Buffalo Bills vs Miami Dolphins Week 2 - Jon Gruden's PICK!

Thursday Night Football Side Notes okay this week's matchup Thursday Night Football the Buffalo Bills at the Miami Dolphins what a great game before we get into it let's talk about some side notes it's a Thursday night game that's a short week for both teams I hated short weeks I mean normally in the season you play a game on Sunday you go home you have a good dinner with your family you come in on Monday you go to the training room to see who's available who got hurt and then you make the corrections from the game you just played Tuesday is a player day off and then Wednesday Thursday Friday you have three hardnose practices getting ready for your next ball game but not on a Thursday night game you play that game Sunday and you got to come in Monday and right away go downstairs and have a walkthrough on your next opponent and then on Tuesday you have another walk through Wednesday morning you get on the plane and now you're playing a game and I don't like it what I really don't like about it is they're playing two games in about four days early in the SE season some of these players didn't play One Snap in the preseason not one now we're asking them to play two full games in a 4-day period I really don't like that knock on a grease board if you're with me anyways it's going to be hot and you got to take this into consideration humid hot different than Buffalo so it should affect Buffalo a little bit more than Miami but I say to that I used to coach for Tampa it's hot in Florida it's hot for both teams but it is going to really affect the defensive line not only the starters but these backup defensive linemen they've got to be ready to come into this game substitute and play their butts off that's going to be a huge key to watch there's a lot of familiarity in this game a lot both these teams know each other they play twice a year Buffalo has won 11 out of the last 12 and I think the familiarity favors Buffalo because they have the same offensive coordinator the same defensive coordinator where Miami does it they got a brand new defensive coordinator coach Weaver so there's not quite as much familiarity on their side of the ball it's a huge rivalry but I think Buffalo understands the Rivalry better because they've won four in a row and 11 out of the last 12 and there's a certain degree of confidence that they got to have getting off the bus in my Miami there are some key injuries I don't know exactly the status of everybody but Johnson the star nickel corner for the Buffalo Bills is out and that's a huge huge thing for the bill secondary he's one of the best there is in football and coach mcder asks him to do a lot both Miami running backs are beat up a little bit perhaps game time decisions that'll be interesting to keep an eye on if if I were coaching in this game I would use a no huddle offense because we have veteran quarterbacks Tua he knows the dolphin system Josh Allen he knows the bill system it's hot it's a short week the defensive linemen are going to get gassed let's push the envelope let's get after these guys with our stallion quarterbacks lastly neither one of these teams has to be real happy with their week one performance even though they both won neither one of these teams are happy I can just hear coach mcdermit right now four false starts we fumbled in the Red Zone we have a personal foul on Third and 12 he's not happy those things got to get cleaned up for the bills and the standards that they have in Miami if etn doesn't fumble the ball at the one yd line it's 24 to7 with three minutes left they also go for it on their own 30 yd line Jacksonville does uncharacteristically and they get stuffed and then they drop a pass Jacksonville had every chance to win that game so both of these teams got to show Improvement on Thursday night the Buffalo Bills Defense Buffalo Bills defense has a great challenge against the Speedy Miami Dolphins and they're led by their defensive head coach sha mcder he's outstanding he's done an excellent job over the years surrounding themselves with football junkies physical guys that are tacklers in space they are are dealing with two new starting safeties this year Micah Hyde is a free agent Jordan puyer left and went to Miami so you're going to see Taylor WAP is the starter but they do have some new ingredients on the back end their star nickel Corner teron Johnson is out that's impactful for this defense they do a lot of communication but they do have a backup who's this week's gting grinder keep an eye on number 39 cam Lewis he came out of nowhere last week he had 10 tackles seven solos he even played 10 snaps on special teams that's just how they do it they draft they develop players in Buffalo keep an eye on the secondary they do have some new players I love the bills front four and I think they have a distinct Advantage here they have some depth and they have some guys that can really get to the passer Russo had three sacks last week against Arizona Von Miller came back and really showed some pop in that trademark long arm that he has they got Jones inside and Oliver they have pass rushers that can come from all four quadrants I do love the Buffalo Bills disguises they show you cover too boom they rotate into a single high they show you nothing and all of a sudden here comes a pressure they do a great job with their disguises a lot of that has to do with the familiarity they have in this mcdermit system the bills make their money with sideline adjustments last week they did a great job at halftime I think coming out with a different plan in the second half against Kyler Murray they came after him they didn't mush the rush all the time they really mix it up they have a deep Playbook and they're not afraid to call it defensive coordinator B babit does a great job and finally they have a linebacker who could be an allpro Gruden grinder Bernard he's a sideline to sideline tack he never comes off the field I believe he wears the Green Dot and he's able to make a lot of Split Second adjustments during the course of the game remember this if it comes down to crunch time late in the game two-minute drill they're going to Blitz they're going to bring extensive blitzes to try to win this game just like they did last week against Arizona now when you take a look at Miami's offense Miami Dolphins Offense against buffalo's defense it's like night and day these are the rough and rugged Blue Collar Buffalo Bills these are the Sleek fast Maserati driving Dolphins they are fast man and they use this speed they use this speed horizontally across the field on these jet sweeps quick screens and then they'll throw it over your head vertically because they have waddle and Hill the guys that do it they're going to make you defend every single blade of grass and if you make one mistake boom it's touchdown they do a great job with what I call IE candy you're Tua you're under the center you bring Tyreek Hill flying across a formation and then you hand it to a running back going the other way and it's miserable on defenses you see a Jet Sweep flying this way and then they hand the ball to a great back going the other way if you make one bad key if you're a linebacker they hurt you bad achan averaged 7.8 yards per carry last year and moster it had 18 touchdowns so there's a lot of eye candy violations here on defense then they hand the ball to the Jet Sweep they block like they're blocking the run and they don't even block the defensive end they Arc and they block the support here Coast Tyreek Hill and they make you defend every blade of grass it's a miserable combination they have a lot of gimmic runs what is a gimmick run it's a run I've never seen and I'm not that smart but I sit in a room all day and all night studying runs and some of these runs Miami has I have never seen before they're hard to prepare for one thing to look for is the Dolphins offensive line they've had a lot of turnover they had a lot of injuries last year two veteran offensive tackles but they have a new center and they have struggled at the guard position and I think ikenberg at Right Guard is in for a tough night because they're going to put some good people on his nose and they do a really good job in Miami on offense with strange Personnel groupings if you think about Coach McDaniel he comes from the 49ers they have Kyle uchek that fullback that Swiss army knife the Dolphins have Alec inold very similar player he'll play wide receiver fullback tight end and you don't know what is coming off the bench three receivers two tight ends multiple formations at different Personnel groupings and on a short that could be a problem they ran 12 different types of screens last week so if you're Tua you're catching and releasing catch it and release it it's hard to get that pass rush to the quarterback because the ball comes out so fast and when he throws these quick screens the defensive lineman they got to Chase and when you're chasing these quick screen Runners you get tired in this heat watch out for the Heat and the big guys because fatigue will take its told I think this game is a great opportunity for Tua he's a heck of a Young quarterback he's got the new contract the only thing he's got to do in this regular season he's got to figure out how to beat the bills he's one and5 against Buffalo he's got great anticipation he's very accurate he's got to find a way to do more though to win this game on Thursday night keep an eye now on the two running backs for Miami moart in a chant they have incredible speed are they healthy but remember this speed coming out of the back field it's like watching Tony dor set back in the day these guys can fly they are so fun to watch now when you're watching Buffalo Bills Offense Buffalo Bills on offense it's all about Josh Allen their great quarterback his production is incredible last year 29 passing touchdowns 15 rushing touchdowns he does an unbelievable job in short yardage situations he's going to stop the game he's going to tell everybody at home hey I'm running a quarterback Snake stop me you ain't going to stop him in the tight Red Zone he calls his own number I mean if you cover down on all these weapons that he has he'll just tell the center snap me the ball and they'll block out they'll block down they'll go block the linebacker and they'll pull their Pro Bowl tackle dockins and he'll just run right up in there for touchdowns he had 15 rushing touchdowns had one two last week and he's 67 256 lbs who wants to tackle that they have three very good backs I love cook cook can run it he can catch it he's very elusive over 1100 yards last year impacted the game last week Johnson comes off the bench he's a slasher and the rookie fantasy football fans at home don't forget Ray Davis he came in there last week in the third quarter boy he looked good I'd be surprised if mcder doesn't keep sharing in the ball with all of them can Buffalo handle the blitz a little bit better if I was going to be critical about one thing I just don't think they pick up blitzes very well and I think Miami is coming on a short week Anthony Weaver the new defense a coordinator from Miami he comes from Baltimore and they got a lot of blitzes in their roller decks and I would heat Allen up a little bit on this short week turnovers is the Kryptonite for Josh Allen he has turned the ball over more than any other quarterback more than any other player in the NFL the last few years he's Reckless he's stiff arming guys he's jumping over bodies and sometimes that ball gets loose you can poke it out of there I want to talk about the puyer factor who the heck is Jordan puyer he's a two-time pro bowl safety for the Buffalo Bills but he changed teams now he plays for the Miami Dolphins what does pyer know about the bills offense that he can help the dolphins with does he know the snap count does he know the audibles does he know the hand signals I guarantee he knows the Personnel that'll be a factor the ball distribution in Buffalo is a lot different than it has been usually it went through Interstate 14 Stefan dicks they had Gabe Davis two great receivers they're both gone against Arizona they used five different receivers Keon Coleman their second round pick I See Holland Mack Holland scoring touchdowns they got scantling from Kansas City running deep they got Samuel in there they have five different receivers Shakir he's going to impact the game they don't care who they throw the ball to right now and they're all talented K Kade and Knox are two very good receiving versatile tight ends we already talked about the three backs so if you're Miami you got to defend a lot of different weapons on a very short week keep an eye on number 70 he's a offensive lineman I'm not even gonna tell you his name but he's been running out on the field for the Buffalo Bills playing that third tight end position and he's given them that 13 Personnel one back three tight ends that allows you to bang that ball right at him like Thurman Thomas did back in the day with Kenneth Davis so be alert for a little bit more robust big Personnel groupings to try to smash the Miami defense now Miami Dolphins Defense when it comes to the Miami defense how are they going to stop Josh Allen well they're going to have a new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver in his first shot to try to get this four game losing streak solved perhaps he's going to use some more blitzes we'll see the one thing Miami did not do a good job of last year against Buffalo is they didn't tackle and I'm talking about 108 yds right on the sideline Buffalo Bills are running right down the sideline they cut it back they cut it back they cut it back we got to get them on the ground or get them out of bounds they struggled tackling last year and it really cost them a lot of yardage where is the dolphin pass rush coming from chub is still out Phillips came back last week had a sack it was great to see him but how many snaps can he play did not enough yet from chop Robinson their rookie Edge rusher from Penn State we're going to need these guys to heat them up this week otherwise we're going to rely on pressure and I don't know if we want to make a living doing that against Allen and these great receivers these weapons he has but I would expect a good mixture they have a new linebacker Jordan Brooks he came over from Seattle and David long stays as their veteran leading tackler he's going to be in that Green Dot listening to Anthony Weaver keep an eye on that battery throughout the game what does long know about Weaver's defense especially if we start up in the tempo last couple things the puyer factor I've seen this really work in a defense's Advantage I used to bring in our defensive players and say hey what do you know about Pat Mahomes hey what do you know about Justin Herbert and maybe we get a little something to help us out but these quarterbacks are not dumb they might they might tell you hey this is an Ohio a quick out with a go route so the quarterback might come out say Ohio Ohio and puyer is going to say what the quick out watch The Go and all of a sudden he comes back inside and they shred you so be careful too much information can be bad information Jaylen Ramsey and now Kendall Fuller are the corners for the Miami Dolphins the X-Men Howard is retired he's not in the league right now lot of pressure on these two guys I'm anxious to see how they use Jaylen Ramsay in this Anthony Weaver system I think they want Ramsay to do more and more every week I can't wait to see it Jon Gruden's Pick to Win... but at the end of the day I got to pick somebody so when I was playing the bills years ago I learned this song He hey hey let's go Buffalo let's go Buffalo you guys aren't worth a hoop man thanks for watching Gruden loves football hit that subscribe button right [Music] now me little tast te yeah put on the gas behind the wheel don't Dy me yeah moving through them fast see me pass lightning