ORCHARD PARK – By the time Miami upset the Buffalo Bills in Week 10 last season, the Dolphins’ season was already circling the drain.
They came into that game at Hard Rock Stadium with a 2-7 record, staring at an arch-rival they had lost to seven straight times and 14 out of 17 since Josh Allen became Buffalo’s quarterback in 2018.
“I did get y’all once now,” new Bills outside linebacker and former Dolphin Bradley Chubb said with a smile Tuesday following a mini-camp practice, recalling Miami’s 30-13 shocking blowout, during which he recorded a sack of Allen.
That was the fifth time Chubb had faced the Bills – four with Miami, one with Denver – and it was his first victory and afterward, the way the Dolphins celebrated, you’d have thought they’d just clinched a playoff berth. Of course, there were reasons.
“It was just a lot of factors,” Chubb recalled of that emotional victory. “We had just had a GM (Chris Grier) get fired, we had just had (linebacker Jaelen Phillips) get traded. A lot of people (on the outside) were saying the season’s over, but as a team we kind of just got rallied together, made sure we stuck together. We just wanted to put our best foot forward that day, and we had a great day.”
Chubb came to Miami in a trade from Denver – who picked him No. 5 overall in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft – midway through 2022, but he had injury struggles there including missing all of 2024 with a knee injury. That’s why his games against the Bills are limited.
But being in the Miami organization, he admitted that Buffalo’s domination, which included a playoff victory in 2022 that Chubb did play in and recorded another sack of Allen, was frustrating.
“I wouldn’t say hate because I don’t hate anybody or anything, but being down there, it’s a lot of hate for the team up here,” he said. “And having somebody constantly beating you, getting by, getting a field goal to beat you, a touchdown to beat you, it’s just like, ‘Man, we’re all always right there.’
“So it did get frustrating. But at the end of the day, man, it’s football. They do a good job of knowing how to win games here and I feel like me coming up here, that’s what I came to do, win games, and hopefully keep that momentum going.”
How Bradley Chubb fits Buffalo Bills new 3-4 defense
Chubb picked a good time to switch sides because the Dolphins are clearly in a rebuild after moving on from coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Chubb is now on a team that continues to rate as top-5 Super Bowl contender, a team that targeted him in free agency because of his familiarity with the 3-4 scheme Buffalo is transitioning into.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity,” Chubb said. “Coach Leonard came from Denver and mixing in some of his style of play, and so a lot of our installs have to do with what we’ve seen from Denver. Seeing those guys get out there with Nic (Bonitto) and (Jonathan Cooper), some guys that I was in the room with (in Denver), and seeing their growth has been dope.
“Seeing how fast they played in this defense, like, even the backups just getting off the ball playing confident, playing free. And I feel like that’s what this defense allows edges to do.”
Chubb’s experience in the scheme is vital because this is all new for Buffalo’s best pass rusher, Greg Rousseau, who did all his previous work as a 4-3 end. Thus, Chubb has helped mentor Rousseau, rookie TJ Parker and the others who are taking reps at standup outside linebacker.
“For sure, I take that on every day I’m out here,” he said. “I try to set a standard, my standard, that belief into the team, showing how I go about my business, how I do everything. That’s part of it, and then on the field, I’m just going to be the same me I am each and every past year I’ve been in this league. Making plays, getting to the ball, putting that standard out there on the tape and on the field, letting my guys see it and raising that standard as a team together.”
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Leonhard is seeing those qualities emerge even in the non-padded workouts the team has gone through this spring.
“We thought it was huge, the experience,” Leonhard said of signing Chubb. “He was drafted as a first-rounder for this defense, right? And he’s played in very similar defenses, the majority of his career, even at Miami. So excited to have him for the player that he is, the experience, the versatility he has, and the leadership.
“He’s one of those personalities that can reach to the other side of the ball. There’s a lot of times you have great leaders within your room or within a defense or an offense, and every once in a while, you get special guys that can kind of hit anybody on the team and really be that leader. He’s been that. He takes a lot of pride in it, so we’re excited in all facets for what he can bring to this team.”
Bills get Bradley Chubb and a built-in revenge angle
Although he made it clear that he never lets the game be about him but always about the team, Chubb admitted that playing the Dolphins will be meaningful since they sent him into free agency by releasing him.
“You got a little extra chip on your shoulder, you never want to get told by a team that we’re going in a different direction,” he said. “At the end of the day, as a businessman, I came up here as a business decision to do things I know I want to do with my career. And all these guys are behind me, man. It’s not going to be Chubb vs. the Dolphins or Chubb vs. the Broncos; it’s just going to be the Bills vs. each team. So I’m excited about that.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bradley Chubb brings edge to Buffalo Bills and Dolphins rivalry
