Unbeatens square off in Miami
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Two games into the season, the Super Bowl appears to be an attainable goal for the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills returned mostly the same offense that fell just short against Kansas City in a divisional-round thriller last year and retooled their defensive front with additions including Von Miller. They’ve looked like one of the best teams in the NFL through the first two weeks of the season thanks to convincing wins over the defending champion Rams and the Titans, last year’s AFC No. 1 seed.
Up next is a Miami Dolphins team that looks to be a contender in the AFC behind its confident first-year coach and electric offensive weapons.
“The Buffalo Bills have won the division and done an unbelievable job in all three phases,” Dolphins Coach Mike McDaniel said, “so what better for the Miami Dolphins, that’s a young team that is really invested and they’re very eager to play football, what better opportunity than playing the best and seeing where you’re at?”
The Bills (2-0) and Dolphins (2-0) enter today’s game in South Florida with two of the top performing offenses so far this season, but Buffalo has dominated the series in recent years.
The Bills have won the last seven meetings, and beat the Dolphins 35-0 in Week 2 last year.
This isn’t quite the same Miami team that Buffalo has faced in years past, however. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle have been a tough receiving duo to stop, mostly because opposing defenders haven’t been able to catch them.
Hill leads the NFL in receiving yards with 284. He has 19 receptions and two touchdowns. Waddle has 16
receptions, 240 yards and 3 touchdowns.
“We’ve gone up against both of them before, but now they’re on the same field,” Bills Coach Sean McDermott said. “I always thought they were a talented football team over the last couple of years, going against Miami that is, and now adding Tyreek Hill to that mix, they’ve got a tremendous amount of playmakers on that team.”
As good as the Bills have been behind Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs and their bevy of weapons, Buffalo hasn’t escaped the first two weeks of the season without adversity.
The Bills have a rash of injuries in their secondary, including neck injuries to safety Micah Hyde, who is lost for the season, and cornerback Dane Jackson. Rookie cornerbacks Kaiir Elam and Christian Benford could be given the task of lining up against Waddle and Hill.
“The production that they’ve given us, the games haven’t been too big for them,” Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said of Elam and Benford. “So if it comes to that, where they would have to both start, we’d be confident with both of them out there for sure. “