The Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills are squaring off in game No. 272 of the regular season, the NFL season finale on "Sunday Night Football," with a lot on the line. The winner will be crowned the AFC East champion and the 'Fins are looking to change the script from the way the division has gone the last three years: in favor of the Bills.
Buffalo is on a four-game winning steak and has won five of its last six games. The Bills have put up 20 or more points in the last seven games and the Dolphins defense will certainly have its work cut out against quarterback Josh Allen and Co.
Miami defensive coordinator Vic Fangio knows just how difficult it is to play against Allen and had high praise for the opposing QB ahead of the divisional showdown. Fangio says Allen reminds him of a Hall of Famer and someone the defensive coordinator has worked with in the past.
"This guy is the new John Elway on steroids," Fangio said (via NFL.com), adding, "and I don't mean he's taking steroids."
The first time these two teams met in the season, in Week 4 at Highmark Stadium, the home team was victorious, defeating the Dolphins 48-20. In that game, Allen went 21 of 25 with 320 yards, four passing touchdowns, no interceptions and one rushing touchdown.
This season, Allen has a career-high 15 rushing touchdowns, along with 27 passing touchdowns, and a career-high 16 interceptions. He leads the league in combined passing and rushing touchdowns with 42.
Based on what he has seen Allen do against his team and in the six years of the quarterback's career, Fangio has seen how he can be a threat to defenses. Allen is 10-2 all time against the Dolphins and 3-0 against Fangio.
"[Allen and Elway] are very similar," Fangio said. "Different body types. Different running styles, but (they present) the same problems, for sure. Allen is just a beast of a guy, a physical specimen. Like John Elway was in the mid-80s to the mid-90s … [Allen is] just bigger, faster, cannon for an arm, tough. He's a dude."
The Dolphins defense lost pass rusher Bradley Chubb to a season-ending ACL injury suffered in the last three minutes of last week's game. Even with Chubb for the majority of the game last week, the Dolphins could not stop MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, losing 56-19.
This week, with another top quarterback on the other side of the field and a lot on the line, the Dolphins defense will need to bounce back from the blowout loss and find ways to make up for injuries.
If the Bills lose, there is a chance they will miss the playoffs completely, depending on results from games earlier in the day. The Dolphins already locked a playoff spot, so they are playing for the AFC East crown and the No. 2 seed.
