Bills-Dolphins Preview

Sunday's game featuring the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins isn't in the top slate of week 15 NFL games. Why should it be?

The Bills enter at 3-10 while the Dolphins enter at 7-6. While the Dolphins have a chance at the playoffs, they probably won't make it.

With all the negative things you can say about this game, I actually feel quite the opposite and am looking forward to Sunday's game. The game will be a rematch of the season opener in which the Dolphins won in a tight game. The Dolphins are the Bills biggest rival and the game means something to the fans of Buffalo.

The Bills enter having won 3 of their last 5 games and have been playing solid football for the last half of the season despite their record. A victory on the road over Miami in December would show that the Bills are heading in the right direction.

Miami enters the game coming off a crucial victory over the New York Jets to keep their playoff chances alive. They are in 9th place in the AFC and are 2 games back of the final wild card spot.

Miami is a difficult team to project from week to week. They have a great defense but their offense is below average. And surprisingly, they are awful at home. Miami is only 1-5 at home so far this season. It's very odd to see an above .500 teams have such a poor home record.

Key to the game:

The key to the game will be who wins the matchup between the Miami Dolphins ground game and the Buffalo Bills defense.

Miami has a powerful running duo in Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. They are two very talented running backs who normally run all over the Bills. As stated in the past, the Bills have an awful run defense and let average running backs look like pro bowlers against them.

If Miami runs all over the Bills, it should open up their playbook enough to score some points. With the defense they have, that should be enough to beat the Bills.

However, if the Bills can contain Miami's duo like they contained Peyton Hillis last week, the Bills defense can get more aggressive and has the potential to shut down the Dolphins offense. In that scenario, the Bills will easily be able to score enough points to win.

Outlook:

I think that the Bills will put together their second straight defensive effort and shut down Miami's offense. In the end, I think the Bills will find a way to score "just" enough points to win on Sunday.

Prediction: Bills 17-14