The Bills have dominated the Dolphins in recent years. Miami wants to change the narrative.

MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins have heard it all.

Josh Allen is 11-2 against the you. The Buffalo Bills have beat you 13 of the last 15 games. You haven’t won the AFC East since 2008.

The narrative is pretty clear: the Bills own the Dolphins. Miami, however, can change that come 8:15 p.m. ET Thursday.

“That’s going to be what’s written out there until we do something about that,” Tua Tagovailoa said Tuesday afternoon, later adding that “until we do beat them, and we beat them consistently, none of that’s going to change. And we have an opportunity to do that this year.”

Thursday’s matchup comes a little more than nine months after the Bills secured yet another AFC East title courtesy of a 21-14 victory over the Dolphins in Week 18. Since Tom Brady left the New England Patriots in 2020, the Bills have won the division four consecutive years. The Dolphins have only beat the Allen-led team once during that span – ironically in coach Mike McDaniel’s first matchup against the division rival in 2022. And while the Dolphins’ resolve as already been tested just two weeks into the season, it’s difficult not to think Thursday night’s outcome could have playoff implications.

“If you want to do anything in this league, generally you can’t skip over the much mandated step of winning the division,” McDaniel said Wednesday morning. “There’s one team that has won the division consecutive years. You can say that they, but de facto, own the division until someone takes it from them.”

If the Dolphins want to own the 2024 AFC East title, limiting Allen, a perennial MVP candidate, will be crucial.

“We’ve obviously played him plenty of times,” Zach Sieler said of Allen, whom he called “an amazing player.” “We know his game and he knows our game, so it’s a matter of how can we come into the week preparing the best. Especially on a quick week is getting the right checks, getting the right adjustments made and correcting what we did wrong this last weekend. Obviously, there’s a lot we can correct on and get it right and get ready to make the adjustments and play on Thursday.”

Even defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, who the Dolphins hired in the 2024 offseason, understood the importance of Thursday night.

“As soon as the schedule came out and you saw this game, particularly a Thursday night game, Game 2, is one you kind of circle,” Weaver said Tuesday morning. “So it’s a short week – Thursday games aren’t easy for anybody, but this one’s going to be a little bit easier for our guys because who our opponent is. It won’t require a lot of motivation from me. These guys will be jacked up to play and show who we are in front of a nationally televised audience.”

Normally, the Dolphins would benefit from being the home team in a short week But after Miami-Dade Police detained and accosted Tyreek Hill outside of Hard Rock Stadium prior to the Dolphins’ first game, the corresponding media storm that has surrounded the team in following days could affect their focus. Hill, however, told local reporters Wednesday afternoon that he’s “okay.”

“Not for real,” Hill said when asked if it has been difficult to solely focus on the Bills. “Like I said, I’m not going to mix the two. I’m not going to take a knee. Not going to say defund the police. Not going to protest. I’m not going to do any of that. When it comes to being inside this [facility], this is my therapy. This is how I get away from a lot of stuff. This is how I separate myself from past traumas in my life.”

The Dolphins, to their credit, have insisted that a victory over the Bills is most important right now.

“I think that’s the beauty of the sport,” Terron Armstead said Tuesday afternoon. “You get a chance to escape real world issues for that time slot.”

“This kind of brought us a little bit closer together,” Braxton Berrios said of Hill’s incident.

Although the team has had conversations about how they can use what happened to the star receiver as a learning opportunity, Berrios maintained that this was “a big week.”

“The focus is on the Bills,” Berrios added.

While the Dolphins have said all the right things, it’s impossible to predict how a situation such as Hill’s can mentally affect a team. The NFL world will see Thursday night.

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