Dolphins-Bills Week 9 Five Biggest Storylines

Breaking down the Miami Dolphins matchup against the Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert (31) gets past Buffalo Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard (43) on a kickoff in the first quarter at Highmark Stadium in 2022. / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins will look to move their record to 3-5 when they face the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium in a crucial game when it comes to their playoff aspirations.

The Dolphins are coming off a disappointing 28-27 loss against the Arizona Cardinals in Tua Tagovailoa's return to the lineup. The Bills are 6-2 coming off a 31-10 victory against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field last weekend.

The Dolphins will be looking to defeat the Bills for only the second time since the start of the 2019 season.

Here are the five biggest storylines for this Week 9 matchup.

1) ALL HANDS ON DECK AGAINST ALLEN

The one common denominator in the Bills' recent dominance against the Dolphins and in the AFC East is quarterback Josh Allen, who should be among the leading candidates for NFL MVP through the first eight weeks of the 2024 season. Allen's numbers against the Dolphins are borderline crazy, and even though he passed for only 139 yards in the Week 2 matchup at Hard Rock Stadium, his passer rating was 107.1. Allen threw his first pick of the season against Seattle last week, and it would be a major boost for the Dolphins' hopes if they could get one against him in this game.

2) TIME FOR A BIG PASS PLAY

Here's a completely crazy stat when you think about it: In the last three Dolphins-Bills matchups, the Dolphins do not have a single pass play longer than 24 yards. That came in the 2023 season finale on a Tua Tagovailoa hook-up with Cedrick Wilson Jr. The longest completion in the first matchup in 2023 in Week 4 at Buffalo was 23 yards to fullback Alec Ingold. And then the longest in the Week 2 this year was a 21-yarder to Jaylen Waddle. That just won't give the Dolphins a great chance to win. What the Dolphins need are long connections, like Tua had with Waddle in each of the games in 2022 — 45 yards in Miami and 67 yards in Buffalo. Tyreek Hill does not have a single catch of at least 25 yards in eight regular season matchups against Buffalo, so this obviously would be a great time to change that.

3) TIME TO RELY ON THE RUNNING GAME?

Maybe the Dolphins won't need a big play in the passing game, but that likely would be the case if the running game can produce big numbers AND come through with some first downs down the stretch. The Dolphins rushed for at least 150 yards in each of their past three games, but they were 1-2 in those games because the passing game failed against Indianapolis and because the defense couldn't hold the lead against Arizona after the offense failed to run out the clock at the end. Raheem Mostert and De'Von Achane each has had a big game against the Bills the past two seasons, and Jaylen Wright also has the talent to break a long one.

4) SPECIAL TEAMS NEED TO STEP UP

The Dolphins are going to need contributions from all groups if they're going to pull off the upset, and something like Cedrick Wilson Jr.'s 50-yard punt return in the 2022 playoff game would help. The Dolphins also can't afford a missed Jason Sanders field goal because they'll be operating with a slim margin for error.

5) TUA TIME

This probably should be listed higher, but we'll save it for last. This is the opportunity for a signature game for Tagovailoa, who overall was impressive against Arizona last weekend but still was the second-best quarterback on the field that day. The Dolphins gave Tagovailoa his massive contract extension in July because they felt he was the guy who could take them where they want to go. Well, this is the kind of game the Dolphins will have to win and where Tua needs to be the best QB on the field on that day. Besides, a big performance by Tagovailoa likely would make a lot of "salty" fans forget about his "sitting down on your couch eating chips" comments.