Ask anyone over the age of 30, who the Buffalo Bills’ biggest rival is, and the answer would surely be the Miami Dolphins. The teams have played twice a year since 1966, with the Fins leading the all-time series with a 61-54-1 record.
Over the past twenty years, the rivalry has died down, with the New England Patriots’ dominance and the inability to find franchise signal callers. But now with both teams feeling like they have found their franchise quarterbacks, they are both set up for long-term success and what could lead to a decade-long battle between the two teams atop the AFC East.
Josh Allen and the Bills may be more of a betting favorite in Las Vegas for their matchup on Sunday, but Tua Tagovailoa had what will go down as his breakout performance last week against the Baltimore Ravens. Where he threw for 469 yards and six touchdowns. After off-season chaos in Miami that included Brian Flores drama, a possible acquisition of Tom Brady, and coach Sean Payton, Miami ultimately decided to bet on Tagovailoa and made a splash trade for Tyreek Hill.
Also Read:Â Everything you need to know about NFL Sunday Ticket
The Hill addition has proved early that it suddenly makes the Dolphins a contender, therefore reinvigorating this long-term rivalry with the current Super Bowl favorite Bills. Let’s take a brief look at the rivalry’s history.
Miami Dolphins owned the Bills for the first 20 years
The Bills beat the Dolphins in their first three match-ups of all time in the 66-67 seasons, led by quarterback turned congressman Jack Kemp. That would be the last sign of success for the Bills against the Dolphins for many years to come. Over the next 20 years, the Bills would only win four of their next 39 contests against the Fins. To put that in better perspective, arguably the best Bill of all time, O.J. Simpson played for the team from 1969-1979 and his only win against their division rival came in his first year as a pro.
The Don Shula lead team from Miami beat the Bills 20 straight times in the seventies. When the streak was finally broken in the season opener in 1980, the fans in Buffalo stormed down to the field and took down the goalpost. This win catapulted them to not only their first playoff appearance in six seasons but started a change in the landscape of the rivalry for years to come.
1983 Draft changes the landscape of the AFC East for years to come
If you’re not familiar with the significance of the 1983 NFL draft and the impact it had on the next generation of the league, go check out ESPN’s 60 for 60 on it. To this day, it is known as the best QB class of all time, a claim that’s rarely disputed. The Bills passed on all QBs at pick number 12 but then followed up by picking future Hall of Famer Jim Kelly at the 14th pick overall.
Dan Marino, projected as a top ten pick in that class, fell all the way to pick 27 for the Miami Dolphins. Every team in the AFC East that had a pick in that first round, snubbed Marino for another quarterback. Bills with Kelly, the Patriots with Tony Eason, and the Jets picked Ken O’Brien just three picks before Marino.
Kelly and Marino would become the headliners of one of the best rivalries in the league over the next 15 years. When Kelly finally joined the Bills in 1986 after playing in the USFL, he would go on to lose to Marino twice in his first year in the NFL. Soon, Kelly would go on to return the favor from decades previous and go to win 17 of the next 21 games against Miami.
Most impressive is Kelly was 3-0 against his rival in playoff games. Kelly became the number one factor that kept Marino from winning a Super Bowl. The two would become lifetime friends and even more attached when they both had children with special needs. They still work together to this day on many fundraising efforts.
Finding franchise QBs proves tough
Cleo Lemon. John Beck. Jeff Tuel. Nathan Peterman. These are just a small sample of the names that have started at QB for these two franchises since their Hall of Famers retired. It has not been pretty for either franchise, but the Dolphins have seen a little more success than the Bills over the past 20 years.
The rivalry between the two stayed pretty even as far as wins and losses, but with the two teams never in contention at the same time, the excitement of these games really cooled. Some of the most memorable moments from this era included; Thurman Thomas playing against his former team, Ricky Williams rushing for 228 yards in the snow, and Lee Evans’ three-touchdown game.
Buffalo Bills look to “Squish the Fish”
One of the weirdest things from my childhood would be these inserts in the Buffalo Newspaper that said “squish the fish” every Sunday the Bills played the Dolphins. I never understood it. I was eight years old and I knew that a dolphin wasn’t a fish. Now, my drunk uncle always posts “Squish the Fish” on his Facebook every week we play the Dolphins, and it’s really all the Buffalo News’ fault. I digress.
With Allen already emerging as the favorite for MVP and a historical performance from Tagovailoa against the Ravens last week, this rivalry is set to be sparked, and that starts with this Sunday’s tilt. Allen has dominated the Dolphins in his short career, but with a banged-up Bills secondary, we may see Tua in another shootout game.
We are in the midst of another mini streak of domination, but an improved Tagovailoa may change that quickly. We have waited a long time to get here, but do we possibly have our new Kelly vs Marino? Can’t wait to find out.