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The Buffalo Bills (13-3) kick off their postseason run by hosting the Miami Dolphins (9-8) in the Wild Card round on Sunday, January 15.
While this marks the Bills’ fourth-consecutive playoff appearance, the Dolphins haven’t made it to the postseason since 2016, which means the bulk of their players don’t have any playoff experience. However, superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who was traded to Miami this past offseason from the Kansas City Chiefs, not only has a Super Bowl ring, but the seven-time Pro Bowler has plenty of playoff experience — specifically against the Bills.
However, Hill’s comment on Friday, January 13 about being the “underdog” turned some heads on Twitter, as the 28-year-old receiver seemed to subtly shade his own team.
“This one right here will mean a lot more to me because I’ve never been an underdog,” Hill said, per Palm Beach Post reporter Joe Schad. “In Kansas City, I was blessed to be on a real good football team. Here, it’s different. I feel like right now I’ve got a chip on my shoulder and so do the rest of the guys.”
One fan tweeted in response, “Here it’s different = this isn’t a real good team 🤣🤣,” while Hard Rock Sportsbook reacted, “Bashing his own team?” Another fan tweeted, “Giving his own team bulletin board material is a real 3d chess move,” while a Dolphins fan admitted, “Not the greatest of quotes lol.”
With the Bills-Bengals Week 17 game declared a no-contest, Hill watched his former team clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC and a first-round bye, while the Dolphins needed help from Buffalo in Week 18 in order to limp into the playoffs with a win over the New York Jets.
While there was a huge question mark as to how Hill would perform without Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the former fifth-round pick from the 2016 NFL Draft has continued to excel. Hill received his fourth All-Pro First-Team nod this year and finished the 2022 season with 119 receptions for 1,710 yards and seven touchdowns.
The Dolphins Will Start 3rd-String QB Skylar Thompson on Sunday
The Dolphins will be far from full strength when they face the Bills for a third time this season. One person tweeted in response to Hill’s comment, “I’m pretty sure he’s alluding to the current active roster going into Sunday, which I agree is far less talented than his former roster heading into a playoff game.”
On Friday, Miami confirmed third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson would start on Sunday and that their No. 1 running back, Raheem Mostert, would not be playing after he underwent surgery for a broken thumb earlier this week.
Buffalo was already favored to defeat Miami by 11.5 points, but with Thompson getting the start, they jumped to 13-point favorites.
Hill’s game will likely take a hit without Tua Tagoviloa at the helm, as the veteran receiver recorded just two receptions for 23 yards with Thompson starting against the Jets. However, he still has hope the Dolphins can make some magic happen.
“We’re playing for this for the whole entire city of Miami,” Hill told reporters. “We want to be a part of something special, be a part of history… If we’re able to come away with this win, we’re going to be able to look at this moment in our careers and be like man, a lot people doubted us, had us underdogs. What is it.. 12/13 point underdogs?… Other teams will be looking at us… Like ‘Hey, here’s a team that lost their quarterback, there’s a lot of situations going on, and they still took care of business. That’s how a team battles through adversity.'”
Despite the Odds, Buffalo Is Not Sleeping on The Dolphins
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GettyJerome Baker #55 of the Miami Dolphins pressures Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on December 17, 2022 in Orchard Park, New York.
Despite the lopsided odds, Bills quarterback Josh Allen has made it clear that they are not sleeping on the Dolphins. During a press conference on Wednesday, January 11, “We know it’s going to be a dog fight,” Allen said of facing the Dolphins. “It’s going to be 60 minutes. We’ve got to do our job. We’ve got to execute. We’ve got to trust each other, take care of the football and just try to score points.”
“We just know that it’s win or go home,” Allen added. “It might be a little bit more attention to detail, but again, this is the standard that we set for ourselves and [head] coach [Sean] McDermott sets for ourselves with ‘playoff caliber’ and now that we’re here it’s ‘championship-caliber.’ There is always going to be that little ‘up’ in effort or attention to detail.”
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