There is a good chance Miami Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier and Head Coach Mike McDaniel went into this season on the hot seat. An 0-2 start for the first time since 2020 has only turned up the heat in South Florida.
The Dolphins make the trip north to Western New York after a 33-8 stomping at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts in the season opener and a 33-27 setback to the New England Patriots in week two. In short, Miami's offense was horrible in Indy but much better in the home opener against the Pats. On the other hand, their defense has been atrocious. The 66 points given up is the second most in the NFL. Miami's defense has just two stops through those first two contests. Out of the 14 opponent drives, they have given up six touchdowns and six field goals while forcing a punt just two times and not recording a single takeaway.
Grier has been the GM since 2016 and McDaniel is his third head coach. McDaniel's record is 28-26(28-24 in the regular season and 0-2 in the playoffs with losses at the Bills and Kansas City). McDaniel was brought in for his offensive ingenuity and creativity. The thought was he could develop Tua Tagovailoa into a top level NFL quarterback. While the offensive stats for the Dolphins have been good under McDaniel, they are deceiving.
The McDaniel/Tagovailoa offense is ranked in the top four in the league in yards and points per game. Of course, keeping their QB healthy has been an issue. Tagovailoa has played every game in just one season(2023) and has averaged just 10 starts over his first six NFL campaigns.
Miami's offensive stats are skewed in part because they fatten up on bad teams. Over the last two seasons, the Dolphins were 17-5 against teams that finished under .500. But their record is an unsightly 2-10 when they faced teams that ended with a winning record. In those 12 games against teams that finished with a winning record, Miami averaged 12 fewer points a game.
The Bills have a lot to do with some of those numbers. Tagovailoa is just 1-8 in his career against the Josh Allen led Bills. Tua has averaged just 203 yards passing and has nine TD passes to go with 10 interceptions.
Allen has owned the Bills division rivals from South Florida. Allen is 12-2 against the Fins in the regular season with 4,384 total yards of offense and 42 touchdowns. His TD-interception numbers are 37-8. The Bills have averaged 32 points in those 14 meetings. Allen has never lost a home game to Miami in seven starts.
The Bills offense could put up another 30 plus points Thursday night because the Dolphins are trying to make a go of it with a patchwork secondary. They traded cornerback Jalen Ramsey to Pittsburgh and lost safety Jevon Holland to free agency. Cornerback Kader Kohou is out with a season ending injury and the next man up, Storm Duck(yes that is his name) is not expected to play in this game due to an injury. Miami was so depleted at corner they recently signed former Bill Rasul Douglas.
But the Dolphins definitely have talent in their front seven. Top pass rushers Jaelen Phillips and Bradley Chubb have both come back from injuries in 2024. Zach Sieler is a top level defensive tackle and Miami added defensive end Kenneth Grant who was their first round pick in last April's draft. Add in outside linebacker Chop Robinson and you have a front seven that can give the Bills offense problems.
The Bills defense, coming off a dominant performance in the win over the Jets, could have a big night against a depleted Miami offensive line. Standout tackle Teron Armstead retired in the off season and now the Dolphins are without their starting right tackle Austin Jackson and right guard James Daniels, both of whom are now on injured reserve. The backup right side of the line is tasked with protecting Tagovailoa's blind side.
Miami certainly has talent at the skill positions. De'Von Achane is one of the fastest running backs in the league and is a weapon both on the ground and in the passing game. The Bills still have to worry about Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle at wide receiver. 2024 was the first time in five seasons Hill was held under 1,200 yards receiving but that was due to Tagovailoa missing six games. Hill had six catches for 109 yards in the loss to New England this past Sunday.
As for special teams, the big news is the absence of their kicker, Jason Sanders. He is on injured reserve and Miami has replaced him for the time being with Riley Patterson. Through the first two games Patterson has been perfect, connecting on his two field goal attempts and all three extra point attempts.
Here is a nice bonus note for you. Did you know Miami has made the playoffs only six times in the 25 seasons since Hall of Famer Dan Marino retired? Two of those six have come in the McDaniel era. The last time the Dolphins won a playoff game was during the 2000 season. I had hair back then so we are talking a LONG time ago.