Dolphins 28, Bils 25

Dolphins running back Jay Ajayi joined some elite company yesterday in South Florida as he gained over 200 yards on the ground for the second consecutive game. Only three other players in NFL history have ever accomplished this: OJ Simpson who did it twice for the Bills in the 1970s, Houston Oilers great Earl Campbell in 1980 and the Dophins Ricky Williams in 2003. Ajayi, who was born to Nigerian parents in London, England and moved to the US at age 7, played his college football at Boise State and was the 149th overall pick by the Dolphins in the 2015 draft. He was left off the roster for the Dolphins first game of this season at Seattle for disciplinary reasons (in hockey, it's called being a "healthy scratch") but has obviously become a critical part of the offense, taking some pressure off the persistently mediocre quarterback Ryan Tanehill and saving, for now, prospects for the Dolphins season after a 1-4 start.

Now the Bills know what it feels like to have a team run at will against them. When a defence knows that the run is coming but still can't stop it, two things happen: it slowly but surely breaks the spirit of the defence and then it opens up opportunities in the passing game. That's what happened yesterday to the Bills after doing much the same to their opponents over the course of their four game winning streak. They made the score look close with a late touchdown and two point conversion before trying an unsuccessful onside kick with 13 seconds left.

The Patriots keep on rolling, with a win in Pittsburgh yesterday to move to 6-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of the Bills. They make their annual trip to Orchard Park next week. With a win yesterday, the Bills would have pushed their record to 5-2 with this week's game representing a chance to move into first place in the AFC East, tied with the Patriots but holding the tie-breaker having beaten them twice. But, at 4-3, even with a win on Sunday, which seems unlikely, a home playoff game remains a pipe dream in Buffalo as these go only to division winners. The Patriots are early 5 to 7 point favourites on most lines and I look for that line to creep up as the week goes on and the state of some key Bills injuries come into focus.

I have a prediction for what we might see on the evening of November 8th between 10 and 11pm. Hillary Clinton will have won a landslide victory in the Presidential election, at least in terms of the Electoral College results, winning by 9 points over Donald Trump in the national popular vote. The protocol would then require that he address his supporters and the nation before Clinton delivers her victory speech. Protocol would also require that one of the first things that he says in his concession speech would be to very briefly recount a phone call which he had a few minutes earlier.

I think that he will do that but when it comes time to say who he had just spoken with on the phone, there will be a twist. Here's what I think he will say: "I just got off the phone with.......... Ann Coulter" - insert applause here - "and she told me to keep fighting this election and not concede until we have exhausted all possible fraud investigations, court challenges and vote recounts." Then, he will offer some misogynous commentary on her physical appearance (still pretty good but past her best days etc). And, with that, he will not concede - at least not on election night.

Coulter's recent book, "In Trump We Trust" sets out all of the great planks in his policy platform and, on her website, she explains that the only policy detail that he has not provided in the campaign is "which company will supply rebar for the wall".  

Ok, back to the Bills. With the Patriots coming up next, followed by a trip to Seattle for a night-before-the-election appearance on Monday Night Football on November 7th, a wildcard playoff spot will look even more difficult to achieve at 4-5 as they enter their bye week.