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The Miami Dolphins play the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday in Week 3 of the 2022 NFL season. Both teams are undefeated after two games, and it will be quite fascinating to see which club remains unbeaten after three weeks of regular season play. We'll talk about our Dolphins Week 3 predictions for their game versus the Bills below.
This game will feature two of the NFL's most intriguing young quarterbacks. In one corner, we have MVP favorite Josh Allen and the high-flying Buffalo attack. In the other corner are third-year breakthrough Tua Tagovailoa and the overhauled Miami offense. This will surely be a must-see game.
While nothing appears to be able to stop Buffalo's domination on both sides of the ball, but Tagovailoa may have something to say about that this week. Last Saturday, the third-year quarterback burst out of his shell in Miami's second-half comeback victory over Baltimore.
He passed for 460+ yards and multiple touchdowns while targeting a porous Ravens secondary with ace wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Tua Time has finally arrived in South Beach for new head coach Mike McDaniel and a Dolphins team that had been teetering on the brink of postseason contention since 2020.
With those in mind, here are our four bold predictions for the Miami Dolphins in their Week 3 game vs. the Bills.
The focus turns to Buffalo.
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— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) September 22, 2022
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4. Dolphins run game struggles yet again
The Miami Dolphins run game has struggled no matter who's RB1.
Even though Chase Edmonds carried the bulk of the duties during the Week 1 win over the New England Patriots, it was a different story in Week 2 for the Dolphins’ wild comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens.
During the 42-38 win, Edmonds carried the ball just five times for 33 yards and secured one of three targets for eight yards. It was six fewer carries than Raheem Mostert’s 11 carries for 51 yards, who also had three receptions for 28 yards.
They have combined for just 125 rushing yards over two weeks, and that's certainly not worth writing home about.
They will struggle again in Week 3 against a Bills defense that has allowed an average of just 66.0 rushing yards per game so far. In a game that looks likely to become a shootout, Miami's lowly run game probably won't make a lick of difference.
3. Cheetah runs wild anew
The Bills' defense successfully hampered King Henry last week, but they'll deal with a completely different animal in Tyreek Hill in Week 3.
Hill was okay in Week 1, putting up 100 total yards against the Patriots, but he exploded in Week 2. Against the Ravens, the Cheetah ran wild as heck. He finished the game with 190 yards on 11 receptions for an average of 17.3 yards per catch. That alone was insane, but he also recorded a long of 60 yards on top of two big touchdowns.
It's crystal clear that Hill's connection with Tua Tagovailoa has been very effective. Can anyone on the Bills' side stop him? Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde are both elite, but even that combo might not be enough to stop Tyreek Hill.
Expect the Cheetah to get over 120+ total yards in this game while he also gets 1 touchdown catch.
2. Tagovailoa throws for 250+ again
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Tua Tagovailoa's stats across the Dolphins' first two games have been absolutely out of this world. He is completing 71 percent of his passes while averaging close to 370 passing yards and 3.5 touchdowns per game. Is he for real?
Well, it's very early, and the sample size is still very small. Having said that, there have been quite a few signs that Tagovailoa may indeed become the star the Dolphins have been missing all these years.
Still, numbers don't lie. Miami is 2-0 and Tagovailoa is coming off a 469-yard, six-touchdown performance in a 42-38 shootout victory over the Ravens. He was consequently named AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
It wasn't just that he put up enormous statistics. He exuded a sense of serenity and control over the game, indicating that this was more than just a hot day against a poor defense. He outplayed former MVP Lamar Jackson and led the Dolphins to one of their biggest comeback victories in franchise history.
Whatever reservations there were about Tagovailoa in the past, there don't appear to be any in the current Dolphins locker room. This is their man, and he's the one they've been watching blossom in the offseason and during practice.
His offensive line will have to keep him safe, though, especially from mean-looking Bills rushers like Gregory Rousseau, Tremaine Edmunds, and of course, Von Miller. If the o-line protects Tagovailoa well enough, he should go for upwards of 250 yards again.
1. Allen-Diggs all-day
As explosive as the Dolphins' offense is, they won't have much on defense to stymie the Josh Allen-Stefon Diggs show.
Keep in mind that the Dolphins had ZERO sacks and ZERO QB hits on Lamar Jackson in Week 2. Josh Allen might actually have a clean jersey after this game unless he rushes and gets tackled on the run.
The Bills' Allen-Diggs combo is just too good for the Dolphins' defense, and the pair will likely connect like crazy again on Sunday.
In fact, if not for a superbly explosive offense, the Dolphins probably would have lost to the Ravens in Week 2. Can the Tagovailoa-Hill duo outpace this Allen-Diggs tandem? It'll be close, but we have the Bills' star pairing still coming out on top.
Yes, the Dolphins have won 7 straight home games. Sure, Tagovailoa is completing 71.1 percent of his passes. Yes, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle have combined for 524 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns. Contrast that with how the Dolphins run game has been bad and how the Dolphins are allowing 372 yards per game, though.
Again, this has the makings of an entertaining shootout. The Dolphins will try their darned best. They may even lead at some point, but the painful truth is the Bills are still just too good for them right now. Buffalo escapes Miami with a 3-0 record after Sunday.
