Three Headlines: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins

The Buffalo Bills travel down to South Beach to take on their division rival Miami Dolphins. The ‘Phins are coming off back-to-back wins while the Bills suffered a disappointing loss to the then 2-6 Cleveland Browns.

Scoring problems

The Bills currently sit at 25th in the league in team offense DVOA. They’ve only scored head coach Sean McDermott’s magical 21 points four times this season and it was against teams that are 24th, 27th, 31st, and 32nd in team defense DVOA. Fans are frustrated and so is McDermott. At his Wednesday press conference he said “move the ball and score points. If we don’t do that, I’m frustrated. Simply put.”

Defense looks to rebound

The last time the Bills played the Dolphins the defense showed their first sign of weakness. They allowed Miami to score 21 points against them—the most they had scored up to that point this season. The Dolphins game was the beginning of a weak stretch for a unit that strives to be elite. Last week they were elite in moments (eight straight goal line plays stopped) and average-at-best in other moments (allowing an 82-yard game-winning drive). The Dolphins and their 31st-ranked offense offer a prime opportunity to get right.

Kicking woes

Stephen Hauschka missed two big kicks last weekend. One at the end of the first half that would’ve meant the game was tied at the end and one at the end of the game that would’ve tied it (or won it if he didn’t miss the previous kick). Hauschka currently sits at 61.5% on the season, which is good for fourth-worst in the NFL. The three kickers behind him were either cut by their teams or are coming back from an injury. His extra-point accuracy is middle of the pack thankfully, but he is still one of the worst active kickers in the league. To add insult to injury, he carries the largest cap hit in the league this year. It’s definitely not what Brandon Beane was hoping for when he signed Hauschka to a two-year extension in August.