The Miami Dolphins won by 50 last week; the Buffalo Bills won by 34.
That’s what makes this game for first place in the AFC East in NFL Week 4 so delicious.
Miami has built its team around the league’s most explosive offense with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane.
Josh Allen is Buffalo’s biggest star, but the team is really built around its defense.
Buffalo sacked Washington nine times, intercepted four passes, and did not yield a touchdown in Sunday’s 37-3 win.
Miami gained more than 700 total yards, and Achane and Raheem Mostert combined for eight touchdowns.
Something must give. History says the Dolphins won’t score more than 21.
Related: NFL Week 3 review
“They’re explosive. Anybody that touches the ball can score. A 2-yard run turns into a crease and a gash,” Bills coach Sean McDermott told reporters. “Same thing with the passing game. Coach (Mike) McDaniel does a great job moving guys around creating different styles of offense. It’s a handful.”
If Sean Payton’s Broncos can’t beat lowly Bears …
Sean Payton just suffered through the most embarrassing loss of his career last week.
“Every one of us gets inundated with text messages of support,” Payton told reporters. “Oftentimes, they’re [from] people that care for you. You read them sometimes, and you’re like, ‘Man, this is what we do for a living. No one passed away. We’ll get through it.’”
Still, you know he’s cranked up the intensity in Denver this week. Players and coaches have probably been put on notice.
Chicago, right now, is the league’s worst team. Surely, Russell Wilson can score enough points, and the defense can slow down Justin Fields enough to notch their first win.
Wilson has completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 791 yards in three games, with six touchdowns and two interceptions.
“I think this is a game where our red-zone efficiency is going to be important,” Payton said. “I would look at it a little bit more as a team on offense than specific to ‘Russ.’ We saw it at the end of training camp, and we’re seeing it now. He’s operating quickly and throwing well.”
If the Broncos can’t beat the Bears, Payton has considerably more work than he thought.
Christian McCaffrey could run wilds vs. Arizona
Christian McCaffrey has been worth the litany of draft picks San Francisco sent Carolina at the trade deadline.
In 14 games with the 49ers, McCaffrey has gained 1,099 yards and averaged 5.0 per carry. He’s also caught 63 passes for 534 yards. He’s scored 13 touchdowns.
McCaffrey will get a chance to pad those numbers Sunday against Arizona. Tony Pollard gained 123 yards on 22 carries against the Cardinals.
Proving ground for Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns defense
Cleveland has the NFL’s best defense and the league’s most dominant defensive player through three games.
They’ll get a chance to prove they should be taken seriously Sunday against Baltimore.
Beat the Ravens and shut down Lamar Jackson, and they’ll get the attention they crave.
In a 27-3 win over Tennessee, defensive end Myles Garrett had five tackles, 3 1/2 sacks, three tackles for loss, and five quarterback hits. He also forced a fumble.
Related: NFL defense rankings
“He’s a great, great pass rusher, a great defender,” Jackson told reporters. “I’ve been seeing him around since college — since my freshman year of college — so I’m used to playing against him, I would say. He’s a great defender, all-around defensive lineman.”
For the season, Garrett has 10 QB hits, eight tackles, four and a half sacks, four tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.
The Browns have allowed 28 total points, and they limited Tennessee to 94 total yards.
Josh Dobbs still reveling in win over Cowboys
Josh Dobbs played the game of his life against Dallas last week, completing 17 of 21 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown in a 28-16 win over the Cowboys.
He’s enjoyed the win, trolling Dallas linebacker Micah Parsons on social media and videoing his unsuccessful quest to buy his jersey in Phoenix.
The Cardinals play San Francisco this week, and it’s unlikely they will rush for 222 yards and a 7.4 average like they did against Dallas.
So Dobbs will need to play even better than he did last week. That said, he should enjoy the moment because Kyler Murray will return at some point, and Dobbs will be a backup.
Murray is eligible to come off the PUP list on Monday.
“I stay true to me. I’m excited to see Kyler come back. I have watched his game from afar for a while,” Dobbs told the team’s website. “It’s cool to meet him and be in the same room as him and be around him.
“When [the return] happens, I control what I can control and absorb whatever role that puts me in and go from there. It’ll be OK. I’ll manage it, he’ll manage it, we’ll be fine.”
Time for Jets to pass on from Zach Wilson
The reality is the New York Jets have to get rid of Zach Wilson.
His abject performance — 52.4 completion percentage and 155.7 yards passing per game — will eventually tear the team apart.
No matter what the players say publicly, they couldn’t possibly have any confidence in him because he’s never performed at a high level.
And it doesn’t help when a legend like Joe Namath rips him publicly. Jets coach Robert Saleh will lose credibility in the locker room if he continues to play a dude who gives his team no chance to win.
“Obviously, Joe was an unbelievable player, but this locker room is very tight-knit, and we’re working to get better,” Wilson told reporters. “I’m working to get better, and I know I need to improve. I promise I’m doing everything I can to keep trying to get better. The focus is to rely on each other in this locker room and lean on each other. That’s all we’ve got at the end of the day, and we’re going to keep trying to improve.”
Good luck doing that against Kansas City.
Vikings coach: Cut out turnovers or else
Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell is sick and tired of the turnovers — and he’s threatening jobs.
The Vikings lead the league with nine turnovers. They have lost seven fumbles.
“Either guys are going to [fix] it,” said O’Connell, “or we’re going to have to put other guys in the game that have ball security.
“We need to end every snap with the football in our hands. And that’s going to be continued urgency and emphasis, like it was last week. And we’re going to continue to do it, and do it differently, and emphasize in different ways until that value is received, because that is a losing formula, as we’ve seen where we’re at in the turnover differential.”
The winless Vikings play winless Carolina with backup Andy Dalton. Bryce Young is out with a sprained ankle.
It’s a little early for must-win games, but the playoffs will seem like an impossibility if the Vikings lose to the Panthers.
Jean-Jacques Taylor is an NFL Insider for Sportsnaut, and the author of the upcoming book Coach Prime: Deion Sanders and the Making of Men. Follow him on Twitter.