Dolphins (0-2) at Bills (2-0), Thursday, 8:15 p.m., Prime Video
Latest line: Bills are favored by 12 1/2 points
Dave Hyde, Sports Columnist (Season record: 0-2): Bills 37, Dolphins 17
This looks like a nightmare in Orchard Park. Buffalo leads the league in offense. The Dolphins defense has been scored on in 13 of 15 possessions that weren’t kneel downs. Buffalo is at home, where they seem unbeatable. The Dolphins haven’t won there since 2016. Josh Allen has torn up the Dolphins for years and there’s no reason to think he won’t again on Thursday night.
Chris Perkins, Dolphins Columnist (Season record: 0-2): Bills 31, Dolphins 10
I’m going with the same score as last year’s first meeting between these teams, which was at Hard Rock Stadium. The Bills are 6-1 against coach Mike McDaniel, on a six-game winning streak, and are 4-0 at Highmark Stadium while scoring at least 30 points in each game. Josh Allen will outplay Tua Tagovailoa once again and Sean McDermott will outcoach McDaniel once again as both trends continue.
David Furones, Dolphins Writer (Season record: 0-2): Bills 33, Dolphins 20
It’s already enough bad news when a team has to travel on a short week. It gets worse when said team is 0-2 after dropping a home opener to the Patriots, whom the Dolphins hadn’t lost to at home since 2020, and have to go into a building where they haven’t won since 2016, a run of nine consecutive defeats at Buffalo. The Bills own the Dolphins, and now wouldn’t be the time to think otherwise. There’s a chance there are some glimpses if Miami can balance the run and the pass offensively. For Mike McDaniel, he can save his job if this game at least doesn’t get out of hand, but his standing with the organization could be in serious jeopardy if it’s a bad blowout loss.
Kathy Laughlin, Sports Editor (Season record: 0-2): Bills 38, Dolphins 16
Despite his bloody nose on Sunday and a short week, Bills quarterback Josh Allen should be just fine for this game. Doubt we can say that about non-injured Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa, who has more turnovers than TDs after two games. All signs point toward Dolphins doom on this one.
Keven Lerner, Assistant Sports Editor (Season record: 2-0): Bills 30, Dolphins 17
The Bills are favored by 12 1/2 points for good reason. While Miami appears destined to fall to 0-3, seemingly the only questions surrounding the AFC East matchup are if the Dolphins will cover the huge spread in what could be Mike McDaniel’s final game. Simply put, the Bills have superior talent and the Dolphins are in disarray. Buffalo is 9-0 at home against Miami under Sean McDermott since 2017, and is 13-1 overall in its last 14 games against the Dolphins.
Steve Svekis, Assistant Sports Editor (Season record: 0-2): Bills 34, Dolphins 13
The positive? The Dolphins have averaged 26.8 points per game in Orchard Park under Mike McDaniel, with three three-point losses, two of those on walk-off Bills field goals. The awful? The Bills have averaged 36 points in those games (and 34.7 ppg in the past 12 matchups in Buffalo). Josh Allen, despite his career-long dominance against the Dolphins, had been loose with the ball in Dolphins games in upstate New York, all the way through the 2023 playoff win, with 4 interceptions and eight fumbles in those seven games. However, in the two home games since then, he has one pick and no fumbles, the interception a would-be touchdown pass that Keon Coleman hot potato-ed to Jalen Ramsey last year.
