The Miami Dolphins’ blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills last week has done nothing to limit Tyreek Hill’s confidence in the team heading into this week’s matchup against the struggling New York Giants.
“Nobody can stop us except ourselves.” – Tyreek Hill
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) October 5, 2023
“Nobody is panicking.” – Tyreek Hill
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) October 5, 2023
Though defensive coordinator Vic Fangio admitted that some players are disappointed and had their pride hurt by the 48-20 defeat at Buffalo, Hill is maintaining his usual positive attitude as one of the team leaders.
Miami’s three-game winning streak to begin the season ended in discouraging fashion against its main competition for AFC East supremacy. The Dolphins have traditionally struggled against the Bills, losing 12 of the past 14 meetings, including in the playoffs last season.
The Dolphins’ good start included a spectacular 70-20 win over the Denver Broncos in Week 3 that included a franchise record for points scored and the second-most total yards gained in an NFL game in history.
Miami was tied 14-14 with Buffalo early in the second quarter but the game went downhill from there, with the margin growing to 31-14 by halftime and the Bills rolling to their third consecutive victory.
The Dolphins still lead the NFL in total offense, averaging 511.0 yards per game as the only team in the league that’s even over 400 yards per game. Miami leads the league in both rushing offense and passing offense in addition to points scored per game.
Hill was held to three receptions and 58 yards against the Bills, slowing his incredible opening pace as he tries to reach his stated goal of becoming the first NFL player to gain 2,000 receiving yards in a season. He has 28 catches for 470 receiving yards so far, which is a 17-game pace of 119 receptions and 1,997.5 receiving yards.
He and the Dolphins have reasons to feel confident with the Giants coming to town. New York quarterback Daniel Jones was sacked 10 times by the Seattle Seahawks in a 24-3 loss on Monday night, and its offense ranks next to last in yards gained and last in points scored per game.
It’s easy for the Dolphins to profess confidence as a double-digit betting favorite at home against an opponent that has won just once this season. Hill and his teammates now have to go out and back up his words and prevent an unexpected losing streak from starting.
