The Buffalo Bills hammered the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in South Florida.
Their defense sacked and harassed Miami quarterbacks all day long. The offense, despite some poor throws from quarterback Josh Allen, put up 35 points on a day where I’ll bet a lot of fans were wondering what’s wrong on that side of the football.
If you were simply looking for a bounce back win and a second-straight strong performance from the defense, this was your game. Both teams were careless with the ball, and Miami was using a backup quarterback for most of the game.
But the Bills defense stifled the Dolphins from start-to-finish.
Early on, the pass rush was strong for the Bills, eventually leading to Tua Tagovailoa getting knocked out of the game on a hit by defensive end A.J. Epenesa on Miami’s second possession. That left Jacoby Brissett in charge to take over, and the Dolphins just could not find their way to any points.
There were many standouts on the Bills defense on this Sunday in Miami.
Second-year cornerback Dane Jackson made a great tackle on a fourth down rushing attempt in the second quarter. Linebacker Matt Milano seemed to be everywhere, effective on the blitz, solid downfield in coverage and just around the ball all game. Epenesa almost single-handedly destroyed a Miami possession himself in the fourth quarter. Slot cornerback Taron Johnson had a strong game as well.
My main observation from watching the Bills' Week 2 win in Miami is that expectations must be high if you’ve got a game where a 21-0 lead still feels like it’s been a struggle. That was the score after the Bills mounted a touchdown drive to open the third quarter following a pretty sloppy first half that saw the teams combine for five turnovers.
That entirely lies at the feet of the offense and Allen. Accuracy problems plagued Allen most of the day, as he missed numerous relatively easy throws.
Overthrows last week, perhaps, caused Allen to baby a couple of throws. One to Stefon Diggs that should’ve been a touchdown, and another to Isaiah McKenzie that should have been intercepted.
So what do we do with an easy win in which the $258 million quarterback struggled? Well, you put the win in your pocket, of course. Then, I think you acknowledge that it may be a little bit more difficult than many of us thought to duplicate last season’s offensive explosiveness.
Expectations are good to have. Winning, and winning easily, when they’re not being met, also good to have.
I’d still bet on this offense, especially the passing game, to find their groove. The defense hasn’t really been tested yet, as both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dolphins are pretty inept on offense, but that side of the ball is looking nice two weeks into the season.
Onward to the Washington Football Team this Sunday in Orchard Park.
