When it comes to having success against one team, Buffalo Bills (8-7) starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor seems to save his best for Sunday’s opponent: the Miami Dolphins (6-9).
Taylor earned the Bills starting job in 2015 and has squared off against the Dolphins five times. While the Bills have defeated the Dolphins in three of those five meetings, one constant in every matchup has been the stellar play of Taylor.
In five career games against the Dolphins as Buffalo’s starter, Taylor has passed for 1,232 passing yards (246.4 yards per game), tossing nine touchdowns against zero interceptions.
Taylor has completed approximately 65 percent of his passes against the Fish, and has displayed his versatility as a running threat, too, logging 193 yards rushing with two touchdowns.
That’s 11 touchdowns with zero turnovers against Buffalo’s AFC East rival, as Taylor has accounted for an average of 285 yards of total offense per game.
In the last three meetings, Taylor’s dual-threat abilities have tormented Miami Dolphins head coach Adam Gase, who has yet to figure out a way to slow Taylor down.
"I think he's done a great job of, one, protecting the football," Gase said. "And I think he's done a great job where a lot of guys when they play our defensive front they do panic and those guys get to them. Where he's done a good job of staying in the pocket and when he does see a lane or he can get outside the pocket, he does it and he really hurts us when he does. Whether he runs it or they scramble drill us and we don't stay tight on the receiver and he gets us for a big play. I think his patience has just been really good against us, and he's not affected as much as some of the other guys that we've played with our pass rush. He just does a good job of kind of taking each play as it comes. If something bad is going on he finds a way to get out of it."
Taylor will lead the Bills against the Dolphins at 4:25 p.m. Eastern Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
In the most recent matchup between Buffalo and Miami, a 24-16 Bills win in Week 15 at New Era Field, Taylor completed 17 of his 29 passes for 224 yards and a 16-yard TD pass to LeSean McCoy. Taylor also rushed for 42 yards with a nine-yard TD scamper to help the Bills improve to 8-6.
During the 2016 season, Taylor went 23-of-39 with a career-high 329 yards passing and three touchdowns during a 34-31 overtime loss that eliminated the Bills from playoff contention. Thanks to Taylor’s career game, the Bills overcame a 14-point deficit on three different occasions, including when Taylor converted a fourth-and-7 and found former Dolphin Charles Clay for a go-ahead touchdown. Taylor became the first Buffalo quarterback to eclipse 300 passing yards in a game since Kyle Orton during the 2014 season.
In his other starts vs. Miami, Taylor completed 14 of 28 passes for 221 yards with one TD and added 35 rushing yards with a TD in a 28-25 loss Oct. 23, 2016; went 11-for-12 with 181 passing yards and a TD during a 33-17 home win Nov., 8, 2015; and was 21 of 29 for 277 passing yards with three TDs during a 41-14 road win Sept. 27, 2015.
If the Bills are to take care of their business Sunday and complete the season sweep of the Dolphins, Taylor will need to continue his recent success against the Dolphins.