Stock up, stock down following the Bills' win over the Dolphins

The Bills 31-28 victory over the Miami Dolphins had a little bit of everything: a power outage, a lightning delay, a goal line stand, and Josh Allen throwing for over 400 yards. At times, Buffalo looked electric on offense, with Allen hitting different receivers in different parts of the field. That was reflected in the first half as the team jumped out to a 17-10 lead before halftime. As the Bills offense started to get into gear, their defense bottomed out. Dolphins quarterback, and Bills fan favorite, Ryan Fitzpatrick ripped the Bills secondary to shreds, throwing for more than 300 yards. 

The Bills relied on Allen, Stefon Diggs, and theior offensive weapons to win them the game in Miami, and they delivered. That’s new and that’s great.

Now let’s look at who performed, and who hindered the Bills vs. the Dolphins in this week’s stock report: 

Stock up

Josh Allen 

In two consecutive weeks  Allen leads the charge for the Bills. Last week, he threw for a career-high 312 yards and contributed three touchdowns. This week, he threw for a staggering 417 yards and four touchdowns. Allen looked crisp from the jump, hitting the likes of Diggs, Cole Beasley, and John Brown in the center of the park, gashing the Dolphins in the process. In Buffalo’s Week 1 victory, most of Allen’s completions came within 15 yards from the line of scrimmage. This week he was pushing the ball downfield, hitting receivers John Brown, and Isiah McKenzie for over 40-yard gains. 

While completing 68.5 percent of his throws, and throwing for four touchdowns, Allen is putting up some impressive numbers early in the season, let’s see if he can extend this run against a tougher Rams defense in week three. 

Stefon Diggs

Here’s another familiar face from last week. Diggs had a nice game against the Jets, but against the ‘Fins he had a miraculous game. The receiver had eight catches, for 153 yards, and one touchdown, his first with the Bills. Whenever Allen needed a big play he looked toward his new target, and for the most part, he delivered. Whether it was on third down, or starting a drive, Allen threw it Diggs way, and the Dolphins didn’t have an answer. 

Diggs will have a massive challenge lining up against cornerback Jalen Ramsey against the Rams in Week 3, but he will definitely be up to the challenge and that’s going to be one of the best battles to watch this season. 

John Brown 

Brown continued his streak of strong performances in a Bills uniform, with five catches, 82 yards, and one touchdown. His highlight catch was a 49-yard touchdown reception, where he lived up to his nickname ‘Smoke’ in that he completely smoked Miami’s secondary with his underrated speed. Miami seemed overly concerned about Diggs, leaving Brown with one-on-one matchups throughout the game. Allen and Brown exploited those matchups giving Buffalo big plays throughout the contest. 

Ever since the offseason acquisition of Diggs, pundits have made claims that the Bills could have one of the deepest receiving corps in the league, and through Week 2 they’re living up to the hype. 

Tyrel Dodson 

In a week where the Bills missed their two starting linebackers, Tyrel Dodson had to fill the void left by Tremaine Edmunds, and for the most part he stepped up. Dodson was one of the vocal leaders on defense, and also third on the team in tackles with eight. While he doesn’t have the athleticism or length of Edmunds, he still was able to fill gaps in the run game and apply pressure to Fitzpatrick when called upon. 

Dodson starting at linebacker every week isn’t what McDermott or Leslie Frazier want but he was an effective stop-gap against the Dolphins. 

Honorable mentions

Receivers Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis deserve a shout, Beasley’s 70 receiving yards set-up a majority of Buffalo’s touchdowns, and then Davis had an exceptional touchdown grab to give Buffalo the lead in the fourth quarter. Ed Oliver had a great sack on Fitzpatrick, and some decent tackles in the run game, but was largely ineffective throughout the game. Finally, fullback Reggie Gilliam, who had one catch, for one yard, and one touchdown, the first of his NFL career.