Bills-Dolphins Match Up in Toronto Gets More Interesting

I really wanted to sit down and write an article about how much the Bills dominated the Dolphins on Sunday.  Unfortunately that didn't happen.  Instead, I will preview the next matchup in this rivalry, which also happens to be the first regular season game in the Bills Toronto Series.

On January 1st of this year Buffalo hosted the first professional Hockey game played outdoors in the United States when the Buffalo Sabres hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ralph Wilson Stadium.  Now the city is taking the show on the road as the Buffalo Bills will play the Miami Dolphins in Toronto in the first regular season NFL game ever to be played in Canada.

When the regular season schedule came out this past Spring, Bills fans were a little disappointed they wouldn't get to see their team "squish the fish" in Buffalo this season.  On the other hand, the Dolphins were not all that intriguing an opponent as they had only one win all of last year, and it came in overtime!

The Bills started the season 5-1 and didn't play a division opponent until Week Eight.  The Bills went into Miami fully expecting to start their division play the same way they had started their season, with a win.  The Dolphins had other plans.

The Bills got off to their usual sluggish start and did not take their first lead until time expired in the first half.  The Bills scored a touchdown on their first drive of the second half to open up a nine point lead but failed to lead for long.  Going into the fourth quarter the Bills trailed the Dolphins 16-17. 

The Bills already have had three fourth quarter comebacks this year led by second year quarterback Trent Edwards.  Obviously, the Dolphins watched the game film because they were prepared to play big in the final period.  Kudos to the Dolphins coaching staff for having that team ready to play hard to the final whistle.

Conversely the Bills learned a valuable lesson on Sunday.  You can't let teams stick around and expect to beat them in the fourth quarter week after week.  The experts like to talk about how the Bills are a complete team, playing well in all phases of the game.  The Bills now need to be a complete team for a complete game.

This is still a young football team and the game in Miami on Sunday was one of those growing pains.  You can Billieve Buffalo will be ready to play four quarters of football when they meet the Dolphins in Toronto on December 7th.