The Buffalo Bills played chicken with the Miami Dolphins, deciding the outcome of the game based on which team flinched first.
The Bills didn’t try to trick Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and they didn’t send more than four pass rushers once. They decided to play their safeties deep and stayed disciplined in coverage, daring Tagovailoa to force throws downfield or use his arm strength to to beat them.
Buffalo deployed a defensive strategy they often deploy against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills wanted to keep Miami’s speedy receivers in check and force an offense built on speed and pushing the ball downfield to remain patient.
It was the Bills who won that battle, intercepting Tagovailoa three times in a 31-10 win Thursday. The temptation to take chances down the field was simply too much for Tagovailoa to resist.
Receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle came in averaging a combined 195.2 yards receiving in 29 games together. The Bills held them to 65 yards, their lowest combined output since becoming teammates in 2022.
“I had a pretty good feel going into it,” Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said. “Spent a lot of time trying to find some things that would stick out to us, as a defense, and trying to put our guys in position. … And it helps when you have a 2022 game to look at as opposed to the opening game. But, I think (the game) declared pretty early. Had a pretty good feel.”
“I had a pretty good feel going into it,” Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said. “Spent a lot of time trying to find some things that would stick out to us, as a defense, and trying to put our guys in position. … And it helps when you have a 2022 game to look at as opposed to the opening game. But, I think (the game) declared pretty early. Had a pretty good feel.”
The Bills typically played their safeties no closer than 14 yards from the line of scrimmage. Even though Tagovailoa doesn’t have the same arm strength as Mahomes, it’s strong enough to reach open receivers downfield.
In Miami’s Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tagovailoa went 5 of 9 for 196 yards and a touchdown on passes that traveled at least 10 yards in the air, including 3 of 6 for 164 yards and a touchdown on passes of at least 20 yards. Against the Bills, Tagovailoa went 2 of 8 for 38 yards and two interceptions on passes of at least 10 yards and 0 of 2 and an interception on passes of at least 20.
Faced with a third and 13 on the opening drive, Tagovailoa could have dumped the ball off to wide-open tight end Jonnu Smith to take his chances on running after the catch or simply living to play another down. Instead, Tagovailoa threw the ball late and into the teeth of the defense, the ball bouncing off the shoulder pads of receiver Grant DuBose and into the hands of Bills cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram.
On the second interception, Bills slot cornerback Cam Lewis slipped and Dolphins receiver Robbie Chosen came open. Tagovailoa’s arm strength showed as he wasn’t able to put enough zip on the ball and maintain accuracy, causing the pass to sail over Chosen’s head and into the arms of cornerback Christian Benford.
The third interception was a matter of the Bills playing solid coverage, forcing Tagovailoa to hold it just a little longer than desired and defensive end A.J. Epenesa hit him, sending a pass fluttering to Ingram, who was in the right place at the right time.
Bills linebackers show progress
Playing two safeties deep all the time has consequences and the Bills felt them at times, even if it was the lesser of two evils.
The Dolphins averaged 5.1 yards per carry on their first five possessions. After Tagovailoa’s first interception, Miami was content to take what the Bills were offering, using running back De’Von Achane runs, misdirection runs with Hill and Waddle and mixed in quick throws to march 70 yards on 10 plays to tie the game, 7-7.
But when the Bills needed to make a stop on third and 1 from their 44-yard line, they bowed up and stuffed the Dolphins. Linebacker Dorian Williams saw a run coming the whole way and sifted his way down the line of scrimmage, while Baylon Spector shucked a block from Dolphins left guard Robert Jones and met Williams in the backfield to drop fullback Alec Ingold for a loss.
The play was enough to make Miami skittish about running on fourth and 2, leading to a sack by defensive tackle Oliver, followed by a 49-yard touchdown run by James Cook to bump the Buffalo lead to 24-7. After that stop, the Dolphins averaged just 3.4 yards per carry on 20 attempts the remainder of the game.
Both Bills linebackers showed strong progress throughout the rest of the game, despite getting caught in the wash downfield a few times. On his first play replacing Terrel Bernard after leaving the game with a pectoral injury, Spector was indecisive on a play that resulted an Achane touchdown catch, but came back on the next defensive play to shed a block from five-time Pro Bowl tackle Terron Armstead to drop Achane for a gain of 1 yard.
Williams, whose indecision has put him out of position frequently during his young career, also made a strong play by scraping down the line of scrimmage, tossing aside Dolphins tight end Julian Hill and dropping Achane.
“Both of those two, I think, were really involved, and I felt like really involved, in both the run and the pass game and helping lead our defense,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I thought the front, our defensive front, along with those two linebackers and Cam were very physical and very active all night.”
Cook capitalizes on Dolphins miscue for TD
Cook’s touchdown run was the back-breaker for the Dolphins and it could have been avoided.
The Bills brought in reserve guard Alec Anderson as a tight end and loaded up the right side with Dawson Knox. Anderson, right tackle Spencer Brown and right guard O’Cyrus Torrence all converged on Miami defensive tackle Da’Shawn Head, creating holes on either side.
But because the Bills used three players to block one, it left free defenders. Cornerback Kendall Fuller could have come down to fill the hole between Knox and Anderson and linebacker David Long Jr. could have filled the hole between Torrence and center Connor McGovern.
But Long stepped too far to his left before the handoff, giving Cook enough time to get the ball and dart through the unoccupied hole. Once Cook was through the hole, safety Jordan Poyer took a poor angle and had no chance to catch him.