What appeared to be a mild injury Sunday after the game, will now cause Jared Odrick to miss a significant amount of time. NFL.com's Jason La Canfora is reporting that Odrick broke his right fibula and will be sidelined for six weeks.

Tony McDaniel and Randy Starks on a limited basis, as he moves over from nose tackle on occasion, will have to make do for now. But is anyone beginning to second guess Ireland's decision to cut Marques Douglas and Charles Grant? Both were proven veterans, and were perfect for this exact situation. Douglas was stout against the run and Grant flashed a bit rushing the passer in training camp.

Let's just hope the run defense can hold together, especially in the next two weeks as the Vikings and Jets have two of the top rushing attacks in the league.

Jeff Ireland was busy back making the rounds yesterday and today. The Dolphins have reportedly re-signed defensive end Lionel Dotson and outside linebacker Erik Walden, two players they dismissed on final cut day about a week and a half ago. To make room for Walden, a decent special-teams contributor, they were forced to waive defensive end Clifton Geathers, who was signed off the waiver wire last week. It's not yet clear who the Dolphins disposed of, or demoted to the practice squad to make room for Lionel Dotson, though. Possibly Walden to the practice squad, but that's just speculation.

All the shuffling at defensive end has to be derived from Jared Odrick's deep bone bruise. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald called Odrick "week to week" today, and ruled him likely out for Sunday's game against the Vikings. That's a pretty big blow to this run defense with two of the best rushing offenses in the league on the schedule in the next couple weeks.

Tony McDaniel, who's flashed some promise from time to time in brief spurts of action, will fill Odrick's void, but Randy Starks could also spilt some action between nose tackle and defensive end. Paul Soliai would then vacate the opening at nose tackle. Soliai did struggle last season with the starting job after Jason Ferguson went down, but had an impressive enough preseason to earn a smaller role this year.

The Dolphins are 1-0 for the first time in five years. That's all well and good, but it doesn't matter anymore. Unless you just won the Super Bowl, you have to move on in a hurry in this league. It doesn't matter if your fresh off a big win, or trying to recover from a disappointing loss, you better turn your attention to your next opponent almost immediately, or your going to find yourself in a world of hurt the next week.

The Dolphins are set to kick off the toughest eight game stretch of the season in the next nine weeks (including the bye), all against playoff, and in some cases Super Bowl, caliber teams. Heading up to Minnestota, to play against a, I won't go as far as to say desperate, but very focused Vikings team after dropping their opener to Saints, is about as difficult as it gets.

No, this game isn't quite as important to the Dolphins as the prime-time games against the Jets and Patriots in Weeks 3 and 4, but it's still a great opportunity to make a statement and pick up a game most projected to be a loss when the schedules were first released.

It's only fitting that we begin previewing the running game. The Vikings and Dolphins boast two of the top rushing attacks in the league, and the Vikings have owned one of best run defenses in recent memory with Kevin and Pat Williams providing a stone wall up the middle.

The Dolphins, on the other hand, were impressive to say the least against the Bills' trio of backs on Sunday, but I think we can all agree that Adrian Peterson is a different breed.

Vikings rushing attack vs. Dolphins run defense
Make no mistake, the Dolphins aren't going to completely stuff Adrian Peterson. They can only hope to contain the beast, and limit big plays. I actually think they will be more successful if they can get to Favre early to disrupt the passing game, and force the Vikings to become one dimensional. Because if Minnesota can keep the Dolphins off balance with a nice combination of the run and pass, Peterson is bound to break off some chunks of yardage.

When the Vikings do pound the rock, though, the Dolphins need to fly to the football and gang tackle. You simply can't rely on one man to bring AP down. We've seen the highlights on ESPN, but this will be the first time the Dolphins have played against AP, as their last match-up with the Vikings was way back in 2006. Based on what we saw from Brett Farve against the Saints, if Mike Nolan can somehow dial up an approach that contains Minnesota's running game, Miami will have that offense right where it wants them.
Edge: Vikings

Dolphins rushing attack vs. Vikings run defense
We saw Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams combine for a productive 127 yards on the ground against the Bills. About what we expected, but surely nothing to be proud of considering it came against a front seven with countless question marks as it transitions to the 3-4 defense. Similar production against the Vikings, though, would be something to get ecstatic about. If there is a model of how to run the 4-3 in this league, it's without a doubt the Minnesota Vikings. Consistently one of the better run defenses in the league, Kevin and Pat Williams make running the ball up the middle no easy task. With two 230 pounders, that's where the Dolphins make a living.

Will they stick to gameplan, or attempt to attack the edges more? Because it will likely be a tall oder to just line up and run it down their throats, I expect to see maybe a little more of the wildcat this week. A little misderection with the threat of Ricky Williams on the perimeter, could open up some lanes for Brown up the middle. Still though, attacking the secondary is where offenses typically have success against the Vikings. More on that when we preview the passing game.
Edge: Vikings

I can't stress enough how huge yesterday's win was for the Dolphins. Taking into account how badly they got out of the gates in the first two years under Sparano, and how daunting the schedule is about to become in the next 8 games, I was on record saying Sunday was a must win.

Sure, it wasn't the blow out some fans were looking for, but at the end of the day, it counts as a win just the same. Honestly speaking, I would have been more surprised if the Dolphins took it to the Bills by two or three touchdowns, than if they were upset. It's just a tough place to go in and get a W, and it's been that way for years for Miami, regardless if they are the better team, or not.

But really, and I'm not saying this to insult the Bills, the Dolphins were a play or two away from running away with that game. They didn't cease those opportunities obviously, but at least they squeaked out a win in a game that they were clearly the superior team, and didn't win a game in which they were outplayed.

Anyway, more on that in a second, let's get to the positives and negatives from Sunday's win. I'm the type of guy who likes to get the negatives out of the way first, but if your the opposite, you can always skip ahead to the positives and come back to the negatives, or completely bypass the negatives if you don't want them to spoil the victory.

Negatives

Offense was too conservative: Whether it was Dan Henning's play-calling or Chad Henne's decision making, it was pretty evident that the offense was extremely conservative. I mean, a three yard completion on third and five, numerous check downs, and really only one deep ball, kind of prevented the Dolphins from pulling away, and gave the Bills a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter. That could have been the plan, though, with the Dolphins possessing an early lead, and with the defense playing so well. Henning may have decided he's just going to let the defense hang on to the win, and not risk a turnover that would have compromised that. Make no mistake, though, he's going to have to take the leash off Chad Henne, and let the offense come out of it's shell as the Dolphins begin their most important stretch of the season.

Six mistakes nearly cost Dolphins: There were six mistakes that allowed the Bills to hang in there until the end, and kept the outcome in doubt until the final whistle. Without them, the Dolphins probably win that game convincingly. Of course, I'm sure Bills fans could point to plays where they made mistakes that cost them too. But when evaluating the Dolphins' performance, Carpenter's kickoff out of bounds and his missed field goal, Brandon Marshall's dropped/Chad Henne's under-thrown 40+ yard bomb, Tyrone Culver's blown coverage on 4th and 11, and the two dropped interceptions by Jason Allen and Benny Sapp that would have undoubtedly been returned for touchdowns, left some points on the field and surrendered 10 more to the Bills.

Poor clock management: Is anyone else a little puzzled by the Dolphins' clock management towards the end of that game? What was the purpose of snapping the ball with over 10 seconds on the play clock in a one score game with under three minutes left? If they would have waited until at least five seconds or less, they wouldn't of had to run that 2nd and 5 play before the two-minute warning. Speaking of that play, what in the world was Henne thinking? The running game was pounding the rock right down the Bills' throats. There was no need to audible to a pass there. Simply run the ball, get to the two-minute warning, and if you want to take a chance at sealing the deal with a first down, do it on third down.

Positives

How about that run defense?: Some may point to C.J. Spiller's preseason performance as fool's gold. Not me. I believe Spiller, Jackson, and Lynch provide the Bills one of the most dangerous trios in all of football. That also means I'm completely sold on the Dolphins' run defense. They contained the edge, made sure tackles, refused to concede holes up the middle, and overall, only allowed 50 yards on the ground and 2.9 yards per carry. It may be early, but it could already be safe to say Randy Starks is a true nose tackle, and the Dolphins now have all the pieces to the puzzle in their front seven.

How about that pass rush?: Karlos Dansby set the tone early, sacking Trent Edwards from the blind side on the game's first series. The Dolphins only sacked Edwards twice more, but it was clear the pass rush was forcing him into some hurried decisions and he never really looked comfortable out there after that first hit. Word is, the Dolphins only gave us a glimpse at their new defensive playbook because they were winning their individual battles, and didn't need to unload all of Nolan's exotic looks. That should scare opposing offenses out there, but it won't just yet. If they can play this well defensively against some of the top tier teams on the slate in the coming weeks, though, this defense won't be flying under the radar for much longer.

Running game began to get going: Ronnie and Ricky didn't exactly have their way on the ground, but combining for over 120 yards is about where we expect them to be week in and week out. I still didn't see many holes out there, as Ronnie and Ricky were often times breaking tackles and making plays out of nothing, but the offensive line is only going to get better once they begin to establish some continuity.

Small Talk

-Numerous reports said Jared Odrick suffered a bone bruise yesterday and was limping badly after the game. Today, though, Armando Salguero reported Odrick went in for an MRI on his foot. Hopefully this is purely precautionary and nothing serious, because Odrick played a fine game yesterday and looked the role of long term answer opposite Langford.

Mike Nolan's defensive scheme was everything Dolphins fans dreamed it would be. Outside of a complete blown coverage by Tyrone Culver and a couple dropped pix sixes, the defense was nothing short of dominate for most of the game.

The pass rush was swarming, any deficiencies in the secondary were masked, and the run defense held Buffalo's trio to a mere 50 yards on the ground. No, the Bills didn't play a great game offensively, and they made a few mistakes that killed brief spurts of momentum, but that defense looked like the real deal to me.

Individually, Dansby suited the role of monumental upgrade at linebacker, Chris Clemons was flying all over the field making sure tackles, and Cameron Wake got in on his first of hopefully many sacks this season, and looked virtually unblockable on numerous other plays.

All in all, a poor mistake made by Dan Carpenter when he kicked the ball out of bounds in the second quarter, and, once again, that miserably blown coverage by Culver on fourth down, arguably prevented the Dolphins from shutting the Bills out. But, hey, holding them to only 166 yards of total offense in a season opening win will surely suffice.  

Offensively, it got a little ugly in that second-half. Conservative play calling and decision making by Henne, Marshall's dropped bomb, and lack of execution on first and second down, kept Miami's offense in check against a projected mediocre defense.

On a positve note, they didn't make any costly mistakes by turning the ball over, and the running game finally got going a little bit late in the game. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams combined for 127 yards, with Ronnie throwing in the Dolphins' one and only touchdown.

Is 13 points going to cut it against playoff caliber teams? Probably not, but a win is a win, and the Dolphins are 1-0 for the first time since 2005, 1-0 for the first time under Sparano, and most importantly, 1-0 in the AFC East.

More evaluation to come tonight and tomorrow. The full box score can be found here.

Game Ball: Karlos Dansby, ILB- 8 tackles, 1 sack