2024 NFL season, Week 2: What We Learned from Bills' win over Dolphins on Thursday night

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Miami Dolphins

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• REWATCH: Bills-Dolphins on NFL+
• READ: Tagovailoa exits Week 2 loss with concussion
• READ: Cook’s three-TD performance highlights Bills’ win

1. Shorthanded Bills defense turns in a gutsy effort. With cornerback Taron Johnson out, linebacker Matt Milano still missing and LB Terrel Bernard (pectoral) knocked out after the second series, it looked dicey for Buffalo’s prospects of handling a dangerous Miami offense. Not to mention, it was a hot, steamy night — a supposed edge for the home team. But the Bills turned in a tremendous effort, intercepting Tua Tagovailoa three times and stopping the Dolphins thrice more on fourth downs. It was a group effort, too. Cam Lewis, Johnson’s replacement, was picked on twice early but rallied to have a strong outing. Ja’Marcus Ingram had his biggest NFL game, with his first two career INTs, including a pick-six. Dorian Williams had a third-down stuff, followed by an Ed Oliver sack on fourth down to snuff out another Dolphins drive. But the brilliance of Buffalo’s execution was in forcing the ball away from Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle; all three of Tagovailoa’s picks came targeting other receivers. Hill and Waddle finished the game with a combined seven catches for 65 yards. After a bit of a slow start last week, Sean McDermott and Bobby Babich’s shorthanded-but-gutsy defense has cleaned things up quite nicely.
2. Dolphins’ offense struggles before Tagovailoa leaves with concussion. Tua Tagovailoa left the game late in the third quarter with a concussion, suffering through a rough performance prior to that. It was the third three-INT game of Tagovailoa’s career, with the final pick run back 31 yards for a touchdown and a 31-10 Buffalo lead. His wide receivers (Grant DuBose and Robbie Chosen) arguably were at least partially to blame on the first two picks, but Tua’s pick-six was a poor throw against heavy pressure. The Dolphins lost offensive tackle Terron Armstead and left guard Robert Jones mid-game, but the Dolphins offense was too up and down prior to them leaving. Penalties and a fourth-down stops killed momentum multiple times. Even Mike McDaniel’s play-calling seemed strangely off at times. Running back De’Von Achane (ankle) was a game-time decision, but he ended up with a career-high 29 touches (his previous high was 22). Achane was terrific — really the only player on offense who stood out. But why was he out there, well into the fourth quarter, with most other starters out of the game? There was a fair amount of pressure on Tagovailoa entering the game, and it was yet another disappointing result for him and the Dolphins against the Bills, but the big question now is Tua’s health, given his concussion history.  
3. Cook sets the tone early in his hometown. Bills running back James Cook was born and raised in Miami, and yet he had been a bit quiet in his previous five outings against the Dolphins, scoring three TDs and averaging 49.4 yards from scrimmage. Cook matched those numbers by the second quarter — and then bettered them. His three first-half TDs (two rushing, one receiving) helped the Bills build a 24-7 lead before halftime, as Cook finished with 95 yards on 12 touches in one of his best games, right up there with Dallas last season but without all the volume. Fourth-round rookie Ray Davis even got in on the action with a few nice runs, and Ty Johnson had a beautiful 33-yard catch and run to the Miami 1-yard line, setting up Cook’s second TD. The Bills’ offensive line opened some nice holes for Cook, and it made Josh Allen‘s life pretty easy, honestly. The Bills didn’t cross the 40-play mark on offense until midway through the fourth quarter, mostly because they were so efficient early on and the defense took care of business. 
4. Miami’s D struggles early again. The Dolphins started slowly and a bit sloppily on defense in Week 1 against the Jaguars, but were absolutely lights out after halftime. Overall, it was an encouraging first effort from new coordinator Anthony Weaver’s crew. Thursday, however, was a step in the wrong direction. Some context: Three Buffalo first-half possessions began in Miami territory. But the Dolphins were pushed around at the point of attack and barely laid a paw on James Cook on all three of his touchdowns. And when Josh Allen had time to operate, he was highly effective. The Dolphins’ pass rush just was not there in the first half. They couldn’t count on another second-half resurgence after Tua Tagovailoa threw the pick-six. Now the pressure will be ratcheted up on this group to tighten the screws more, especially if Skylar Thompson has to replace Tagovailoa. 
5. Allen plays bit part in win, manages hand injury just fine. There was a little handwringing over the health of Josh Allen’s left hand entering the game, which required him to wear a special glove with the middle fingers taped together, but the effect of it felt minimal (at worst) in the Bills’ blowout win. Allen attempted just 19 passes, completing 13 for 139 yards and a touchdown. He only ran the ball twice, for 2 yards. The best part? Zero turnovers. He lost an early fumble last week, but has played seven turnover-free quarters since. Allen was forced to hand off with his right hand on runs to the right, but that didn’t seem to make any difference. He did flub one shotgun snap that appeared to hit his glove, leading to an incomplete pass. But other than that, it was a clean affair. It’s not often the Bills come out of a game where Allen didn’t play a central role in the result, good or bad, but this was something of an exception, with the run game and defense doing the heavy lifting. The Bills will take it — and a big divisional win — every single time they can.

Next Gen stat of the game: On his 49-yard TD run, James Cook reached a top speed of 20.99 mph, the fastest speed as a ball-carrier of his career. The run gained +42 rushing yards over expected.

NFL Research: The Dolphins are 20-13, including Thursday’s loss to the Bills, with Tua Tagovailoa as the starting quarterback since McDaniel became head coach in 2022. They are 1-4 without Tagovailoa starting in that span.