Everything was set up for the Bills and Dolphins to put on a show. Each team had their respective struggles on defense, along with a pair of explosive offenses to duke it out to gain the early AFC East lead.
But only one team showed up for that show, with the Bills collecting a 31-10 victory to get to 2-0 on the season. The Bills dominated the turnover battle, marched the ball down the field in a succinct manner and put the game seemingly out of reach before the fourth quarter even began.
What stood out from the victory? Here are several observations from the Bills’ second victory in just five days.
Joe Brady switches it up in a big way in Week 2
The first game of the season is always an interesting one to track to see what an offense wants to open up with, particularly one with as many options as the Bills have. That Week 1 game plan heavily relied on 12 personnel, utilizing Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox on the field simultaneously at a high rate. Specifically, in the second half against the Cardinals, the Bills were in 12 personnel for over 40 percent of their snaps. However, it is just as important to see how sticky that Week 1 usage is and how the team may pivot in the following game.
In Week 2 against the Dolphins, offensive coordinator Joe Brady ripped 12 personnel out of the game plan for almost the entire first half — a complete tendency breaker from how the Bills operated only five days before. Every one of the Bills’ first 24 offensive snaps, penalty plays included, kept the offense out of 12 personnel. The Bills first used Kincaid and Knox on the same play when they kneeled the ball to get to halftime, but that was the extent of it early on. Perhaps it caught the Dolphins slightly off guard because it wasn’t what they were expecting, or maybe it just made the Dolphins prepare for something that ultimately wasn’t a big part of the Bills’ offensive game plan until they were well ahead. Either way, the lesson to learn is that the Bills’ core philosophy is not rooted in 12 personnel. Instead, they use it as a matchup-specific tool — just as they did under Brady when he took over in 2023, only using it on 14.8 percent of offensive plays when Kincaid and Knox were healthy. Either way, the versatility to begin the season is impressive.
The offensive line has been a big positive through the first two weeks
Over their first two games, the Bills have averaged 32.5 points, which indicates that they’re clearly doing something right. Of course, Allen has played a significant role — more specifically in Week 1 than against the Dolphins. But the way the Bills’ offensive line has begun the 2024 season is impressive, to the point that it’s one of their most significant strengths through two weeks. One of their primary issues in the Week 1 game against the Cardinals was a handful of pre-snap penalties. But they have been tremendous in the actual act of blocking, whether in the run game or protecting Allen.
Left tackle Dion Dawkins and right tackle Spencer Brown each picked up right where they left off in 2023 with an impressive start and left guard David Edwards has fit in nicely, too. Then, on Thursday, they once again dominated the line of scrimmage, but this time, they almost wholly took the pre-snap penalties out of the mix. They were only whistled once for a false start against the Dolphins. Second-year right guard O’Cyrus Torrence, who had a handful of penalties against the Cardinals, went without a violation. The Bills also kept Allen clean all game against the Dolphins, preventing him from potentially re-injuring his left hand. After all their investments in the offensive line, the Bills have a rock-solid starting five through the first two games.
Curtis Samuel again a distant fourth on the WR depth chart
With the Bills drifting into 11 personnel for almost the entire first half, it was a better chance to see the plan for their entire room. All five receivers were left off the injury report in the practice week leading up, and none of them sustained an injury during that first half. The results showed a clear pecking order with rookie Keon Coleman and third-year player Khalil Shakir way out ahead and veteran Mack Hollins as the clear third. Most surprisingly, Curtis Samuel, to whom the team gave a pretty sizable offseason contract in free agency, was a distant fourth despite all the three-receiver sets.
Shakir took all 26 first-half snaps, Coleman had 23, Hollins had 20 and Samuel had only seven. Two of those seven snaps for Samuel were on plays that the Bills went without a standard running back, making Samuel the fourth receiver on the field. When McDermott was asked about Samuel’s low involvement in Week 1 and if it had anything to do with the turf toe injury the receiver had in the summer, McDermott didn’t really give any credence to it and instead said it was about the flow of the game. The Bills’ 12 personnel usage gave Samuel a slight pass from Week 1. But after Thursday, all early indications show someone in more of a gadgety Isaiah McKenzie role than a high snap percentage versatile receiver.
Tyler Bass’ upward trajectory gets undercut by a bad miss
The Bills had to be optimistic about how kicker Tyler Bass handled the beginning of his season. He converted on all six of his Week 1 chances, put another four extra-point tries on the board against the Dolphins, and even hit his first 40-plus attempt of the regular season. As the game was nearing its end, with the Bills up three touchdowns, they gave Bass as low-pressure a situation as they could have for his longest attempt of the young season. This one was from 45 yards, and easily could have been a jumping-off point for the rest of the season after all of his summer struggles.
The result was not what the Bills were hoping for, to say the least. The kicker missed it badly to the left, not even near the uprights. It was the type of miss that, despite all his makes to begin the year, continues to bring up the inevitable questions about what happens in tight games when the Bills need a big kick with the game on the line from that distance or even farther away. Fortunately for Bass, the miss didn’t cost the team anything. But it’s just another example of his up-and-down August, which has seeped into September.
Big picture: What to make of the Bills’ quick start
The Bills could do no wrong against the Dolphins. Allen was efficient, avoided turnover-worthy plays entirely yet again, and made some big plays when the team needed him to. Running back James Cook was decisive, explosive and showed his full arsenal of skills as a runner, pass-catcher and even a goal line back in a three-touchdown day. And full marks to the defense, who, despite yet another debilitating blow to their starting lineup when they lost middle linebacker Terrel Bernard in the first quarter to a pectoral injury, plugged Baylon Spector into the lineup and just kept on going. Of course, the Dolphins had moments with running back De’Von Achane and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. They’re too speedy of an offense to go without some big plays. But the more significant point is that the Bills took everything head-on and dominated the Dolphins, full stop.
Even with a pair of challenging opponents in their way through the first two games, the Bills have been mightily impressive over their last six quarters of action. It’s still too early to say whether the Bills are ahead of schedule based on how they slightly scaled back some of their roster in the offseason. As good of a reputation as the Dolphins have for their offensive firepower, they aren’t as impressive as some of the other AFC foes the Bills will be up against this year. They still have personnel issues they’ll need to overcome in the coming weeks, too. Regardless, you have to give the Bills an extreme amount of credit to go through as many changes and injuries as they have and have one of the more impressive starts to the NFL season. It’s too early to label them a legitimate Super Bowl contender just yet, but they are showing some encouraging signs, and that’s all you can ask for from a team that went through as much of an offseason transition as they did in 2024.
Bills MVP: CB Ja’Marcus Ingram — With respect to Cook’s three-touchdown evening, this might be the most memorable game of Ingram’s career. He had two interceptions, one of which returned for a touchdown to slam the door shut on the Dolphins. It’s a heck of a story for the University at Buffalo product.
Bills LVP: Injuries, again — Add Bernard to the list of critical defensive injuries suffered within one month. The offense has remained primarily unscathed by the injury bug that has taken hold of the Bills’ defense, but the Bills may have to head into Week 3 without the trio of Matt Milano, Taron Johnson and now Bernard.
Up Next: The Bills get the next two weekends off from game action and will next battle the 0-1 Jacksonville Jaguars at home on Monday, Sept. 23.
(Top photo of James Cook and Josh Allen: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)
