The Miami Dolphins celebrated their big win against the Buffalo Bills in style, whether it was players rolling around the victorious locker room in the large laundry bins, wide receivers coach Robert Prince breakdancing and doing the worm or, better yet, Mike McDaniel making sure to drive right past a Fort Lauderdale bar that’s a Bills fan hangout on the way home.
The Dolphins absolutely deserved to enjoy and savor that win, not only because it was the high point in what otherwise has been a down season, but also stop (at least temporarily) Buffalo’s dominance over them.
But here comes another challenge, one that should be at the forefront of McDaniel, one that’s more significant than the next opponents, the Washington Commanders.
McDaniel has to make sure his players don’t suffer from a post-Bills hangover.
While it’s far from ever being the only factor, emotion does play a key role in determining the outcome of NFL games.
The Dolphins definitely looked like the more determined team at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, which was one of the first things Bills QB Josh Allen said after the 30-13 outcome, and it makes sense when you consider their desperation level in the aftermath of Chris Grier being removed as GM and the Bills coming off a big win against their AFC nemesis, the Kansas City Chiefs.
But now the shoe is on the other foot.
It’s the Commanders who will be going into the game Sunday morning (Sunday afternoon in Spain) as the more desperate team because they’re coming off an embarrassing 22-point loss against the Detroit Lions and will be without the starting quarterback, their best wide receiver and their (arguably) best defensive player.
Based on the current rosters, this is a game where the Dolphins have a clear advantage heading in.
But the game isn’t played on paper.
It might be pure coincidence, but coming back after the kind of victory the Dolphins produced Sunday with another winning effort hasn’t been a strong suit for the Dolphins in the days of division dominance by Tom Brady and now Allen.
In fact, the Dolphins will go into the matchup Sunday on a five-game losing streak the week after defeating Brady or Allen (excluding Allen’s rookie year because the Bills had yet to achieve any level of division dominance).
The last such loss came in 2022 when the Dolphins followed their 21-19 victory against the Bills with a Thursday night loss against the Cincinnati Bengals in the game where Tua Tagovailoa left early because of his scary-looking concussion.
The four previous such losses followed victory against Brady and the Patriots, including the week after the “Miami Miracle,” and after the “Michael Thomas game” when the safety recorded a game-clinching interception five days after being signed off the San Francisco 49ers practice squad.
The last time the Dolphins won the week after beating Brady or Allen (with Buffalo atop the division) was in 2009 when they followed a 22-21 victory against New England with a 14-10 road win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Yes, it has been a while.
McDaniel deserves praise for the coaching job he did against Buffalo on Sunday; his best coaching this week just might come before the game in ensuring his players don’t come out flat and have a post-Bills win hangover.
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