NFL: Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins cannot afford a loss on Thursday, live on Sky Sports

The Buffalo Bills visit the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night football with both sides knowing they can scarcely avoid any further slip ups in the chase for playoff places.

Both teams head into the game on a short week after disappointing defeats on Sunday dropped them both to 5-4, meaning that a win will put them right in the playoff race but defeat will make it a huge mountain to climb.

Live NFL

Such high stakes are rare in this fixture, as the two usual also-rans in the AFC East have not met at this stage of the season with both teams having winning records in 14 years.

Buffalo, who dominated for large spells of their defeat against Kansas City on Sunday, won the first game of the season 29-10 against Miami and are looking to make it four straight wins against their divisional rivals.

Miami saw a three-game winning run come to an end with a tough late loss in Detroit, and with nine of 11 AFC teams with winning records ahead of the duo at the moment then only a win will seemingly be enough.

Defence

Miami have been a tough defensive unit all season, and they top the AFC standings with 309.8 yards allowed per game. They are tied with Buffalo and Arizona for second with 19 turnovers so far this season – and cornerback Brent Grimes produced one of the best interceptions you'll see on Sunday as he leapt high to pluck the ball out of the air one-handed right on his own goal line.

The Bills lead the way with 34 sacks on the season, including six against the Chiefs on Sunday, and brought Miami's Ryan Tannehill down four times in September's game. Tannehill has been sacked 18 times in five games with Buffalo and could be in for another sticky game with left tackle Brandon Albert going down with a season-ending knee injury.

Red Zone woe

Buffalo have been able to move the chains pretty effectively this season but getting the ball into the end zone has been a real struggle – in fact they’re dead last in red zone offence as they sit at 41.2 percent with just 14 touchdowns from 34 visits this season.

On Sunday against the Chiefs they hit a new low for the season as they became just the third team this season to have at least four red zone chances and fail to score a touchdown. They’ll need to become more ruthless to sink their Miami rivals.         

Running on empty

Both these teams have leaned heavily on the run game to underpin their offence this season. Problem is, now they are struggling to find healthy bodies to lead the way downfield. Buffalo will be without CJ Spiller and although Fred Jackson did return last Sunday, he still had only three carries. Bryce Brown, who fumbled once heading into the end zone, and Anthony Dixon were instead the main two used.

Miami, meanwhile, have injury issues over starting tail-back Lamar Miller. He had only four rushing attempts against the Lions and a shoulder injury has limited him in practice ahead of what is a crucial game in terms of his team's hopes for the season. Also, they're not helped by the loss of left tackle Branden Albert for the rest of the year.

Winning streak

While the two divisional rivals may be coming into the game off the back of a loss, the Bills can at least take some confidence from the fact they have won the last three meetings of the pair, including a 29-10 triumph back in September.

That result was underpinned by kicker Dan Carpenter, as he converted five field goals against the franchise where he started his NFL career back in 2008. During his time in Miami the 28-year-old was voted to the Pro Bowl once before losing his starting job before the 2013 campaign to Caleb Sturgis.

What they said...

"Their defensive line is outstanding. They have a very good defense overall. Certainly their D-line (defensive line) is impressive"
Dolphins coach Joe Philbin in Buffalo's front four

"This game coming up Thursday night is going to be very important for us. It’s probably good that we turnaround right away and not think about this one"
Bills quarterback Kyle Orton in the aftermath of the Detroit defeat

Watch the Buffalo Bills visit the Miami Dolphins LIVE on Sky Sports 1 HD from 1.25am on Friday morning