PLAYER NOTES
–WR Robert Foster has topped 50 yards receiving in three straight games, the first Bills rookie receiver to do that since Lee Evans in 2004.
–G Ike Boettger played a career-high 28 snaps last week against New England as he split time in a rotation with guards John Miller and Wyatt Teller.
–DE Eddie Yarbrough seems to have fallen out of favor in the second half of the season. He has played just seven snaps in each of the last two games as he has lost time to Mike Love.
–MLB Tremaine Edmunds leads all members of the Bills’ front seven with 90.8 percent of the defensive snaps played this season. The only players who have played a higher percentage of snaps are CB Tre’Davious White and FS Jordan Poyer.
–WR Isaiah McKenzie was targeted eight times in the New England game and made only one catch for eight yards. A couple balls were uncatchable, but he also had a couple of drops.
–WR Deonte Thompson suffered a toe injury at New England and did not practice Wednesday.
–RB Chris Ivory is expected to do more in practice this week and after being held out last week, seems like a good bet to be active.
–CB Ryan Lewis remains in the concussion protocol and his season is probably over.
–LB Julian Stanford suffered an ankle injury last week and he did not practice Wednesday.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: TE Jason Croom. The Bills took a notable step last week by benching Charles Clay, their starting tight end for four years. Clay has had a terrible season, and it now seems clear they will move on in the offseason even though he has one year left on his contract. Croom seems to be in line to take over, and he caught four passes for 55 yards in the loss to New England. Croom, however, has a long way to go. Against the Patriots he lost a fumble inside the 10-yard-line while struggling to gain more yardage, the second time he’s done that this season. And he still has to get better as a blocker, but he does possess the skill set the Bills need for the position, at least as a pass-catcher and playmaker.
GAME PLAN: The Bills split the running back snaps evenly between LeSean McCoy and Keith Ford last week in New England, a clear indication that they want to see what Ford can do as they evaluate whether to bring him back in 2019. McCoy is probably about to play his final game for the Bills, so it would make sense to continue the delegation of snaps that way, assuming Chris Ivory is inactive again. Miami’s defense has been vulnerable to the run all year, so the Bills will likely try to exploit a unit that ranks 30thin the NFL.
The Bills struggled terribly against the run in the loss to New England, yielding 273 yards, but they remain No. 1 in the NFL against the pass in terms of yardage. So, even though Frank Gore is out, the Dolphins will probably try to hammer the Bills with Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage and grind it out that way, especially on a day when the temperature isn’t expected to rise out of the 20s.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Bills LBs vs. Dolphins RB Kenyan Drake. In the first meeting in early December, the Dolphins’ offense did virtually nothing against Buffalo’s defense, particularly on the ground as they managed only 60 yards and 2.6 per attempt. Drake can be a dangerous threat, though, especially with the Bills playing without injured LB Matt Milano this time. Rookie WLB Corey Thompson was exposed by the Patriots last week, and rookie MLB Tremaine Edmunds continues to struggle with over-pursuit and bad angles.
–Bills QB Josh Allen vs. Dolphins front seven. In the first game, Allen set a Bills’ record for most yards rushing by a quarterback as he torched Miami for 135 yards on nine runs, most of those scrambles. The Dolphins had no answer for when Allen broke the pocket, and his running was why the Bills nearly won the game. This time, the Dolphins will surely learn from how the Lions and Patriots defended Allen the last two weeks as he has just 46 yards rushing combined.
