Bills @ Dolphins

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STATS LLC Associated Press

Oct 19, 2016

 

The Buffalo Bills have been the most dominant team in the AFC during the past month, winning four games in a row by an average of more than 17 points.

 

Buffalo has also beaten AFC East rival Miami in five of the last six meetings (four in blowout fashion), and coach Rex Ryan has won his last four trips to Miami, dating to his time with the New York Jets.

 

The Dolphins (2-4) will try to reverse those trends when they host the Bills (4-2) on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.

 

The Bills are on a four-game winning streak for the first time since the start of the 2008 season and have not won five in a row since 2004.

 

"We know that we have a job to do in front of us this week, and those four games that we won in a row mean nothing," Ryan said. "We have to win this one. We're trying to win one game in a row this week, and that's kind of our approach to it."

 

Buffalo has taken a winning record into a game at Miami four times since 2000 and lost all four of those games.

 

Miami is 8-17 in division games since 2011, including a 31-24 loss in New England earlier this season. The Bills are the only team to defeat the Patriots this season, 16-0 in Foxboro, Mass.

 

The Dolphins are trending up after opening a four-game homestand last week with a 30-15 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

 

AFC Offensive Player of the Week Jay Ajayi rushed for 204 yards, the most by any player in the NFL this season. Ryan Tannehill did not turn the ball over and was not sacked for the first time this season, and the defense produced two sacks and two takeaways while holding the Steelers to 297 yards.

 

But Miami coach Adam Gase cautioned against using past results to predict future performance.

 

"Every week is so different, and you never know what team is going to come out on top every week," Gase said. "It doesn't matter where you are ranked in the power rankings. Nobody cares on Sunday. It's about guys going out there and doing their job and being ready for that game."

 

Buffalo leads the NFL in rushing for the second straight season, averaging 166.3 yards per game, and 211.8 yards in the four weeks since Ryan fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman and elevated running backs coach Anthony Lynn. The Bills' 312 rushing yards in last week's 45-16 win over the San Francisco 49ers was their highest output since 1992 and the most by any team in the past two seasons.

 

Stopping the Bills' ground game figures to be a daunting task for the Dolphins' 31st-ranked run defense.

 

"It's a daunting task to play football in the NFL," Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake said. "No matter which team you're playing, which week you're playing, you're going to be playing against the best of the best, the best to do it ever, the best in the world, so on and so on and so on.

 

"We did it last week and we're going to do it next week and the week after. That's just what happens when you play in this league."

 

The Bills, however, have some uncertainty in the backfield after Pro Bowl running back LeSean McCoy was unable to finish Wednesday's practice because of a tight hamstring. McCoy ranks second in the NFL in rushing with 597 yards and first in yards per carry (5.6) among running backs with at least 50 carries.

 

McCoy's backup, Mike Gillislee, is averaging 6.8 yards per carry and Tyrod Taylor is averaging 6.8 (fifth among quarterbacks). But as center Eric Wood noted, McCoy is "one of the best players in the league and we're a lot better with him than we are without him."

 

Pro Bowl defensive tackle Marcell Dareus is dealing with a hamstring injury and questionable to make his season debut Sunday.

 

"I'm leaving it up to the trainers," Dareus said. "We're taking things slow, but at the same time, we're making sure we don't fall backwards."

 

Robert Woods, the Bills' top receiver with Sammy Watkins on injured reserve for at least another month, has been wearing a walking boot on his left foot this week.

 

 

[RazorStar 4,025]

The train stops here.

 

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Bills declared WR Robert Woods, QB Cardale Jones, RB Jonathan Williams, OT Seantrel Henderson, C Patrick Lewis, OT Michael Ola, and DT Marcell Dareus inactive for Week 7 against the Dolphins.

Woods has a foot injury. Dareus remains sidelined with a hamstring issue.

 

 

 

 

Jay Ajayi is the Dolphins' Week 7 starter at running back.

Arian Foster (hamstring) is much closer to full health than he was last week, but the Dolphins want to stick with Ajayi's hot hand after he posted the first 200-yard rushing performance of the 2016 season last Sunday. He can be fired up as a low-end RB2 in a difficult matchup.

Inactive for the Dolphins are CB Xavien Howard, TE Jordan Cameron, TE Dion Sims, CB Bene Benwikere, DL Julius Warmsley, DL Nick Williams and DL Terrence Fede.

Source: Armando Salguero on Twitter