Bills Hush Critics in 31-10 Fish Fry

Many thoughts on the Bills 31-10 dismantling of the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium Thursday night in front of a national TV audience. The Bills are now 2-0 and already in charge of the AFC East. Sean McDermott is one heck of a coach. The “process” is real, and so is the culture.

McDermott was unhappy about the rash of penalties in the opening win over Arizona. Against Miami? ONE penalty for 5 yards. That’s it. McDermott and obviously DC Bobby Babich had a tremendous game plan against the speedy Dolphins and made it work despite some more injuries, on a short week no less.

Josh Allen doesn’t need to be Superman. He also is proving he’ll be just fine without Stefon Diggs whining to get more targets. Hey. I loved Diggs for the first 3 years, but he’s not a fit now for this tight knit group. Don’t kid yourself. Josh is too classy to ever throw Diggs under the bus, but the negativity had to be annoying at best. In two games, Allen is completing 73.8% of his passes for 3 TD’s and no picks to 10 different targets. Rookie WR Keon Coleman wasn’t targeted in this game, but his days will come. Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid are headed for big years.

GM Brandon Beane – despite salary cap limitations – has again put together a deep and talented roster. Think he’s respected? Von Miller, suddenly energized again with a nice sack and some pressures, took a pay cut to stay in Buffalo. He remains a positive force on the field and in the locker room. With Miller back in form, Ed Oliver, Greg Rousseau and AJ Epenesa are producing good pressure. They’ll need to continue with the QB’s coming up. Corners Christian Benford and Rasul Douglass are not only pass defending but physical in run support.

The silence on the Bills “window closing” around the NFL is deafening right about now. The Bills are different, but they’re still here, large and in charge. They’re quickly developing an identity as a physical team, and not completely reliant on their star QB to win. Don’t kid yourself. Allen has to stay healthy, so keep fingers crossed. It was the Bills 5th straight win over the Dolphins and 11th in their last dozen meetings. Many of us are old enough to remember when the Dolphins OWNED the Bills, but that’s ancient history.

Right here I’d like to mention my sponsor, BluTusk Tech of Orchard Park. They’re amazingly good – and reasonable – at fixing up your computer after you put a few miles on it but don’t want to shell out for a new one. Great people.

This game did not play out as I expected. I thought Allen would have to save the day in a shootout. Allen was “only” 13-19 for 139 yards and a TD. That’s it.

It’s perfect actually.

He didn’t need to risk bodily harm in this one because his supporting cast came to play on both sides of the ball. Important, as Allen wore a glove on his left hand, after a TD dive the week before against Arizona. Allen made some key throws, but James Cook wore the cape this time. He scored 3 TD’s – all in the first half – with a TD catch and two TD runs, including a 49 yard burst where he blazed by former Bills safety Jordan Poyer. Rookie RB Ray Davis was solid too. Third back Ty Johnson also a factor with a great 33 yard reception on an Allen scramble to set up a TD.

By the way, McDermott went for it on 4th and 3 from the Dolphins 17 on the Bills first possession, and a beautifully designed misdirection play clicked as Allen hit Cook for the TD. No drop this time! That really set the tone for what would follow.

Bills OC Joe Brady has been beyond impressive since taking over at midseason last year. He’s only 35, and was already known for being the passing coordinator for the 2019 Joe Burrow LSU national champion that many feel was the best college football team in history. But despite his expertise in the passing game, he’s mixing it up with the run, which is accomplishing a couple things. It cuts down on Allen’s exposure to big hits, and keeps the D fresh. It also gives the Bills a physical presence that can wear opponents down.

Ask any Olineman and they’ll tell you they LOVE run blocking, because they can initiate the hit and impose their will. Pass protection means getting punished while backing up. No fun.

The stats lie in this game. The Fins outgained the Bills in total yardage 351-247, but DC Bobby Babich had the answers for Tua Tagovailoa and speedy targets Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, holding the pair to 64 total yards on 7 catches. The Bills also won the turnover battle 3-0.

For me, the victory was marred a bit as Tagovailoa was knocked out of the game late in the third quarter as he ran for a first down near the goal line. He didn’t slide, and took a hard but clean hit from Bills safety Damar Hamlin. We knew instantly Tagovailoa was in trouble as his right arm shot up in the air and he trembled briefly. We’d seen this before. He did walk off under his own power, but was quickly diagnosed with a concussion – his third – and this leaves his future very much in doubt just after signing a four year, $212m contract extension. No timetable yet on when or even if he’ll play again.

Despite lots of advice against his return, whenever that is, my hunch is that Tua will come back. He’s a competitor, whether you love or hate the Dolphins.

We would also be remiss if we didn’t point out what a great job DC Bobby Babich did, with close supervision from McDermott of course. He lost LB Terrel Bernard early, and Bernard may be out a month or so with a pectoral strain coming early in this game. Baylon Spector jumped right in and played well, and Cam Lewis – UB FA – filled in capably for the missing Taron Johnson, who may miss more games unfortunately.

So who else steps up? How about former UB DB Ja’Marcus Ingram! An undrafted FA from Buffalo? Two INTs, including a pick-six! He only played in the opener because of an injury, but he has been a force. Former UB LB Joe Andreesen is also on the roster but has yet to play.

Digressing here a moment on UB players in the NFL. The Bulls now have a new coach in Pete Lembo, and he’s working with an almost new team comprised of college recruits and portal transfers. They were sharp in an opening 30-13 win over Lafayette before losing at 6th ranked Missouri 38-0 last week. I attended the game in Columbia Mo, and despite the score, I was impressed with the Bulls. They’re physical. Aggressive. Well coached with some talent, and I’m curious to see how their season plays out.

Not many negatives in the Bills win, but kicker Tyler Bass reminded us he struggled in training camp with a badly shanked FG attempt late in the game. He had made three straight and all his PAT attempts, but he no longer makes us feel confident as he lines up. The Bills say they’re committed to him, but that could change.

With the Thursday Night game comes a nine day “break” until they host Jacksonville a week from Monday night at Highmark Stadium.

Still a long way to go, but tell me you expected the Bills to be this good this early after the many changes?

Not me, but this could still turn into our Special Season afterall!

Again thanks to BluTusk Tech of Orchard Park.

Editor’s babble: I love to read Ed Kilgore’s ‘takes’ about games. We’re grateful for his contributions to our blog. You can also find Ed on Xwitter @Kilgore2Ed.