Five Miami Dolphins to Watch Against the Buffalo Bills Revisited

The Miami Dolphins hosted the Buffalo Bills last Thursday night. Miami was fresh off a comeback win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, just as the Bills were coming off a comeback win over the Arizona Cardinals. While Miami had high expectations for the Week 2 game, those expectations were dashed after the Bills defeated the Dolphins 31-10.

To make matters worse, not all of Miami’s players came out of the game unscathed. While football is a sport where injuries are inevitable, some injuries are much harder to deal with than others. When they happen to a team’s starting quarterback, defeat is almost always inevitable.

Check out how our five dolphins to watch did last week.

QB Your Tagovailoa

Tua Tagovailoa’s underperformance is of secondary importance, as he suffered a severe concussion in the third quarter. Trailing 31-10 and a drive short, the Dolphins faced a fourth down. Tagovailoa struggled for the first down and instead of sliding, he dove forward, slamming his head into the midriff of safety Damar Hamlin. Tagovailoa fell to the ground and immediately went into a “screen position,” which generally indicates a loss of consciousness and is a sign of a traumatic brain injury.

Tagovailoa completed 17 of 25 passes for just 145 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions (including a pick-six to Ja’Marcus Ingram) and a dismal 56.7 quarterback rating. It was another night of struggles for Tagovailoa against a Bills defense that is exceptionally disciplined and can counter the eye candy of play caller/head coach Mike McDaniel with solid, scheme-efficient play.

For Tagovailoa, however, his health is a bigger concern. I know I speak for the vast majority of Bills Mafia (the ones I want to hang out with, anyway) when I say I hope TUa Tagovailoa gets better as soon as possible. He’s a great human being first and foremost and you never want injuries to derail a young guy’s career.

WR Tyreek Heuvel

While Hill ran a lot of deep routes, taking advantage of his speed, the Bills were able to keep him locked down all night. Hill saw six targets, but he only caught three passes for 24 yards. He ran for 12 yards on a jet sweep, but he was essentially a non-factor in the game. The cornerback combination of Christian Benford and Rasul Douglas gave Hill problems, and safeties Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp did a great job of alternating as the deep man over the top. Hill is a star wideout, but Buffalo’s defense played his assignments perfectly.

WR Jaylen Waddle

See above. Waddle didn’t do much either, catching just four passes on four targets for 41 yards. The heat and humidity forced Waddle and Hill off the field more often than the Dolphins might have liked, and Tagovailoa’s first two interceptions came while throwing to reserve wideouts. He threw a good pass to Grant DuBose that the sophomore didn’t want, leading to a deflection and an interception by Ja’Marcus Ingram on Miami’s first possession. Later in the first quarter, Tagovailoa threw to Robbie Chosen, and he airmailed the wideout in what appeared to be a miscommunication about a choice route. That ball went straight to Christian Benford. However, Waddle and Hill were also held in check all night.

CB Kendall Fuller

The veteran had four tackles and a pass breakup, but since Buffalo didn’t pass much, it’s hard to say how much of an impact Fuller had on the game in his first taste of the Bills-Dolphins rivalry. Miami’s secondary didn’t have much to do, and since the Bills kept turning Miami’s offense around, they didn’t have much to go on in terms of scoring. Fuller is a solid player coming off a terrible year with the Washington Commanders, but he didn’t seem like much of an upgrade for a Dolphins defense that got run over all night.

S Jordan Poyer

If we’ve learned anything from Bill Belichick, it’s that it’s always better to cut ties with a player a year too early than a year too late. It’s even better when a team cuts ties with a player at just the right time. Thursday gave us a clearer picture of why One Bills Drive had to part ways with Poyer, who was a phenomenal player for the Bills but has simply taken a step back over the years.

There are two plays that stand out. One is the completion Josh Allen had to make on Khalil Shakir to cash in on a second down, with Poyer running late and then being penalized for an obvious helmet-to-helmet hit on Shakir, who was thankfully okay. Then there was James Cook’s 49-yard touchdown run, with Poyer appearing to have the angle, but Cook was simply too quick for the 33-year-old safety. Poyer dove helplessly as Cook somersaulted into the end zone. Poyer finished the game with four tackles.