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DOLPHINS VS. BILLS
GAME FACTS
Date: Sunday, Oct. 4
Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
Site: Land Shark Stadium, Miami, Fla.
TV: CBS
THE SERIES
SERIES RECORD: Miami leads 52-37-1 (including playoffs)
AT MIAMI: Dolphins lead 29-15-1
AT BUFFALO: Teams tied 22-22
AT TORONTO: Dolphins lead 1-0
LAST MEETING: 2008 at Toronto; Dolphins 16, Bills 3
SERIES HIGHLIGHT: Since this game is going to be played on Oct. 4, we'll go back to a game played on that date back in 1992. That game was in Buffalo, and it matched the 4-0 Bills against the 3-0 Dolphins. But the showdown never materialized, as the Dolphins left Buffalo with a resounding 37-10 victory that was highlighted by safety Louis Oliver's 103-yard interception return for a touchdown. It was one of Oliver's three picks on the day.
SERIES LOWLIGHT: Ten years after Oliver burned the Bills with three interceptions, Buffalo cornerback Nate Clements returned the favor. On Oct. 20, 2002, he had three picks against Ray Lucas, who was subbing for injured starter Jay Fielder, and returned one of them for a touchdown to lead the Bills to a 23-10 victory.
SCOUTING REPORT
BUFFALO RECORD: 1-2
LAST GAME: Lost to New Orleans, 27-7
THE BUFFALO OFFENSE: There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to the Bills offense, but somehow it always comes back to Terrell Owens. That’s the way it’s always been in his career, and seemingly that’s the way it always will be. Take last Sunday’s game, for example. The Bills failed to get a first down on any of their last five possessions against a mediocre New Orleans defense and that enabled the Saints to pull away and turn a 10-7 game into a 27-7 victory. But afterward most of the attention was centered on the fact that Terrell Owens had failed to catch a pass for the first time since his rookie season in 1996, snapping his streak of 185 games with at least one reception. What should be more troublesome for Buffalo was the performance of quarterback Trent Edwards, who continues to show the lack of consistency needed at the position. For example, he had a great start to the 2008 season, but was shut down by the Dolphins in late October and was never the same the rest of the way. The Bills will be helped on Sunday by the return of running back Marshawn Lynch from his three-game NFL suspension, but it remains to be seen how much of a difference he can make. Buffalo’s offensive line includes two rookie starters at guard — Eric Wood and Andy Levitre — and right tackle Brad Butler already has been lost for the year because of a knee injury.
THE BUFFALO DEFENSE: The Bills haven’t exactly shut down their opponents so far this season, giving up 25, 20 and 27 points in their first three games. Buffalo was the first team to contain Drew Brees and the high-powered Saints passing game, but it couldn’t stop New Orleans running back Pierre Thomas on the ground. Against New England and Tampa Bay, the Bills did a good job against the run but gave up some yardage through the air, although most of the Bucs’ passing yards came when they were way behind and throwing on almost every down. The Bills don’t have one player on defense that opponents need to game-plan around, but the closest to that would be defensive end Aaron Schobel. He has two sacks so far this season and against the Patriots in Week 1 he returned an interception for a touchdown. Another key member of the Bills defense is tackle Marcus Stroud, the former Pro Bowler with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The secondary has injury concerns, with cornerback Leodis McKelvin out several weeks with a broken fibula and safety Donte Whitner having undergone thumb surgery on Monday.
THE BUFFALO SPECIAL TEAMS: The Bills special teams haven’t gotten off to a very good start, and the biggest example was the McKelvin fumble on a late kickoff return that set up New England’s game-winning touchdown in the opener. Overall, the Bills have gotten very little from their return game, which is very unusual because Buffalo is among the best in that department year in and year out. There have been positives so far, starting with the fake field goal against New Orleans that resulted in a touchdown pass from holder Brian Moorman to defensive end Ryan Denney, the brother of Dolphins long snapper John Denney. Kicker Rian Lindell has hit his first five field goals. The bottom line here is the Dolphins shouldn’t get comfortable against the Bills returners — even considering they’ve done a great job in kick coverage the last two weeks — because it’s a matter of time before the Bills start making some noise in that department..
LOOKING AHEAD
OCT. 12 — N.Y. JETS AT MIAMI
The Dolphins face the AFC East rival Jets in their second Monday night appearance of the season. The Jets have been one of the biggest stories in the league so far this season after their 3-0 start with rookie Mark Sanchez at quarterback. But defense is the reason the Jets are off to their great start. New head coach Rex Ryan has brought his aggressive 3-4 system to New York, and the results have been tremendous — the highlight was holding Tom Brady and the New England offense to nine points. Making matters more difficult for the Miami offense that night will be the return of Jets starting linebacker Calvin Pace from his four-game NFL suspension.
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