MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — It’s a shame that the NFL scheduled the first 2024 meeting between the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills on a short week, particularly this early in the season.
The game deserves a full seven days’ worth of hype and as many healthy bodies as possible.
The winner will have a big leg up in the race for the AFC East crown, which the Bills have won the last four years.
Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins Preview
“It’s a division game — it’s time to take the East,” Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler said this week. “Let’s go for it.”
Sieler and his teammates aren’t just going against Josh Allen and the Bills. They’re also fighting history this week.
Maybe it’s good for the Dolphins that the league changed things up this year. Nothing else they’ve tried has worked.
The Bills have won 11 of the last 12 meetings between these teams by an average of 14.5 points. Going back even further, you could argue that the last three Dolphins coaches were fired in large part because they couldn’t beat Buffalo.
The story has been the same for Mike McDaniel, who is 1-4 (including the playoffs) against the Bills.
And as we discuss in our Week 2 edition of the “PFN Miami Dolphins Podcast,” it’s now or never to change the dynamic.
The Dolphins are hosting the Bills on a short week, which is usually a big advantage. Plus, this is, in their own words, the most talented Dolphins team in some time.
And yet, there are many who doubt Thursday night’s showdown will be any different than the vast majority of ones that have preceded it.
“That’s going to be what’s written out there until we do something about that,” Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said. “That’s going to be the narrative, that we can’t beat the Bills. And until we do beat them, and we beat them consistently, none of that’s going to change. And we have an opportunity to do that this year. We have an opportunity to do that this Thursday.”
Added McDaniel: “I think the two teams playing is absolutely one of my favorite things in the National Football League. I think it starts with the fanbase. When you know your fanbase wants no part of losing to another team, you can feel it in the stadium, you can feel the energy and those stakes.
“Bottom line is you get in this business for stakes like that, so it should be really fun football that will be hard-earned. It will definitely be physical, and I think the winning team will have to earn it. And so we’ll be in a situation where we’re trying to prepare ourselves this week to be that team, and I absolutely know, with full conviction, that the boys in Buffalo will be doing the same.”