Bills Squish the Fish, Blow Out Dolphins 41-14
MIAMI- It was a sign of things to come. Just to stick it to the Miami Dolphins, it was their former tight end, Charles Clay, who opened the scoring for the Buffalo Bills. It only got worse from there…
From offense to defense, there was nothing the Bills could do wrong in their 41-14 blowout victory over the Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium.
Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor went 21/29 for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns, rookie running back Karlos Williams ran for 110 yards and former Dolphins Clay and Chris Hogan each caught a touchdown in a game that wasn’t close. Bills linebacker Preston Brown added two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. Dolphins wide receiver Rishard Matthews caught 6 passes for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns for the only redeemable stat line for Miami. Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill struggled, throwing for 297 yards and 2 touchdowns, but also threw 3 interceptions.
Buffalo went off early, with a 27-0 lead at the end of the first half. A lot of the damage came from the arm of Taylor for a 17-0 lead. Then, Brown picked off Tannehill for the second time, and took it 43 yards for a touchdown. However, while still trying to coast (Buffalo went run-heavy in the second half), Buffalo continued to score points against a Miami defense that has had issues in the early NFL season. It resulted in another huge win for the Bills, the second in three weeks.
Here are some other observations from Buffalo’s big win over Miami:
- It seems that Buffalo did well with the top half of their rookie draft class. Cornerback Ronald Darby has 2 interceptions early in this season, guard John Miller is a starter (he needs work, but it’s not easy to start as a rookie) and running back Karlos Williams looks like the most compatible back in the Bills’ offensive system.
- Starting running back LeSean McCoy once again struggled to get a consistent game going. McCoy was getting stretched out on the sidelines often, indicating he is still far from 100% healthy. The Bills look good with Karlos Williams in, so they might want to look into sitting McCoy for a game, in order to get him truly healthy.
- Bills head coach Rex Ryan knows how to ruffle feathers. He made several former Dolphins players the Buffalo captains today: Hogan, Clay and kicker Dan Carpenter. In fact, those castoffs outscored the ACTUAL Miami team, 23-14. Yikes.
- Bills wide receiver Percy Harvin saw a team-high 7 targets in lieu of the injury to top wide receiver Sammy Watkins. For the first time in his career, Harvin has been involved as a normal wideout, instead of as a gimmick weapon. It has led Harvin to being a more effective receiver and leading the team in targets through the first 3 games.
- The Buffalo offense has been more than “good enough” over three games, averaging 373 yards per game. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman has this unit playing well, mixing the running backs well, and letting Taylor play in a style that suits him best. Taylor improved his comfort level in the pocket, a week after getting pummeled to the tune of 8 sacks against New England. It helped that the offensive line held off what looks like a good Dolphins front four, even if only on paper.
- Buffalo finally cleaned up the penalty trouble, even if only for a day. However, the Bills chalked up their 10th personal foul of the season in the first half.
What’s Next: Buffalo (2-1, 1-1 AFC East) returns home to host the New York Giants (1-2, 1-1 NFC East) in their first non-conference game of the 2015 season.
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