MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins have faced Josh Allen 10 times in his five NFL seasons.
That’s a lot of familiarity with the Buffalo Bills quarterback — and familiarity for Allen against the Dolphins.
The stakes are kicked up a notch this Sunday as Allen and the Bills meet Miami for the first time in the postseason in Sunday’s 1 p.m. wild-card-round kickoff on Sunday at Highmark Stadium.
Allen, the two-time Pro Bowler, has mostly had his way with the Dolphins in those previous meetings. He’s 8-2 in his career against the Dolphins. He has thrown 27 touchdowns compared to five interceptions and completed 63.7 percent of passes for 2,684 yards.
Although Allen has Stefon Diggs, Gabriel Davis, Cole Beasley, tight end Dawson Knox and running backs Devin Singletary and James Cook to throw to, just as important will be to prevent him from reeling off big gains scrambling when the coverage is solid.
“I think you got to give him different looks,” Dolphins defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said. “If you sit in the same [defense], they do a very good job.”
In the Dolphins’ 32-29 loss in Orchard Park, New York on Dec. 17, Allen went for 77 yards on 10 rush attempts, which was the most he had against Miami since his rookie year, when he ran for 135 and 95 yards in his first two appearances against Miami in 2018.
“One of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the league,” edge rusher Jaelan Phillips said. “Their offense kind of revolves around him and, obviously, they got other pieces that can hit you with the home run as well, but being able to contain Josh is going to be a huge part of our game plan, for sure.”
Added linebacker Jerome Baker: “That second half last game, he really got it done on the ground. We got to limit that. We got to do different things to slow him down.”
One of those things could be to commit to a spy monitoring Allen in certain situations, essentially following his movement while not blitzing or playing pass coverage, but that also comes with the caveat that the defense must leave itself vulnerable somewhere else.
“Any time that you devote a spy or someone that’s going to be on the quarterback, then obviously you’re pulling him from somewhere else,” Boyer said. “So, either you’re pulling him from the rush or you’re pulling him from the coverage.”
Ideally, a defense wants to pressure the quarterback without having to send extra pass rushers, but if rushing four is ineffective against Allen, Boyer may feel urged to blitz. But then if he brings extra pass rushers at Allen, there’s fewer defenders to take him down beyond the line of scrimmage if he slips through on a scramble.
It’ll take a team effort of all 11 defenders on any given play to assure Allen is contained.
“It’s being coordinated,” defensive line coach Austin Clark said. “How many guys are we bringing? Your rush lanes, your eyes, gap integrity, level rush, middle push. All those things kind of factor into it, depending on how many guys we’re bringing.”
And the ones that are rushing Allen, may need to be cautious not to over-pursue because, if any one defender relinquishes a chance to bring him down, it could be costly with the space he’ll have to run afterward.
“Is this an opportunity where we can get really aggressive? Or is this an opportunity where everybody’s got to do their job?” Dolphins outside linebackers coach Ty McKenzie said he’ll stress to his players. “It’s 11 vs. 1 with Josh Allen out there. He’s dynamic and he can make some big plays.”
Said cornerback Xavien Howard, who has seen his fair share of Allen and will likely match up against Diggs: “There’s a lot of stuff on the table he can do, so we just got to stop him, try to contain him and just get some takeaways from him.”
That would be a pleasant surprise if the Dolphins can force Allen into turnovers. They rank among the bottom three teams in the NFL in creating takeaways with just 14 on the season after it was something the unit prided itself on over the previous two seasons.
Allen had a stretch in the middle of the regular season where he became susceptible to turnovers — throwing two interceptions in three consecutive games. He then snapped out of it with one over a course of five outings, but he tossed three picks in his last two appearances entering the postseason.
The defense’s performance becomes paramount Sunday considering the Dolphins are likely leaning toward starting third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson while Tua Tagovailoa remains out due to concussion protocol and backup Teddy Bridgewater nurses a dislocated pinky finger on his throwing hand.
