The Miami Dolphins will be looking to crack into the win column this afternoon with their scheduled Week 2 showdown against the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium. Miami’s hopes and aspirations of a potential push for postseason play will hinge heavily on the outcome of today’s contest, so it is critical for the Dolphins to make sure they piece together an effective game plan to take on the Bills. Miami’s Week 1 loss to the Patriots is behind us — but the impact of being 0-1 in the AFC East looms large over today’s contest. Miami needs a winning formula.
Where should we anticipate the Dolphins attacking when Miami has the ball?
Feed Mike Gesicki
We don’t know for certain whether or not DeVante Parker will be eligible to play in this football game or not — but whether he does or doesn’t, there will be opportunities over the middle of the field. The Bills are without their two best linebackers in this contest and the Dolphins had more opportunities between the hashes in Week 1 than they were able to take advantage of. Look for Ryan Fitzpatrick to try to get Gesicki the football in size advantage situations in coverage and try to take advantage of the lack of range from Buffalo’s replacements on the second level.
More RPO concepts
Miami didn’t appear to run a ton of run-pass option concepts in Week 1 but the ones that they did run offered some areas for success. Ryan Fitzpatrick laced a slant route to Parker from the slot on one such play on Miami’s second possession against New England. The Dolphins will need more of those reps and better consistency with the reads to find better offensive production. Miami’s later RPOs against New England seemed to be automatic gives because the Patriots were in two high safety looks before the snap — but there was still more room to throw than the Dolphins eventually had on the ground.
Work the backs in the flats
The Dolphins’ offense in Week 1 saw plenty of routes into the flat by running backs. They’d be wise to do more of the same versus the Bills’ zone defense and take advantage of soft coverage in the shallow areas. From there, Miami’s backs will need to create with the ball in their hands — Matt Breida gives them the best chance for some home runs to be hit but Myles Gaskin was effective as a passing down running back as well.
