During the bye week, 12 days ago, while visiting Disney World with his daughter, the Bills’ second-year wide receiver checked his Instagram account and found that a few Buffalo fans noted he had missed three of the past four games with calf and ankle injuries and questioned his toughness and resilience. The Dolphins went back to Miami with their tail between their legs as they lost to the Bills 33-17. Because right now, I haven’t thought about it. I mean when I tell you what I’m telling you, it’s the truth. On the ground, LeSean McCoy rushed for 112 yards and one touchdown in 16 attempts while Karlos Williams added 110 yards and two touchdowns in nine attempts. When temperatures are colder, and the weather is less than ideal condition to play because the wind is gusting, teams will prepare to run the ball 20 or 30 times.
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“Certainly when you look at just rushing yardage – 266 yards of rushing, that’s alarming”, Campbell said.
It finally came to be as McCoy and Williams took turns gashing the Dolphins, and once Miami tried to stack the box, Watkins had his way with quality cornerback Brent Grimes for his career-best game.
Nice to have you back, fellas. “They’re far better than what was put out there”.
Watkins, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 draft, smoked the Jets for 157 receiving yards on just three catches in last year’s game at MetLife Stadium.
“I think we’re competing more and I feel like our team’s going to be more ready to go”, Pouncey said. That’s the bottom line.
What was most troubling were the amount of big plays allowed. The Bills averaged 7.4 yards a carry. And he still believes they can make a run this season. “It’s one thing to have rushing yardage and you’re giving up those things”. The Bills will want to win this one for their head coach.
Dolphins’ outside linebacker Koa Misi took the time to speak to me about the Dolphins run fits. If they can slow down the passing attack, the Bills should be successful in stuffing Chris Ivory as they now rank 5th in the league at stopping the run. “We’re 0-fer in divisional games”. “This is my first time really feeling good”.
All of the finger-pointing wasn’t toward the defense. The offense also had its struggles.
“We’ve got to be selfish about it and try to find more ways to score points”, receiver Jarvis Landry said. Decker, working mostly out of the slot this season, has using his precision route running to pile up 36 catches, 472 yards, and six touchdowns.
At 3-5, the Dolphins have eliminated any margin for error if they are going to make the postseason. They likely have to win the remaining eight games to stay in contention. To win on the road teams have to have the ability to stop the running game.
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Campbell, who said after the game that in hindsight he probably should have declined the penalty, defended his decision Monday to accept the penalty. “We’ve got to keep ourselves out of third-and-long situations because everybody on that defensive line is a Pro Bowl player”. “When we’re healthy we’re gonna be pretty tough”. “It’s not good enough”.
