'Special!' Buffalo Bills' Ed Oliver Wants Respect After Win vs. Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins were the talk of the town for the duration of September. But as the calendar flipped to October, the Buffalo Bills did their best to ensure their name dominated headlines.
The Bills beat the Dolphins 48-20 at Highmark Stadium on Sunday. It was one of the best games of quarterback Josh Allen’s career and a strong performance from a defense that was perceived as an inevitable victim of Miami’s offensive juggernaut.
Two turnovers and four sacks later, the Bills’ defense flipped the script.
“We were playing the Commanders, and all they could talk about was their defense,” defensive tackle Ed Oliver said. “This week, they talked more so about their defense than our defense.”
Oliver has a point. Many of the stories surrounding Buffalo entering Week 3 revolved around handling a Washington defensive line with the capacity to wreck games. To Oliver’s credit, it was his unit that dictated that 37-3 blowout win. The next week, Miami (fresh off a 70-point performance) was all the rage, justifiably so.
Now, the Bills have ripped off three victories in a row, outscoring teams 123-33 in that span. They have a lead in an AFC East and a shot at the No. 1 seed that some feared escaped after the team’s Week 1 stumble.
Oliver sacks Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert.
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“So, we’re just trying to make people talk,” Oliver continued. “We’re trying to wake everybody up and make people talk. We want everybody to know that this defense is for real and we got special guys on this defense.”
Oliver had two tackles for loss and a sack in the win. Defensive end Greg Rousseau had a two-sack performance and the entire starting defensive line had a good day. The secondary, especially safety Micah Hyde, played very well. Linebacker Matt Milano continued his run of dominance, too, forcing a fumble and racking up 10 tackles.
The Bills have talent at every level of their defense and on Sunday, much of it showed out. The Dolphins put up 393 total yards but were buried by a pass rush on multiple key downs. On back-to-back fourth downs, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was sacked. Both came in Buffalo territory, and one came at the six-yard line.
Beating two mediocre teams after a disappointing loss opened the door for disappointment in Week 4. Instead, the defense helped establish the Bills as legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
Oliver and the rest of his red-hot teammates will look to carry this momentum into England, as they’ll face the Jacksonville Jaguars in London in Week 5.
