Bills’ Dean Marlowe make surprise admission about pick vs. Dolphins
While the Bills didn’t play their best game on Sunday, they did enough to escape the Wild Card round with a 34-31 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
The fact the team is moving on in the playoffs, is thanks in large part to a strong performance from the Buffalo defense.
Despite facing a third-string rookie quarterback in Skylar Thompson, the Bills still had to contend with the likes of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle at wide receiver… a nightmare for any secondary.
The Bills found a way to keep them both out of the endzone.
“Ya, that was huge,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said during his postgame press conference. “I think they had one, maybe two [explosive plays]? So just overall good job by the secondary to keep them in check the best we could. You know they’re really good, really fast.”
One of the highlights of the game on defense came from a rather unlikely source. Veteran safety, Dean Marlowe.
With injuries to the Bills secondary including Micah Hyde and notably Damar Hamlin, Buffalo has been forced to reach further down the bench.
Marlowe, who played for the Bills for several seasons before signing with the Detroit Lions last year, was brought back to the team earlier this season at the trade deadline.
The Bills gave up a 7th-round draft pick for the safety who was with the Atlanta Falcons at the time.
With a 7-point lead in the first quarter, Marlowe was able to make a play on the ball and come up with an interception which lead to a Bills touchdown on the corresponding drive.
.@machine_marlowe with the INT! @BuffaloBills get the ball right back.
📺: #MIAvsBUF on CBS
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/zCGXBeNnOK pic.twitter.com/17ctaDEPup— NFL (@NFL) January 15, 2023
“Schematically, I wasn’t in the right position, to be honest,” Marlowe told the media after the game. “I knew I messed up, but I can only try to make the best out of the situation and think my instincts kinda kicked in to get back where I needed to be. You know, I quickly seen him throw the ball and I just put my hands up and grabbed it.”
Marlowe was asked what sort of reception he got from coaches and teammates after making his way back to the sideline.
“Man, they just say, ‘you see ball, you get ball,'” Marlow said laughing. “I’m living right, gotta be living right. Just for me to be schematically not in the right position but for me to kinda have a panic mode and get back and make a play, you know hey, if you’re not in the right position you better make a play. You better make it and I made it.”
While we are use to seeing Bills quarterback, Josh Allen and his offensive teammates grab the headlines, Marlowe said that isn’t the case inside the Bills’ locker room.
“It starts during the week, man,” Marlowe continued. “We make sure we play as one heartbeat and when things go wrong… we say in the defensive room that our team is lead by our defense. Any team that has a strong defense, gives themselves a chance to win a ballgame. So, we just told each other we’ve got to get as many takeaways as possible and you know we did a good job.”
The Bills will need that continued stellar play from this defense if they hope to advance further on throughout the playoffs.
