Niagara Gazette

‘The rivalry went stagnant in the 2000s, with both franchises mired by mediocrity and AFC East ruled by the New England Patriots for two decades. But with the Bills resurgence and the Dolphins appearing to be on the same path, the rivalry was reignited with a playoff meeting last season.’

‘But the Dolphins provide a rival that everyone can agree upon. Bills fans thought Josh Allen’s ascent meant a Patriots-like stranglehold on the division for a decade, but Miami has arrived to be the spoiler and boasts a similar desire.’

‘While coaches far too often get credit for being revolutionary in a copycat sport, Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel is going against the grain. Offenses throughout football are trying to see how thin they can spread defenses side-to-side while McDaniel is compressing the field inside the numbers to hit the edge, and eventually, stretch them vertically.’

‘And now it may be a primary weapon in stopping a Miami Dolphins offense that leads the NFL in total yards (550.3), passing (362), rushing (188.3) and points (43.3). Meanwhile, the Bills ranked third in the league in time of possession, holding the ball more than 35 minutes per game.’

‘It’s too early to claim Bernard is better than his predecessor, Tremaine Edmunds, who was a Pro Bowler with the Bills that signed a record-setting contract with the Chicago Bears during the offseason. But it already seems that Bernard has a trait that Edmunds, to the frustration of many, never developed. Edmunds ran sideline to sideline, racking up tackles or taking on blockers, but rarely created turnovers. He only had one season with two interceptions, two sacks was a season-high and he never recovered a fumble in five seasons.’

‘“I think anytime you start hitting the quarterback, they get a little giddy,” Phillips said. “They want to get the ball out, then score’s getting away from them, then they’re trying to push and make plays. (Howell’s) a young guy, he’s gonna bounce back and have another great day. And just hats off to our defense.”’

‘In Sunday’s 37-3 beatdown, McDermott called the defense like a predator stalking its wounded prey. Instead of sending four rushers like usual against a Washington offensive line that surrendered 10 sacks in the first two games, McDermott sent linebackers, safeties and cornerbacks at a quarterback making his fourth career start, hoping — or perhaps knowing — he would crack under pressure.’

‘“I don’t have the ability some of these smaller, shorter backs starting and going,” Murray said. “So I’ve kind of always just thought if I can see a hole and just hit it, then I can use that to my advantage, as opposed to the defense making me stop my feet and have me get back going. So I’m losing that momentum, losing that power and losing that speed.”’

‘“When you’re going against a good front, making sure you’re getting the ball out and getting our guys in space and forcing those interior D-lineman to move around the field and tire them out just a little bit,” Allen said. “Making sure we’re spreading the ball around fairly evenly and just being two dimensional.’

‘“He’s been very impressive to this point,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “And it doesn’t appear that it’s too big for him. That’s what you read about in articles about him and who he is as a person and what his teammates say about him. So it looks like they’ve got a good one on their hands.”’

‘The Commanders have 10 sacks in two games, with three from defensive end Montez Sweat. On the other side, former No. 2 overall pick Chase Young registered 1.5 sacks in his first game of the year after injuries limited him to 12 over the previous two seasons.’

‘In fact, the Buffalo Bills defense placed a target on Jacobs all day by frequently dropping a safety into the box and holding last year’s NFL rushing leader to minus 2 yards on nine attempts in the 38-10 win at Highmark Stadium. It was the first time since 2007 that an NFL running back was held to negative yardage on at least nine attempts.’

‘“Our offensive linemen did a good job of wearing on them, and eventually, you wear them down,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I think that’s when you see the running game start to take off late in the game, when we’re just leaning on them.”’

‘Allen traded his three interceptions for three touchdowns. Instead of succumbing to the temptation of score-now, highlight-reel play, Allen was cerebral and efficient as he dissected the Raiders’ defense with short and intermediate throws.’

‘No quarterback in the NFL has thrown more interceptions than Allen’s 32 since the start of 2021, so for the first time since he broke into the league, Allen has something to prove on the field and he’s likely to get the chance against the Raiders.’