Dolphins vs. Bills: Breaking Down Miami's Game Plan
After the Miami Dolphins’ thrilling Week 1 victory against the New England Patriots, the team earned considerable respect for its eye-opening performance. The Dolphins not only defeated the defending division champions by 13 points, but they had their way with the Patriots throughout the second half, scoring 23 unanswered points.
Now it’s time to focus on the next game, where the Dolphins have a chance to improve to 2-0 against another divisional rival. Week 2 brings on the Buffalo Bills, who defeated the Dolphins twice in 2013 with third-string quarterback Thaddeus Lewis at the helm.
We’ll take a look at what Miami needs to do to overcome the Bills’ talented roster this week, focusing on how the Bills played against the Chicago Bears in Week 1.
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Offense
The Dolphins’ remade offensive line was key to their Week 1 win, but the Bills present a challenge that few other teams can compare to. With talented rushers such as Mario Williams, Marcell Dareus, Kyle Williams and Jerry Hughes on the defensive line, the Bills can create tremendous pressure on the offense within mere seconds.
The Bills defensive line created six quarterback pressures against the Bears and converted those pressures into two sacks.
The impressive part of those statistics is that the Bills rely on their front four linemen to create most of their pass rush. That means more defenders are able to drop into coverage and force difficult passing lanes.
Against the Bears, the Bills chose to defend the middle of the field with their free linebackers, which put single coverage on the outside receivers. As good as Bills cornerbacks Corey Graham and Leodis McKelvin are, a well-timed comeback route will be very difficult to stop.
The Dolphins receivers will have to win these one-on-one situations quickly to negate the pass rush of Buffalo.
The Bills used strong safety Da’Norris Searcy as their single-high cover man, but he wasn’t impressive. The Bears attacked Searcy with tight end Martellus Bennett down the seam, and Searcy wasn’t able to read the play quick enough, resulting in an easy touchdown.
Searcy also doesn’t have the speed to reach throws on the sideline from the middle of the field, so Mike Wallace might get opportunities to go deep with single coverage if the Bills do not have Aaron Williams back with Searcy.
If Williams is in deep coverage, the Dolphins must utilize Charles Clay. Clay is a better athlete than Bennett and can create separation on crossing routes with ease.
The other option the Dolphins have is to use bunch formations to force Buffalo into zone coverage. Since the Dolphins receiver group is deep with interchangeable skill sets, Miami can get a mismatch like the one the Bears found on the play below.
Jeffrey was left uncovered due to the spacing of the routes, and a nine-yard gain on first down brings great benefit to the offense.
To run the ball effectively, Miami needs to continue creating bounce-back lanes for their running backs. Knowshon Moreno and Lamar Miller feasted on cutbacks to the tune of 191 yards rushing.
As you can see below, the Bills leave opportunities for cutbacks. The key for the Dolphins is to handle the front four of the Bills then allow Moreno and Miller to find the crease.
It sounds simple to execute, but this Bills defensive line is powerful, and its linebackers are aggressive in filling gaps. The cutback will play off its aggressive linebackers and should open some solid running lanes.
According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Ryan Tannehill earned a QB rating of 104.7 on play-action passes, which was seventh-best in the league. The Dolphins must continue to be an effective running team to win games. Of 76 offensive plays Week 1, 41 were runs.
Expect Miami to follow that distribution pattern and then take advantage of play-action passes to punish the defense.
Defense
The Bills present issues to any defense they face because of their talented playmakers around sophomore quarterback EJ Manuel.
At running back, Dolphins fans should be familiar with C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson. Each is incredibly difficult to tackle on first contact, and Spiller is so explosive the defense sometimes doesn’t get a chance at creating a first contact.
For the most part in their Week 1 game, the Bills offensive line couldn’t open up running lanes for their backs. As you can see below, the Bears were able to beat their individual blocker and close on the ball-carrier.
With arguably the most talented defensive line in the NFL, the Dolphins shouldn’t have an issue penetrating running lanes.
The Dolphins will be relying on backup linebackers Jelani Jenkins and Jason Trusnik more this week, with the news that Dannell Ellerbe is out for the season, and Koa Misi and Philip Wheeler could again be out, according to Chris Perkins of the Sun-Sentinel.
Despite being reserves, the Dolphins aren’t downgrading significantly. Ellerbe and Wheeler have been disastrous for the defense, and Jenkins is coming off a career-best performance against New England.
Jenkins’ ability to cover tight ends and running backs has been sorely needed on passing downs, and he showed the ability to play within the tackles against the run too. His six tackles and three run stops came without one missed tackle.
The Bills challenge defenses in the passing game with their talented receiving core. Speedsters Sammy Watkins and Marquise Goodwin challenge the defense vertically, but it’s Robert Woods who Miami could struggle with. Woods is an excellent route-runner with great hands, and his quickness on routes helps him separate from even the best cornerbacks.
In the next few screenshots you’ll see the Bills prefer to attack defenses with horizontal routes and no deeper than about 15 yards.
Manuel has multiple options in the middle of the field on this play and waits to see how the linebackers will cover to determine which receiver is the best to target. The multiple layers are troubling if a pass rush cannot reach the quarterback because of the potential yards after catch that can ensue.
Later in the game, Manuel has a streaking Watkins down the middle, but he cannot get the throw off in time because of pressure from the right side. Rookie Seantrel Henderson had a bad first game, allowing one quarterback sack, one hit and two more hurries.
What’s Henderson’s assignment task this week? The NFL Defensive Player of the Week, Cameron Wake. Pressuring Manuel will be one way to help eliminate the Bills playmakers on the outside, and the matchup of Henderson and Wake will be vital for Miami.
What also limits the Bills offense is Manuel’s field vision. He lacks the anticipation and willingness to thread the needle on tight throws. On the play below, Manuel has tight end Scott Chandler coming open downfield. If Manuel targets the “A” in the end zone, he has an easy touchdown completion because the linebacker is breaking toward the running back underneath Chandler.
Instead, Manuel scrambles to the left for a small gain. This was a common problem for Manuel throughout his rookie season and Week 1 against the Bears. Miami might catch some breaks if the Bills blow coverages, but the secondary has to be alert at all times.
The Bills have one of the best surrounding casts for a quarterback in the NFL, but their triggerman is vulnerable to making costly mistakes throughout the game. For the Dolphins to be effective on defense and limit the Bills’ points, they’ll need to put immense pressure on Manuel by stopping the run and forcing him to make accurate passes.
This is a winnable game in Buffalo for the Dolphins. A win would make an early statement that this team can handle early success better than last year. By following this game plan, Miami will be in a great position to end another week with a victory.
All stats used are from Pro Football Focus' Premium Stats (subscription required) or Sports-Reference.com. All contract information is courtesy of Spotrac.com.
Ian Wharton is a Miami Dolphins Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, contributor for Optimum Scouting and analyst for FinDepth. You can follow and interact with Ian Wharton on Twitter @NFLFilmStudy.
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