🐃 🆚 🐬 1. AFC East Rivalry renewed

It is no secret that the Bills have had success over their division rival the Miami Dolphins over the last decade. Since 2015, the Bills are 15-4 against the Dolphins and have scored 30 or more points in 12 of those games, which is tied with the Chiefs for the most 30-point games against a single opponent in that same span.

Tua Tagovailoa also struggled in the past when playing the Bills, posting a 1-6 career record, and averaging 207.7 passing yards, 0.9 touchdowns and 1.0 interceptions, as opposed to when he plays the rest of the NFL, averaging 1.6 touchdowns and 0.7 interceptions.

This rivalry gained a lot of steam after last season's regular season finale, when the Bills secured the AFC East, for the fourth time in a row, and the No. 2 seed in the playoffs in their 21-14 victory over the Dolphins. With the loss, the Dolphins then had to travel to Kansas City to play the Chiefs in a game that they ultimately lost.

Both sides know how pivotal of a matchup this is, especially early in the season for them to get a win.

"The AFC East, it's a tough division," Bills quarterback Josh Allen said. "We know that. I think everybody knows that. And to win this division, you got to beat your in-division teams and rivals. And that's how we see it. So we got to just try to find a way to go 1-0, whatever way that may be."

Add on top of that, former Bills safety Jordan Poyer is now part of the Dolphins' secondary, this makes a recipe for a great matchup. Poyer added that he is excited about playing against his former team and teammates, and several Bills players expressed their respect for Poyer and the Dolphins, but that they're ready to play against each other.

"I'm excited to play this week," Poyer said. "I'm very familiar with a lot of guys they have over there. I still have a lot of good relationships over there. I'm thankful for all of my years out there in Buffalo, but I'm excited to play, for sure… Like I said, we're going to be ready to play. We're excited to play; this is going to be a fun game on Thursday night."

👍 2. Josh's success on Thursday Night Football

The Thursday night lights are not too bright for Josh Allen.

Allen, now in his seventh season, has a 4-0 record when playing on Thursday nights, three of which have been on the road.

Allen knows that Miami will be a difficult test for this team, as they brought in new personnel and a new defensive coordinator, but he knows that he and the offense will focus on what they do best to get the win.

"Bringing a guy in like Calais Campbell… guys that are in the right spot doing the right things," Allen said. "A new D coordinator… They've got some playmakers over there, Holland playing some really good football, had a really big play last week. We all know Jalen Ramsey got paid, he's the highest paid corner in the league for a reason. They got some guys over there that we've got to focus on and worry about. But at the same time it's a short week, and we've got to focus on what we do best."

🛣 3. Road success for Bills offense

Speaking of playing on the road…

Need the ball moved? Not a problem for Allen and this offense.

The Bills actually have the longest active streak in the NFL since 1950 of netting at least 300 total net yards in each of their last 32 games on the road and Miami is a team that Allen has seen success moving the ball against in the past throwing for a combined 679 yards in their last two matchups.

Allen emphasized the communication along the offense as the primary reason that they are so successful moving the ball.

"The way that we're able to communicate," Allen said. "I think our offensive game plan schematically, the things that we're able to do on a short week because of the stuff that we've put into training camp, the stuff that is in our, I guess, standard game plan that we can call at any time is pretty exotic. And some of the things that we can do on the ball helps us out in that that area."

😤 4. Creating pressure

Both the Bills and Dolphins found success generating pressure against their opponents on Sunday.

AFC Defensive Player of the Week Greg Rousseau had 3.0 sacks on his own and the defense as a whole had 4.0. For the Dolphins, multiple players had 1.0 sacks, leading up to 3.0 total for their defense.

Tagovailoa and the Dolphins like to get rid of the ball quickly and the defense knows that they will not have much time to generate pressure.

"Whenever it goes over 2.4 seconds, 2.5 seconds," edge rusher Von Miller said. "We got to be there knowing that we won't get a lot of opportunities to rush so and obviously you want to, obviously want to push the pocket, get in his face… He is going to get the ball off fast. It's just whenever opportunity presents itself for us to rush and get back there, we got to make it work."

The Dolphins also have a new defensive coordinator in Anthony Weaver, who spent time in Buffalo as the defensive line coach in 2013.

NFL Network National NFL reporter Cameron Wolfe spoke on One Bills Live about what to expect from Miami's defense.

"I think mix it up is probably the right word," Wolfe said. "I think that's the biggest thing that Anthony Weaver's bringing … We already saw in week one against Jacksonville, Anthony Weaver is willing to blitz. Anthony Weaver's willing to move Jalen Ramsey around. And I believe there's going to be different looks… I do think that this will be a fun challenge. A little bit of a different mindset."

The Bills offensive line will also do their best to keep Josh Allen upright. The Bills offensive line allowed the least number of sacks in the NFL in the 2023 season, and his offensive line will try to continue that trend against a Dolphins defense that has gotten through to him in the past (5 sacks in 2023).

Allen talked about right tackle Spencer Brown, who signed an extension on Friday, and how excited he was to have him and the entire offensive line continuing to block for him.

"Very happy for him and more importantly, happy for myself, knowing what he brings to this offense and the mentality that he has and the story that he has," Allen said. "I think it's pretty special, battling a few things the last few years and how hard he continuously works at trying to perfect his craft. And on top of that, the love and the fight that he has for his teammates is pretty special."

🙌 5. Spreading the ball around

We've said it once, we'll say it again - everybody eats in Joe Brady's offense.

The Bills targeted 10 different receivers in Sunday's win against the Cardinals and nine caught passes. Rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman led all Bills receivers with 51 total yards, including a 28-yarder from Allen.

Allen picked apart the Cardinals defense in the second half, finding receivers Mack Hollins and Khalil Shakir for touchdowns and spread the ball around to his running backs and tight ends as well.

Offensive coordinator Joe Brady credits the comfortability that Allen has with his receivers and them being versatile as positives to their performance.

"I think one of the positives that we have is we have a bunch of guys that just kind of can play a bunch of different spots, and Josh is comfortable in them," Brady said. "And so I was excited for the guys. A lot of guys make plays on balls, and so we were able to move the chains from that perspective … I was fortunate with the guys when the opportunities came and they caught the ball and were able to help us with it."

The same could be said about Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins offense.

In their victory over the Jaguars, Tagovailoa found six different receivers and targeted nine. The Dolphins have weapons that they can find at any moment that can make explosive plays. Limiting the explosive plays and receivers that Tagovailoa can find and getting to the ball are going to help the Bills defense against the speed that they possess.

"Yeah, it's really important, as it is every week, but especially, this week," Linebacker Terrel Bernard said. "When they've got a number of guys that can, that can take it anytime they touch the ball, you know, they've got playmakers at every level, and guys that that are obviously really fast and can make people miss. So, you know, it's, it's very important that, you know, we're all hustling to the ball. So, you know, if somebody doesn't make the tackle, another guy's there to clean it up."