Opponent Breakdown: Buffalo Bills

An inside look at the Miami Dolphins' upcoming opponent.

Bills James Cook runs up the middle for several yards during the second half action at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Sept. 8, 2024. / Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Miami Dolphins will look to improve their record to 2-0 on the season when they face the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday night.

Longtime Bills reporter and Buffalo radio host Sal Capaccio joined the earlier this week to break down everything related to the team and the matchup.

Here are excerpts from that interview. The full interview can be found below.

Discussing Buffalo's Week 1 performance in its 34-28 victory against Arizona

Capaccio: Not a good start. It was not a good start, but you know what? It got to 17-3, and then the Bills kind of got their footing a little bit, and after that, the Bills really dominated the rest of the game. They made some adjustments, some nice adjustments. They held the Cardinals at three offensive points after that. They did have a kick return for a touchdown, but honestly, Josh Allen was the best player on the field. He was an MVP type of player in that particular game. They did a nice job to come back, make adjustments, and then look, I mean, a six-point win, you know, against any team in this league opening weekend is a good win, I think. You take it, right?

On the loss of DB Taron Johnson, who will be out with a forearm injury.

Capaccio: Taron Johnson has been with this team since 2018. I could make the argument he's the second best player on the team behind Josh Allen. This is an all-pro player. He was an all-pro last year. This is a really, really significant loss for the Bills. In the games against the Dolphins, he's done a really great job of having to help defend that spread and what they do with their wide receivers, different things like that. At times, he'll guard some of the top tight ends of the league. At times, he'll guard some of the best, even bigger guys. He's not the biggest man on the slot, but boy, he plays fiercely, super aggressive, competitive. He's a really fantastic player. But the Bills do have a very nice backup in Cam Lewis, who I think could start on a lot of teams in this league.

SCOUTING THE BILLS DEFENSE

Discussing the Bills defense without familiar names like Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, Tre'Davious White and the injured Matt Milano.

Capaccio: Oh, I mean, it's an issue to a point. Those are a lot of players that did a lot of great things for this organization. Look, the truth is Jordan Poyer wasn't the same Jordan Poyer last year. And I'm sure that he's been a little bit rejuvenated in Miami. That's great. We all love Jordan here in Buffalo for what he did. And Micah Hyde wasn't the same Micah Hyde last couple of years. These are mid-30-year-old safeties, you know what I mean? 32, 33, and 34 years old that these guys are. And they weren't quite the same athletically. They've dealt with injuries. So the Bills moved on from them. But listen, that's a lot of experience and leadership and knowledge out the door as well. And then, obviously, Matt Milano, that's a huge injury for this team. But again, they played 12 games without Matt Milano last year. They still won the division. I mean, this is a team that has been able to overcome these injuries. I think the names of these players is what really gets people. But the god-darned truth is, they haven't played a lot of football, a lot of them, because of injuries. Sean McDermott's a good defensive coach. They'll piece it together. It's not quite the same group. I think it's going to take a little while for them to get exactly where they want to be, but I think there's a lot of faith that that group can still be one of the best in the league.

The strength of the Buffalo defense being the front four.

Capaccio: Yeah, for sure. Listen, Greg Russo is a monster. Obviously you're familiar with him down in South Florida. He played for the Hurricanes, drafted by the Bills in 2021, going into his fourth season. They've already picked up his fifth-year option for next year. Three sacks on Sunday. He's been terrific since camp, since preseason, Greg Russo. I, I think this is going to be a problem for a lot of defenses around the league to defend Greg Rousseau. And then on the other side, you have A.J. Epenesa, he's a guy with a pretty good floor. I don't know what his ceiling is. He does a nice job. He's had actually his best teams against Miami maybe over the course of his career. He's done some nice things there. You have Von Miller, but then in the interior, Ed Oliver, Daquan Jones, this is the strength of their defense.

SCOUTING THE BUFFALO OFFENSE

The offense without Stefon Diggs.

Capaccio: I do think there's an aura about Stefan that comes along with having a guy like that on your team. And I think Tyreek Hill is the same way like this, which is when he's there, a lot of it's about him, the attention, right? Which is, for good or bad, he's a great player, but you're always trying to get him the ball because you want to because he's great. And then, if he's not involved, why is that? Why is he not getting the touches? And if he does have a lot of touches, oh my God, it's revolving around him, and they gotta get more involved. It's almost like a story no matter which way you do it. It's a lose-lose, right? And that's, I think, what happened with Stefon Diggs here in Buffalo, which was it didn't matter how the Bills used him. There was always a storyline around it. And it was always the undercurrent of him wanting more targets or needing more targets. Does Josh Allen have to feed him? Now you think about a guy at 30 years old, to get a second-round pick for him, I think that that was time to move on. It just seemed like the relationship broke apart. They had to move on. And the Bills really want to move to this offense, Allen, and they have done this. They did it already week one, where it's about everybody. It's not about one guy.

As somebody who covers the Bills, do you usually go into the Dolphins game thinking, Dolphins, Bill, the Bills are going to win? And if so, do you have that same feeling for Thursday night? Or is this a little bit more up in the air?

Capaccio: I don't usually go into that game. You know why? I have a lot of scar tissue from when I was a kid growing up here in the Dolphins and Bills, right? Like, oh my god, Bills-Dolphins, the history, we know that 20 straight times, 20 straight games, goalposts come down in '80, the Bills beat them. That's how, you know, crazy it was. And we all know the rivalry and the history between these two teams. Now, because of all that, with Mike McDaniel, with that offense, and Tyreek Hill, I never think the Bills are just going to beat the Dolphins. I'm always afraid because the Bills should beat the Dolphins. And if they don't, I have to hear about it from Dolphins fans everywhere, including friends of mine down in Florida. I do think the Bills are the better football team, but I think this is a tough spot for the Bills. To go down to Florida in week two, on a short week road trip, no Taron Johnson. I would not be surprised at all if the Dolphins come away with a victory here, but it is a long season, and I think history has shown that even if the Dolphins are ahead around, I don't know, Halloween, Thanksgiving, that does not guarantee them anything.