Bills expert shares his thoughts on how the Dolphins can beat Buffalo in Week 2

The Miami Dolphins will host the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night. It's an early division game with little on the line in terms of playoff seeding or even a division title, but there is more at stake for the Dolphins than there is for the Bills.

Miami needs to exercise the demons of the last several years, the narrative they can't beat good football teams. The Bills are a good team and stand in front of the Dolphins for the division and respect.

Miami will face the Bills with former starter Jordan Poyer in Miami as well as Siran Neal. Miami needs to pay close attention to what both players talk about this week. At the start of training camp, Poyer called out his new teammates for the lack of fight when they played each other. This year, the Dolphins can take a big step forward with a win.

This week, we discussed the Dolphins game with BuffalowDown writer Brandon Ray and asked him three key questions leading up to the action:

Dolphins vs. Bills insights heading into Thursday Night Football

What was the biggest surprise from the Bills first week win, good or bad?

• The biggest surprise from the Bills' first Week 1 win was the lack of production from tight end Dalton Kincaid. He was targeted just twice and had only one reception for 11 yards. Kincaid had a lot of hype this offseason, especially with the departure of Stefon Diggs. He was viewed as Josh Allen's No. 1 target in the passing attack, yet he had the same amount of targets as Dawson Knox. Even though it is just one game, not seeing Kincaid involved early on was a bit of a surprise. At the same time, this proves that Joe Brady's philosophy of getting everyone involved is factual.

What was the biggest loss for the Bills that they will struggle to overcome?

• The biggest loss in the offseason for the Bills that could cause them to struggle is losing the leadership of Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde. Buffalo's secondary is going through a little bit of a transition and while they have talent, they are going to miss the leadership value that Poyer and Hyde had. Since 2017, Buffalo was spoiled with fantastic safety play with this duo, but all good things had to come to an end. They were the ones that kept the defense together when times became tough, so it will be interesting to see who can step up in that absence.

With Matt Milano out again with an injury, what is the defensive impact for Buffalo?

• The defensive impact for Buffalo with Matt Milano is crucial yet manageable. Milano only played in four full games last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 5. That allowed Terrel Bernard to display the impact that he brings to the defense. Bills fans were hoping that seeing a full season of Bernard and Milano would be a fantastic show. Instead, it will be Bernard and Dorian Williams. The hopeful impact that Buffalo wants is to see Williams take the next step forward in his game. He is a very energetic player who is a great run-stopper. However, his pass coverage needs some serious improvement.