It does not get any bigger than Sunday night for the Miami Dolphins as they face the Buffalo Bills in a crucial Week 18 matchup where the winner is awarded the AFC East crown. While the two teams have been bitter rivals for years, it really has been lop-sided favoring the Bills when both squads have matched up.
Their most recent meeting was Week 4 of the this season where the Bills beat the Dolphins in Buffalo, 48-23, despite Miami coming into the game 3-0 with wins like against the Denver Broncos where they scored 70 points. Looking at the recent history in terms of specific figures, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is 1-5 against the Bills and head coach Mike McDaniel is 1-4 including the loss in the playoffs last season.
McDaniel spoke to the media after the first loss to the Bills this season back in October which is the second-biggest loss in terms of scoring margin. He said he saw first-hand why Buffalo is considered the team to beat in the AFC East.
“I think the Buffalo Bills proved why they are the team that our whole division is trying to beat,” McDaniel said.
Fast forward to the present time and the Dolphins are looking at their most important game against the Bills. While the records say otherwise, those games do not matter now. McDaniel said leading up to the game, that they are very “fortunate” to be in this contest to win the division according to Daniel Oyefusi of The Miami Herald.
“We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to have one game that if you win, you win the division, which is the way, really, it should be,” McDaniel said. “You should beat all the teams in your division if you want to win it.”
McDaniel wants the Dolphins players to practice like how they'll play
What McDaniel wants to see out of the Dolphins is their mindset in practice and act like how they will perform in the game. Even though practice does not count towards the record, the second-year head coach believes that's how they will best get prepared for the contest.
“If you get yourself as close to that mindset of the game in practice, you’re getting more reps at how to act and react in a game … you’re as good in the game as you’re able to execute your assignments in practice,” McDaniel said. “I think guys have started to understand what that really means, how you can use practice instead of letting practice use you.”
Miami is coming off of its worst loss of the season against the Baltimore Ravens, 56-19, as the two teams fought for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. However, McDaniel sees the growth that the Dolphins have done throughout the season.
“It felt like at that point in the season, maybe the players were running the system that we have in each phase. Now it feels like they’re owning the system, and there’s an incredible power to that,” McDaniel said.
Dolphins' Robert Hunt eager to beat Bills
There must be a sickness going around as the Miami Heat are not the only team in the city that are plagued with injuries. The Dolphins also have their own problems as for the regular season finale, they will be without key defensive back Xavien Howard and of course their best pass rusher in Bradley Chubb who tore his ACL against the Ravens.
However, the offensive line will get a boost as Robert Hunt will play for the first time after missing a month because of a hamstring issue. While anybody wants a win, Hunt especially wants a victory against the Bills since those have been hard to come by.
“I’ve been here four years and I’ve only beat them once,” Hunt said. “So to beat these guys, it would be a good day. I’ll have a great night if we win.”
Dolphins' Deshon Elliott wants team to have bad taste out of their mouth
A notable player in the secondary in DeShon Elliott also spoke about wanting to beat the Bills, but he looks at it in a more “big picture” kind of way. He talks about getting the No. 2 seed and a home playoff game if the Dolphins beat Buffalo.
“Of course you want to win the division and also you want to play as many games as you can in the playoffs at home so it means a lot,” Elliott said. “Being able to [get the No. 2 seed] would be big for us. Just getting that bad taste out of our mouth, it would be great for us to finish the season with a win going into the playoffs.”
At the end of the day, the Dolphins control their own destiny, especially since the game is in Hard Rock Stadium where the team is 7-1 on the season. What doesn't help is that Bills star quarterback Josh Allen is 10-2 in his career against Miami. Dolphins fans will surely be at the edge of their seats watching this game.
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