The Miami Dolphins entered the 2025 NFL season expecting to compete with the Buffalo Bills for an AFC East title. Instead, due to a combination of injuries, poor play, and internal conflict, the Dolphins find
themselves among the worst teams in the AFC. Sitting at 2-7, Miami was a seller at the trade deadline just days after firing longtime general manager Chris Grier. South Beach may be sunny, but with the Dolphins, things look bleak.
Should Buffalo expect a cakewalk on their way to a victory this weekend? Absolutely not. Divisional games are always tough, and regardless of how poorly Miami has played this season, there’s still plenty of familiarity with Buffalo, and plenty of pride among the professionals on the Dolphins’ sideline. Buffalo has a definite edge in terms of talent, but that means nothing if the Bills lose their mental edge coming into the game this week.
If the Bills want to improve to 7-2 and 3-1 in the AFC East, they’ll need to stay focused and hem in some of Miami’s better players. Here’s our list of five players to watch this weekend.
____________________________________________________________________________
RB De’Von Achane
With wide receiver Tyreek Hill out for the year thanks to a gruesome lower leg injury, Achane has expanded his already tremendous role within Miami’s offense. He not only leads the ‘Phins in rushing, carrying 121 times for 606 yards and three scores, but he also leads Miami in targets (60), receptions (43), and receiving touchdowns (4, tied with wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and tight end Darren Waller). Achane is the kind of multi-purpose threat who can break a big play from anywhere on the field.
Buffalo struggled mightily in the early going against the run, but they’ve really evened out of late. The Carolina Panthers came in hot on the ground two weeks ago, but Buffalo held Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard to 20 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown. Much of that production came in garbage time when the game was already well in hand. Part of the reason Buffalo was so successful in stopping the run was that the Bills scored a ton of points, which flipped the game script and forced the Panthers to be one-dimensional.
If the Bills can contain Achane early and score some points of their own, head coach Mike McDaniel has shown time and again that he will ignore the run game — even when it’s working. Keeping Achane under wraps will be a huge part of the game plan.
WR Jaylen Waddle
Waddle was pretty quiet in the first meeting between these two teams, catching five passes for 39 yards and a touchdown in Miami’s 31-21 loss at Buffalo. However, I’d expect him to be a much more frequent target this week for a few reasons. First, Hill is out. Second, it looks like cornerback Christian Benford could be out, as well, thanks to a groin injury. Third, I assume that the Dolphins are going to need to put the ball in the air in order to try to keep pace with Buffalo’s offense.
After Maxwell Hairston played so well last week, it wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up across from Waddle early and often on Sunday. It will be another big test for the rookie, as Waddle is the most dangerous threat Miami has outside for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
RT Larry Borom
Buffalo’s pass rush has been very good this season, and the last two weeks, it was outstanding. However, the injury bug has hit Buffalo’s edge rushers hard, as Michael Hoecht tore his Achilles tendon, A.J. Epenesa is in concussion protocol, and Joey Bosa has a wrist injury. Bosa is the only one of those three who practiced on Thursday, and it’s looking like he may be the only one of those three who suits up this weekend, as Hoecht has already been placed on Injured Reserve and Epenesa logged two straight DNPs to begin the week.
That means that it will be a limited pass rush attacking Miami’s iffy offensive line. Borom has been a weak link all year, so the Bills need to attack him with stunts, picks, blitzes, and anything else that can help to pressure Tagovailoa this weekend.
DT Zach Sieler
Despite Miami’s terrible season, there is plenty of talent on this roster, and there are plenty of players I’d have liked to see the Bills acquire at the NFL trade deadline. While much was made of trying to acquire an edge rusher or a wideout, my eyes were on Sieler, who is a stout, high-energy defensive tackle who has made quite a career for himself after originally entering the league as a seventh-round draft choice of the Baltimore Ravens in 2018.
Sieler had 20 sacks, 24 tackles for loss, and 41 quarterback hits over the last two seasons, but this year, he has struggled a bit. He has zero sacks, three quarterback hits, and four tackles for loss across his nine games. Numbers be damned, he’s still a dangerous force in the middle, so the Bills will need to make sure they account for him this week. They handled Mike Pennel and Chris Jones well last week, so they’ll need to maintain the same focus on Sunday.
OLB Bradley Chubb
Chubb is a darn good player, and he’s recovered nicely after missing last season thanks to a torn ACL. He has four sacks, five tackles for loss, and seven quarterback hits this season, all respectable numbers. However, running mate Jaelan Phillips was dealt to the Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday, meaning that teams can focus more on Chubb now that Miami’s other stud pass rusher is gone. Sure, they still have Matt Judon—another player I think would have made sense for Buffalo—but it’s Chubb who needs to be contained.
Buffalo’s offensive tackles do a lot of work on their own in the pass game, but watch for Jackson Hawes to try to establish dominance in the run game, as well.
