Dolphins vs. Bills betting preview: Odds, picks, props, trends, injuries, weather and more for Week 3 Thursday Night Football

It's rare for an NFL head coach to be fired before the end of September, but one wonders whether Miami will dump coach Mike McDaniel if the winless Dolphins are embarrassed on Thursday Night Football at unbeaten Buffalo to kick off Week 3. The Bills have utterly dominated this series (and the entire AFC East_ in recent years and are the biggest favorites of the week at -12 with a total of 49.5 for the 8:15 kick on Prime Video.

Miami is 0-2 for the first time since 2020 and McDaniel is now the -700 favorite to be the first NFL head coach fired; he was -400 entering Week 2, and the Dolphins blew a 27-23 fourth-quarter lead at home and lost 33-27 to New England. Miami took the lead on a 74-yard punt return for a score by Malik Washington only to immediately give the lead back up on 90-yard kickoff return for a score by the Patriots' Antonio Gibson. It was only the second time in NFL history there was a punt return TD immediately followed by a kickoff return TD (Sept. 13, 1992, Atlanta at Washington).

A plane flew over Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday that called for the firings of McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier. "I think if I worry about my job security, I won't be doing my job," McDaniel said after. "I think if there was anything that would lend me to believe that messages weren't being received, then you address those things. To me, I think I've seen a team that is trying to do everything they can to win and coming up short and pressing forward and trying to change that result."

It would make some sense for owner Stephen Ross to make a change after this game should it go badly, as the Fins don't play again until Sept. 29 at home vs. the Jets, a very winnable game. Miami's official bye is Week 12. 

All is well in Buffalo, which is 2-0 for the fifth time under Josh Allen and already two games clear of Baltimore (via head-to-head tiebreaker) and Kansas City (0-2) for the potential top seed in the AFC playoffs. Frankly, Week 2 went about as well as possible for the Bills as they won, the Chiefs lost again and another top AFC contender in Cincinnati lost QB Joe Burrow for at least three months. Buffalo, on a 12-game home winning streak, is the -145 favorite for the AFC's No. 1 seed and +190 leader to finish with the most wins in the NFL overall. 

We'll take you through every aspect of the Dolphins vs. Bills game that you need to know before you lock in your bets, including SportsLine expert picks, props, trends, DFS, injury information and everything else that will help you know which plays are worth making for the primetime matchup.

Who wins Dolphins vs. Bills in the Week 3 Thursday night game, and what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread hit HARD? Join SportsLine right now to see everything you need to know to dominate your Thursday Night Football bets, plus get expert picks, model sims, prop bets, DFS lineups, and more!