Top 3 Things We Learned

Presented by

Top 3 things we learned from Bills at Dolphins | Week 2

Sep 13, 2024 at 09:34 AM

Alec White

Content Coordinator

The Buffalo Bills rolled through the Miami Dolphins Thursday night with a convincing 31-10 victory.

The Bills are now 2-0 to start the season and improve to 14-2 vs Miami (including playoffs) under Sean McDermott.

Here are the top three things we learned from the win:

1 — Taking advantage of good field position

Buffalo's average starting field position on their first two scoring drives was the Miami 41 yard line, a key factor in getting out to the early lead.

Less than three minutes into Thursday night's contest, the Bills were already out to a fast start as CB Ja'Marcus Ingram intercepted Tua Tagovailoa on the QB's third pass attempt of the game. Ingram returned the ball 25 yards to set Buffalo up at the Miami 37-yard line.

Two of the first three plays were quick passes to TE Dalton Kincaid to work down to the 16-yard line. "Just kind of where the ball went, different options on different pass plays, and obviously want to continue to get him the ball more and get him involved, especially early in the game," Allen said. Two more short gains brought up a fourth down and the Bills decided to go for it after a timeout.

The Bills utilized motion to perfection on their fourth down call, sending WR Curtis Samuel into the backfield, then bringing RB James Cook from Allen's right side all the way over to the left side of the formation once the ball was snapped. With the Dolphins in man coverage, that created just enough space for Cook to leak out without a defender near him, haul in Allen's pass and race in for a 17-yard TD.

"The play was designed for that, because we knew (Miami) was gonna blitz," Cook said. "So once the safety came off the edge, it was automatic."

Related Links

F̶o̶u̶r̶t̶h̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶.
TOUCHDOWN!

📺 #BUFvsMIA: @PrimeVideo pic.twitter.com/Sc70eORpJG
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) September 13, 2024

Buffalo's defense generated another turnover in the final minute of the first quarter, this time with Tagovailoa sailing a pass that found the arms of CB Christian Benford. Buffalo got the ball in MIami territory and got a Tyler Bass field goal to go up 10-7. The Bills held the advantage on the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.

"Tonight's a weird one, because you get the ball so close to your end zone three different possessions. It was a fourth down stop. There's two turnovers. So again, it's not going to be eye popping numbers on the stat sheet, but when you can put up those type of numbers on the scoreboard, that's all you care about," Allen said.

Allen shouted out the defensive effort by his defense which forced three turnovers and held the explosive Miami offense to under five yards per play. Buffalo also had multiple sacks for the second consecutive game.

"We were probably really low in total yards, but still managed to put up 31 points, and that means your defense is doing something right So they had our back tonight," Allen said.

The Bills defense has forced four turnovers in the first two games of the season.

2 — The numbers behind James Cook's TD hat trick

Bills running back James Cook is as soft-spoken as they come, but every now and then he's let his quarterback know what's on his mind.

"He's been begging for some goal line runs," Allen laughed postgame. "We gave it to him."

When the Bills have the ball at the 1-yard line, 9 times out of 10 it's QB sneak time for Allen. That wasn't the case Thursday as Allen handed the ball off to Cook midway through the second quarter and the RB went in untouched for the score.

It's only fitting that it was part of Cook's three touchdown performance, the first such game of his career. All of them occurred in the first half, tying a team record for the most in a first half.

"James just continues to grow and get better. He was one of our captains tonight, and it's well deserved, right? So he's from here, and I know it was important for him to play well," McDermott said.

Cook also became the first Bills player with a rush & receiving TD in Miami since Thurman Thomas in 1991. On short rest — and after posting 22 touches just four days ago — Cook had nearly as many touches (12) as Josh Allen had completions (13) against the Dolphins. He averaged 7.9 yards per touch.

"Just the preparation that happened over the week," Cook said "Just a quick trans turn around, got my body together and just prepare myself."

The Miami native later ripped off the longest rush of his career, a 49-yard dart to the end zone to widen Buffalo's lead to three possessions in the second half. On the play, Cook reached a top speed of 20.99 mph, the fastest speed as a ball carrier of his career, according to Next Gen Stats.

"Just kudos to the O-line. They opened up lanes for us to run today, and we did our job," Cook said.

3 — 'Sometimes the ball finds you like that'

CB Ja'Marcus Ingram was in the right place at the right time during both of his interceptions, one of which was a pick six. At first glance, it's easy to think that it's just luck, but Ingram said after the game he prides himself on having an eye for the football when it's in the air.

"Man, it's a blessing to be in this position. But I would say really just my mindset every week and every day coming in, preparing and telling myself that I'll be in position to make plays whenever that play comes," he said.

Ingram is the first University at Buffalo player to record two INTs in an NFL game, none of which were bigger than his third quarter 31-yard run back for a touchdown. Tagovailoa's attempted throwaway — with pressure in his lap — didn't have enough on it and stayed inbounds just long enough for Ingram to notice. He promptly caught the ball and returned it for the TD.

"It's a feeling that I don't even got words to describe," he said.

The play caught Ingram by surprise as he thought Tua was either going to get sacked or find a way to complete a pass elsewhere.

"I was just doing my job. And, you know, as (the ball) fell right out the sky," he said.

With CB Taron Johnson dealing with a forearm injury, Ingram and Cam Lewis have played increased roles over the last two games. The play of Ingram and Lewis in the secondary has been pivotal for a Bills defense that has suffered multiple injuries already this season.

"Ja'Marcus comes in again, gets another big play for us, and that's great to see. And these guys work hard, you know, so good things happen when you work hard. And sometimes the ball finds you like that," McDermott said.