Buffalo vs. Miami Position by Position Comparison

[Shiny Chicken]

I think it was Patrick I saw say that it's obvious we have the better team just by comparing the roster. So I went to each team's website and got the roster... hey, I'm a little bored... thought I'd compare every position... so here we go...

Buffalo players in Blue
Miami players in beautiful Hot Pink

Offense

QB
1.Drew Bledsoe 2.Alex Van Pelt

1.Jay Fiedler 2.Sage Rosenfels 3.Brian Griese

Comparison: Only the most homeristic Phin Fan will say they'd rather have Jay Fiedler than Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe is just a much more refined passer... has a much better long ball... can throw any pass in the game and is extremely accurate. The same cannot be said about Fiedler. In terms of depth... Miami, with 2 backups rather than three has an advantage. However, with Griese down to third string with a nagging injury, I'd much rather have AVP's experience in my backup role rather than Rosenfels... who may have good upside... but nothing near the experience of AVP.

Advantage: Buffalo

WR
LWR: 1.Eric Moulds 2.Clarence Coleman 3.Sam Aiken
RWR: 1.Josh Reed 2.Bobby Shaw 3.Antonio Brown

LWR: 1.Derrius Thompson 2.J.R. Tolver
RWR: 1.Chris Chambers 2.James McKnight 3.Sam Simmons

Comparison: Chris Chambers is good.... Eric Moulds is one of the best athletes in the game and Shaw and Reed both have shown a lot in the first two games... well not the first game for Reed... but the second game showed he can be counted on. Thompson and McKnight are very good receivers... I just don't think they have the playmaking ability of Shaw and Reed.

Advantage: Buffalo


OL
LT: 1.Jonas Jennings 2.Marcus Price
LG: 1.Ruben Brown 2.Ben Sobieski
C: 1.Trey Teague 2.Ross Tucker
RG: 1.Mike Pucillo 2.Marques Sullivan 3.Ross Tucker
RT: 1.Mike Williams 2.Marcus Price

LT: 1.Wade Smith 2.Mark Dixon
LG: 1.Jamie Nails B2.illy Yates
C: 1.Tim Ruddy 2.Seth McKinney
RG: 1.Todd Perry 2.Taylor Whitley
RT: 1.Todd Wade 2.Greg Jerman

Comparison: Buffalo's O-Line is becoming one of the best in the league. The only question marks are that Ruben may be starting to get a little old... and Teague has a bad snap every once in awhile. Other than that, Drew's been protected extraordinarily well. they do need to start opening some holes for Henry... but I believe they will. Miami's O-Line is average. A great back like Ricki Williams make them look better than they really are. They do a decent job.

Advantage: Buffalo


TE
1.Dave Moore 2.Mark Campbell 3.Ryan Neufeld

1.Randy McMichael 2.Donald Lee 3.Sean McDermott

Comparison: Solid groups on both teams. McMichael could be awesome in time. Campbell and Moore have made some great catches in the first two weeks.

Advantage: Even


Backfield
HB: 1.Travis Henry 2.Sammy Morris 3.Joe Burns
FB: 1.Sam Gash 2.Phil Crosby


HB: 1.Ricky Williams 2.Travis Minor 3.Charlie Rogers 4.Leonard Henry
FB: 1.Rob Konrad 2.Obafemi Ayanbadejo

Comparison: This all comes down to Ricki vs. Travis. As good as Travis is, Ricki is the superior back. Not by much... but definitely has an edge.

Advantage: Miami



Defense

DL
LE: 1.Ryan Denney 2.Chris Kelsay
LT: 1.Sam Adams 2.Ron Edwards 3.Lauvale Sape
RT: 1.Pat Williams 2.Justin Bannan
RE: 1.Aaron Schobel 2.Keith McKenzie

LE: 1.Adewale Ogunleye 2.Jay Williams
LT: 1.Tim Bowens 2.Jeff Zgonina
RT: 1.Larry Chester 2.Dario Romero
RE: 1.Jason Taylor 2.Rob Burnett 3.Otis Grigsby

Comparison: Buffalo has two great DTs in Sam and Pat... but Schobel and Denney are a clear step down from those two. Chester and Bowens are solid... they're no Sam and Pat, though. Jason Taylor makes this line scary... even if he does always get shut down by Jennings

Advantage: Slightly to Miami

LB
SLB: 1.Jeff Posey 2.DaShon Polk 3.Josh Stamer
MLB: 1.London Fletcher 2.Angelo Crowell
WLB: 1.Takeo Spikes 2.Dominique Stevenson

SLB: 1.Morlon Greenwood 2.Brendon Ayanbadejo
MLB: 1.Zach Thomas 2.Tommy Hendricks
WLB: 1.Junior Seau 2.Corey Jenkins

Comparison: Posey, Fletcher, and Spikes are amazing. Three fast ball hawks... great tacklers... just a great group of LB's. Spikes was the most important off-season acquisition for the Bills and it shows. Beyond Thomas, Miami doesn't have much to show. Seau was great once, but he's slowed down.

Advantage: Buffalo

DB
LCB: 1.Antoine Winfield 2.Kevin Thomas 3.Terrence McGee
SS: 1.Lawyer Milloy 2.Coy Wire 3.Izell Reese
FS: 1.Pierson Prioleau 2.Izell Reese
RCB: 1.Nate Clements 2.Dainon Sidney

LCB: 1.Patrick Surtain 2.Jamar Fletcher
SS: 1.Sammy Knight 2.Arturo Freeman 3.Trent Gamble
FS: 1.Brock Marion 2.Shawn Wooden
RCB: 1.Sam Madison 2.Terrell Buckley

Comparison:
These two units match up well. The only place the Dolphins have a slight advantage is Marion over Prioleau.

Advantage: Miami


Special Teams

K: Rian Lindell
P: Brian Moorman
LS: 1.Jon Dorenbos 2.Dave Moore 3.Trey Teague
H: 1.Brian Moorman 2.Alex Van Pelt
KR: 1.Antonio Brown 2.Sammy Morris 3.Terrence McGee
PR: 1.Antonio Brown 2.Clarence Coleman 3.Bobby Shaw 4.Nate Clements

K: Olindo Mare
P: Mark Royals
LS: 1.Shawn McDermott 2.Jeff Zgonina
H: 1.Mark Royals 2.Sage Rosenfels
KR: 1.Charlie Rogers 2.Travis Minor 3.Sam Simmons
PR: 1.Charlie Rogers 2.Sam Simmons 3.Terrell Buckley

Comparison On the kickers here, we're split. I haven't seen much to judge Lindell by yet, since he hasn't had many kicks at all, not to mention any kicks that mattered. Mare has experience and has been a good clutch kicker. But Moorman should be a pro-bowler this year. No one in the league is booming the ball down the field like he is. Royals has nothing on him. Brown has potential, but hasn't shown much in regular season play yet. Rogers is washed up.

Advantage: Even

Altogether, Buffalo wins the matchups 4-3 in my book... and the ones where they don't... they're very close to even. I'm trying my best to be unbiased here... but it seems clear that Buffalo has the more talented roster.

[Typ0]

Fish Fry.

[imbondz]

good job. Especially on the color coordination

[StanMarino13]

Well I'd rather have Fiedler then Bledsoe if its with the miami o line cuz pass blocking isnt exactly great in miami. Bledsoe would be dead in the first quarter with our line.

[RedEyE]

Originally posted by StanMarino13
Well I'd rather have Fiedler then Bledsoe if its with the miami o line cuz pass blocking isnt exactly great in miami. Bledsoe would be dead in the first quarter with our line.

[Typ0]

Originally posted by RedEyE

It's true you don't notice because Fiedler is dead before the first quarter.

[MDFINFAN]

I almost agree..but the same logic you used in rating the st's you should have used in WR's, that's about even, i think Mcknight showed last year he is a play maker..Just like Moulds is the class of the receivers, Mare is defintely the class of the kickers, not even close. So you should have given ST to Miami...and I'm not convinced that your OL is really better than Miami, they both seem to have their niche..yours pass blocking right now, ours run blocking. The only thing Drew has over Jay is a strong arm, when it comes to mobility, I like Jay better, he can made plays with his legs and is a the thread there, that Drew is with his arm. But overall a good analysis.

[Shiny Chicken]

Mare is the class of kickers as you said... but the same can be said about Moorman... he's in the same class when it comes to punters as Mare is when it comes to Kickers... even a tiny bit higher... which compensates for the fact that I would weigh kicking as a slightly more important positition as punting. I can't say I'd rather be in Buffalo or Miami's position when it comes to ST's overall... which is why I ranked them even. Moulds is the tie breaker when it comes to receivers, if there even is a tie to begin with. I doin't think McKnight and Thompson have anything over Reed and Shaw. Moulds definitely has something over Chambers.

I also cut your DB's some slack and gave them the advantage even though, at the moment Miami is last in Pass defense and Buffalo is first.

[jchild178]

the analysis was done very well...i agree with everything

[lordofgun]

Great job!

Their secondary is getting old. 32nd in the league so far...and that's to Carr and Vinny. I give Buffalo the edge in the defensive backfield.

Also, isn't madison nursing an injury?

[Shiny Chicken]

I know they're getting old... but I still think their depth is better than ours... thus their nickel and dime packages are better.

[lordofgun]

I think Bobby Shaw in the slot is going to eat them alive. I look for 75 yards and a TD from Shaw this week. They can't cover him with their nickel or dime guys.

[ajsdx]

I agree with everything except the TE comparison. If you don't agree with me, just ask who you'd rather have -- McMichael or our platoon. I don't think it's even or slight, it's pretty hands down in favor of Miami. That said, I think Buffalo's overall speed in all facets of the game gives them a sort of intangible advantage, and we should come out with the win. Squish the Fish!

[MDFINFAN]

Originally posted by lordofgun
I think Bobby Shaw in the slot is going to eat them alive. I look for 75 yards and a TD from Shaw this week. They can't cover him with their nickel or dime guys.

I actually think Buckley can defend Shaw, if we play the zone thing again, then yea you'll get a lot of yards in the air..the jets actually got 266 before the phins played the soft zone in the 4th and let them have another 100..so I think their coming around. As for as Moulds being the tie breaker, I still think that Mcknight and DT are better than Shaw and Reed. I think the final stats this season will show I'm right. You do have the advantage of Drew throwing to them, but talent wise I think Mcknight and DT are more talented. The DB's get the edge because they've earned it..the last 2 weeks of experimenting shouldn't cast a doubt on their abilities. They are still great shutdown corners. But all we can do is talk, which is fun, but the players will have the fnal word.

[Dolfan984]

Good analysis, but I think Fiedler is better than you think. :)(Nowhere near Bledsoe though)

Miami's secondary is slightly better than Buffalo's no matter how many times LOG says that it isn't.