(My Sportsbook) - There used to be a time when a
Buffalo Bills-
Miami Dolphins matchup meant something. Division titles used to hinge on these meetings. Unfortunately this is not one of those seasons, as the only thing being played for on Sunday will be the right to be called the worst team in the NFL.
Buffalo is off to an 0-4 start for the second time in four years, while the Dolphins come into the tilt at 0-5, their worst start since losing the first five games of their inaugural 1966 campaign.
They are the only two teams left in the league without a win.
Before this upcoming contest, the lowest point in the rivalry was October 26, 1969 when 2-4 Buffalo visited 0-5-1 Miami and left with a 30-21 loss. The Bills were 2-10 in 1976 when they lost at the 5-7 Dolphins, 45-27. Buffalo ended the season 2-12, while Miami went 6-8. That was the last time both teams finished with losing records in the same year.
"We're all desperate for a win," said Bills free safety Izell Reese. "We're desperate for a win. They're desperate for a win. Whoever gets that "W,' it may well be the telltale point that turns things around for them. Definitely for us."
In all fairness to the Bills, they have been in every game they have played and have nowhere near the problems of the Miami Dolphins, who rank last in nearly every offensive category.
"It's frustrating," said Bills head coach Mike Mularkey. "We've got 12 games left. As we've lost these four, we can win four. We have work to do, obviously."
Buffalo came within an eyelash of its first win on Sunday against the undefeated New York Jets, rallying in the fourth quarter, only to lose 16-14 on Doug Brien's field goal with less than a minute to play.
Trailing 13-0 entering the final stanza, Buffalo scored a pair of touchdowns in the frame to take the lead. The Bills capitalized on a Jets turnover to pull within 13-7 on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Drew Bledsoe to Mark Campbell with 8:57 left in the fourth. The eight-play, 69-yard scoring drive was set up by Jeff Posey's interception of a Chad Pennington pass and featured a 21-yard run by Willis McGahee on 3rd-and-9 from the Jets' 37.
After the Jets went three-and-out on their next possession, Bledsoe went deep to Lee Evans for a 46-yard scoring strike that put the Bills up 14-13 with 5:58 remaining.
But Pennington led New York on an 11-play, 60-yard drive that ended with Brien kicking the game-winning field goal with just inside of a minute to play.
"There are a lot of positive things (in the finish)," said Mularkey, who is still trying for his win as an NFL head coach. "It shows (what happens) if you don't make mistakes or have any negative plays."
INJURIES: Running back Travis Henry suffered some type of foot injury during the second half of Sunday's game , but returned. His status will be updated on Wednesday. Center Trey Teague, who sat out Sunday's game, revealed Monday that tests showed he has a series of fractures on the head of his left fibula. Surgery was not required, but Teague is not sure when he'll return. Safety Lawyer Milloy (broken forearm) could start practicing this week, while cornerback Troy Vincent (knee) is expected to sit out one more week. Also safety Coy Wire (quadriceps) missed the game against the Jets, but could return this week.
UP NEXT: The Bills try for their first win of the year on Sunday when they host the Dolphins at Ralph Wilson Stadium.