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Miami offense vs. Buffalo defense
The Dolphins are in the top-third of the league in rushing attempts, but Miami is still only running for an average of 99.1 yards per game. Without Dan Marino behind center, posing a threat to throw the ball on every down, teams have been able to concentrate on stopping the Dolphins' running game.

	DOLPHINS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	19
	Pass	11
	Tot. Yds.	13
	Scoring	8
	Int's allowed	7
	Sacks allowed	21
	BILLS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	7
	vs. Pass	5
	Total yds. allowed	6
	# of Ints.	7
	# of Sacks	16
	Turnover differential	-7

The Bills, who are allowing just 84.0 yards per game on the ground, have had a tough time the past couple of weeks defending the off-tackle run because their defensive ends and outside linebackers have not been able to hold up at the line of scrimmage.

Buffalo is going to play in a more run-oriented defensive scheme Sunday that will feature its aggressive safeties, Henry Jones and Kurt Schulz, playing closer to the line of scrimmage to take away the Dolphins' cutback lanes. This is going to put enormous pressure on Bills cornerbacks Thomas Smith and Ken Irvin on first and second downs in base formation as man-to-man cover corners.

Smith will likely get most of the help over the top off of play-action and early-down passing plays, which means that Irvin will be left on an island against wide receiver O.J. McDuffie. Irvin will play softer coverage than normal, even though McDuffie is a productive possession receiver who does a lot of damage underneath.

Irvin will work to stay outside of McDuffie, forcing him to the inside where he will have help on the quick slant and crossing routes from the linebacker dropping into coverage. The important thing for the Bills is for Irvin to not get beat deep, because he will not have any help from the safeties on first and second downs.

Quarterback Damon Huard continues to mature as the Dolphins' starter, but he is still not capable of winning a game on his own. What Huard does best is take care of the ball and limit the offense's mistakes and turnovers. Huard has taken 13 sacks in his three starts, which is not necessarily a bad statistic for Miami. Huard has been instructed by Jimmy Johnson not to force the ball into coverage and not to try to make too many things happen on offense.

Miami is a team that is centered around a dominant defense, and Johnson knows that if the offense is conducive to the field-position game and limits the turnovers, that the defense will put the team in position to win.

Buffalo offense vs. Miami defense
The Bills have been able to establish a decent running game for most of the season when they dedicate themselves to doing so, but this team has been schizophrenic in its play-calling for most of the season. When looking back at their first meeting with the Dolphins on a Monday night, the Bills made some clear adjustments at halftime to completely abandon the running game. The Dolphins' scheme against Buffalo in that contest was extremely aggressive, challenging the Bills to beat them in the air.

	BILLS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	3
	Pass	15
	Tot. Yds.	10
	Scoring	14
	Int's allowed	11
	Sacks allowed	17
	DOLPHINS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	2
	vs. Pass	9
	Total yds. allowed	3
	# of Ints.	11
	# of Sacks	22
	Turnover differential	-3

Miami has held opponents to 80.0 yards on the ground this season, stifling teams with great overall speed and a scheme that gives the Dolphins numbers up front. Miami, on just about every down against a pro-formation with less than four receivers, walks strong safety Shawn Wooden or Calvin Jackson up close to the line of scrimmage. There, Wooden or Jackson key on the tight end and respond to their movement. If the tight end stays in to block, Miami has a "4-4" look on defense to stop the run. If the tight end releases, the strong safety is responsible for covering him in man-to-man coverage.

A couple of times in the last game, tight end Jay Riemersma broke loose for big catches because the strong safety failed to key on him and got caught peeking on the play-action pass.

The only time Buffalo had real success against the Dolphins defense in the last contest was when they emptied the backfield and ran five receivers out into routes. What this does is neutralize the speed on Miami's defense because the Dolphins are only allowed to rush four men. Likewise, this provides Buffalo with sufficient pass protection, blocking four down lineman with five offensive lineman. With just a four-man rush, Flutie is the recipient of wider passing lanes and more time to make his reads in the pocket.

Flutie has a strong arm and is an accurate passer if he has a window to throw the ball. He gets into trouble when teams get a good pass rush up the middle and force him to throw behind the massive bodies on the offensive line.

Expect to see a lot of nickel personnel on Sunday when the Bills are on offense. Miami will gamble at times, leaving receivers open off the line of scrimmage in order to get a pass rush, but for the most part, Buffalo will dictate the coverage when they use four- and five-receiver sets. Also, key on Riemersma, who will be put in motion before the snap of the ball in order to influence where Miami's strong safety lines up on the field and also to give Riemersma a better chance of breaking free off the line of scrimmage to get into his route.

Special teams
There is no better field goal kicker in the business right now than Olindo Mare. Mare had one blocked last Sunday night, but it was a breakdown in blocking up front, not a fault of his. The Dolphins kicker is 26-for-29 in field goals on the season with a long of 54 yards.

	NFL RANK
	Category	MIA	BUF
	Punt return avg.	5	6
	Kickoff return avg.	2	28
	Opp. punt return avg.	27	4
	Opp. kickoff ret. avg.	2	28
	Time of possession	1	8

The biggest concern for Miami's special teams unit is punter Tom Hutton, who is averaging just 41.8 yards per punt and has been extremely erratic this season. The return units have been brilliant, with Nate Jacquet leading the league with a 17.5-yard per punt return average, and Brock Marion averaging 27.3 yards per kickoff return.

Steve Christie is 16-for-20 on field-goal attempts, and this is the time of the year when he becomes more and more valuable because of his ability to handle the weather in Buffalo. Kevin Williams has done a fine job of handling the punt-return duties, averaging 11.1 yards per return without a fumble.

Key matchups