The Miami Dolphins must have big plays to beat the Buffalo Bills

Tua Tagovailoa will be sidelined for the third straight week as the Miami Dolphins will look to win their first playoff game since 2000.

With Tua out and Teddy Bridgewater not being 100% the Dolphins once again turn to Skylar Thompson to lead the offense.

Let’s be honest, last weeks performance against the New York Jets did not generate a ton of hope amongst Dolphins fans. There were definitely some positives, he did not turn the ball over, he made a couple big throws late, and he stood tall in the pocket, but he is definitely not Tua.

So, facing a much better Bills defense this week what does Thompson and the Dolphins offense need to do to win this week?

The most important thing is that they under no circumstance turn the ball over.

Turnovers against a team like the Bills who can score quickly are a recipe for disaster. There are teams where if you turn it over you do not fear their offense enough for it to matter. The Bills are not that team. If you give the Bills extra possessions, while playing a third string quarterback it is near impossible to win.

Thompson and the rest of the offense did a good job of that last week. They have to do it again.

Now, I cold bore you with the obvious key of the importance of running the ball to take the pressure off of Thompson, but I am not going to do that.

This game offensively falls on the shoulders of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle’s abilities to make big plays after the catch.

It is hard to move the ball four to seven yards at a time. In order to score touchdowns like that you have to string together 12 to 15 plays with little to no mistakes. Against a Bills defense like this that is really difficult to do.

Hill and Waddle need to combine for at least four plays of 20 yards or more in order for the Dolphins to win this game.

The last thing is that Thompson needs to use his legs. He can run. He is athletic. Adding another dimension to the offense with a quarterback run game would be beneficial for the Dolphins.

Right now, the Dolphins offense is pretty standard. They hand it off to a running back or they drop back and pass. Adding a quarterback run game adds another thing the Bills have to think about.

It does not have to be anything crazy. Thompson does not have to run for 100 yards and two touchdowns for this to be beneficial. If it is 10 rushes for 55 yards that is good enough. It needs to happen often enough for the Bills to have to think about one more thing every snap.

That extra second they have to process if it is a potential quarterback run could allow Hill or Waddle to get loose for a big play.

This is going to be a tough game for the Dolphins to win. Everyone knows that. They can do it though. Tua was not exceedingly great when they won in Miami earlier this year.

Thompson does not have to be great. He has to play smart, use his legs, and let his playmakers make big plays.

If those things happen, the Dolphins can win this game.