks came right out of the gate aggressive and making plays.
Benford had great coverage on a deep pass to Tyreek Hill on the first drive, then later picked off a pass and finished with seven tackles, the interception, and a pass breakup.
Douglas was a key piece in stopping the Dolphins' run game on the perimeter. He finished with six tackles, including one for a loss.
Defending Hill and Waddle
Hill finished with just three catches for 24 yards, while Jaylen Waddle caught just four catches for 41 yards. The Bills had a great plan, and bottled them up.
No big plays allowed
The Dolphins' longest play of the game was 21 yards.
James Cook
Cook, once again, showed his dual-threat ability, combining for 95 yards. 78 of those were on the ground, where he averaged a whopping 7.1 yards per-run on 11 carries. He scored three touchdowns, one through the air and two on the ground.
Going for it on fourth down early
Faced with a 4th-and-3 from the Dolphins' 17-yard line on the very first drive of the game, Bills head coach Sean McDermott elected to go for it. Then Josh Allen threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Cook.
That aggressiveness set a great tone for the rest of the game.
Penalties
After committing nine penalties in Week 1, the Bills were only flagged one time for five yards.
Dalton Kincaid YAC
Kincaid caught four passes for 33 yards, but several of them came after making contact and driving downfield for either a first down or to set up a much more manageable position.
WR - Khalil Shakir
Shakir caught everything thrown his way, grabbing all five targets for 54 yards to wind up as the Bills' leading receiver.
LB - Baylor Spector
Spector had to come in for the injured Bernard and call the defense. He acclimated himself very well, finishing with 10 total tackles.
Ed Oliver and Von Miller
Both players won plenty of 1-on-1 matchups, and both finished with a sack and a quarterback hurry.
Two of Oliver’s six tackles were for a loss.
Tackling improvement
There were a few misses, but the tackling by the defense was much, much better than it was Week 1.
Fourth down defense
The Dolphins attempted to go for it five times on fourth down, and only converted one of them.
ARROW DOWN:
Tyler Bass’ miss
Bass had been perfect through Week 1, as well as four extra points and a field goal in this one. However, he missed a field goal wide-left from 45 yards away that wasn't even close.
One target/No catches for Keon Coleman
The Bills' rookie receiver was only targeted once, and that was basically a jump ball on a 3rd-and-11.
Terrel Bernard injury
While we don’t know the specific diagnosis or extent just yet, a pectoral injury can be serious and longer-term.
DaQuan Jones missed 12 games last year with his torn pec. If the Bills lose Bernard for that length of time, along with Matt Milano already out long-term, it will be a significant blow.
Third down offense
The Bills were just 3-for-9 on third downs (33.3%).
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