Yesterday, Brian Galliford of Buffalo Rumblings answered a few Bills questions for us.  Today, he again makes an appearance here.

This time, in preparation of Sunday's Dolphins/Bills game, Brian and I look at 4 of the critical personnel matchups for Sunday's game.

MATCHUP #1:  OLB Joey Porter vs Bills' Offensive Line
Brian Galliford: The Bills struggled early in the season in pass protection; they gave up 16 sacks in the team's first 5 games.  Coming off of the bye week, however, the Bills faced a pretty stiff Chargers pass rush - including the underrated Shaun Phillips - and Trent Edwards wasn't sacked once.  In fact, he wasn't even hit.  Jason Peters appears to be fully restored to prominence after an off-season holdout, and when at full strength, pass blocking has always been this line's strong point.  Joey Porter is an excellent player having an outstanding season, but I don't think he's going to get too many opportunities to hit Edwards.  Advantage: Bills

Matty I: While the Bills offensive line did a much better job protecting Trent Edwards last week, I'm still not sold on them.  They've still given up the 9th most sacks in the league despite shutting down the Chargers' pass rush and Football Outsiders ranks Buffalo's pass protection 24th in adjusted sack rate - which is a stat that takes into account the number of sacks allowed per pass attempt while considering things like opponent, down, and distance.  I think Joey Porter is going to be moved around a little bit more than usual - especially if Jason Peters is having a good game, which would mean Porter would have some pass-rushing opportunities against RT Langston Walker.  And I'd be shocked if Porter doesn't at least pressure Edwards on a consistent basis.  Advantage: Dolphins

MATCHUP #2:  NT Randy Starks vs C Melvin Fowler/Duke Preston (whoever plays)
Brian Galliford: Look, I'm as down on Buffalo's centers as anyone.  Duke Preston hasn't played much at the position, and Melvin Fowler has struggled mightily throughout his tenure in Buffalo.  Fowler is a smart guy, but he's simply lacking physically.  Preston is a bit bulkier, but he struggles at the point of attack as well.  With that in mind, we know all about Randy Starks - we heard bad things about him this past off-season.  Twice, actually.  He's playing out of position this week, to boot.  Considering that Preston and his interior line mates just kept San Diego's Jamal Williams under control, I'm not particularly concerned about Starks.  Advantage: Bills

Matty I: With it looking more and more likely that Jason Ferguson won't be able to play on Sunday (and if he does, wouldn't be at full strength), Randy Starks has to step up.  He'll be playing out of position and he didn't play particularly well last week.  His inability to take on blockers and free up Miami's linebackers really hurt the Dolphins ability to stuff the run.  And though Marshawn Lynch doesn't have great numbers, he's still a good back.  Luckily, neither Melvin Fowler or Duke Preston are particularly good centers.  But Preston, with help from the guards, did a surprisingly good job on Jamal Williams last week.  The Dolphins' coaches will be hoping for a Jay Ratliff type of performance from Starks - who had little to no experience as a NT last year in Dallas when he filled in admirably for Ferguson after Ferguson went down with an injury.  But I'll be honest: I'm a bit worried about this matchup heading into Sunday.  Advantage: Bills

Continue reading this post »