Mike McDaniel’s philosophical shift against the Bills helped the Dolphins’ offense reach rare heights few teams have achieved vs. Buffalo
The former run-game coordinator woke up and decided to pound the rock.
Mike McDaniel returned to his roots on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. His Miami Dolphins team showed up in a big way — ready to play and fight back against some of the narratives that this team was aimlessly drifting about.
A win like Miami’s 30-13 victory over Buffalo won’t solve all of Miami’s problems, and plenty of the team’s big-picture questions remain. But in its winning effort against the Bills, the first since 2022 against Buffalo, McDaniel can hang his hat on a play-calling effort that stayed patient for 60 minutes.
The Dolphins ran the football 32 times against the Bills on Sunday. With those 32 rushes, Miami posted 197 yards. The performance on the ground ranks among the best any opponent has had against Buffalo’s defense since McDaniel arrived in Miami.
Miami’s run game performance against Buffalo is one of the best rushing performances in the last four years
Dolphins’ rushing performance versus the Bills in Week 10
- 32 rush attempts (T-10th highest versus Buffalo since 2022)
- 197 rushing yards (5th-most versus Buffalo since 2022)
- 6.2 yards per rush (8th highest versus Buffalo since 2022)
- Third-highest single-game rushing EPA since 2022
Since 2022, the Bills’ defense has conceded 190+ rushing yards six times. It’s the first time the Dolphins, who play the Bills as much as anyone, have achieved the feat. The previous high under McDaniel came in December of 2022 — when they rushed for 188 yards in a 32-29 defeat in Week 15. It’s the third-highest total rushing EPA posted against a Bills’ defense by any opponent, too.
The irony for Miami is evident. It’s often felt as though the McDaniel-led Dolphins have entered into matchups against the Bills with a sense of urgency to score points in bunches. Those games have, at times, yielded mistakes that have compounded and generated game scripts that have snowballed on the Dolphins. Not on this day.
No, instead, Miami stayed persistent with its efforts to run the football methodically. It’s a thing many Dolphins fans have hoped to see from McDaniel’s offense with more consistency. It was the path to victory on this day.
The body blows Miami posted early in the game turned into explosive, game-breaking runs late in the game to help put this contest on ice. And McDaniel, the former run-game coordinator, looked like a run-game mastermind against Buffalo in Week 10. His team rewarded him with their second 30-point performance against the Bills during his tenure in Miami and just his second head-to-head win against the Bills. It was sorely needed.
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