Buffalo Bills Get Stampeded By Miami Dolphins 38-10

The Buffalo Bills were handed a demoralizing trouncing on Sunday in Miami by dropping a contest to the Miami Dolphins 38 - 10. The game was not very close and really put a dagger in the hearts of Bills fans that thought this was a game we could claim and return to a .500 record.

Miami used a relentless running game and their physical style of play resulted in controlling the ball for 37 minutes. There were a number of observations that I made during the game, and will add some analysis now to go along with those observations.

1) Miami cranked out 250 yards in rushing. That means in back to back games Buffalo has yielded at least 200 yards on the ground. This is the result of several things. The offense simply is not keeping the ball long enough, and sooner or later the defense is getting worn out. The longer the defense is in the game, the greater the chances that they will get banged up or hurt, which we have witnessed many times already this year. The depleted secondary replacements exhibited some pretty weak tackling. I recall John Wendling whiffing on a couple long runs back to back.

2) Miami had 17 rushing first downs to zero for the Bills. That is a sick statistic. 17-0! This to me is telling of a number of things. The Bills did not have enough confidence in their running game to go to rushing plays to pick up 1st downs, and/or their young offensive line is not reliable enough to create the hole needed for the yardage they have to pick up. They did not create enough short yardage scenarios, (3rd and 1 or 3rd and 2) where they had the option to either go to the run or to the pass.

In addition, it is clear that Marcus Buggs is not plugging up any holes the way that Paul Posluszny was doing. The Dolphins, (as well as the Saints) were able to run past the linebackers in to the secondary, and once in the secondary, they have been able to break off long runs of 30 yards or more. I attribute this to the injuries in the secondary, and to the replacements not being able to play at a level that a winning team needs to have.

3) Each team recorded 6 sacks in the game. That is a lot of sacks and each team has questions to address with respect to their quarterback and the offensive line.

For the Bills, they simply are trying to replace their injured starters in Brad Butler and Demetrius Bell with journeyman like Kirk Chambers and it is not working. What is the point of spending 6 Million dollars on Terrell Owens when you attempt to protect your quarterback with a lineman that has no business starting a game in the NFL? Ralph Wilson either needs to fork over some more dollars and sign Jon Runyan to a contract and show the rest of the team and the community of Buffalo that he is serious about winning. Cutting corners in this league just doesn't work.

For Miami, I really thought that the Bills were going to blitz Chad Henne even more than they did. Sure the rushing game eventually took over and they were able to control the game, but I wanted the Bills to throw the kitchen sink at Henne and force him in to making more rookie type mistakes.

4) Trent Edwards - 3 turnovers vs Chad Henne - no turnovers

Trent has been receiving some national attention and kudos after his first two games, but I was sitting there watching this game late in the third quarter, and was secretly pulling for Ryan Fitzpatrick to come in. That was how poorly I thought Trent was performing. True, he is going to be only as good as his line allows him to be; to have enough time to throw. But he did have enough time earlier in the game when there was no score, and he was not making good enough passes to drive the Bills down the field. There were times in both the first and second half, that Trent looked like the rookie and Chad Henne looked like at least a three year QB. Trent is making mistakes on a fairly regular basis that are costing us points and ultimately games. If he is to be "the guy" that leads this team to the playoffs, it can simply not continue. If there is not some consistant improvement, it may be time to go back to the drawing board regarding the QB for Buffalo.

5) Bills special teams had their best game of the season.

Coming in to this game, the Bills special teams were the most penalized special teams group in the entire NFL. I harped about the undisciplined nature of Bobby April's group last weekend, and I have to tip my hat to Bobby and his boys this week for a job well done. The 209 return yards was nice to see as was Brian Morman averaging 51 yards per punt. I believe their was only one penalty on special teams today, and the Bills only had 3 as a team, so that was an improvement all the way around. The onside kick attempt was executed well and Lindell had a chance to pounce on the loose ball.

6) Utilizing all of the Bills weapons

I realize that there were not enough plays that Buffalo ran to get everybody in to the offense, and ultimately keep the defense off of the field. But part of the key to keeping the opposition guessing is to spread the ball around and to be unpredictable with where you are going to go with each play. Today the tight ends were not utilized at all that I recall. No catches in the game. Josh Reed had extended some drives earlier in the season, but today only had 2 balls thrown his way, one he caught for a TD, the other was returned for a TD by Miami. Terrell Owens and Lee Evans each had 60 yards of receiving, but you kind of expected each of them to have bigger days receiving because the Dolphins defensive backfield has been very porous and gives up large chunks of yardage per catch. Alex Van Pelt still needs to spread the ball around more in his play calling, become less predictable (which is directed at his 1/11 on 3rd down conversions) and keep the defenses guessing.

Now the Bills, as well as the Dolphins, are both sitting in the basement of the AFC East at 1-3. The Bills need a win at home against Cleveland next week. Then they travel to face the Jets and then Carolina, so the Bills have to put up some W's pretty quickly, or I am afraid that Dick Jauron will not be the head coach come Halloween. The Bills can't show up the way they did on Sunday, and expect him to keep his job.