he Buffalo Bills will be without their All-Pro nickel cornerback when they visit the Miami Dolphins for Thursday Night Football on September 12.

Veteran Taron Johnson suffered a forearm injury on Buffalo's first defensive possession in Sunday's season opener against the Arizona Cardinals, and Bills' head coach Sean McDermott has already ruled out the battle-tested defensive back on the short week. "He obviously did not return in the game. He'll be ruled out for this week," said McDermott on Monday afternoon in Orchard Park as the team prepares for its divisional opener.

Johnson, who was credited with a tackle in run defense on the first play from scrimmage, left the game after seven snaps and never returned. After Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray connected on a quick hitter on a third-down play from the Bills' 30-yard line, Johnson went down to a knee in apparent pain and eventually walked off the field under his own power.

Johnson was seemingly testing his forearm strength with a trainer on the sidelines before heading into the locker room. "With Taron, I don't know his timeline on when he'll be back, so we're still doing some further research on that," said McDermott.

McDermott also announced that veteran defensive end Dawuane Smoot will miss a second straight game due to a toe injury that popped up last week. The injury to Johnson, who was voted as an All-Pro First Team selection in 2023, is especially troubling for a Bills' defense that is already without All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano until at least December.

 

Thankfully for the Dolphins, they are coming into the week relatively healthy, at least as far as the injury report is concerned. Running backs De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert were both listed as non-participants with ankle and chest injuries respectively. Wide receiver Malik Washington was also listed as a non-participant as he recovers from a quadricep injury.

Offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg (shoulder), linebacker Jaelan Phillips (Achilles), and cornerback Jalen Ramsey (hamstring) were all listed as limited participants, while linebacker David Long, Jr. was listed as a full participant with a finger injury.

The important thing to note about Monday’s injury report is that the Dolphins did not hold practice on Monday, ahead of the Thursday night game against the Bills. All of the practice designations listed on the injury report for Monday are estimations based upon the injuries each player suffered and their severity. We’ll have a more clear picture of who is injured, how badly, and what their status for Thursday might be after tomorrow’s report comes out.

The Bills also had seven players listed on their initial injury report. The biggest being quarterback Josh Allen listed as a full participant with a hand injury he suffered in Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. The Bills do anticipate Allen playing Thursday, which would indicate that the hand injury is nothing major, though it will be something to keep an eye on throughout the week.

The Bills also listed cornerback Taron Johnson (forearm), defensive ends Dawuane Smoot and Javon Solomon, Running back Ty Johnson, tight end Quintin Morris, and backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky on the injury report, with both Taron Johnson and Smoot listed as non-participants. Ty Johnson and Solomon were both listed as limited participants, with the rest listed as full.

Like the Dolphins, the BIlls did not practice on Monday, instead opting for a walk-through, so their participation designations are also an estimate.

 

What Must Improve For Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins
Offense: Offensive Line Play
The Bills’ offensive line performance can never be judged merely by sacks allowed. Allen is an escape artist. Plays that would be a sack against a vast majority of the NFL’s other quarterbacks can suddenly turn into a first-down run. It happens multiple times per game.

Case in point: Buffalo’s front five struggled mightily against the Cardinals despite giving up just two sacks. Of the team’s nine penalties in the win, six came against the offensive line:

• RG O’Cyrus Torrence: 3 (Face Mask, False Start, Holding)
• LT Dion Dawkins: 2 (False Start, Holding)
• RT Spencer Brown: 1 (False Start)

Torrence’s face mask penalty came on a touchdown run by Allen. It was instead nullified and the Bills ultimately settled for a field goal on the drive. The play lowlighted a forgettable performance by the second-year guard, who looked overmatched far too frequently.

Although the Bills did rush for 130 yards on the ground, it took 33 attempts to reach that number. The 3.9 yard-per-carry average was underwhelming. The group did open up some nice running lanes in the first half, but the rushing attack was completely shut down by Arizona after halftime.

Center Connor McGovern was the only bright spot. There were concerns throughout training camp after some failed center-quarterback exchanges as McGovern worked to replace Mitch Morse, but everything was smooth in Week 1, including after Allen suffered the hand injury.

The Bills brought in a ton of competition for the offensive line for the preseason but ended up sticking with the starting five everyone expected when camp began. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see some changes if the line play doesn’t improve in the coming weeks.

Defense: Zone Coverage Usage
Bills head coach Sean McDermott has always preferred zone defense dating back to his days as a Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator. While it’s worked at baseline during his time in Buffalo, it’s also been the unit’s downfall in big games against elite quarterbacks, such as Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kyler Murray put together a Mahomes-esque performance in the first half Sunday. He completed 16 of his 19 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown. The Cardinals rolled down the field with ease across three time-eating drives. A lot of those throws were to wide-open receivers who found gaps in the zone. It was a pitch-and-catch duty for Murray and Co.

Buffalo finally started to mix in some man-coverage pressure looks in the second half, and that’s what allowed the comeback to happen. Greg Rousseau picked up three sacks, including a strip sack, and a resurgent Von Miller also took down Murray once.

“We weren’t very good at all. Some of it was they were getting into third-and-manageable situations, and that goes back to winning first and second down,” McDermott told reporters. “I thought Bobby [Babich] and the defensive staff did a great job at halftime addressing it and making some adjustments, and I think we came out better in the second half. We played a little bit more our style of defense, and were a little bit more aggressive and just playing and having some fun out there, as opposed to waiting and reacting to what they were doing.”

When the Bills switched back to zone on Arizona’s final drive it almost cost them the game. A busted coverage allowed Marvin Harrison Jr. to run wide-open. Luckily for Buffalo, Murray didn’t see him.

Zone coverage will be a problem all year for the Bills defense. The unit doesn’t have the longtime safety tandem of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer to erase mistakes. It’s also missing injured linebacker Matt Milano, one of the league’s best sideline-to-sideline defenders, and slot cornerback Taron Johnson left Sunday’s game with a forearm injury. When you combined all those factors with a high-powered Dolphins offense, Thursday night could get ugly

On the flip side, Buffalo features one of the NFL’s best cornerback groups, at least when Johnson is healthy alongside Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford. It also possesses an edge-rushing group that can go four or five deep. That’s a lineup complexion far better suited to take on opponents in man.

Bottom line: McDermott needs to leave his past tendencies in the rear-view mirror and embrace far more man coverage this season. It’s the best path to consistent success for the Bills defense.

Special Teams: Kickoff Approach
Tyler Bass eased lingering concerns in the kicking game Sunday by making all six of his kicks, two field goals, and four extra points. Given his struggles at the end of last season and throughout this year’s camp, that was a major relief for the Bills.

The same can’t be said for the kickoff situation under the new rules.

First, the Bills allowed a 96-yard kickoff return touchdown by DeeJay Dallas. It came just as they built an 11-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Suddenly, the Cardinals were right back in the game.

Then on the next kickoff, Bass kicked it out of bounds. That allowed Arizona to start a potential go-ahead drive on the 40-yard line.

Both of those kicks were against the wind. One thing’s for sure: wind will remain a factor in Buffalo’s home games all season. The onus is on special teams coordinator Matthew Smiley to come up with a solution.

 

Kickoff from at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Fla., is set for 8:15 p.m. ET. Miami is a two-point favorite in the latest Bills vs. Dolphins odds via the SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 49.

 

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has started eight games against the Bills. The Dolphins are 1-7 in those eight games. Tagovailoa knows he needs to do something about it. With the Dolphins hosting the Bills on Thursday night, Tagovailoa said today that he understands that people will doubt that the Dolphins can beat the Bills until they prove they can.

“That’s gonna be what’s written out there until we do something about that, that’s going to be the narrative, that we can’t beat the Bills,” Tagovailoa said. “Until we do beat them, and beat them consistently, none of that’s going to change. We have an opportunity to do that this year, we have an opportunity to do that this Thursday.”

The Dolphins are 2.5-point favorites on Thursday night, and they’re also the betting favorites to win the AFC East. Thursday night would be a good night for Tagovailoa to prove he can beat the Bills, and he knows what the narrative is if he doesn’t.

 

We had better account for this guy.

Bills edge rusher Greg Rousseau had a strong season opener and now he’s been recognized for his performance. The NFL has named Rousseau AFC defensive player of the week for his role in Buffalo’s victory over Arizona.

Rousseau finished Sunday’s game with 3.0 sacks, three tackles for loss, a forced fumble, and six total tackles. He became the first Bills defender to post 3.0 sacks in a season opener since Ben Williams in 1983

This is Rousseau’s second career defensive player of the week award.

Rousseau, the No. 30 overall pick of the 2021 draft, had 5.0 sacks last season in 16 games.

 

Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters at a Wednesday press conference that Mostert will not play against the Bills. He has been listed as a non-participant on both practice reports this week because of a chest injury. De’Von Achane has also been listed as a non-participant, but McDaniel said the team will wait to make a call about whether he’ll be able to play through an ankle injury.

Jeff Wilson and fourth-round pick Jaylen Wright are the other running backs on Miami’s 53-man roster. Wright was inactive for the season opener, but seems likely to play with Mostert out of action.