Your guide to Bills' regular season finale against Miami Dolphins in Week 17

Josh Allen will receive votes for NFL Most Valuable Player. That much seems clear.

Buffalo News sports reporter Vic Carucci, one of 50 voters tabbed by the Associated Press to select the NFL All-Pro team and assorted year-end honors, publicly pledged his ballot to Allen after the Bills dismantled the Patriots, 38-9, on "Monday Night Football" in Foxborough, Mass.

The Buffalo Bills have not had to rely on their young players nearly as much as in recent years.

Heading into Week 17, just 19.91% of the team’s snaps have been played by rookies or second-year players, a total that ranks 27th in the NFL. Compare that to two years ago, when the Bills headed into the final week of the 2018 season with 37.6% of their snaps taken by players falling into that category, third most in the NFL.

Welcome to the first Bills Mailbag of 2021. We're leading this week with plenty of questions about the condition of Cole Beasley. Let's get right to it ...

Mark F. asks: What happened to Kenny Stills?

When the Buffalo Bills throw: The looming question is how much Josh Allen will play. He’s just 40 yards away from topping Drew Bledsoe for the franchise record for the most passing yards in a single season. That would be a nice record for Allen to break. Allen’s quarterback rating this season of 106.4 ranks fifth in the NFL. The Miami Dolphins present a tough challenge, though, allowing a cumulative passer rating of 85.3, which ranks fourth best in the league. In Buffalo’s Week 2 win, Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones left the game with a groin injury that caused him to miss the next two weeks, as well. In those three games, Miami allowed 25 points per game. With Jones in the lineup for Miami’s other 12 games, that averaged drops to 17.3. EDGE: Bills.

When the Bills run: The Bills ran for 112 yards in Week 2. Of course, with Allen throwing for 415 yards, there wasn’t a big need to run. Miami came into the season having allowed at least 2,000 rushing yards in four of the past five years, but the Dolphins have shown improvement in 2020. They have given up 1,784 rushing yards, which ranks 17th in the league. With T.J. Yeldon still on the NFL’s reserve/Covid-19 list, the Bills might be in a position to give Taiwan Jones some carries, or to call up Antonio Williams from the practice squad to limit playing time for Devin Singletary and Zack Moss. EDGE: Dolphins.

The Buffalo Bills probably will rest at least a few key starters in Sunday’s game against Miami, based on coach Sean McDermott’s approach in last year’s home finale.

If the Bills rest their key starters and lose to Miami, then Buffalo’s likeliest opponent in the first round of the playoffs will be Cleveland.

Here are my five takes on the Buffalo Bills’ regular-season finale Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Miami Dolphins at Bills Stadium.

1. Stay healthy.

On Monday night, as the Buffalo Bills were beating up on the New England Patriots, Drew Bledsoe and some of his former teammates from both clubs held a virtual watch party on a video call.

The group included former Bills Eric Moulds, Takeo Spikes, Alex Van Pelt and Trey Teague, along with ex-Patriots Tedy Bruschi and Ty Law.

The closing arguments for NFL MVP have begun.

With voting by The Associated Press panel set for Jan. 5, Josh Allen is making a strong case.

Three matchups to watch when the Miami Dolphins visit the Buffalo Bills for the NFL regular-season finale Sunday.

Miami tight ends vs. Bills safeties. The Dolphins’ tight ends have produced 82 catches for 969 yards and 11 touchdowns, which amounts to the best collective production from the position in Miami team history. Mike Gesicki, a second-round pick from 2018, is tied for 13th among NFL tight ends with 48 catches for 656 yards. Durham Smythe, a fourth-round pick from 2018, has 23 for 185 yards. Gesicki had eight catches for 130 yards and a TD in the Week 2 game vs. Buffalo. Starting receiver Jakeem Grant is expected to miss the game. Top wideout DeVante Parker is dealing with a sore hamstring. Miami will need Gesicki to produce.

The Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins are headed toward a revival of the glory days of their rivalry.

Miami has prepared itself to contend with the passing powerhouse the Bills have built by investing more money in the cornerback position than any team in the NFL.

Here is how News' sports writers see Sunday's regular season finale between the Bills and Miami Dolphins at Bills Stadium:

Vic Carucci

Bills tight end Tyler Kroft has tested positive for Covid-19 and was placed on the reserve/Covid-19 list, the team announced Saturday. 

He will not play in the regular season finale against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday and the wild-card playoff game next weekend. Players who test positive must be quarantined for 10 days.  

Sean McDermott says the primary thing he needed to do upon arrival as the Bills’ head coach in 2017 was “get the right people on the bus.”

“It’s a people-driven business, like many things, and we wanted to build those key relationships,” he said recently. “There were already good people in the building. We had to make sure we retained those people and then added to those people. I’m a big believer if you win off the field that it makes it easier to win on the field so we went head first into accomplishing that as well.”

This is a tricky one. The red-hot Buffalo Bills (8-1 in their last nine games, with the only loss at Arizona on the Hail Murray) and the equally hot Miami Dolphins (9-2 in their last 11) are jostling for playoff positioning.

Here are The News' selections for Week 17 from Jay Skurski, Mark Gaughan and Jason Wolf. Points spreads and records provided by our new partner at tallysight.com.