Miami Dolphins @ Buffalo Bills, Sunday 6pm UK, Bills Stadium
The top two finishers in the AFC East clash in Buffalo. The 13-and-3 Bills, against 9-and-8 Dolphins.
No Tua under centre for the Dolphins. No Teddy Bridgewater either. Skylar Thompson is the man in the hot seat, and of course much will depend on how he fares in his first-ever playoff start.
Contrast that with Buffalo’s Josh Allen, a tremendous force to be reckoned with and one of the league’s elite talents. In all candour, Miami look to be up against it here. Betting; Bills 1/9, Dolphins 6/1. Game total points 43.5; and the spread sees Buffalo at -13.5. That should tell you all you need to know about how the layers see it panning out at least.
Miami will miss running back Raheem Mostert, out with a thumb injury I understand. One weapon Thompson won’t be able to call upon. Tyreek Hill though is a proverbial force of nature and if the young QB can find him in stride and in space, the sky’s the limit.
The brilliant Allen has the likes of Singletary, Diggs and Cook to call upon, offensively – plus his own powerful, unscripted bursts. A factor we should consider of course is the harrowing incident when safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field against the Bengals earlier this month. Thank goodness the player appears to be recovering well, but it will have left its mark on everyone.
Stats-wise, both these teams have elite offenses, BUT those figures were achieved in the main, as far as Miami goes, with Tua. As far as the ‘D’ goes, Bills are comfortably more secure, statistically.
So – I just can’t see any scenario where Buffalo don’t get the job done to be honest. That spread concerns me a little – they are of course more than capable of covering, but 13.5 is tempting territory. So, ..
