The Bills and the Dolphins each have a win under their belts as they head into Week 2. Both teams were down by 14 points in the first half but found a way to get the victory in Week 1.
Buffalo will practice on Tuesday before flying to Miami on Wednesday ahead of Thursday night's game against the Dolphins on Prime Video.
Here are five storylines to follow for Week 2.
1. Josh Allen's numbers against Miami
Bills quarterback Josh Allen has fared well against Miami during his seven-year career in the NFL. Allen has faced the Dolphins 12 times in the regular season since coming to the league in 2018. In those 12 games, Allen has 10 wins and two losses.
When the QB faces the Dolphins, Allen averages 280 passing yards per game, eight yards per pass attempt, more than three total touchdowns per game and has a 110.1 passer rating. His team has also averaged 32.9 points per game against Miami during that span.
Allen has totaled 3,363 passing yards, 38 total touchdowns and 33 passing touchdowns against Miami in 12 games since 2018.
While Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel knows the recent history between these two teams, McDaniel also thinks it's important to note that Thursday's game will feature new players on both teams.
"I think for this team, we know the stakes of it," McDaniel said of the history between the two. "But, at the same time I don't think anybody is thinking about the Buffalo Bills as anything but the team that's won the division for however many years in a row that has had very successful seasons the last handful of previous ones. And know that collectively, they will play hard, determined, physical football. Beyond that, I think these are two new teams playing against each other."
2. A very familiar face in Miami
The Bills will face a very familiar face in Miami on Thursday night. Former Bills safety Jordan Poyer joined the Dolphins in March. The All-Pro spent seven years playing for Buffalo from 2018-23.
The safety said he's excited to see his former team on Thursday night.
"I still have a lot of good relationships over there," Poyer said. "I'm thankful for all of my years out there in Buffalo. But I'm excited to play, for sure. I've definitely been connecting with the guys on this team."
Poyer started in 107 games for Buffalo and registered 22 interceptions, 35 tackles for loss, 48 passes defensed, 11 sacks and nine forced fumbles. After playing with Bills quarterback Josh Allen for seven seasons, Poyer is looking forward to finally playing against him.
"Yesterday he went pretty crazy doing what he's always been doing, running around, throwing the ball, hurdling over people," Poyer said of Allen's four-TD performance against Arizona. "(He's) a great player. I've seen him do some crazy things over the years, so I'm really excited for my first opportunity to finally play against him."
The former Bill said what attracted him to Miami was seeing how they've grown in the last several seasons.
"One of the reasons I came here was because I've seen this team over the last seven years grow and become who they are," Poyer said. "I wanted to be a help in becoming a part of that steppingstone of winning the AFC East and going on a run in the playoffs."
Poyer recorded six tackles in Miami's first game of the season against the Jaguars.
3. Preparing for a fast team on a short week
It's not easy flipping the script going from a game on Sunday to playing again on Thursday. What makes that even more of a challenge is doing so in Week 2 of the season when you're trying to establish who you are as a team. The Bills and the Dolphins will each be tasked with doing so this week.
"As soon as that game was over, you kind of flip your hat and get going on the Dolphins," Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady said of the quick turnaround. "It's gonna be a great opportunity going down there…but I think our guys came in today with the right mindset understanding that what happened yesterday has no bearing this week, and they're gonna have to be ready to go."
The Dolphins beat the Jaguars 20-17 on Sunday thanks to a game-winning 52-yard field goal by kicker Jason Sanders as time expired. Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for 338 passing yards, which was the most of any QB in Week 1. Tagovailoa also completed five passes of at least 20 yards (1st), including an 80-yard touchdown throw and catch wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
Miami is known for its speed, and Bills head coach Sean McDermott said they'll have to be ready for it.
"They got probably the best team speed in the league in all three phases, quite frankly," McDermott shared. "So, it'll be a big challenge for us going down there. They're a really good team, a lot of talent, well-coached, good special teams as well."
The Dolphins also averaged 9.1 yards per pass attempt and totaled 400 yards of offense against the Jaguars. Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich calls Thursday's game a challenge.
"Everything about them is a challenge," Babich said. "Mike (McDaniel) does a great job, and we've seen them quite a few times. So, every time we prepare for him, we know what it's going to be. We know the challenge it's going to be, and we just have to make sure we're executing our plan going in."
4. The importance of Cam Lewis moving forward
Sean McDermott told reporters on Monday that nickel cornerback Taron Johnson will not play on Thursday after injuring his forearm during Sunday's game against the Cardinals.
"With Taron, I don't know his timeline on when he'll be back," McDermott said. "So, we're still doing some further research on that."
Without Johnson a part of Thursday's lineup, defensive back Cam Lewis will play an important role again this week. Lewis stepped in for Johnson once he came off the field during the first drive. The sixth-year player was effective in stopping the pass and the run.
"I thought Cam really did a great job," McDermott said.
Lewis finished with nine total tackles against the Cardinals. The DB knows how to play corner, safety and nickel cornerback and takes pride in being the player that can fill in in multiple spots.
"Very valuable," Babich said of Lewis' versatility. "The fact that we can roll him in and feel like we don't skip a beat is extremely valuable to us. Cam's put a lot of time and effort into this thing, and hopefully he showed and can continue to show what type of player he is in a consistent way."
Lewis' teammates say he's one of few on the roster that can rotate between multiple positions and make plays at each spot.
"Cam does it all for us," cornerback Rasul Douglas said. "He's our Swiss army knife, that's what we call him because he does everything. We needed him before Taron's injury and now we need him a little bit more."
"He does everything he's supposed to do, and he deserves what he's getting now," defensive end Kameron Cline said. "He's a guy that's worked from the bottom up to the top. He definitely stepped up and filled that position well."
The University at Buffalo product will face a team in the Dolphins that can find success on the ground and in the air. They're also a team that can win with two running backs on the field, so Lewis will be tasked with stopping the pass and the run again on Thursday night.
5. Cleaning things up on special teams
Sunday marked Buffalo's first time experiencing the new dynamic kickoff in a regular season game. On Buffalo's first kick return, Brandon Codrington fielded the kickoff and weaved his way around defenders for a 53-yard return. The sideline erupted in cheers as they celebrated Codrington's first return as a Bill.
"I think some people don't realize how hard it is to catch a punt or a kickoff with the wind blowing the way it was blowing on Sunday," McDermott said. "He put in the work leading up to the game and it showed. I mean to have that type of play in your first snap in the NFL was pretty impressive."
While the Bills have things to celebrate on special teams, they also have things they want to improve upon. After Buffalo took a 31-20 lead with 8:44 to go in the fourth quarter, the Bills allowed a 96-yard kick return touchdown to DeeJay Dallas. Sean McDermott said it's one area they need to clean up ahead of Thursday's game against the Dolphins.
"I thought that there was too much return yardage to begin with before the returner was met with any type of confrontation," McDermott said. "And then we had three or four guys right there to make the play, and we didn't make the play. We got to do a better job. I got to do a better job putting them in position…it's an area that we have to make sure that we shore up between now and the game here coming Thursday."
"It could have been better," special teamer Kameron Cline said. "We're getting a feel for this new dynamic kickoff. We're going to adjust. We have to."
Buffalo also had one of its kicks go out of bounds, so it was placed at Arizona's 40-yard-line with less than two minutes to play in the game. McDermott said after just one week of play, it's already easy to see how important the new dynamic kickoff will be.
"We're seeing in Week 1 that, this is real and in a pivotal moment of the game," McDermott shared. "That game changed fast. So, we can't let that happen, No. 1. And we've got to have more urgency there."
