Why the Recent Past Means Nothing for this Dolphins-Bills Matchup

The Miami Dolphins will look for only their third victory in 16 games against Buffalo

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17), runs by several Dolphins defenders on his way to a first down, during second half action of their NFL football game last January. / BILL INGRAM/THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Miami Dolphins are set to welcome the division rival Buffalo Bills to Hard Rock Stadium for a Thursday night matchup, obviously clearly aware of Buffalo's dominance in the series of late.

Over the last 15 matchups between the AFC East rivals, the Dolphins are 2-13, including a playoff loss during the 2022 season. But head coach Mike McDaniel doesn’t want the narrative of the initial 2024 matchup to be about those previous losses.

“I worry about the risk of people modeling a current team or a specific opponent on a new team based upon old things," McDaniel said. "So there’s a lot of players on this team that didn’t play Buffalo with the Miami Dolphins last year. There’s a lot of people that the first time that they played Buffalo was last season. So to be all encompassing, for me I’ve never subscribed to it, but you have to make sure that your team is there and that your team doesn’t see it that way as well because you can wish stuff into existence.”

Miami lost multiple mainstays of its defense in the offseason, including defensive lineman Christian Wilkins, cornerback Xavien Howard and linebackers Jerome Baker and Andrew Van Ginkel.

The Bills are in that same boat. The reigning division champions lost a third of last season’s Week 1 starters, notably parting ways with wide receiver Stefon Diggs, wide receiver Gabe Davis, center Mitch Morse, and three-fourths of its starting secondary — cornerback Tre’Davious White, strong safety Jordan Poyer and free safety Micah Hyde. In addition, linebacker Matt Milano is out for extended time with an injury.

“To me, I think it’s very involved in fan bases, which we feel, and it’s very motivating for our ultimate goals and what we want to do with the season, but to have someone’s number, I think on either side, you’re kind of dismissing all the things that have changed that make this new team what it is,” McDaniel said. “I think for this team, we know the stakes of it, but at the same time I don’t think anybody is thinking about the Buffalo Bills as anything but the team that’s won the division for however many years in a row, that has had very successful seasons the last handful of previous ones and know that collectively, they will play hard, determined, physical football. Beyond that, I think these are two new teams playing against each other.”

THE RECENT HISTORY BETWEEN DOLPHINS AND BILLS

The Dolphins’ most recent victory against Buffalo came during its matchup in Week 3 of the 2022 season.

Since then, Miami has struggled against Buffalo, losing three times at Highmark Stadium and in the 2023 season finale at Hard Rock Stadium. With this game set to take place at home, McDaniel knows this will be a hard-fought matchup where victory will need to be earned, and know how much it means to both fan bases.

“I think the two teams playing is absolutely one of my favorite things in the National Football League because you have – I think it starts with the fan base. When you know your fan base wants no part of losing to another team, you can feel it in the stadium, you can feel the energy and those stakes,” said McDaniel. “Bottom line is you get in this business for stakes like that, so it should be really fun football that will be hard-earned. It will definitely be physical, and I think the winning team will have to earn it. And so we’ll be in a situation where we’re trying to prepare ourselves this week to be that team, and I absolutely know, with full conviction, that the boys in Buffalo will be doing the same.”

McDaniel isn’t the only one aware of the potential meaning of this matchup. Fullback Alec Ingold knows it's well known that the tension is there and that the short week adds an extra wrinkle to an already anticipated matchup.

“I mean, we don’t like them; they don’t like us," Ingold said. "It’s not a really big secret, we’re all very familiar with each other. It’s a Thursday night game, a short week, so adversity is an opportunity. Really excited any time you get to play the Bills. They've been atop the AFC East as long as I’ve been here and that’s the type of game you want to play in prime time with all the guys rolling deep and being able to lay it all out there.

"If you’re a competitor, you love playing the Bills. You've got a heck of a lot of respect for them across the board. You’ve got to play really sound football for four quarters to be able to compete and that’s what we'vegot to do. We’ve got to put one together.”