MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - Nothing like an early season AFC East showdown to get the blood pumping, especially when it’s the Buffalo Bills coming south to play the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium , otherwise known as Highmark Stadium South.
The annual trip to South Florida is always one of the highlights for Bills fans who book vacations or quick getaways around the game, though this one is a bit unusual because rather than a weekend game, it’s Thursday night.
It may only be Week 2, but this game obviously carries enormous importance because the Bills and Dolphins, along with the Jets, are all expected to be in contention to win the division, so winning AFC East games is a must.
And in this one, the winner will be 2-0 on the season and at the very least be tied for first place by the end of the weekend, depending on what the Patriots do Sunday in their home opener against Seattle.
Stay right here for updates throughout the afternoon and evening:
Dolphins rookie running back Jaylen Wright received his first carries, going for 4 yards. His 9-yard run was called back due to a holding penalty on offensive tackle Terron Armstead. Tight end Jonnu Smith took a short pass 14 yards to set up third-and-3 but Tua Tagovailoa's pass to Tyreek Hill was incomplete. Jake Bailey punted 48 yards to the Bills' 15-yard line.
Tua Tagovailoa threw his second pick of the first quarter, this one to Christian Benford, and the Bills turned that into a Tyler Bass field goal for a 10-7 lead.
The Bills began the possession at the Miami 44, but unlike their first series after a Tua pick, this one didn’t get far as Allen threw a pair of incompletions to end it at the Miami 25. He did complete a third-down pass to Khalil Shakir for a first down which helped shorten the Bass field goal.
Tua Tagovailoa has thrown two interceptions in the first quarter. Tagovailoa and wide receiver Robbie Chosen weren't on the same page and Tagovailoa's pass was overthrown. Christian Benford picked it off at midfield and returned it 6 yards to the Dolphins' 44-yard line.
Buffalo went three-and-out on its second possession. Josh Allen dropped a shotgun snap on third-and-1 and defensive tackle Calais Campbell batted down Allen's pass. Sam Martin punted 45 yards to the Dolphins' 16.
Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard has headed into the locker room with an injury. Sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung said on the Amazon Prime broadcast that Bernard went into the blue medical tent and shortly after headed to the locker room grabbing his left shoulder.
Bernard is officially questionable to return with a pectoral muscle injury.
No trouble there for the Dolphins. They spotted the Bills a quick touchdown thanks to a turnover, but on their second possession, they marched right down the field with hardly any resistance.
The 70-yard drive was flawless, even despite a pair of false start penalties as Tua Tagovailoa threw a five-yard TD pass to De’Von Achane who was wide open in the right flat to tie the score at 7-7.
The only third down the Dolphins faced was a third-and-4 and Tagovailoa hit Jaylen Waddle over the middle for 17 yards to the 1.
The Bills defense made a huge play to start the game as Ja’Marcus Ingram picked off a third-down pass intended for Grant Dubose that caromed off his shoulders so the Bills started their first possession at the Miami 37.
Six plays later, Sean McDermott decided to go for a fourth-and-3 at the 17, and Josh Allen made an outstanding play as he read a blitz off the left edge and simply flipped a pass into the vacated area to James Cook who scooted into the end zone for a touchdown.
Miami received the ball first and then gave it back. Fullback Alec Ingold ran for 3 yards and a first down on third-and-1 but Tua Tagovailoa threw an interception three plays later on third-and-13. Tagovailoa's pass was intended for Grant DuBose, who didn't appear to get his head around for the ball. It was tipped by Christian Benford and intercepted by Ja'Marcus Ingram, who returned the pick 25 yards to the Dolphins' 37-yard line.
Once again, offensive lineman Ryan Van Demark is inactive and like last week, it’s a bit of a surprise after he spent all of 2023 active on game day as the swing tackle. It appears he has yielded that position to rookie Tylan Grabler.
The other inactives are no surprise: Edge rushers Dawuane Smoot and Javon Solomon who are both injured, cornerback Taron Johnson (also injured), plus rookie linebackers Joe Andreessen and Edefuan Ulofoshio.
For the Dolphins, the big name is running back Raheem Mostert who was already ruled out of the game Wednesday with a chest injury. Running back De’Von Achane, battling an ankle injury , is active.
The weather in Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding area has been volatile the last 24 hours or so with heavy rain at times, on top of hot and extremely humid temperatures.
It poured at the stadium at around 4 p.m. and the streets around Hard Rock Stadium featured massive puddles, but that passed through and the radar looks pretty clear for the rest of the night, though you never know down here because rain can arrive quickly.
As for the temperature, it’s gross, plain and simple. It’s 84 degrees but because of the high humidity, the feels-like temperature is clocking in at 95 degrees.
There is a report from Matt Bove of channel 7 in Buffalo that a source indicates nickel cornerback Taron Johnson will not be placed on injured reserve due to his forearm injury.
Johnson was hurt on the seventh play of the season opener against Arizona, and is not playing in Miami. With the Bills getting a mini bye after this game because they don’t play against until Monday, Sept. 23 when they host Jacksonville, the Bills apparently believe he could return in time for that game, or perhaps the week after against Baltimore.
If Johnson had been placed on IR, he would have had to sit out a minimum four games, meaning he would not have been eligible to return until the Oct. 14 game against the Jets on Monday Night Football in New York.
The Bills used only one of the two practice squad elevations available to them, and they used it on edge rusher Kingsley Jonathan.
With veteran Dawuane Smoot already ruled out , and rookie Javon Solomon doubtful for the game, the Bills have only three edge rushers on the 53-man roster in Greg Rousseau, AJ Epenesa and Von Miller.
Last week, edge rusher Kameron Cline was brought up against the Cardinals, but Cline did not play a single snap on defense; all 17 of his snaps came on special teams as the Bills used Rousseau, Epenesa and Miller exclusively. That led to a career-high 79% of the snaps which certainly paid off as he had three sacks.
However, in the heat at Hard Rock Stadium, the Bills need to get a fourth edge rusher into the mix and Jonathan has more experience than Cline and will likely get snaps on defense.
- Date : Thursday, Sept. 12
- Time : 8:15 p.m.
- Place : Hard Rock Stadium
- Betting line: Bills +2.5
- Over-under: 48.5
- Money line: Bills plus-117 (bet $100 to win $117) and Dolphins minus-137 (bet $137 to win $100).
- Play-by-play: Al Michaels
- Analyst : Kirk Herbstreit
- Sideline reporter : Kaylee Hartung
∎ TV streaming: This is an Amazon Prime only broadcast , with the exception of the local Buffalo market (which does not include Rochester). In Buffalo, the game can be seen on the ABC affiliate, WKBW, channel 7.
∎ Online streaming services: You can also watch on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and if you have a subscription to NFL+, the league’s own streaming service, but in that case you can’t cast the games to your TV so you must watch on your phone or tablet.
You can listen on SiriusXM satellite radio on SiriusXM channel 225 (Bills feed) and channel 226 (Dolphins feed), and on traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations all across the state. Chris Brown has the play-by-play, Eric Wood is the analyst, and Sal Capaccio is the sideline reporter. The network includes:
- Rochester (WCMF 96.5 and WROC 950 AM)
- Buffalo (WGR550, 550 AM)
- Syracuse (WTKW 99.5/WTKV 105.5)
- Binghamton (WDRE 100.5FM)
- Ithaca (WIII 99.9/100.3 FM)
- Bath (WVIN 98.3 FM)
- Newark (WACK 1420 AM)
- Dansville (WDNY 93.9 FM)
- Elmira (WNGZ 1490 AM)
- Auburn (WAUB 98.1 FM/1590 AM)
- Geneva (WGVA 95.9 FM, 1240 AM)
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills vs. Dolphins score, live updates: Tyler Bass field goal gives Buffalo lead
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