Dolphins Bills: Second Half Open Thread

It hasn’t been the smoothest sailing in South Beach tonight thanks to an alarming number of injury concerns, but the Buffalo Bills lead the Miami Dolphins 24-10 at halftime. The entire Bills Mafia wanted to know how quarterback Josh Allen would handle the challenge of playing with a heavily gloved left hand. The early assessment is favorable.

But there’s more. That chip. On the shoulder. Every member of the Bills heard how their winning streak was doomed, largely because of the loss of a truly unfortunate wide receiver named Stefon Diggs. When the clock hit zero in the second quarter, Buffalo entered the locker room with a huge two-score lead — and confidence that had been surrendered by a Dolphins team full of bravado.

The scoreboard betrays the dominance of head coach Sean McDermott’s team. In an interesting stat line, running back James Cook is on fire tonight, with three touchdowns in the first half alone. Interesting because he’s not the first Bills player to reach a three-score game in the last five seasons, according to Nick Veronica.

But as mentioned above, not everything has gone smoothly for the Bills. Linebacker Terrel Bernard suffered what is being described as a pectoral injury on Miami’s second offensive drive, and he hasn’t returned since. Not to sound the alarm, but the biggest question at this point is when he’ll be back, if he even makes it this season. That is, if you believe everything you read on the internet.

We’re sharing this with you because it’s timely, but the important thing to remember is that we don’t know what’s true until we hear it from the Buffalo Bills. Losing Bernard would be devastating for a defense that has already been forced to go through the season without linebacker Matt Milano. Positive vibes are needed to give Bernard some encouraging news.

There’s still a full half to play, and thankfully the Bills are cruising through the sweltering Miami heat. The offense has scored 10 points on turnovers — including two interceptions by Tua Tagovailoa. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady continues to employ a diverse passing attack, and Josh Allen is finding players in unlikely scenarios. Newly re-assigned cornerback Jalen Ramsey may want to burn the first-half tape, given the lengthy red-zone completion he gave up to backup running back Ty Johnson.

The Bills can’t get comfortable, especially with so many injuries to overcome. They need a second half that’s as dominant as the first 30 minutes. Buffalo gets the opening kickoff after halftime. Here’s your open thread for the rest of tonight’s game. Be nice, great Buffalo Rumblers, and as always… Go Bills!