The Buffalo Bills continued their dominance in the AFC East rivalry against the Dolphins with a 31-10 win in Miami on Thursday night.
Buffalo has a 9-1 record against the Dolphins over the past five seasons (including playoffs), the most wins by a team against an opponent since 2020. From the second quarter onwards, the Bills dominated, led by a defense that got a handle on Mike McDaniel’s offense even before Tua Tagovailoa left the field with a concussion.
Sean McDermott’s defense recorded three interceptions, two sacks, ten tackles for loss, forced four turnovers on downs (including a big one in the second quarter), allowed a 47% third-down ratio and held Miami to 1 of 4 in the red zone.
“We played our style of football and I think we still have some work to do, we need to work and rest, like I said. But we need to continue to grow our football and stick to what we’re trying to do and become,” McDermott said after the game.
Buffalo held Miami to 10 points, the club’s second-lowest point total in a game with McDaniel as head coach.
“We probably had really few total yards, but we were still able to score 31 points, and that means our defense is doing something right. So they had our backs tonight,” quarterback Josh Allen said, via the team’s official website.
The Bills offense managed just 247 yards on 13 first downs. Three of Buffalo’s four winning drives started in Miami territory.
Despite an offseason reshuffle that made them younger on defense and a series of injuries that left them without star linebacker Matt Milano and nickel Taron Johnson on Thursday night, the Bills just continue to be stingy. Even after linebacker Terrel Bernard went out with a pectoral muscle injury, Buffalo continued to experience setbacks.
Von Miller, who has looked much more polished this season, recorded a sack for the second week in a row after going 14 games without a quarterback takedown. According to NFL Research, he is the 19th player all-time to reach 125.0 sacks since individual sacks began being counted in 1982.
Through two games, the Bills defense has shown a penchant for the big plays — sacks, interceptions, forced fumbles — despite losing yards. Once again, McDermott’s defense has squashed the big play. Since the coach took over in 2017, the Bills have allowed the fewest 20-yard plays in the NFL (281), 32 fewer than any other team, according to Chris Brown of the club’s official website. On Thursday night, they allowed an explosive Miami team to take one 20-yard play.
The Bills have been without key players for years due to injury, but they have continued to play. On Thursday night, backup corner Ja’Marcus Ingram underscored the “next man up” mentality and benefited from being in the right place at the right time to intercept passes twice.
“I was just doing my job. And you know, the ball just fell out of the sky,” Ingram said.
The former undrafted free agent has played in just seven games in his career, but on Thursday night he had his first and second INTs, including a game-winning pick-6.
“Ja’Marcus comes back in, makes another big play for us, and that’s great to see. And those guys work hard, you know, so good things happen when you work hard. And sometimes the ball finds you that way,” McDermott said.
For a club that has significant questions about its back seven following offseason changes, the final six quarters have been sensational. McDermott deserves credit for putting his guys in a position to make those game-winning plays.
