This One is For Ralph

Ralph Wilson Jr. passed away in March of this year, making this the first home game in Buffalo Bills history without him as the owner.  As of this Tuesday, that title belongs to a new man in Sabres owner Terry Pegula.  With Pegula as the new Bills owner, it guarantees that they will stay in Buffalo!  If you add the fact that Jim Kelly is now cancer free, the Bills are coming off an incredible performance in Chicago, and this is against the rival Dolphins, that makes this the biggest home game since the AFC Championship games in the early 90's.  Good luck getting tickets if you haven't already, cheapest ones come in at $180/ticket!  Really wish I had one myself....

Last season the Bills took both games against Miami by scores of 23-21 and 19-0.  The key to winning those games was getting pressure on QB Ryan Tannehill.  Mario Williams and company got to him with ease and that will have to continue if they want to win.    Much like Chicago, Miami runs the football very effectively.  Led by NFL's leading rusher in week 1 Knowshon Moreno and steady backup Lamar Miller, the Dolphins ran for 191 yards in an upset victory over New England.  With 1st place in the AFC East on the line, expect both teams to run the ball a lot.  Both teams have the ability to move it through the air as well.  Tannehill is considered by many to be one of the best young quarterbacks in the league and it's hard to argue with that.  He has a very good completion % and does a good job of avoiding the big mistakes.  EJ had a very solid game last week.  He didn't have many big plays down the field, but he was confident, held onto the ball, and put the team in position to come away with the win.  

Three Keys to the Game: 

Both defense's had very good games last week, so the first key to this game is which defense will perform better? Stopping the run was instrumental to getting out to a 1-0 start so I see this game coming down to who will run the ball better.  Next is the crowd.  This will be the loudest crowd Buffalo has seen in a long time so it certainly puts the Dolphins at a disadvantage.  How the Dolphins handle this kind of pressure will ultimately determine how this game will go.  Lastly, field position might be a huge factor.  I expect a low scoring game so whoever can gain the edge in field position or get a huge play in special teams will look good.  

Prediction: Buffalo 27 Miami 17