Remember back in the day when the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins had one of the most intense and entertaining divisional rivalries in the NFL? It was a time when Hall of Fame quarterbacks Dan Marino and Jim Kelly were airing it out in a shootout and Brian Cox was flipping the bird to Bills fans in Buffalo.
Oh, the 90s.
While the Bills and Dolphins remain division rivals the two teams seem to have lost that intensity that made their encounters “must see TV”. Sure, both teams lack of success, playoff experience and bonafide Hall of Famers have contributed to the calming of the fire, but one could have been ignited over the weekend.
There is bad blood between the Dolphins and the Bills, and it is boiling over.
It all started late on Sunday when Alonso, who recently signed a contract extension with the Dolphins, posted the following on his Instagram account.
El Blankito ojos claros #ozuna #futbolamericano #miamidolphins #yatusabes
A post shared by Kiko Alonso (@elbravo_47) on
This post didn’t make it past Bills running back McCoy, who is pictured in the photo receiving an Alonso tackle, who took to the comments section to let his feelings be known.
“boy ya dad wish u was as good as me… n ya new contract garbage lol my 2011 money …”
McCoy in the next comment said: “take me off ya page u BUM”
While there are epic stories from years ago that pain the picture of animosity between these two teams, it appears things are heating up again. Especially if you take some proof from the 2016 regular season.
It can be assumed that is all re-ignited when Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry laid an illegal high hit on Bills safety Aaron Williams during their game in October, the hit sent Williams to the hospital and pissed off Bills players.
Their rematch in December came with a lot of talk from Bills players who called Landry ‘dirty’ and said Landry would be playing with a target on his back.
Landry responded on Instagram: “Im not hiding.. If you want some, come get some.”
Dolphins defensive end Andre Branch mocked ex-Dolphin and current Bills offensive lineman Richie Incognito’s “killer instinct” just before the game. Miami ended up beating Buffalo in a game that would make the 90s proud and would catapult Miami to the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
Zach Brown, who was playing linebacker for Buffalo last season and is currently a free agent mocked Alonso for wearing a cast on his right thumb in Miami’s Wild Card Playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It seems Brown was irked by the attention Alonso received.
“They talking about his hand. I play over half the season wit a messed up hand lmao you soft 47″ Brown said on Twitter.
Miami fans ripped into Brown, who surprisingly visited the Dolphins for a free agent trip and has a contract offer on the table from the team, and Alonso called his comments “strange”.
If anything it seems that the fires of a heated rivalry are starting to burn yet again, after so many years of being dormant.
Who else can’t wait for football?