Three questions may hold the keys to who comes out on top of Bills vs Dolphins showdown

ORCHARD PARK - Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott is usually not someone who will use hyperbolic words to describe the play of his team, or the opponent.

McDermott has the monotone clichés down to a science, but his tune was a little different Monday afternoon when he was asked about the incredible performance the Miami Dolphins put on during their 70-20 Week 3 evisceration of the Denver Broncos.

“They have unreal team speed on the offensive side,” McDermott said. “That’s really where my focus has been the last hour or two (watching film). And it seems like they added to it this offseason, right? So, very good skill, Tua (Tagovailoa) is throwing the ball extremely well, and their schematics are almost revolutionary in what they do.”

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Wow, we got an “unreal” and a “revolutionary” in one remark. So yeah, right now the Dolphins are some kind of special and they will provide McDermott’s stout defense with perhaps the toughest challenge he’s ever faced – even more than Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs - since he became head coach in 2017.

Here are three questions that are on my mind as the Bills begin getting ready for this massive AFC East showdown with Miami.

1. Can Josh Allen continue his mastery of the Dolphins?

Obviously, and deservedly, much of the focus for this game is on the seemingly unstoppable Miami offense. How could it not be, right? The Dolphins just scored 70 points, gained 726 yards, and had two players not named Tyreek Hill score four touchdowns each (Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane). They scored 10 offensive touchdowns against the Broncos; there is only one other team in the NFL with 10 offensive TDs total for the season, the Chargers.

However, let’s not pretend that Buffalo’s offense should be ignored. After all, Miami leads the NFL at 43.3 points per game, but the Bills are second at 30.3. Further, let’s not forget this rather important factor: Allen has owned Miami’s defense almost from the moment he entered the league. He lost his first start against the Dolphins in 2018 (thanks to a Charles Clay drop in the waning seconds), and since then has won nine of the last 10 including last year’s AFC wild-card game.

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In his 10 regular-season games against Miami, Allen has been named AFC offensive player of the week four times, has thrown for 27 TDs with just five interceptions, has completed 63.7% of his passes for 2,684 yards, and he has rushed for 556 yards and four TDs. The Dolphins have a good defense, but I would expect that the Bills are going to score plenty and the issue will come down to whether the Buffalo defense can hold up well enough to win a high-scoring game.

2. Will cornerback Kaiir Elam be active?

The 2022 first-round draft pick has been a healthy scratch the first three weeks, but I wonder if he might get a jersey for this game. Elam’s best attribute in college at Florida was his ability to play press man coverage and run with receivers because he has excellent speed, evidenced by a 4.39 scouting combine 40-yard dash.

Last season he played in all three games against the Dolphins (Tagovailoa started the two in the regular season) and according to Pro Football Focus, Elam gave up just five receptions on 11 targets for 23 yards and he had a key interception in the playoff victory. The Bills were down 27-24 in the third quarter when Elam picked off Skylar Thompson to set up the touchdown that put the Bills ahead for good.

In the two games Tagovailoa played, Elam was part of a secondary that limited Hill to 11 catches for 102 yards and one TD, though Jaylen Waddle had seven for 216 yards and a TD. Maybe this is a call McDermott won’t make because Christian Benford has played well, but activating Elam is something to watch.

3. Can the Buffalo Bills start getting more production from their tight ends?

We heard so much in the preseason about how the Bills were going to utilize two-tight end formations so much more than in 2022 when they used ‘12’ personnel the fewest of any team in the NFL.

And the Bills have done that because rookie first-round pick Dalton Kincaid has become the primary slot receiver despite his tight end designation while Dawson Knox has played in the traditional tight end spot.

Knox has been on the field for 154 snaps, Kincaid has played 137 snaps, and of that total, Knox has been involved in 87 snaps and Kincaid 84 when the Bills were throwing the ball, many of those featuring both players on the field together.

But through three games, the results have been somewhat disappointing. Kincaid has been targeted just 12 times and his 11 catches have gone for a paltry 72 yards and have resulted in just two first downs. Knox has caught seven of 11 targets for just 46 yards, four first downs and a TD.

Yes, Allen has been throwing a lot of short passes so far, but there has been nothing downfield to the tight ends, particularly Kincaid who was supposed to be a player who could get down the seam and make plays that would help open the outside for wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. That’s something that has to start changing and Sunday would be a good time for Ken Dorsey to expand the offense.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during training camp, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills vs Dolphins: Three questions may hold the keys to Buffalo win