Admin September 12, 2024
NFL Week 2 picks, predictions and best bets
USA TODAY Sports’ Lorenzo Reyes is back with his NFL best bets for week 2 games of the NFL season.
The Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins renew their AFC East rivalry on “Thursday Night Football” coming off come-from-behind victories in the 2024 NFL season‘s opening week.
Josh Allen — who is 11-2 in 13 career games against Miami — accounted for four touchdowns as the Bills bounced back from a 14-point deficit to defeat the Arizona Cardinals, 34-28. The Dolphins also faced a 14-point hole in Week 1, but rallied for a last-second 20-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
More than eight months ago, the Bills went into Hard Rock Stadium and defeated the Dolphins in what was essentially an AFC East title game. That Week 18 encounter sent the Bills home as the AFC’s No. 2 playoff seed and the Dolphins were a wild-card team, forced to play the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at frigid Arrowhead Stadium the next week, losing one of the coldest playoff games in NFL history. A week later, the Bills’ season also ended at the hands of the Chiefs.
Both teams enter this season with playoff aspirations, and an early season edge in the division will be on the line Thursday night.
USA TODAY Sports will bring you the latest updates, scores, highlights, wild plays, analysis and more throughout the Bills-Dolphins game. Follow along.
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First quarter
Bills touchdown (9:49) — James Cook, 17-yard pass from Josh Allen (Tyler Bass extra point)
Dolphins touchdown (3:21) — De’Von Achane, 5-yard pass from Tua Tagovailoa (Jason Sanders extra point)
Second quarter
Bills field goal (12:41) — Tyler Bass, 43 yards
Bills touchdown (6:25) — James Cook, 1-yard run (Tyler Bass extra point)
Bills touchdown (3:36) — James Cook, 49-yard run (Tyler Bass extra point)
Dolphins field goal (0:04) — Jason Sanders, 34 yards
Third quarter
Bills touchdown (9:27) — Ja’Marcus Ingram, 31-yard interception return (Tyler Bass extra point)
Tua Tagovailoa went down in the third quarter of Thursday night’s game.
On fourth-and-4 from Buffalo’s 13-yard line, Tagovailoa scrambled up the middle as he attempted to get a first down. He dove headfirst ahead of the first down marker but was hit by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. It appeared Tagovailoa hit his head on Hamlin during the tackle.
Tagovailoa stayed on the grass for a few moments. He was eventually helped off the field and escorted to the locker room by the Dolphins’ medical staff. The Dolphins later ruled Tagovailoa out with a concussion. — Tyler Dragon
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa extended the Dolphin’s drive, picking up a first down on a 6-yard scramble play. Tagovailoa took a big hit on the play from Bills safety Demar Hamlin and was ruled out with a concussion.
Dolphins backup quarterback Skylar Thompson entered for Tagovailoa with a fresh set of downs, but Miami wasn’t able to do anything with them. On fourth-and-goal, Thompson was sacked by Buffalo’s Von Miller for a 7-yard loss.
The Dolphins turned the ball over on downs at Buffalo’s 15-yard-line trailing the Bills, 31-10. — Cydney Henderson
Tua Tagovailoa is having bad night in Miami.
The Dolphins quarterback threw his third interception of the game midway through the third quarter.
On third-and-7 from Miami’s own 30-yard line, Tagovailoa was under pressure, and he tried to throw the ball out of bounds. But his throw came up short of the sideline and was intercepted by Bills cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram. Ingram caught the football and returned it 31 yards to the house to extend Buffalo’s lead to 31-10 with 9:27 left in the third quarter.
Ingram is having himself a night. The Bills cornerback has two interceptions and a touchdown. — Tyler Dragon
The Bills will be without LB Terrel Bernard for the remainder of the game. Bernard appeared to suffer a pectoral injury in the first quarter during a defensive stand at the goal line. Bernard was listed as questionable, before the Bills ruled him out after halftime. Bernard recorded 11 total tackles (10 solo) last week in the Bills’ season opening win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Dolphins LT Terron Armstead was listed as questionable with shoulder injury, but returned shortly after. — Cydney Henderson
We hope you started Bills running back James Cook in fantasy football this weekend.
Cook has accounted for all three of the Bills touchdowns as they head into the locker room with a 24-10 halftime lead over their AFC East rival, the Dolphins. Cook, who has 60 rushing yards and 17 receiving yards, picked up one touchdown by air and two on the ground. Cook’s three touchdowns tie the most ever by a Bills player in the first half.
Turnovers were the story of the first half for the Dolphins. Tua Tagovailoa was picked off two times, yielding 10 points to the Bills. Tagovailoa has completed 13 of 18 passes for 97 yards and one touchdown, in addition to the two interceptions.
Josh Allen, on the other hand, completed nine for 13 passes for 108 yards and one touchdown. — Cydney Henderson
The Dolphins had a promising drive underway, but it ended in an Ed Oliver sack.
On fourth-and-1 from the Bills’ 45-yard line, Tua Tagovailoa was sacked by Oliver for a 6-yard loss. Oliver immediately created pressure up the middle and got to Tagovailoa.
The Bills took over possession of the football and went the distance in one play.
Josh Allen handed the football off to James Cook, the running back found a hole up the middle and raced down the field for a 49-yard touchdown. It’s the longest run of the season for Cook, who has three touchdowns in the game.
The Bills now lead 24-7 with 3:36 remaining in the first half. — Tyler Dragon
The Bills have opened up a double-digit lead over the Dolphins. Bills running back James Cook easily found the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown to cap their 85-yard drive.
The Bills’ drive was aided by an unnecessary roughness penalty called on Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer, who was on the Bills from 2017-2023. The penalty moved the Bills from their 35-yard line to the 50-yard line after Poyer led with his head on a tackle on Bills receiver Khalil Shakir.
A 33-yard pass play from Josh Allen to Ty Johnson set up Cook’s touchdown run. — Cydney Henderson
The Bills have scored all 10 of their points off turnovers.
After Buffalo’s defense forced another takeaway with excellent field possession, the offense got one first down. But the possession ended on Miami’s 25-yard line, which led to a successful 43-yard field goal by kicker Tyler Bass.
The Bills have a 10-7 lead with 12:41 remaining in the second quarter. — Tyler Dragon
Tua Tagovailoa has thrown an interception, again.
Although the first interception wasn’t necessarily Tagovailoa’s fault after his pass was tipped by his receiver, the second interception of the game was entirely on Tagovailoa. On first-and-10 from the 29-yard line, Tagovailoa’s pass intended for WR Robbie Chosen was picked off by Bills cornerback Christian Benford and returned six yards to Miami’s 44-yard line.
It’s the first time Tagovailoa has thrown two first-quarter interceptions in 55 career games. The Dolphins defense held the Bills to a 43-yard field goal. All 10 of the Bills’ points have come off turnovers. — Cydney Henderson
Tua Tagovailoa and De’Von Achane led the Dolphins on a 10-play, 70-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 7-7.
Achane was key on the touchdown drive, rushing four times, including a 14-yard run. The drive was capped off when Achane caught a short pass from Tagovailoa and ran it in the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown.
The running back has seven touches, 31 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in the first quarter. — Tyler Dragon
The Bills offense had excellent field possession after the turnover.
Buffalo got the football on the 37-yard line. The Bills initially earned one first down, but were forced into a fourth-and-3 from Miami’s 17-yard line.
The Bills decided to go for it instead of kicking a field goal. On fourth down, Josh Allen beat the blitz and found RB James Cook on a short pass. Cook retrieved the ball and raced down the field wide open for a 17-yard touchdown to give the Bills an early 7-0 lead with 9:49 on the clock in the first quarter. — Tyler Dragon
The first possession for the Dolphins resulted in a turnover.
On third-and-13 from the 39-yard line, Tua Tagovailoa’s pass intended for WR Grant DuBose was picked off by Bills CB Ja’Marcus Ingram and returned 23 yards to Miami’s 37-yard line.
It appeared DuBose wasn’t ready for Tagovailoa’s pass as it bounced off his shoulder pads and into the arms of Ingram. — Tyler Dragon
Tyreek Hill is opening up about the “traumatic” police stop that ended with him on the pavement in handcuffs.
Ahead of the Dolphins’ “Thursday Night Football” matchup against the Buffalo Bills, Amazon Prime aired a sit-down interview between reporter Taylor Rooks and Hill, four days after he was forcibly removed from his vehicle and detained during a routine traffic stop in Miami. — Cydney Henderson
Bills at Dolphins will kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Bills at Dolphins will be streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video and will be broadcast in local markets only.
Al Michaels (play-by-play) and Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) will be in the broadcast booth for Peacock, with Kaylee Hartung (sideline) and Terry McAulay (rules analyst) providing additional coverage.
The Prime Video pregame, halftime and postgame shows feature Charissa Thompson as host, as well as former NFL players Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tony Gonzalez, Richard Sherman and Andrew Whitworth as analysts. Taylor Rooks is the feature reporter for Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football” coverage.
Dolphins running back De’Von Achane had been listed as questionable for Thursday night’s matchup with an ankle injury. However, the game-breaking runner will be available for the Dolphins. Running back Raheem Mostert, however, will not play having already been ruled out with a chest injury.
For the Bills, starting defensive back Taron Johnson will not be available Thursday night.
Bills’ inactive players:
- CB Taron Johnson
- LB Joe Andreessen
- LB Edefuan Ulofoshio
- DE Javon Solomon
- OT Ryan Van Demark
- DE Dawuane Smoot
Dolphins’ inactive players:
- CB Ethan Bonner
- RB Raheem Mostert
- LB Channing Tindall
- LB Mohamed Kamara
- OL Andrew Meyer
- WR Malik Washington
The Dolphins are wearing throwback uniforms for their matchup against the Bills, with the look featuring the classic helmet logo, aqua jerseys and white pants. The look harkens back to the Dolphins’ 1970s heyday.
The Dolphins also will wear the throwback uniforms on Thanksgiving Day when they play the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. — Jim Reineking
Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill had seven receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown in Week 1. It marked Hill’s 22nd career game with at least 125 receiving yards and a touchdown reception. With at least 125 receiving yards and a touchdown catch on Thursday, Hill will surpass Hall of Famers Calvin Johnson (22 games) and Randy Moss (22) for the third-most such games by a player in their first nine seasons in NFL history. — Tyler Dragon
Bills quarterback Josh Allen tallied four touchdowns (two passing and two rushing) in Week 1. It marked Allen’s 37th career game with both a touchdown pass and rushing touchdown. If Allen has a passing TD and a rushing TD against the Dolphins, he will surpass Cam Newton (37 games) for the most games with a passing and rushing TD by a player in his first seven seasons in NFL history. — Tyler Dragon
Ever since quarterback Josh Allen joined the Bills in 2018, the team has enjoyed success against the rival Dolphins.
Allen has an 11-2 record in 13 career games against Miami, including playoffs. In those games, Allen also has enjoyed statistical success, throwing for two or more touchdowns and 300-plus yards in each of the past five matchups.
The Bills won both games against the Dolphins during the 2023 season, which included a Week 18 winner-gets-the-division showdown. During the 2022 season, the Bills eliminated the Dolphins during the wild-card playoffs with a 34-31 win in Orchard Park, N.Y. — Jim Reineking
The Dolphins are favorites to defeat the Bills, according to the BetMGM NFL odds. Looking to wager? Check out the best mobile sports betting apps offering NFL betting promos in 2024.
- Spread: Dolphins (-2.5)
- Moneyline: Dolphins (-145); Bills (+120)
- Over/under: 48.5
Here are the USA TODAY Sports’ expert picks for the game:
The process of ending the longest active stretch in the NFL without a postseason victory begins Thursday night for the Miami Dolphins.
The Bills have been a bugaboo for the Dolphins. This AFC East rivalry has been one-sided for the past five-plus years. A win on “Thursday Night Football” will give the Dolphins an upper hand in the race for a division title. — Chris Bumbaca
The Bills and Dolphins have been regular combatants since the Dolphins entered the American Football League as an expansion team in 1966.
The Dolphins hold a slight advantage in the all-time series, 62-58-1, which includes the Bills’ 4-1 edge in postseason games.
During the 1970s, the series was decidedly one-sided, as the Dolphins won every game (20-0) during the decade. The two teams’ first playoff matchup happened during the 1990 NFL season as the Bills were marching toward their first Super Bowl appearance. Two seasons later, the Bills defeated the Dolphins in the 1992 AFC championship game, the most high-profile showdown between these two teams. — Jim Reineking
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