ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takes from the Buffalo Bills’ 31-21 victory against the Miami Dolphins Thursday night at Highmark Stadium:

1. When judging the quality of the Bills’ 3-0 start, the standard has less to do with the present than the future.

The present says the Bills, the only team to start 3-0 in each of the last two seasons, have firm command of the AFC East and are on course to win a sixth consecutive division crown. It says they’re on track to contend for one of the top two seeds in the AFC playoffs. It says they should generally feel good about themselves.

The future says something else. It says the Bills have some flaws that their perfect record can’t hide. It says they have some issues, which also surfaced in their previous two games, that could cause them to s

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