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Dolphins/Bills Instant Reaction: Bill Matic
Sep 19, 2025
D.A. breaks down Bills v. Dolphins on Thursday Night Football from Buffalo. He brings you the Bills positives (like James Cook's explosive running) and the negatives (Bills defensive third down woes). He also looks for the mystical reasons to believe this will finally be the Bills year with his "Honor the Buffalo" feature.
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0:00
[Music]
0:08
Welcome inside everybody. Another episode of Bill Matic, the only Bills
0:13
podcast that also is an ode to '90s hip hop. How are we as the Bills get a
0:19
victory to move to 3 and 0 on Thursday Night Football. So glad you're with us.
0:24
Remember to subscribe to the channel if you're watching on YouTube. That way you get notified when we go live after every
0:30
Bills game. Also, when we go live on Sundays, no matter what. To recap the entire day of football. Subscribe if
0:38
you're watching on X or Instagram live. Welcome aboard as well. To me, this game
0:44
is defined by special teams. And in the game of football, especially in the NFL,
0:52
if a game is defined by special teams, it means that the offense and defense,
0:58
the other parts of the game were really, really close. And that special teams was
1:04
that differentiator. A lot of colleges have used special teams to try to
1:11
close the gap, the talent gap between them and a bigger program. And I think
1:17
that's kind of how this one unfolded. You had a team in the Dolphins that is
1:22
far inferior to the Bills. You had a team in the Dolphins that will be going
1:30
nowhere the rest of this season. You have a Bills team that has its sights set on obviously a Super Bowl. And yet
1:37
here we are with a tie game in the fourth quarter. Why? Well, the two sides
1:42
ended up really playing to a draw except for special teams. When it came to the
1:48
Bills special teams, a missed Matt Prader field goal early, didn't allow
1:53
the twocore lead, kept the Dolphins in it, gave them some life. They came back
1:58
down the field and scored. Then the flip side is, you know, you have the Bills
2:03
back to punt. You're going to get the ball back and what ends up happening? a
2:08
crushing penalty in running into the kicker. Bills get the football back and
2:14
then that kind of breaks open the game. So, one bad special teams for the Bills, one awful special teams play for the for
2:21
the Dolphins and that kind of defines this game. Now, Prader makes up for it with the long field goal at the end to
2:27
make it a 10 10-point lead, but that's not really acceptable in this game. I
2:33
know the Dolphins are desperate and the Bills are not. I know the Dolphins perhaps are playing or coaching for Mike
2:40
McDaniel's job and that has to be factored in. Divisional games are usually tight, yada yada yada. You know
2:46
the bit. But this game should not have been as close as it was. And for
2:53
tomorrow and the rest of next week, there is going to be some teeth nashing
3:00
in Buffalo. Understandably so. because it comes down to once again
3:06
third down defense for the Bills. And this has been an Achilles heel of the
3:13
Bills for how long now? Last year that Bills defense was able to create turnovers but unable to get off the
3:19
field on third downs. They ranked 30th in the league, only two slots from the
3:25
bottom in third down percentage on defense. So everybody got third down
3:31
conversions against him. And then tonight, I mean, a scoring drive consisted of five different third down
3:38
conversions by the Dolphins. And it continued throughout the night. And that has got to be absolutely mindbending
3:46
for any Bills supporter, any Bills fan that believes this is finally the year
3:51
to break through if the defense continues to show weaknesses and leakiness like that. And there was
3:58
certainly a lot of the opening Sunday night vibe here where
4:06
you get the win. That's great, but there's a lot on defense to have to
4:12
figure out. So that's the overall kind of vibe to me of this game. If you want to weigh in on with comments, your
4:19
thoughts, your opinions, certainly send them to me either on X or on Twitter. X
4:25
is Twitter or on Instagram or on YouTube and I'll get to those coming up here in just a little bit. Once again, this is
4:32
Bill Maddock. We're so glad that you're with us and we're here with you after every single Bill's game. I'm with you
4:39
breaking it down right here. So, make sure you are subscribed so that you are always connected to this channel and to
4:46
this breakdown. Make sure you are locked in by being subscribed to the channel. Let's start with your goods on the
4:53
night. It's time for the showers. [Music]
5:00
Yeah, I mean, look, no matter what, when the offense puts up 31 points, that
5:06
should be enough to win a football game. And so, you look at some of the individual plays, you look at some of
5:12
the individual efforts that the Bills put up. They didn't settle for field goals. They scored four different
5:19
touchdowns. They also had, I thought, a really good night run of the football with James Cook. Cook continues to
5:26
validate that contract that he got. You know, there is a play in the first quarter on third and two where James
5:35
Cook kind of slides and then hits the hole and burst through. And while the
5:40
Bills have depth at running back, there is no other back on this team that has
5:47
that burst, that explosiveness. Cook sets himself apart there. And I
5:52
know that there was conversation about whether or not you pay a running back a lot of money in the preseason, but Cook
5:59
has that thing that that next gear that the other guys don't. And there's the
6:06
play where he kind of has patience allowing the hole to open up in the
6:12
second quarter and then he squirts through and then hits that gas. It's a great running back play. It's a great
6:18
running back play. And so Cook continues to deliver on the ground. You got to like that. The throw that Josh makes to
6:26
concade between the defender over the top in the first quarter is beautiful. And the touchdown kind of chuck, the
6:34
underhanded chuck is really I mean if if we if we're allowed to gush a little bit
6:40
on a night like this, even though the Bills overall should not have been in such a tight ball game, Josh running
6:47
left, surveying the scene, can do one of three
6:52
things. either he can throw it over the top of the defense and hit a receiver. He can take it himself and sneak it. Or
6:58
in this case, the third option is wait, pause, pull defense in, underhand,
7:05
sidearm flick. It's a brilliant play and it is indicative of a quarterback that
7:12
has complete control and mastery right now of the game. It is something to watch. There is just a certain handful
7:19
of moments in a game where he goes into beast mode and that was certainly one of them. You know, it's just amazing to
7:26
watch a guy that comfortable, that in command, be able to kind of wait, bait a
7:32
defense, and then go, there you go. That's your six. And I know that Tua
7:37
this week was open about all the things that Josh can do that he can't, which
7:43
was kind of a weird mentality to take into this game. Wow, he's so good. I can't believe how good Josh is. I could
7:50
never be that good. But it does show you on the field like that's just not a play that Tua can make. It's not a play a lot
7:55
of quarterbacks can make. But Tua is just never going to look so comfortable in an offense that he kind of waits,
8:02
pauses, paces, boom, I got you. I got you where I want you. Touchdown. The
8:08
Shaq Thompson hit. The huge hit is one that made me think back to like the
8:14
jacked up segments on Monday nights. You know, that was a good old school
8:21
crunching hit. Great anticipation, great explosion through the ball. Great tackle. You had to love that. That's one
8:28
of the best tackles so far on the season. And there's that first and 20 for Josh where he drops back. He sees
8:36
the lane. He scrambles. He puts two jukes in there and then slides for a 19yd gain. And he makes
8:43
that look so effortless that when you have that weapon at your disposal, you'll just you'll never be in
8:52
a down in distance that feels impossible. You know, it's it's a first
8:57
and 20 and for a lot of offenses that means three plays and maybe maybe you
9:04
can pick it up if you're lucky if all three plays connect and they've usually got to be through the air design play.
9:10
This is what we want to do. In this case, it's kind of a broken play and Josh makes 19 out of it anyway and doesn't suffer a hit on it. It's just an
9:16
amazing play really. The Bernard interception saves the day. That looked bad going down the field. It's a really
9:23
good way. It's a really good play by a linebacker to wait and read to his eyes.
9:30
I thought the prime crew did a great job. And then Herby also outlining and watching in real time and then slow
9:36
motion where Tua's eyes were going and Bernard watched it and got it and that was big. Didn't go through his hands.
9:41
It's a linebacker. Not necessarily going to have great hands, but that one's an easy kind of lollipop in there. He
9:47
doesn't worry about getting it all the way up field. Covers up the football, gets out of bounds, and that basically
9:53
saves the game. And then Elijah Moore with a huge first down as well. Another case of I know that Joe Brady and the
10:00
Bills coaching staff wants to continue to hammer. Hey, everybody eats, everybody eats, everybody eats. That's
10:06
really a case where if you believe it as one of those wide receivers and you buy
10:11
in that it's not Keon Coleman's offense, it's not going to be all concaid, all
10:16
Coleman, all one guy or another guy any given day. you're just gonna have to make one or two plays in the game, but
10:22
one of those one or two plays that you get are going to be vital. You know, Elijah Moore had one of those plays
10:29
tonight. So, that to me kind of the good here. And again, the offense puts up the 31 points. So, you like that just from a
10:36
total point standpoint. It it it's hard to lose football games in the NFL if you're going to put up 31. Then again,
10:42
it's not impossible. It's not impossible as we saw opening night by the Ravens. And so there are some knocks here
10:49
tonight as well.
10:56
You know, you can't freak out because it's a 3-0 football team and the
11:02
standings and the situations of the AFC have really broken your way. But this
11:09
defense despite the win now three weeks they have not played a full 60minute
11:18
solid game. I thought against the Jets last week obviously you look at the scoreboard and the production and say
11:23
well they only gave up you know three points when it mattered a total of 10. That's a garbage time seven at the end.
11:29
But that Jets offense also kind of shot itself in the foot. you have the fumbles
11:35
and look, turnovers are part of your your defensive game plan. No doubt you want to create turnovers, but I think
11:41
that's kind of a tough indicator to say that's a great defensive effort. You know, I thought a lot of that had to do
11:47
with the Jets are just such a pedestrian team. The Dolphins came in tonight and
11:53
now these are two home games. You figure the Ravens are going to put up points and yards, but you don't figure they're
11:59
going to be doing it that easily where Derrick Henry becomes unstoppable and at times the Henry and Lamar combination
12:06
looks like the Bills will never get off the football field. that thing that happened tonight where a
12:13
really struggling, desperate, ready to kind of to me roll over and die.
12:21
Dolphins team is kept alive tonight because the Bills defense couldn't get
12:26
off the football field. And that's that's end of the day. It's the third down conversions. if they just force a
12:34
couple of punts, you know, if if out of the the seven or eight kind of killer
12:40
third down conversions, the Bills get two or three stops, it's kind of a non-contest.
12:47
But instead, time and time again, the Dolphins end up converting the third, the third and longs, end up creating
12:53
touchdowns, not field goals, and it it makes it a tie ball game in the fourth quarter, which it just really can't be.
12:59
this this team, this game can't be because the Dolphins are dead to rights
13:04
this season. So, I'm going to give him a bit of a pass with the early drive. You
13:10
know, you're McDaniel, your career, your job is on the line. Maybe your career as a head coach is on the line. You've got
13:15
to design an opening drive, a first quarter where, okay, you're going to spend the entire week in the lab putting
13:22
this thing together. All right. Once you get through that though, the Bills defense just has to get off the field.
13:28
has to and a Dolphins attack that looked like puke against the Dolph against the
13:35
the Colts and then was relatively abysmal against the Patriots last week.
13:41
Just cannot look that effective. And I know they've got pieces. Tyreek and Jayen Waddle are obviously two very good
13:47
wide receivers. They've got pieces. Han's a pretty good running back. Tua is not a complete bum, but you know that
13:54
there's a chance to just end the Dolphins season early in this game. You
14:00
get a turnover, you get off the football field, the you know the the Bills convert a seven on a short field or
14:06
whatever that looks like. It it really should have been 247 first half or 217
14:13
first half or whatever or third quarter, you know, 3110 and then it's not a game.
14:19
But instead, the defense just cannot get off the field in third downs. I know that they need Maxwell Haristen back.
14:25
Okay, that should help. Tradavius White looks like it's going to be a problem if he's ever in man. You know, he's coming
14:31
off the injury. Obviously, he's up there in years. So, you got to watch that. There are a few really good individual
14:38
plays in this this game. Bosa had a bunch of great individual efforts last
14:43
week against the Jets. You had Ed Oliver's huge game week one against the Ravens. But there just has to be
14:50
collectively a tighter a tighter design on plays and a tighter execution on plays as well
14:57
because at the end of the day, we know that the Bills are not going to be defined by a September game against the
15:03
Dolphins or a win against the Jets. They will be defined by what happens in January. And this defense at this point
15:10
in time is just not up to that standard. Tai Johnson, some small stuff. Had to
15:16
drop on third down when they're up 2114. Not great. You also had the brutal miss
15:22
by Prader as I mentioned early. That's not even close. Now Prader's been kind of a hero, especially after week one.
15:27
Great story. You know, you don't want to bury him too badly. He made up for it late in the game with the long one that
15:32
made it to 10, but not great. And I thought that there was a bunch of runs
15:39
by Ali Gordon by the Dolphins that just arm tackling by the the Bills defense
15:45
and including Shaq Thompson the big hit earlier in the game, but just total arm tackle and Gordon blew through
15:52
it for a big gain. So those to me are kind of the big knocks on it. If you've got them, you definitely can hit me up
15:58
as well in the comments section here and I'll try to read through those coming up here before we get out on the show. You
16:04
know, I want to also say that this podcast, Bill Maddock, is presented by
16:09
our good friends over at Sandbaggers, where I will be next week. That's right.
16:14
How about this? Sandbaggers is Western New York's newest golf simulator and
16:20
sports bar. This place is awesome. It's in Hamburg. We're going to be doing a meet and greet there on Saturday, a week
16:28
from Saturday, the Saturday before the Saints game. coming up for the Saints game. Saturday in the afternoon, 4 until
16:35
6 in the afternoon. We're doing a meet and greet there. We'll play golf simulation. We'll have a lot of fun.
16:42
It's a great place to watch your NFL football on Sundays. They they've got it open all day long. Huge space, beautiful
16:50
space, tons of of, you know, uh chairs and stools and tables and TVs. So,
16:57
you're you're going to have your space there. the the largest golf simulator bays in Western New York. And when I am
17:04
there, coming up on Saturday the 27th, that says the 26th, but Saturday the
17:09
27th, when I'm there, we are going to have a major special where I am plunking
17:17
down the credit card. That's right. And I'm paying, baby. I just hit two years
17:22
at Sirius XM. We've had so many awesome Buffalo listeners, Western New York and
17:28
upstate New York listeners. Love the show. Weigh in on the show. Welcome me. And the last two years have been phenomenal at SiriusXM. So I said, "You
17:34
know what? As a thank you, I'm coming up there. Let's do a listener meet and greet. We've got a great audience here
17:39
on Bill Madak as well. I'm paying. All right. I'm paying. So come on down 4 to
17:44
6 PM on Saturday, the day before the Saints game. Sandbaggers in Hamburg. And
17:50
I am paying. It's on me. All right. It's on. What? What more do you need? Watch
17:55
some college football. Get ready for NFL Sunday. And beers are on me. Let's do
18:01
it. Okay. Plus, my buddies at Sto. Tequila are going to be there. So, they're going to be doing a huge activation. We'll have giveaways,
18:08
t-shirts, hats, etc. Drink specials. It's going to be great. And Sto. Tequila is amazing. So, be there on Saturday at
18:15
Sandbaggers. We always do something a little mystical here. looking for a kind of a greater
18:22
purpose if you're a Bills fan. You know, you have to believe in something that's never happened obviously before. So, how
18:28
do you do that? Well, you find the things that are mystical. You find the things that are not just X's and O's on
18:34
the football field. This is when we honor the Buffalo.
18:46
The Bills are three and 0. The Chiefs are 0 and2.
18:51
You have a tiebreaker over the Ravens and Joe Burrow is injured for three months.
18:59
I mean, we can't get ahead of ourselves here, but if there is a perfect AFC chess
19:08
board and a Bills fan is moving that around.
19:14
Okay, the chess pieces. If Tim Russard upstairs is moving these chess pieces around, this is how the AFC would look
19:23
right now. I would say if you zoom back three weeks, the power brokers of the
19:30
AFC, Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, Bengals. Yep. And and look, the Bengals missed
19:36
the playoffs last year, but the Bengals are the only team to break this chokeold of Chiefs dominance during the Mahomes
19:43
era and get to the Super Bowl. You know, outside of the first year that he started when the Patriots did it, since
19:49
that moment when he won his first Super Bowl, it's only been the Bengals. So, Burrow coming back, they resigned
19:54
Higgins, they resigned Jamar Chase, they resigned Trey Hendrickson. You had to give him the nod. If you were to look at
20:00
this AFC now, whatever the above forces are that's
20:05
moving around the chess pieces, well, the Chiefs are struggling and they
20:11
probably beat the Giants on Sunday night, but even if they do, it's one and
20:18
two and their two tests so far, they have failed those tests against their playoff caliber foes in the Chargers and
20:25
the Eagles. for the Bengals. Even if Burrow comes back end of the season, whatever that
20:32
next 9 to 12 weeks look like, it's not going to be ideal with Jake Browning.
20:39
You have a tiebreaker over the Ravens. And in the rest of the AFC,
20:44
Chargers, okay, you kind of look around the AFC South,
20:49
the Texans are 0 and2. I don't know if you fear the Texans anyway, but the Texans are 0 and2 and their offense
20:55
can't get on track. You know, the Dolphins are pitiful. The
21:02
Patriots do not look much improved. You just blew the doors off the Jets. You
21:09
know, you start looking around and going kind of everything looks the way you hoped it would look at at its absolute
21:16
best case scenario. This is how it kind of looks, right? So, for whatever it's
21:22
worth right now, obviously it's early, but if you're going to honor the
21:27
buffalo, which is a sacred animal in so many indigenous and ancient cultures,
21:33
well, this would be something that you would say this is
21:38
this is looking looking up for a Bills fan. Let's get to
21:43
some comments here on the uh old Bill Madic. And Smitty says, "I'm not a Bills fan, but when does Shawn McDermott get
21:49
on the hot seat?" He reminds me of Tibido. Not a bad coach, great record, but are you going to win with him? He
21:54
leaves me wanting more. You know, this is always going to be the dance that Bills fans do when you have a coach like
22:03
Shawn McDermott and he doesn't do the
22:08
traditional intense fiery speeches. He doesn't do the grab you by the face
22:15
mask, the quips to the media. uh he he doesn't come off as a guy that kind of,
22:23
for lack of a better phrase, kind of is the the big dog at the podium. He's much
22:28
more subdued. He's much more button-d down. He's much more not going to say anything that's too visceral or
22:35
emotional. And people respond to that and players respond to that.
22:40
He has certainly been at the the helm for some really brutal losses. And if you go back to 13 seconds against the
22:46
Chiefs, you know, if you want to lay that at his feet, I've done it. Totally fair.
22:53
I though I think that for the Bills where they are right now where you have
22:59
a roster in place, you have a quarterback in place, you have continuity in place, and you're knocking
23:05
on the door every single year. And really, the only team that you simply
23:10
cannot figure out are the Chiefs. If you're gonna make a change to head coach at Shawn McDermott, it has to be
23:17
simply because you don't think that guy can beat the Chiefs because he's beaten everybody else. He's beaten everybody
23:22
else and at least in the AFC.
23:27
And I don't think you could blame coaching for last year's loss to the Chiefs.
23:33
Now, if they hit a wall again this year and everything broke their way and they're the one seed, yada yada yada, and they still can't do it on a year
23:40
where the Chiefs look, you know, obviously not like their former selves and something else happens, something
23:45
implodes, it's a certainly when we get to that bridge, we can cross it and say it the time has come. But coming into
23:52
this year, I did not think the Bills had to fire McDermott after last season because I just didn't pin coaching as
23:59
the reason they still once again couldn't get past the Chiefs.
24:04
Robbie in Michigan, what's up, dude? Will the Detroit hater Babshick be there
24:09
in Buffalo? No, at this point he's not planning on he he's not scheduled for
24:15
it. My my cohort on Mad Dog Sports Radio, but I told him today on the air, you're more than welcome and you'll have
24:21
a good time. So, if if we can convince him, maybe we can get Babs up to Western
24:26
New York here next weekend. Ruben says, "Dolphins had some fight tonight." They
24:32
did. And I do think you got to give the Dolphins and Mike McDaniel credit here.
24:38
It's a team that is floundering and they will continue to flounder all season
24:44
long. They're not a great football team. They seem disconnected. They're, you
24:49
know, it's a it's a squad that has some pieces, but they don't have the depth of
24:54
the roster at important spots. And so, you're going to have games, more games
25:00
that look like weeks one and weeks two than tonight. I thought tonight they knew the season was on the line, that
25:07
this was national TV statement game, coaches under fire, team was under fire.
25:13
You know, this is this is our moment. And they came out, they played like it. And you got to give them credit. You do have to give them credit for fighting. I
25:20
also though think the Bills played a lethargic game. There was no downfield shots taken by Joe Brady and Josh Allen
25:27
in the offense. There was no big plays dialed up. the defense, you know,
25:33
consistently kind of got beaten on third down. I just I didn't feel like the Bills played their best effort either.
25:39
So, while the Dolphins deserve credit for keeping it close and making it a game, I also have to think some of that
25:46
is just that the Bills had a bit of going through the motions. And I guess maybe you can afford to do that when you
25:52
know you're playing a team like the Dolphins. They'll do that again next week against the Saints. The Bills
25:58
schedule is not very difficult. But while the Dolphins did play a a
26:06
admirable brand of football tonight, some of that was simply that the Bills
26:11
just weren't really on point. And Jack asks, where do you place Concaid among
26:17
the younger tight ends of the league? Now look, he's not Brock Bowers, but he
26:23
can be a really important part of this attack. He can be a really important part of of the offense. And if he is
26:29
fully healthy, what you see from King Kade is fantastic hands, athleticism
26:36
that gets him off of the line of scrimmage easily and is a mismatch
26:41
against linebackers. The issue is I think sometimes perhaps concentration lacks. I think Concaid sometimes misses
26:49
catches that he probably should make. And I think it just happens to be in an offense that spreads the football around
26:56
dramatically. Now look, if the Bills had Grank, Pete Grank, where they had Brock Powers, maybe they would feed the the
27:02
tight end three times as much as they give it to, you know, Concaid and Dawson Knox. But I do think that if everybody's
27:09
got to eat because that's the way the offense runs, that Concaid for four plays a g, four catches a game can make
27:16
a huge impact. Like I said about some of the other guys, you just have to make sure when you get the touches, you you
27:22
don't miss him. And sometimes I feel like Concaid does miss him. But yeah, I mean, if if he was playing an offense
27:29
that was tight end centric, I think his numbers could be really good. You know, again, he's not a top three tight end in
27:36
in the NFL, but he could certainly be in the top tier of tight ends, I think, in in the NFL, or maybe just below those
27:43
elite tight ends in the NFL. All right, that's going to do it for me because I got to be on the air coming up in a few
27:49
hours. I'm on the air starting at 6 a.m. Eastern time on channel 82, Mad Dog Sports Radio. So, thanks everybody for
27:55
watching here tonight. Once again, Bill Maddock comes at you every single week after all Bills games and during the
28:02
week with some behind thescenes stuff as well and trying to chronicle this final season of the Bills stadium. So, I want
28:10
to bring some history into the mix here for the Bills fan and for the NFL fan
28:15
that likes the history as well. Get some guys that have been through some some battles for the AFC East and the AFC and
28:23
for Buffalo as well and gone through the ringer there and I wanted to bring that to you this season as well. So, keep an
28:29
eye out for those types of stories and conversations as well. All right, everybody. This is Bill Maddock. Once
28:35
again, thanks. Make sure you are subscribed to the channel. Click on this button below me or that button above me.
28:40
I will see you tomorrow morning on Mad Dog Sports Radio channel 82 on SiriusXM.
28:46
Once again, I appreciate you guys watching this and as always, be good and
28:52
be good to one another. Right, remember that. I'm DA Damon Amendelara. Thanks
28:57
everybody for watching. We are signing off.
29:03
[Music]
29:21
We're out of here. Like I said, peace.
29:53
Heat. Heat.
29:59
[Music]
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