Buffalo Bills back in prime time for Week 15: What to know about the Saturday night game

ORCHARD PARK - The main reason why the NFL moved the Dolphins at Bills game to Saturday night was because it had the potential to be a showdown for first place in the AFC East.

Thanks to Miami’s 23-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football, the game, while still a juicy matchup between longtime rivals, has lost a little of its luster.

When the decision was made to flex the game as part of an NFL Network tripleheader, the Bills and Dolphins were tied for first with 8-3 records. Since then, Buffalo has defeated fellow AFC East rivals New England and New York, while Miami spent more than a week out in California losing to the 49ers and Chargers.

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Now the Bills have a two-game lead and if they defeat the Dolphins, they won’t clinch the division crown, but all that would need to happen for Buffalo to secure it’s third straight title would be for it to win one more game, or for Miami to lose one more game in the final three weeks.

So yeah, the Bills are in a commanding position. If the Dolphins emerge from their sudden offensive struggles and pull off the upset, that obviously tightens the race, but the Bills would still be in a good shape thanks, in particular, to the Chargers lending them a big hand.

Even though they were at home, this was not a game that many people thought the forever underachieving Chargers would win, especially with their defense so banged up. Instead, they came up with a masterful plan to slow down Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle − it helped that Hill suffered an ankle injury − and make Tua Tagovailoa’s life miserable.

And while Tua was struggling, Los Angeles QB Justin Herbert completed a career-high 39 passes for 367 yards despite relentless pressure from the Miami defense.

Here’s an early look ahead to the matchup:

Top players for Miami Dolphins on offense, defense

▶ QB Tua Tagovailoa: Four months ago, the thought of Tua being in the running for league MVP was laughable. Then it wasn’t. Now, after the last two games, the laughing has resumed. He has been awful in Miami’s last two games, losses to the 49ers and Chargers, a combined 28 of 61 for 440 yards with only three TDs and two picks. And really, those numbers don’t accurately convey how ineffective he has been. He was 3-of-17 midway through the third quarter against Los Angeles.

▶ RB Raheem Mostert: The Dolphins haven’t relied much on their ground game but when they do, Mostert has been the most oft-used back and he really hasn’t done much. However, Jeff Wilson, who was acquired from the 49ers and was gradually cutting into Mostert’s playing time, suffered a hip injury against the Chargers and may not play in Buffalo.

▶ WR Tyreek Hill: Of all the teams the Chiefs could have traded Hill to, right? He is the main reason for the quantum leap Tua and the Miami passing game has made this season, and the Bills know all too well how dangerous he is, though in the first meeting, they actually held him to his lowest output of the year, two catches for just 33 yards. And now, he may be hobbled by an ankle injury suffered Sunday night.

▶ WR Jaylen Waddle: The other half of the Dolphins’ dynamic duo who, interestingly, has a notably higher average per catch than Hill. In Week 3, it was Waddle who made the play of the game when he caught a 45-yard pass down the middle to set up Miami’s winning TD, finishing off a 102-yard performance.

▶ DE Jaelen Phillips: The 2021 first-round pick and Greg Rousseau's old running mate at the University of Miami is having a great year as he has six sacks and also leads the team in pressures.

▶ DE Melvin Ingram: The old veteran is also having a nice season off the edge with six sacks, two of which came in the Week 3 Dolphins victory over the Bills.

▶ LB Bradley Chubb: He was acquired from Denver at the trade deadline and has produced 2.5 sacks in his first four games for the Dolphins. He gives Miami three dangerous edge rushers along with Phillips and Ingram.

▶ DT Christian Wilkins: The Bills have certainly seen their share of dominant interior linemen this year and Wilkins is next in line. He has been a beast and he leads Miami with 38 stops, defined by Pro Football Focus as being the player responsible for a failed offensive play. Sunday night he was in on nine tackles and had a sack of Justin Herbert.

▶ SS Jevon Holland: A physical player in the back end who had a strip sack of Josh Allen in the first game which set up the Dolphins’ first TD.

▶ CB Xavien Howard: He’s still a force in man coverage, though he hasn’t been great this season as he has allowed a 64.3% completion rate and 15.6 yards per completion against.

What the game means to Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins

Instead of being in position to regain the top spot in the division with a win, now the Dolphins need the victory just to stay alive in the race, not to mention hold on to a wild-card spot. They currently hold the No. 6 seed in the AFC bracket.

For the Bills, they want to drop the hammer on the division, not to mention avenge their Week 3 loss in Miami, a game where they outgained the Dolphins 497-212 but just couldn’t finish drives and fell 21-19.

Should they lose Saturday, things obviously get a little tighter in the division and Miami would own a head-to-head tiebreaker, but perhaps the most damaging thing might be losing control of the No. 1 seed in the AFC since the Chiefs are playing the woeful Texans on Sunday.

Who is favored to win Bills vs Dolphins?

The Bills have opened as 7.5-point favorites for the game.

The money line is Bills minus-340 (bet $340 to win $100) and Dolphins plus-280 (bet $100 to win $280). The over-under is 42.

What time does the Bills vs Dolphins game start?

Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. at Highmark Stadium.

How to watch Buffalo Bills vs Miami Dolphins game on TV, streaming

∎ Cable/Network: NFL Network. If you have Spectrum cable or Spectrum streaming, NFL Network is channel 96. The game will not be available on any of the local stations in Rochester, though because Buffalo is the primary Bills market, it will be available there on the ABC affiliate, WKBW.

∎ Online streaming services: NFL.com and the NFL mobile app. Also, the NFL has a new streaming service called NFL+ which replaces NFL Game Pass, though you can’t cast the games to your TV - you must watch on your phone or tablet. The cost is $5 a month or $30 for the season, and a premium tier costs $10/$80 which includes all-22 coaches film and condensed and full-game replays. With it, you’ll be able to watch every local game on Sunday and the national games on Monday and Thursday nights as well as the playoffs and the Super Bowl. You can also stream if you have subscriptions to DirecTV, fuboTV, Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV.

On the radio: How to listen to the Bills vs Dolphins game

You can listen on SiriusXM satellite radio on channel 225 (Bills) and channel 226 (Dolphins). On traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations all across the state. They include:

• Rochester (WCMF 96.5 and WROC 950 AM)

• Buffalo (WGR550, 550 AM)

• Syracuse (WTKW 99.5/WTKV 105.5)

• Binghamton (WDRE 100.5FM)

• Ithaca (WIII 99.9/100.3 FM)

• Bath (WVIN 98.3 FM)

• Newark (WACK 1420 AM)

• Dansville (WDNY 93.9 FM)

• Elmira (WNGZ 1490 AM)

• Auburn (WAUB 98.1 FM/1590 AM)

• Geneva (WGVA 95.9 FM, 1240 AM).

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's new twice-a-week newsletter, Bills Blast, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Who do the Bills play next? Saturday night game in Week 15