2024 Week 2: Bills 34, Dolphins 10
The Bills got ahead early and smacked the Dolphins around, to not much surprise. Miami has never been good against over .500 teams in the Mike McDaniel era. Tua was playing the worst game of his career which set up the Bills with an early lead and the ability to extend it to 24-10 at the end of the half.
This game started off pretty slow from a scouting standpoint… Tua was turning the ball over and the Bills were running all over the Dolphins defense.
=====================================
QB Report:
- The headliner from this game is another concussion for Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa (17/25 for 145 yards, 1 TD/ 3 INT, 2 carries for 17 yards). A lot of former players and coaches are calling for him to retire as this is his third major head injury since 2022. Tua and any pro-athlete are hyper-competitive and if he is cleared to play, he will. That’s what I believe would happen, but the only person who truly knows what he’s thinking is Tua himself.
- Despite this injury, Tua has not played good football since late last year when the Dolphins started to fade as they played better teams. They are 6-5 starting from week 11 in 2023, the playoff game against KC, and the first two games this season. Tua has thrown 11 TD passes in those 11 games, and now 10 INTs.
- Skylar Thompson (8/14 for 80 yards, 1 rush for 4 yards) is going to be the quarterback at least for now, and they signed Tyler Huntley off of the Ravens practice squad to be the backup. Thompson looked solid in this game, he was working off of his first read and looked calm in the pocket. He’s mechanically sound and was able to find the open guy. Thompson is one of the better backups in the league that isn’t a failed first-round pick… and he almost beat the Bills in the playoffs as an emergency starter in 2022.
- Thompson/Tua have a tough matchup next week traveling to Seattle and if it is Thompson as the starter this could be a rough showing for Miami.
- The new-ish OC in Buffalo is all about the run game so Josh Allen’s (13/19 for 139 yards, 1TD, 2 rushes for 2 yards) passing numbers won’t be as high as they were in years past. Only 19 pass attempts. Allen should be back to throwing more in games where they can’t sit on a lead with the run game soon, they face Jacksonville next week then have a gauntlet until week 15.
RB report:
- Devon Achane (22-96-0, 7 catches for 69-1/7) was a gametime decision going into Thursday night and wound up playing. Instead of being cautious Mike McDaniel decides that it would be a great idea to give their banged up running back the most touches he’s had in his career. On top of that he was playing late into the 4th quarter while down 3 scores, that’s not how you protect your already injured asset. Mike McDaniel could/should be on the hot seat this year, but it depends on the severity of Tua’s concussion and the long-term effects it may have. McDaniel has proven he can beat up on the bad teams, but he hasn’t been able to compete with the good teams.
- Jaylen Wright (5-4-0) had his first snaps and carries as a pro… they weren’t great. Wright didn’t look ‘ready’ to play in this game which isn’t a shocker given the lack of snaps he received during preseason. There is 100% an off-the-field issue between Wright and McDaniel.
- James Cook (11-78-2, 1 catch for 17-1/1) is the pure lead and it’s working so Buffalo will stick with it.
- Ray Davis (9-29-0) came in for some relief work and ran the ball fine, there’s no takeover here, the game just got out of hand and Cook’s usage was reeled in.
WR/TE Report:
- Tyreek Hill (3-24-0/6) should have two duds to start the season but he had that lucky 80-yard touchdown in week 1 to save him. Hill should get more work with Thompson in, running shorter routes closer to the line to make things easier for Thompson as he adjusts to being an NFL quarterback. For Tyreek this is perfect: More targets = More catches = More chances to run 80 yards for a score. This playing style will also open up the deep ball more as defenses would start to play closer to the line.
- Jaylen Waddle (4-41-0/4) isn’t in a good place in this offense with Tua or Thompson. The main looks in the offense are Hill, Achane, and then Waddle.
- Keon Coleman (0-0-0/1) was locked up by Jalen Ramsey (3 tackles) in this game. Coleman might become ‘the guy’ here, but this delays that happening.
- Dalton Kincaid (4-33-0/4) has another dud here. Buffalo is wasting this opportunity.
- Khalil Shakir (5-54-0/5) was again the main throw for Allen but that doesn’t mean too much as evident by the numbers he put up.
- Curtis Samuel (1-3-0/2) is an afterthought in this offense.
D/ST Notes:
- Last week I made fun of Christian Benford (7 tackles, 1 PD) because he locked up Marvin Harrison Jr. which isn’t a tough task. I have to give him credit in this game because he was disruptful on Waddle and even more impressive/surprising was him giving Tyreek fits. Buffalo has a nice duo and will have a great trio when Taron Johnson returns.
