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ORCHARD PARK, New York (Ticker) --
Buffalo Bills
owner Ralph Wilson is frustrated. Dave Wannstedt is quite exasperated himself.
The NFL's only remaining winless teams - the Bills and the
Miami Dolphins
- meet Sunday in a battle of AFC East rivals.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it will mark the first time two opponents will meet that have combined to lose nine or more games to start a season since Washington and Philadelphia - both 0-5 - played in October 1998.
Wilson wasn't counting on this kind of start for rookie coach Mike Mularkey and expressed his displeasure after last week's 16-14 loss to the
New York Jets
.
"I was hoping we'd really open it (the offense) up," Wilson told the Buffalo News. "I've had enough of this smashmouth football."
Yet the Bills attempted 34 passes and 22 runs in the loss to the Jets.
"I think we're all frustrated," Mularkey said. "He (Wilson) has every right to be, being where we are right now."
But Mularkey also defended himself from the owner's criticism.
"I'm not sure what open up (the offense) is," Mularkey said. "Throw it a little more, maybe deeper? We did. We tried and we got sacked."
The immobile
Drew Bledsoe
has been sacked a league-high 19 times this season, backing up Mularkey's claim. The Bills have yet to score more than 17 points in a game and have lost three of their games by three points or less.
Wannstedt, the fifth-year coach of the Dolphins, knows all about offensive futility. Miami has scored a grand total of 42 points in its five losses.
And on top of that both of the Dolphins' top quarterbacks -
Jay Fiedler
and A.J. Feeley - were injured in last week's 24-10 loss at New England. Fiedler aggravated a rib injury when he was sacked for a 12-yard loss by safety
Rodney Harrison
in the fourth quarter. Feeley replaced Fiedler and suffered a concussion after he was hit by linebacker
Rosevelt Colvin
on a fourth-down play.
Wannstedt has had to contend with the stunning retirement of star running back
Ricky Williams
as well as numerous injuries. Even before the loss at New England, the Dolphins lost kicker
Olindo Mare
in pregame warmups to a strained left calf. That forced them to use rookie punt returner Wes Welker, who kicked a 29-yard field goal and converted an extra point.
Miami signed kicker
Matt Bryant
this week with Mare expected to miss the next two weeks.
The Dolphins matched their worst start since their inaugural season of 1966. That season, they won their next two games, en route to finishing 3-11.
The Bills last lost their first five games in 1985 under coach Kay Stephenson.
The Dolphins won both meetings last year, including a 20-3 victory here on December 21. Bledsoe was sacked six times, 2 1/2 of them by defensive end
Jason Taylor
.
Matchup to watch: Bills receiver
Eric Moulds
matches up against right cornerback
Sam Madison
.
Series: Miami leads, 49-30-1
Next week: Miami hosts St. Louis on October 24 Buffalo visits Baltimore on October 24
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