20 things we learned: Buffalo Bills 41, Miami Dolphins 14
The Dolphins’ 2015 first-round pick caught three passes for 46 yards against Buffalo. Considering Greg Jennings, the Dolphins’ veteran starter, dropped two passes early in the game Sunday, the Dolphins might need to open up the competition for the starting split end spot. At this point Jennings should be considered a progress-stopper. -- OK
(Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)South Florida Sun-Sentinel
An utter disaster of a first half harkened back to the early-1990s domination of the Jim Kelly-Thurman Thomas-Bruce Smith Bills against the flag-tag-tackling Dolphins. This season, all of a sudden, feels like a sinkhole, about to suck down a lot of people.
The Dolphins need to give serious consideration to making lineup changes, like starting Jamar Taylor over Brice McCain.
(Lynne Sladky / AP)Taylor, a former Virginia Tech standout who was making his third NFL start, used his athleticism to keep the Dolphins defense off balance. Taylor, who threw three touchdown passes against Miami, consistently scrambled out of the pocket to buy his weapons time, and the Dolphins never adjusted to it. -- OK
(Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)Cameron Wake (91) and the Dolphins’ pass rush in total has been non-existent. Interestingly, the player with the only Dolphins sack, rookie Jordan Phillips, was made inactive before the Bills game. Wake has been dinged up, but he is also 33. He did start sackless in 2012 as well, then piled up 4.5 in Game 4 en route to a 15-sack finish, but three years in the NFL is almost a lifetime. -- SS
(Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)There is a reason the NFL has tried to legislate out kickoff returns by making touchbacks easier, as the activity is kamikaze duty. The Dolphins did let Damien Williams return kickoffs later in the debacle, so hopefully they are thinking better of exposing arguably their most valuable offensive player to that minefield. -- SS
(Wilfredo Lee / AP)Expunged from Seattle for reported attitude issues, the former Florida superstar has joined up with the rest of Rex Ryan’s Oakland Raiders East (with oodles of other NFL castoffs), and Harvin commanded huge respect from the Dolphins. As a result, sliced up Miami for seven receptions, mostly under soft coverage, for 66 yards and now has 16 catches for 192 yards in the games against the Colts, Patriots and Dolphins. -- SS
(Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)The run defense has been gashed for 435 yards this season, and it hasn’t been a bunch of long runs as oppponents have run 104 times (a 4.2-yard average). The no gains and runs for loss have been virtually non-existent and there have been way too many missed tackles, and drag-downs from behind. -- SS
(Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)You cannot miss extra-points, from 20 yards, or 33 yards. The game was over when Andrew Franks duck-hooked what should have been Miami’s 15th point. On the heels of a crucial 42-yard miss.... he had better improve in a hurry. Meanwhile, Matt Darr, who had one punt inside the 20 in the first two games, dropped three in that zone versus Buffalo and his net is at an excellent 42.9 yards. -- SS
(Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)Omar Kelly is an NFL columnist and Dolphins beat writer for the Sun Sentinel. A Florida A&M University graduate and South Florida native, he has covered the Florida State Seminoles, Miami Hurricanes, Miami Heat and Miami Dolphins during his career as a sports reporter, which began in 1997.
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Steve Svekis has been at the Sun Sentinel since 1989. He has been the sports Sunday editor and page designer, assistant sports editor over high schools, business columnist and now web producer. He wrote and voiced a web-animated parody of the Miami Dolphins in 2004 and 2005 that earned an EPpy, beating out the New York Times and Toronto Star. He was a Dolphins beat writer in 2010.