Ajayi rushes for 214 yards to help Miami beat Bills 28-25

For the second straight game, Ajayi rushed for over 200 yards as the Dolphins beat the Bills 28-25 on Sunday. Buffalo is now 4-2 on the season and 4-2 with the over.

Next up Miami plays the 2-5 Jets and must win this game and the next one against the San Diego Chargers in order to over come their 3-4 record.

Most fans saw Jay Ajayi’s 200 yard game against Pittsburgh and thought, “He won’t do that against Buffalo”.

“We got outplayed, we got outcoached, we got out-everythinged”, Buffalo coach Rex Ryan said. The blocking just wasn’t there on Buffalo’s running plays, and even a healthy McCoy probably couldn’t have taken advantage.

Ajayi is now just the fourth player in the Super Bowl era to post back-to-back 200-yard rushing games, joining Ricky Williams (2002), Earl Campbell (1980) and O.J. Simpson (1973 and 1976) in this elite group. Ryan tends to take a short-term view on things more often than not, and he’s about to go up against his nemesis, Bill Belichick.

“We never play a guy that our doctors and trainers don’t clear”, Ryan said. “We were trying base defense”. We’re up for suggestions, I can promise you. Ajayi consistently found cut-back lanes, and the Bills couldn’t figure out how to stop him. It’s not like we were surprised by any of their runs. “That’s a variety of tests – tons of tests”, Ryan said. While quarterback Tyrod Taylor and wide receiver Sammy Watkins have also played key roles, the team lives and dies by McCoy’s runs and it was his string of strong performances that pushed the team’s four-game winning streak.

Ajayi ran for 214 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries in the Dolphins’ 28-25 win. His bruising, tackle-breaking style has transformed the Dolphins into a run-first, ball-control team that dominated the line of scrimmage the past two weeks on both offense and defense.

The star running back has dealt with hamstring injuries before, struggling through a string of hamstring problems last season.

Without McCoy, the Bills offense went completely stagnant. So why did the team risk further injuring him by playing him at all?

Buffalo may have defeated New England in the first meeting between the two teams, but that was without Brady.

The Dolphins will get much-needed rest this week but they will also have the chance to work on cleaning up their mental mistakes. “At the running back position, in our room, we want to be the best players on the field at all times”. It’s hard to sort out how much credit goes to Ajayi and how much the healthy offensive line deserves, but the combination of the two looks strong. He left the game with some soreness in his hamstring.

The good news is Seattle hasn’t looked that impressive this season and Cincinnati is worse than people anticipated so perhaps the Bills will be able to make up for it down the road.