As awful as “Thursday Night Football” has proven to be this year, this matchup should keep us entertained, as a pair of 5-4 AFC East teams will collide at Sun Life Stadium as they toggle for playoff position in a tight AFC race.
When the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills met back in Week 2, Sammy Watkins had his coming-out party. Watkins earned a pass grade of +3.0, the highest grade of his young career and the second-best pass grade of all Week 2 wide receivers. Watkins’ eight receptions, 117 yards and one touchdown performance earned him a Wide Receiver Rating of 137.3, fourth-best among all wide receivers. Not to mention the fact that Watkins put up 4.88 Yards Per Route Run (YPRR), also fourth best among all wide receivers.
Of Watkins 8 receptions and 117 yards, only 21 came against Brent Grimes. Grimes was targeted three times when in coverage against Watkins, allowing only two receptions for 21 yards, although he did give up a touchdown. Yet, Grimes still earned a coverage grade of +1.7 against him. Throughout the year, Grimes has easily shown he’s the Dolphins’ best cornerback. His coverage grade of +5.8 is 11th-best among all cornerbacks and he has allowed an opposing quarterback rating of 60.4, 10th-best among 106 cornerbacks who have played a minimum of 174 snaps.
Not only has Grimes allowed the lowest opposing quarterback rating of all the Dolphins’ cornerbacks, his 1.17 Yards Per Coverage Snap and his 9.7 Coverage Snaps Per Reception are best among the Dolphins’ top four cornerbacks, in terms of snaps played. Grimes is clearly Miami’s best man in coverage, they’d be smart to allow the league-leader in interceptions to follow Watkins around the field, regardless of where he lines up.
Here are three more notable numbers for each side:
Buffalo Bills
Kyle D. Williams – With an overall grade of +20.1, Williams ranks third among all defensive tackles, excelling when rushing the passer (+13.5).
Marcell Dareus – With an overall grade of +18.4, Dareus is one spot behind Williams, while he excels against the run (+10.2).
Corey Graham – The Buffalo native has given up 0.68 Yards Per Coverage Snap, one of the best marks in the league.
Miami Dolphins
Branden Albert – Miami’s prized offseason possession and their best offensive player was placed on season-ending injured reserved after suffering a knee injury. His overall grade of +17.5 was fourth best among all tackles.
Cameron Wake – With a Pass Rushing Productivity (PRP) of 13.2, Wake ranks third out of 52 4-3 defensive ends who have played a minimum of 92 passing plays.
Ryan Tannehill – Out of 34 qualifying quarterbacks, Tannehill ranks 25th in regards to completions deep down the field (20+ yards).
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