Miami Dolphins Legends Relish Return of Buffalo Bills Rivalry

The Buffalo Bills' rivalry with the Miami Dolphins has reached a boiling point after years of dormancy.

It's hard to develop a rivalry between Buffalo and Miami, especially considering Mother Nature's undeniable preference for the latter. But even with Taylor Swift on her way to East Rutherford, "Bad Blood" reigns supreme between its professional football teams once more in Week 4.

The Miami Dolphins are taking their talents to Western New York on Sunday afternoon to face the Buffalo Bills in one of Week 4's most anticipated NFL matchups (1 p.m. ET, CBS). Miami (3-0) enters as one of three undefeated teams left on the NFL ledger and the only one in the AFC. 

This year is still in its infant stages but it's quite clear that the Dolphins are the biggest threat to the Bills' 2020s monopoly upon the AFC East. Buffalo (2-1) staved off an upset bid from an undermanned Dolphins group in the Wild Card round last January. 

All those headlines and more likely make Sunday's exchange of pleasantries the most meaningful matchup between the Bills and Dolphins since 1993, when then-Miami linebacker Bryan Cox regaled Bills Mafia's soldiers with the most vulgar form of finger guns during the 1993 matchup in Buffalo. While their Bills received the last laugh, as the team reached its fourth consecutive Super Bowl, Western New Yorkers routinely include Cox among the area's most notorious sports villains alongside names like Kevin Dyson and Brett Hull.

“Everybody remembers him walking down that ramp and talking his sign language,” then-Dolphins blocker Richmond Webb told Tim Graham of The Athletic this week. “I was right behind him. When he put that up, maaaaaan …”

Webb was one of several South Floridians who spoke to Graham about the resurgent rivalry between Buffalo and Miami. One would probably be hard-pressed to find modern fans of each side referring to the other side as the biggest rival, as they would, perhaps ironically, unite in hatred of the New England Patriots. With Foxborough floundering in post-Tom Brady mediocrity, however, Buffalo and Miami undoubtedly stand as the deans of the division. The saltiness has a chance to simmer, as both sides are led by young explosive talents that are destined to figure in their respective team's future blueprints.

Then-receiver Mark Clayton implied that Cox's greeting was a long time coming and made all the more inevitable by Buffalo fans continually blaring their beloved theme song "Shout!"

“I didn’t like any of them,” Clayton said. “I didn’t like their wild, crazy fans playing that theme song. The Bills make you want to shout … Every time they scored. I didn’t like that.”

Josh Allen (17) fights for yardage in last year's matchup against Miami / USA TODAY SPORTS

Ironically enough, the Dolphins as a franchise as the football-loving public knows it might not exist without the Bills: Buffalo founder Ralph Wilson originally wanted to place his American Football League franchise in South Beach but the area's gridiron cathedral, the Orange Bowl, sought to remain an exclusive college football facility.

Buffalo's success eventually inspired South Beach to correct the error. The Dolphins showed their appreciation by completing a full-on sweep of the series in the 1970s.

“It took me a while to figure out,” Webb said. “When I was a rookie, coming from Texas, I kept wondering, ‘Man, why do the Bills hate us so much?’ "One day, I was thumbing through the media guide and saw the Dolphins beat the Bills 20 times in a row. I was, like, ‘Ooooooooh, I got it now.'”

The rivalry's previous fever pitch came in the final stages of the prior millennium, as Miami made several futile attempts to stop the Bills' ongoing AFC dynasty. Though the regular season matchups were relatively even (Buffalo won the 1990s matchups 12-8), two of Buffalo's four consecutive Super Bowl trips featured the Dolphins as victims. Another win in the 1995 Wild Card round served as the final game for legendary South Beach boss Don Shula.

Miami finally bestowed elimination during the 1998 Wild Card round. Both sides then wallowed in mediocrity in the opening stages of the 21st century before last season's long-awaited revival: Buffalo not only clinched a playoff berth with a late December victory in snowy Orchard Park but they also eliminated the Dolphins, who put up a respectable effort in a 34-31 defeat despite missing starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Even when the rivalry slept, Miami's finest never forgot their hatred of those with the charging buffalo helmets, one sprinkled with a reluctant, yet genuine, respect.

"I hated all of them, but you loved to hate them," Dolphins linebacker John Offerdahl said. "I really respected their players. They were very talented. I felt like I knew the Bills players almost as much as my own teammates. But the individual matchups were intense. Losses to Buffalo were such pain and agony, physical and emotional.”

“I made sure I identified the Buffalo game and knew I had to be at the top of my physical shape just to survive. Other games were not like life and death like it was against Buffalo.”