Bills Preparing For 'Revolutionary' Dolphins Offense
The NFL world watched in awe on Sunday as the Miami Dolphins' offense put up historic numbers.
Matching up against the hapless Denver Broncos, the Dolphins absolutely exploded for 726 total yards in a 70-20 beatdown. Miami scored the most points of any team since 1966, when the New York Giants scored 72, and broke the record for most yards in a game, beating out the 1951 Los Angeles Rams' mark of 722. The Dolphins easily could've broken the points record as well, but chose to kneel rather than kicking a field goal on their final drive.
Unsurprisingly, the Dolphins now lead the league in yards and points per game by a country mile after Sunday's explosion. Now, the Buffalo Bills have the unenviable task of defending such a unit when the two teams meet Sunday at Highmark Stadium. Leading up to the huge AFC East matchup, Bills coach Sean McDermott is not taking the challenge lightly.
"It gets shorter and shorter or smaller and smaller, that window, right? And in particular, when you got a team that put up 70 points, I don't think I've seen that in my NFL career the entire time. So they're very explosive," McDermott told reporters.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa prepares to take a snap during a game against the Buffalo Bills.
© Mark Konezny, USA TODAY
Miami's offense was already great last season, but injuries often held the unit back. The Dolphins have managed to avoid the injury bug so far this season and have been borderline unstoppable through three games. The result is one of the best offenses the league has seen in recent memory, and one that McDermott justifiably has very high praise for.
"It seems like they added to it this offseason, right?," McDermott said. "So, very good skill. [Dolphins quarterback] Tua [Tagovailoa] is throwing the ball extremely well. And their schematics are almost revolutionary in what they do. Coach [Mike] McDaniel is very creative and does a lot of things to get you out of position on defense."
All that said, the Bills' defense is no slouch either. Buffalo is currently second in total defense and scoring defense, allowing 253 yards and 11.7 points per game and only trailing the Cleveland Browns in both stats. The Bills are coming off a dominant defensive performance of their own, recording nine sacks and five takeaways in Sunday's 37-3 drubbing of the Washington Commanders.
It's only fitting that a clash of titans has such huge implications early in the season. The winner will take an early lead in the highly-competitive AFC East, while the loser will be playing catch-up. That's especially true for the Bills, who do not want to fall to 2-2 while the Dolphins move to 4-0.
No matter what, though, McDermott will make sure his team is ready for the occasion.
"We'll start with the fundamentals. We need to get better with some of our fundamentals. I think that's got to be a point of emphasis," McDermott said.
