Amazon’s Thursday Night Football returns with an AFC East battle between the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins. Both teams are coming off close wins in Week 1, and this early showdown could have massive implications as the season progresses.
With the game being broadcast on Amazon, here is everything you need to know about how to watch the game, what time it will start, the channel, predictions, and more.
Bills vs. Dolphins Kickoff and TV Information
- Date
Thursday, September 12 - Time
8:15 p.m. ET - TV Channel
ABC (for in-market viewers in Buffalo), CBS (for in-market viewers in Miami) - Live Streaming
Amazon Prime, NFL+ - Location
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.
First place is on the line Thursday after Buffalo and Miami rallied to win non-divisional games in Week 1. The Bills have owned the Dolphins in recent years, winning 11 of the last 12 meetings, including a de facto division championship game in Week 18 of the 2023 season.
The Dolphins still have a 62-58-1 all-time edge in the series, which dates back to 1966, and they’re favored to win Thursday.
What Channel is the NFL Game Tonight?
Amazon Prime Video is hosting Thursday Night Football for the third NFL season. If you do not have Amazon Prime and you are located in Buffalo or Miami, you can catch the game on WKBW (Channel 7) in Buffalo and WFOR (Channel 4) in Miami.
The legendary Al Michaels handles play-by-play. Michaels is entering his 38th season as an NFL prime-time play-by-play voice. He’s joined by Kirk Herbstreit as a color commentator.
The pregame and halftime shows feature host Charissa Thompson and former NFL players Richard Sherman, Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Andrew Whitworth.
For more about the Amazon broadcast crew, check out our Thursday Night Football announcer profile.
Fantasy Football Players to Watch Tonight
There are several storylines and fantasy football stars in this Thursday Night Football game. Both offenses have weapons up and down their rosters, including, but not limited to, the quarterbacks Josh Allen and Tua Tagovailoa.
Josh Allen’s Fantasy Outlook
Zero is the number for the week.
- Zero times has Allen failed to throw multiple TD passes against Miami.
- Zero players have more rushing TDs than Allen since Joe Brady took over as Bills OC.
- Zero QBs should be ranked ahead of Allen this week.
For his career, Allen averages 28.9 PPG career vs. Miami (12 games), with 72.9% of points coming via the pass (34.8% of those points being scored on the deep pass). Add in the rushing TD equity with Brady calling the plays (as it is, Allen has 30+ rushing yards in nine of those games), and you’ll have a hard time projecting any player in the sport to top Buffalo’s lead man in Week 2.
Tua Tagovailoa’s Fantasy Outlook
No team gave the opposing QB more time to throw last week than the Bills, and if they deploy a similar strategy this week, Tagovailoa could correct some of his historical struggles against the divisional rival. He’s never scored more than 18.1 fantasy points against the Bills and averages roughly 30% fewer points per pass in those spots than his career norm.
This offense remains a concentrated one (66.7% of Tagovailoa’s targets went to Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, or De’Von Achane) and that makes Tagovailoa a top-10 signal-caller this week.
For more fantasy football advice, check out Kyle Soppe’s Bills vs. Dolphins 2024 Week 2 Start/Sit breakdown.
Will the Bills or Dolphins Win this TNF Game?
- Spread: Dolphins -2½
- Over/Under: 49
- Moneyline: Bills +115, Dolphins -135
Both rosters have many injury question marks, and with this being a short week, no one really knows who will be healthy or not.
When you think of the Bills and Dolphins, you think of playmakers and offense, and you are often correct. However, not in Miami. The last three times these teams did battle in Miami (2021-23), they scored 35, 40, and 35. Two of those games were early in the season, like this one, and the other was the de facto AFC East division title game in Week 18 last year.
Maybe it’s the heat and humidity, which will be high on Thursday night, or maybe the defenses just play better down there. Either way, the high end of those three scores was 40, which is eight and a half points lower than the current total.
Miami might be without their top two running backs, and Josh Allen is already banged up on the Buffalo side. Miami and Tua have consistently struggled against Buffalo, breaking 20 only twice in the last seven meetings. Since joining Miami, Tyreek has yet to have a 100-yard game. It all adds up to a 24-20 type game on Thursday night.
Pick: Under 48.5
For more, check out our complete Week 2 2024 Thursday Night Football Picks and Predictions.
Key Stats and Analysis for Bills vs. Dolphins
Buffalo Bills
- Josh Allen led the Bills to the red zone at the 4th highest frequency last season (35.9% of drives) while the Dolphins ranked 10th (31.2%). In Week 1 wins, BUF got there 60% of the time while MIA just 18.6% – which team is replacing their passing game firepower?
- Last season, 68.7% (11th) of Buffalo’s offensive yards on the road came through the air, up from their 62.2% (24th) rate at home
- The Bills didn’t allow a deep completion (15+ air yards) against the Cardinals in Week 1, their first such game since Week 15 of 2021 against the Panthers.
- The Bills were the 4th worst 3rd down defense in Week 1 (53.8%, league average: 37.1%). They ranked 19th last season and held the Dolphins to a 35% conversion rate in their 2023 matchups. The Dolphins are 12-0 during the Mike McDaniel era when they pick up over 40% of their 3rd downs.
Miami Dolphins
- The Dolphins were the only team to reach 100+ yards (103) in penalty yardage (that was their highest mark since Week 17 of 2017, a home game against the Bills. Their 2023 average: 46.1.
- Since the start of 2022 (including playoffs), Miami is 1-4 (averaging 22.4 PPG) on non-Sunday games – they are 20-12 (26.2 PPG) on Sunday’s over that stretch.
- Tua is 8-1 in healthy (15+ pass attempts) home games played before November. (He started the Week 2, 2021 35-0 loss to the Bills, but he only lasted four passes).
- Twice in the career of Tua has he thrown for over 310 passing yards without recording multiple touchdown tosses – last week against the Jags and in Week 17, 2020 in Buffalo (56-26 loss).
- Keep it clean. The Dolphins are 7-0 when Tua throws 35 passes without an interception. That was the case in Week 1 – the offense helps the defense: in those 7 games, Miami has allowed just 105 points (15 PPG).
- The Dolphins threw 14 passes behind the line of scrimmage (11 completions), matching their most such attempts in a game over the past 15 years (also: 14 attempts against Washington in Week 6, 2019).
- During the Tagovailoa era, the Dolphins are in 11 personnel 41.9% of the time (30th, NFL average: 60.2%) – for reference, the Bills rank 7th in 11 personnel rate during the Josh Allen era (67.6%).
- The Dolphins were attacked down field last season (8.0 opponent aDOT, 11th highest) and the Jags took a similar approach in Week 1 (9.8, third highest of the week).
Defense: Last season, 69.5% of yards gained vs MIA came through the air (9th most). In Week 1, that rate was 52.1% (8th lowest).