The Buffalo Bills continued to dominate the Dolphins in the AFC East rivalry with a 31-10 victory in Miami on Thursday night.

Buffalo went 9-1 against the Dolphins over the past five seasons, including the playoffs. That’s the most wins by a team against an opponent since 2020. The Bills dominated from the second quarter on, led by a defense that shut down Mike McDaniel’s offense even before Tua Tagovailoa was forced off with a concussion.

Sean McDermott’s defense generated three interceptions, two sacks, 10 tackles for loss, forced four turnovers on downs (including a big one in the second quarter), allowed a 47% third-down rate and limited Miami to 1-of-4 in the red zone.

“We played our own football and I think we have to do that. We had to work and take a little rest, like I said. But we had to continue playing our game and what we wanted to do and what we wanted to be,” McDermott said after the game.

Buffalo held Miami to 10 points, the club’s second-fewest points in a game with McDaniel as head coach.

“We probably had very little yards, but we still managed to score 31 points, and that means your defense is doing something right. So they backed us up tonight,” quarterback Josh Allen said, via the team’s official website.

The Bills offense managed just 247 total yards with 13 first downs. Three of Buffalo’s four scoring drives started in Miami territory.

Despite an offseason overhaul that rejuvenated them on the back end and a rash of injuries that left them without star linebacker Matt Milano and nickel Taron Johnson on Thursday night, the Bills have remained stingy. Even after linebacker Terrel Bernard was sidelined with a pectoral injury, the waves kept coming for Buffalo.

Von Miller, who has looked noticeably sharper this season, recorded a sack for the second straight week after going 14 games without a QB takedown. He became the 19th player all-time to reach 125.0 sacks since individual sacks began being tracked in 1982, according to NFL Research.

Through two games, the Bills’ defense has shown a propensity for big plays — sacks, interceptions, forced fumbles — despite giving up yards. Once again, McDermott’s defense has negated the big play. Since the coach took over in 2017, the Bills have allowed the fewest plays of 20+ yards in the NFL (281), 32 fewer than any other team, according to Chris Brown of the club’s official website. They allowed one play of 20+ yards to an explosive Miami team on Thursday night.

The Bills have seen key players get injured for years and have kept pushing through. On Thursday night, backup corner Ja’Marcus Ingram underscored the next-man-up mentality, personally benefiting from being in the right place at the right time for interceptions twice.

“I was just doing my job. And, you know, then (the ball) fell out of the sky,” Ingram said.

The former undrafted free agent has played in just seven career games. Thursday night marked his first and second career INTs, including a pick-6 that blew the game open.

“Ja’Marcus comes back in, gets another big play for us, and that’s great to see. And these guys work hard, you know, so good things happen when you work hard. And sometimes the ball finds you that way,” McDermott said.

For a club with major questions about the back seven after mid-season changes, the last six quarters have been sensational. McDermott deserves credit for putting his boys in position to make those game-changing plays.