Pollock: McDermott is 13-2 against the Dolphins, why is Miami a favorite to beat the Buffalo Bills?

A column by CHUCK POLLOCK, Sun Senior Columnist

The numbers are a bit cryptic.

Miami needed a last-play 52-yard field goal to beat the Jaguars, 20-17, in a surprisingly low-scoring home opener last Sunday.

The Bills trailed by two touchdowns in the first half at Highmark Stadium before rallying to edge Arizona, 34-28, but not before their special teams tried to give it back to the Cardinals in the final nine minutes. First they surrendered a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that made it a 3-point game.

Then, after Tyler Bass’ field goal gave Buffalo a 6-point lead, he booted the ensuing kickoff out-of-bounds, setting Arizona up 60 yards from the winning TD with just under two minutes remaining and all three timeouts left.

The Bills fortuitously held on due to some curious Cardinals play-calling.

Tonight, after two shaky wins, Buffalo and the Dolphins meet at Hard Rock Stadium (8:15 WKBW-TV, Prime, Bills Radio Network).

Temperature and humidity will be in the low 80s with a 30% chance of rain.

BUT HERE’S what’s interesting.

In Sean McDermott’s first seven years as Buffalo coach, he’s 13-2 (including a playoff game) against the Dolphins.

And, in his initial six campaigns as Bills quarterback, Josh Allen is 11-2 versus Miami with some ungodly numbers. In those 13 games he’s thrown 36 touchdown passes, tossed multiple TDs in each of them, and won five Offensive Player-of-the-Week citations, the same number of rushing scores he’s accumulated against the Dolphins.

So, why, you wonder, is Miami a 2½-point favorite tonight?

Short answer, this is a different Buffalo team with nine new starters from last season’s opener and, other than Kahlil Shakir, who caught a TD pass against Arizona, the wide receiving corps — four players — is totally new.

The other factor is the Dolphins’ offense might just be the most potent in the NFL.

It starts with wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle, both of whom have run the 40-yard dash in 4.29 seconds, and rank as the fastest wide receiving duo in league history.

Worse, for opponents, Miami’s two main running backs, Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane have run the 40 in the 4.3s.

However, both Mostert (chest) and Achane (ankle) — who combined for 32 touchdowns in 2023 — are nursing injuries and their availability is uncertain tonight.

That should be a bit of a relief for McDermott who admitted, “Those two receivers are great players … they’re unique in their skill-set, extremely talented receivers, future Hall-of-Famers, they’re tough to go against.

“We have a ton of respect for them … they’re well-coached and very talented at the receiver position and it goes beyond the two receivers … they’ve got tremendous speed, unlike any I’ve ever seen … not just this year but in years past.”

He added, “They’re talented and fast … if you don’t get near ‘em they’re gone and even when you get near ‘em they pull away. Mike McDonald does a phenomenal job not just as a head coach but also as a play-caller and designer of plays.”

THE REAL problem is, Buffalo’s secondary is in a state of flux.

Starting corners Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford are fine but nickelback Taron Johnson, one of the NFL’s best, is out for an uncertain period with a forearm injury. His place will be taken by former UB star, Cam Lewis.

Safety, with the talented tandem of Jordan Poyer (now a Dolphin) and Micah Hyde (retired?) gone, has been a group competition with Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp starting last week with veteran Mike Edwards and rookie second-round draft choice Cole Bishop in reserve along with Lewis.

But with Lewis moved to “nickel,” and Hamlin and Rapp not exactly erasing the memory of Poyer-Hyde, Edwards and the now-healthy Bishop (shoulder) might be called upon more, particularly against Miami’s elite receiving tandem.

MEANWHILE, with Poyer now starting for the Dolphins, McDermott wrestles with mixed feelings.

“We’ll face Jordan and I know he’s excited about that … what a job he did for us, both on the field and off with his play and his leadership,” McDermott said. “I can’t say enough good things about Jordan, I love him. I know we’re playing each other this week, but I just want the best for him and his family. We certainly miss him and his family but we also pull for him too.”

Of the game, he added, “It’ll be a high-level meeting and we’re looking forward to it, They’re very familiar with us — (laughs) Jordan knows what we do, he’s got the playbook — .and we think we have some familiarity with them. It’s just two good teams going against each other … we look forward to it and I’m sure they do as well.”

Final score: Dolphins 27, Bills 20

(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)

GOOD NEWS OLEAN! Chuck Pollock is back and will now appear on the Olean Star as well as the Sun! To read about Chuck’s career change after 50 years:

• Pollock on why he ended the absence of writing

Also:

• The Sun is brighter with the return of Chuck Pollock

Read past columns on the Bills, Bonnies, local and national sports by Chuck:

• The Buffalo Bills may have won, but special teams continues to be an issue

• The Buffalo Bills win, a breakdown of the performances, quotes and interesting stats

• Making the grade: Chuck Pollock grades the Buffalo Bills position-by-position

• The Bills will have a new look with six captains who started off the roster

• Bills took some risks with the roster cuts

• Preseason has not panned out the way McDermott planned

• Suddenly, major injury issues for the Bills

• It was a win over the Steelers but a loss in other departments