After both teams narrowly won in Week 1, the Buffalo Bills would travel to Miami to face the Dolphins on Thursday Night Football. Buffalo, already without two of their best defenders in Matt Milano and Taron Johnson, would lose captain Terrel Bernard early in the game to a pec injury. However, a defensive masterclass from Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Bobby Babich allowed the Bills to dominate the Fins.
Tua’s Two Picks
A three yard tackle-for-loss by Rasul Douglass put Miami in 3rd and long early into the game. Although Tua Tagovailoa threw a good pass downfield past the sticks, his receiver didn’t turn for the ball in time. Christian Benford ended up making a play on the ball, tipping it into the hands of Ja’Marcus Ingram for an interception. Ingram ran the pick back 25 yards, giving Buffalo excellent field position.
Josh Allen hit Dalton Kincaid twice for gains of nine and eight yards, moving into the redzone. On 4th and 3, after a timeout from Buffalo, Allen found a wide open James Cook in the flat. Despite the blitz, Allen was able to get the pass off, and Cook jogged into the endzone for an easy touchdown. That’s how you start a football game!
Miami was able to respond with an impressive 10 play drive, with Tagovailoa getting all his receivers involved in the process. He hit Jonnu Smith for 15 yards, Tyreek Hill for 10 yards, and Jaylen Waddle for 17 yards. He found De’Von Achane open in the flat, with a lead blocker in front of him to take care of Cam Lewis, and Achane walked into the endzone for a five yard score. 7–7 in the first quarter, this game had initial signs of a shootout.
After a 3rd and 1 incomplete pass, Buffalo elected to punt the football despite needing just one yard to move the chains. After going three-and-out, the defense needed to step up, and they did just that. Three plays into the drive, Tagovailoa sailed a pass well over his intended receiver, right into the awaiting hands of Benford for the QB’s second interception of the quarter.
Back to back incompletions from Allen led to a Tyler Bass 43 yard field goal, to give Buffalo a three point lead.
Let James (and the defense) Cook
A holding penalty backed up the Fins into 2nd and 17, and they were unable to move the chains, going three-and-out. From his own 14 yard line, Allen threw a strike down the middle of the field to Khalil Shakir, who made the catch despite the helmet-to-helmet hit from former Bill Jordan Poyer. The 21 yard completion, plus the 15 yard penalty, moved Buffalo to midfield. Rookie Ray Davis made the most of his opportunities, running for gains of eight and ten on the drive. Facing 3rd and 12, Allen rolled right thanks to a good block by Spencer Brown, and hit Ty Johnson downfield. Johnson had gotten away from All Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, and was tackled at the one yard line. Cook ran into the endzone practically untouched, for his second TD of the game.
After Miami gained one first down, a 17 yard run from Achane, they ran three straight run plays that did not move the chains. Facing 4th and 2, Tagovailoa was sacked by Ed Oliver, who bull rushed the left guard to make the play.
On Buffalo’s first play after the sack, Cook took the handoff 49 yards to the house, ironically beating Poyer in a footrace to the endzone. Great blocks from O’Cyrus Torrence and Spencer Brown helped open up a hole for Cook to burst through, and his acceleration was too much for the 33 year old safety.
Miami put together a nice drive to get into field goal range, but they were burning their own clock with the first half about to end. Achane rushed four times for 16 yards, while adding a four yard reception. Tagovailoa ran for 11 to convert on third down and keep the drive alive. Jason Sanders drilled a 34 yard field goal to make the score 24–10 entering halftime.
Buffalo gained one first down on their opening drive of the half, but punted after an incomplete pass on 3rd down. Facing 3rd and 5, Tagovailoa was pressured by AJ Epenesa and tried to throw the ball away off his back foot. Without enough power to get out of bounds, the ball floated into the open field, where it was caught by Ingram and ran back for a touchdown.
Closing Out the W
With Ingram’s pick-6, the score became 31–10 with 9:27 remaining in the third quarter. Despite plenty of time remaining, this would be the final score of the game. The most notable thing that happened in the final 25 minutes of play came in the redzone for Miami. On 4th and 4, Tagovailoa stepped up in the pocket and scrambled to get the first down. After lowering his helmet as he was getting tackled by Damar Hamlin, Tagovailoa fell hard onto the turf. A combination of these actions forced him to stay down after the play, and it would be announced later that he had a concussion. While this one didn’t look as serious as the infamous concussion against the Bengals, this is now the QB’s fourth concussion in the past two years. His future as a football player may be in doubt after another serious head injury.
With Skylar Thompson now in the game, Von Miller recorded a sack on 4th down to prevent Miami from scoring, Tyler Bass missed a 45 yard field goal, and Cole Bishop made a great play on the ball to break up an endzone shot on 4th down. Mitch Trubisky kneeled the clock out, and the game was over.
Afterthoughts
Buffalo’s defense exceeded the expectations of even the most optimistic Bills fans. Holding an offense that explosive to 10 points through 2.5 quarters, while forcing three turnovers, is phenomenal. To do that without arguably your three best defenders sounds impossible. McDermott and Babich have quite the DB room, which lost its three leaders over the offseason. Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford are without a doubt a top 5 CB duo (maybe higher), while the UB products Ingram and Lewis look like viable starters in the NFL. I was worried about the safety duo, but Hamlin and Rapp have done a great job of not giving up anything downfield, and I can’t wait to see Bishop get more playing time down the road.
Is Von Miller back? The defensive end had a crucial sack on 4th down, but was also consistently generating pressure, and has seemed to look much more like his old self through two games this season. While Rousseau didn’t have three sacks this week, the combination of him, Miller, Oliver, and AJ Epenesa was wreaking havoc against Miami’s offensive line.
In another edition of “everybody eats”, no receiver had more than Shakir’s 54 yards. Keon Coleman, Mack Hollins, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling each had one target but zero catches, mostly thanks to how little Allen needed to throw the ball.
I wrote last week about how Buffalo needed to clean up the penalties, and they did just that. While on the road, the team was flagged one time for five yards. Add that to the zero turnovers the offense committed, and that’ll help you win a lot of football games.
Game Awards
Offensive Player of the Game: James Cook
Cook had 11 carries for 78 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, while adding one catch for 17 yards and a score through the passing game. He was downright dominant, and could very easily be named AFC Offensive Player of the Week. For years, fans have wanted the Bills to take pressure off of Allen, so he didn’t have to play superhero every week. The run game has seemingly done that under Joe Brady, with Cook being a big reason for its success.
Defensive Player of the Game: Ja’Marcus Ingram
Ingram’s two interceptions, including a pick-6, put him in competition for AFC Defensive Player of the Week. While those two plays jump off the stat sheet, Ingram was integral to the secondary’s success against a top passing unit with two elite weapons.
MVP: Coordinators Joe Brady and Bobby Babich
Brady schemed the perfect offensive gameplan, including a great play design on Cook’s first touchdown. Meanwhile, Babich kept an explosive offensive in check, holding Hill to three catches and Waddle to four catches. This may be the most confident I’ve ever felt about our combination of OC and DC in the Sean McDermott era.
What’s Next? Bills vs Jaguars 9/23
Monday Night Football in Orchard Park! The Bills now have a mini-bye week, with 10 days off before their next game. This will hopefully open the door for Taron Johnson to potentially return in Week 3, where Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars come to town.
Editor’s babble: Many thanks to Colin Richey for his contributions to our blog. You can also find Colin on Xwitter @whatthef00tball.
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