By CHUCK POLLOCK, Sun Senior Sports Columnist
It’s not the easiest way to get a 10-day bye, but the Bills will take it until the real one comes Oct. 19.
Off to a 2-0 start after stealing a home win, 41-40, via a miracle comeback against the Ravens in the season home opener and manhandling the Jets last Sunday at the Meadowlands, 30-10, Buffalo gets a mere three days off before hosting division rival Miami (0-2) Thursday night at Highmark Stadium (8:15, ABC-TV, Prime-Video, Bills Radio Network).
BUFFALO IS one of 10 NFL unbeatens, a list that includes Cincinnati (in jeopardy now that quarterback Joe Burrow has been lost for three months to toe surgery), Indianapolis and Arizona.
The Dolphins are one of nine winless league teams that includes one stunner (Kansas City) and one surprise (Houston).
After Sunday, the Bills get a 10-day break, then travel to winless New Orleans in their quest for a 6-0 start. Following that, it’s visits to New England and Atlanta, both 1-1, the bye week, and Carolina (0-2). The seventh game is at Arrowhead Stadium, Nov. 2, against the suddenly-struggling Chiefs.
AS HAS been the case in the first two games, injuries factor into Buffalo’s line-up.
Out for the second straight week is defensive tackle Ed Oliver, the victim of a “friendly fire” collision in practice last week that hurt his ankle. Then, against the Jets, key linebacker Matt Milano left the game with a pectoral injury and won’t play against the Dolphins.
Three other Bills are questionable: slot cornerback Taron Johnson (quad), reserve cornerback/safety Cam Lewis (shoulder) and linebacker Shaq Thompson (hamstring/hand).
Thompson’s injury could be impactful, if he can’t go, with Milano out. Dorian Williams will replace the Pro Bowler who will pair with starter Terrel Bernard with former UB star Joe Andreessen the only other linebacker on the active roster besides Thompson.
Coach Sean McDermott could activate Jim Ciarlo or Keonta Jenkins from the practice squad if necessary but he has to make an early decision.
THOSE LOSSES notwithstanding, Buffalo is a 12-point favorite, up from 8 1/2, longest odds on the board, for what’s supposed to be a perfect night weather-wise.
But three games into the season, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel and general manager are thought to be in job jeopardy.
During Sunday’s 33-27 loss to the Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium, a fan-hired plane flew over pulling a banner saying the coach and GM should be fired.
“We’re 0-2, but there are teams that are 2-0, and generally there’s a 2-0 team that doesn’t make the playoffs,” he said, claiming he didn’t see the banner. “I was coaching and calling a football game. I wasn’t spending my time considering what the fans were doing. Fans want their team to win, so I figure that if we win football games – I don’t think it’s personal they want to win, and so do I.”
He added, “You can’t fall victim to the same failures or the season will end up not being the one you want. We have some work to do, a short week against a division opponent, that last time we went up there, we fell short at the end of regulation. We know that we have to exceed that performance, and that’s what we’ll be focused on.”
McDaniel concluded of the calls for his firing, “If I worry about my job security, I won’t be doing my job, and that inherently is against all things that I believe in. I’ve never felt entitled to this position, and it’s very important for me to spend all of my waking hours worrying about exactly how to do my job and all the residual effects … there’s a lot of people affected.
“I won’t spend one moment thinking about all the things people want me to think about. I’m thinking about this team and the Buffalo Bills,” he concluded.
Pollock Prediction: Bills 24, Dolphins 16
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
