Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills: Views and Reactions From the Booth

The Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills in monotonous fashion securing their first opening week victory since the 2005 season. In what some considered the fifth preseason game for the squad, the Miami Dolphins offense and defense at times showed signs of promise and at times a reason to be scared.

It wasn't pretty by any means but it was a win...right?

The next five weeks the Dolphins play the Vikings, Jets, Patriots, Packers and Steelers before heading on the road to battle the Bengals and Ravens.

Week 1 was considered a must win game.

The offense showed signs of life with Brandon Marshall, Miami's newest prized off-season acquisition, catching 8 passes for 53 yards. The 8 catches are great but the 53 yards are a problem. Those are Davone Bess type numbers and Marshall was brought in to stretch the field. On one down field pass Marshall had his man beat by a few steps but Henne underthrew the ball and Marshall was forced to stop in his tracks and try to catch the pass. Although he did drop the pass it's a good sign to see him running down field wide open.

The Phins running backs carried the ball 33 times for 133 yards which is an average of 4 yards a carry. Dealing with an offensive line that was internally reconstructed, 4 yards a carry aren't bad numbers but are also not anything to write home about.

Chad Henne, who looked a lot like his mentor Chad Pennington, managed to not turn the ball over in this game and that was enough as he passed for 182 yards on 21 completions.

The Defense looked great as Karlos Dansby's presence was made known right away with a sack on 3rd down on the Bills' first drive to force a three-and-out series. Buffalo's tight ends were not heard from all game to due great coverage by Dansby.

Jason Allen looked solid with 6 total tackles and one pass deflection and last years second round pick CB Sean Smith did not even play one down against Buffalo ( a sign of how much he still has to overcome ).

New CB Benny Sapp did get beat though on one play in the 4th quarter on a 4th and 11 in which Roscoe Parrish slipped by Sapp who was expecting the Bills to play for the first down. Parrish dashed by and scored on a 31 yard pass from Edwards to make the game a 13-10 contest.

The defense, 8 of 11 new players on that side of the ball, definetly showed Dolphin fans that opponents are going to have a tough time scoring on them.

Mike Nolan's system masked its blitzes and packages and the Bills had a tough time keeping the front seven out of the pocket to allow Bills QB Trent Edwards time to throw the ball. In total the Bills managed to scrape together 166 yards of offense and converted only 3 of 14 third down plays into first downs.

Another notable item to mention about Mike Nolan's defense: no penalties all game.

While the Dolphins didn't downright dominate their opponent on Sunday, a win is a win, and a win against a divisional opponent, on the road in week 1 is as good as it gets.

Feel free to comment and discuss below.

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER AT www.twitter.com/ZackDuarte