The 2025 Buffalo Bills don’t want to hear your outside noise.
Whether it be the negative comments that loomed over Orchard Park heading into their Week 7 bye or the heaps of praise being piled on following their recent 28-21 victory over the NFL’s darling Kansas City Chiefs this past Sunday, this Bills (6-2 OVR, 2-1 AFCE) team has no time to spare when it comes to worrying about the opinions of those not within the confines of One Bills Drive.
No, they have just one thing on their mind – the Miami Dolphins.
Riding a two-game winning streak and coming off what may have been its most complete outing of the season last week against Kansas City (5-4 OVR, 1-1 AFCW), Buffalo seems to be back on track after suffering two straight losses to the New England Patriots (7-2 OVR, 2-0 AFCE) and Atlanta Falcons (3-5 OVR, 0-2 NFCS) to begin October.
Fast forward to the second week of November and the Bills have now flipped their fortunes upside down, appearing to find their stride and reasserting themselves firmly in the conversation of the NFL’s elite.
They aren’t listening to those conversations, however.
Instead, head coach Sean McDermott and his players are taking a day-by-day approach moving forward, knowing that getting ahead of themselves and overlooking the process is what can cause issues along their journey.
“I love our team. I believe we can win, and the reason is we’ve got guys who are buying into playing as a team, (and) playing for one another. We’ve got a culture that’s ripe and a coaching staff that knows how to develop players. Do we have some holes due to some injuries? We do, and it’s frustrating. But, that’s also where young guys have to step up,” McDermott said when speaking to the media on Wednesday.
“We’re moving the right direction, and I applaud the staff and the coaches for it. They’ve done a really good job. Players have, you know, recaliberated a little bit and done everything that we’ve asked them to do, and it just takes some time to sometimes get there. And, now we’ve got to continue to go because we’re not where we need to be. This is a big divisional game down there away, and so we’ve got to put a good week of preparation in.”
Just days removed from the NFL trade deadline, many expected that the Bills may be on the lookout for help at wide receiver or along the defensive line, especially after losing defensive end Michael Hoecht to a season-ending achilles injury, but general manager Brandon Beane failed to make any sort of move.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying, though, according to Beane.
“It’s not a store where you can just go in and say, ‘Hey, I’ll pay $20 and I’ll take this player.’ You know, it takes two to be able to do it,” Beane said following the trade deadline.
“We tried on quite a few (players), and a lot was just, ‘Yeah, we’re not moving them.’ And, some we ran into – a couple teams in our division were trading and we couldn’t get a lot of interest there … We’re 6-2, and I’ve been to the Super Bowl a couple times (with other teams). I’ve seen us be in AFC championship games – you don’t get to AFC championship games without having a championship roster. I know what that looks like … It’s not easy – we try and build this roster to not need to trade.”
With the rumors of what could be now a thing of the past, quarterback Josh Allen and company must forge ahead with who they have in the current locker room.
Still sitting a game behind New England in the division standings and a tough stretch of the schedule ahead of them – with three of the next six games being against current playoff teams in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-2 OVR, 2-0 NFCS), Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3 OVR, 1-1 AFCN), and the aforementioned Patriots – the journey to January won’t be easy.
In fact, it may be their toughest of any of the past seasons since Allen brought the Bills back to the postseason in 2019 – not necessarily because of the schedule, but due to a combination of factors that have occurred since the team broke from training camp in August.
However, despite what some may think about the team’s current roster or their prospects of winning a championship this season, Allen is confident in his supporting cast, especially considering the team has reeled off 68 points in the past two games and is averaging 29.4 points per game, which currently ranks third in the league.
Ultimately, the goal is to just continue building on what they’ve put on display since the bye, particularly in the running game with James Cook, who is second in the NFL in total rushing yards with 867.
And while Cook suffered a foot/ankle injury last week that has caused his availability to be in question leading up to Sunday’s matchup with the Dolphins (2-7 OVR, 1-2 AFCE), Allen believes the offense will be ready to roll regardless of who lines up with him in the backfield or who the other 10 guys in the huddle are.
“I’ve got so much confidence. I think there’s so many different things that we can continue to evolve in our offense with our guys. Everybody’s got their own skillset that we need to continue to utilize at a higher level and that starts with myself of making sure that I’m getting the ball to our guys,” Allen said following practice earlier this week.
“We feel confident with who we’ve got in our facility … very confident in (Ty Johnson and Ray Davis). Obviously, I said this in training camp, there’s no replacing James Cook. So hopefully, you know, he’s doing everything that he needs to be doing, which again – he’s a true pro – he’s going to be doing that, and hopefully we can have him back by the time game time rolls around.”
In their previous matchup with Miami, the Bills managed to come away with a 10-point victory all the way back on September 18, defeating their AFC East foe 31-21 at Highmark Stadium.
Since then, the two teams have seen their seasons head in polar opposite directions as the Dolphins have won just two of their last six, while the Bills have managed to stay afloat in a very competitive AFC playoff picture.
Miami, who just relieved general manager Chris Grier of his duties following the team’s most recent 28-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, has been hampered by injuries this season and continues to struggle in that department as the team is expected to be without EDGE rusher Chop Robinson for the game due to a concussion.
The team has also struggled with ailments along the offensive line, while also already losing star wide receiver Tyreek Hill to a gruesome season-ending knee injury in Week 4.
Add in the fact that the team also just traded away a promising young pass rusher in Jaelan Phillips just this past week, and it’s clear to see that there is turmoil down in Florida.
Despite that fact, the Bills will need to be buttoned up in their preparation as the Dolphins still possess plenty of fire power, particularly on offense with players like running back De’Von Achane and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.
Achane enters Week 10 ranked seventh in the NFL with 606 rushing yards and an average of 5.0 yards per carry, while Waddle is 10th in the league in receiving yards with 586 yards and four touchdowns.
With that in mind, Buffalo doesn’t expect their division rival to bow out gracefully come game time on Sunday afternoon in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The players, however, welcome the challenge.
“(They’re) a big outside zone team … we’re just going to have to stay in our gaps. (De’Von Achane) is going to try and hit in every gap that he can. He’s going to try poke and prod at the defense to see where he can get it and where he can’t,” rookie defensive tackle Deone Walker said this week.
“Just seeing where they made adjustments, you know no matter if it’s subs, a new right guard, new center – anything – just finding their adjustments. Looking at our last game with them, looking at what worked, and looking at what we could have improved on … just trying to be the best that we can be.”
Kickoff between the Dolphins and Bills is slated for 1 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium.
Editor’s babble: Many thanks to Joe Green for his contributions to our blog. You can also find John on Xwitter @JGreen_PRsports.
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