It was a wild, bloody scene last night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami for the Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins showdown. Not because the game was close or interesting (it wasn’t), but because the Buffalo Bills proved, in no uncertain terms, that they are still the team to beat in the AFC East. This was supposed to be a Big, Exciting Game. Instead, it ended like one of those rock festivals where all the good acts are front loaded onto the first couple of days, so for the last three you’re stuck with bands you’ve either never heard of or have heard of and never had any desire to see live, so you just kind of wander around from stage to stage, half paying attention, looking for weed. That’s pretty much what we were doing (but from the comfort of our own home) last night, as the Bills came stampeding into Miami like a bunch of, well, buffaloes, and proceeded to squish the fish 31-10.
Tua Scares the Shit Out of Us Again
One thing we definitely never had any desire to see live ever, ever again was Tua Tagovailoa getting another concussion. Tua left the game in the third quarter after suffering a legal hit by Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin as he was rushing for a first down. We are not sure how many more live-action concussions we, or Tua, can take. After this latest head injury, he will surely have to seriously reevaluate his return to football.
The Bills were up 24-10 at the half, and by the time Tagovailoa had left the game, even the most optimistic Dolphins fans were shrieking and taking cover under their fins. For the first time in his career, Tua threw two interceptions in the first half, with another following in the third quarter. He finished the game with 17 completions out of 25 attempts, 145 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. Our hearts broke for the guy, as this had to be one of the more painful nights of Tua’s career.
Josh Allen Doesn’t Have to be Great, He Just Has to Not Suck
Meanwhile, Josh Allen was over on the Bills’ side, cool as a cucumber. He finished the game with a respectable 13 completions out of 19 attempts, 139 yards, 1 touchdown, and zero interceptions. Despite the underwhelming stat line, he certainly took care of business in the first half, and did what was needed to win; specifically, he did not turn the ball over. Turnovers have been an issue that have plagued him throughout his entire career, so his improvement in ball protection over the first two games of the season has been notable.
Interestingly, Allen’s stats last night were actually very similar to Tagovailoa’s, save for the three interceptions. He didn’t exactly light it up, but he was still in complete control of the game. Watching Allen was instructive on how a quarterback can guide his team – even cruise easily – to victory, without putting up mind-boggling numbers. It was Allen’s ability to protect the football that was the difference between the Bills’ ongoing ability to put themselves in positions to score, and the pitiful ten points with which the Dolphins ended their night.
We also have to give a shout out to Bills’ running back James Cook, who stole the show by serving up his first career hat trick of three touchdowns (one receiving, two rushing). Thanks to Cook’s heroics, we managed to remain alert throughout at least 2/3 of the game.
The Dolphins have been built up as the New Hotness for a few years now (notably, Tua just got paid as such this past offseason). A first round quarterback, a star receiver and a young, good looking coach from the Shanahan coaching tree was enough for the media to start anointing them the Greatest Show on Turf after making it to the Wild Card round twice. Which they lost both times. Other than putting up lots of points in a few games against bad teams, they have not lived up to that media-generated reputation. So far this season, for instance, they have weaseled a victory away from Jacksonville in overtime (in a game they really should have lost, but for the Jaguars Jaguaring), and gotten blown out at home by a Bills team in which Josh Allen didn’t even turn in an especially good performance.
McDaniel: “If you care about Tua at all, don’t mention his health.”
Will Tua keep playing? At a press conference earlier today, head coach Mike McDaniel addressed that question in precisely the kind of rambling, roundabout, incoherent way that we’ve been accustomed to hearing from teams that do indeed plan on continuing to play their concussed stars, but don’t want to take responsibility for it:
“It would be so wrong of me to even sniff that subject…his career is his……I just really, really, really wish that people would for a second hear what I’m saying that bringing up his future is not in the best interest of him…I’m going to plead with everyone that if you genuinely care…if he agreed with it or disagreed with it, either way I’ve just made it worse…I don’t think it’s appropriate…it probably is only fair that their career should be decided by them.”
In other words, its his decision, and if you care about him, you won’t talk about it on social media or criticize us. Considering that the Dolphins barely let him recover from his first concussion last year before tossing him back in for the second, we are unsurprised by this position.
[Photo courtesy of:
