Speaker 1: Actual booking, down Field, cuts down, Miami Quarters, run. What
Speaker 1: is up? Dolph fans and welcome to the Drivetime Podcast,
Speaker 1: part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team,
Speaker 1: your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield and as always I'm here to bring you
Speaker 1: your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show,
Speaker 1: it's Preview Thursday, a tough divisional road game coming up.
Speaker 1: We'll preview the game position by position, give you the
Speaker 1: three keys, tell you how Miami can capture victory. And
Speaker 1: we'll hear from two A Toungle by Loa, Byron Jones
Speaker 1: and Christian Wilkins from the Baptist Health Studios inside the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drivetime Podcast Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins and Drive Time is presented by Auto Nation. And
Speaker 1: just a quick update from the Brian Floras Wednesday press conference.
Speaker 1: He was asked about the situation right now with a
Speaker 1: trade deadline coming up, and he just simply said, to
Speaker 1: is our quarterback. I've said that. I've told him that
Speaker 1: and to a later would tell us about Brian Flores
Speaker 1: and those conversations they have together about how from what
Speaker 1: he's taken from most conversations, he has the utmost confidence
Speaker 1: that he is the Dolphin's quarterback. So I think that
Speaker 1: also meshes well with what Tou said Sunday post game
Speaker 1: about the transparency in Flora's message to him in their meetings.
Speaker 1: Other news, Jerome Baker day today he was limited on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and Brian Flores is hopeful the DeVante Parker can string
Speaker 1: some practices together and go on Sunday and Buffalo we'll see,
Speaker 1: he said. I'll circle back to that into the entire
Speaker 1: injury report at the end of the podcast. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and start though where we always start on these
Speaker 1: preview podcast and this is a repeat opponent, so you've
Speaker 1: heard some of this already. But Buffalo executed. They tear
Speaker 1: down type of rebuild under the vision of Brandon Bean
Speaker 1: and Sean McDermott that began back in earnest team. They
Speaker 1: unloaded Ronald Darby, Sammy Watkins, Marcel Darius, three of their
Speaker 1: most recent high draft picks at that time, and they
Speaker 1: brought in Josh Allen the next year after a surprise
Speaker 1: playoff berth In seen behind Tyrod Taylor. It took a
Speaker 1: short detour in Allen's rookie season, I think it was
Speaker 1: a six win season for them then. But you know what,
Speaker 1: even the next season when they got back to the playoffs,
Speaker 1: Alan had some ups and downs. He showed flashes of brilliance,
Speaker 1: but then in his third year at the position with
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills, it all came together. Allen's a hit.
Speaker 1: McDermott's defense isn't as good as it has been or
Speaker 1: had been, i should say, that year, but it's got
Speaker 1: a good mix of rush and coverage. What you're seeing
Speaker 1: now is they get back to more top of the
Speaker 1: league type of defense. So a trip to the a
Speaker 1: f C title game, a loss opening day this year,
Speaker 1: four straight victories and then a disappointing lost last Monday
Speaker 1: Night that well, frankly, they were one play away from
Speaker 1: putting this game away multiple times in my opinion, including
Speaker 1: a quarter back sneap where Josh Allen was thirteen for
Speaker 1: thirteen coming in to third or fourth and short quarterback
Speaker 1: sneaks and he slipped and fell and costs that cost
Speaker 1: him the game essentially. But the point is, I still
Speaker 1: think this is the best team in the a f
Speaker 1: C despite their four and two record, which is behind
Speaker 1: a few teams obviously, but where I wanted to look
Speaker 1: this time was where things have gone since that week
Speaker 1: to game against the Dolphins. I don't have to tell
Speaker 1: you guys, has been a rough run down here, And
Speaker 1: just thinking back to the lead up to that game,
Speaker 1: I mean that was like a litmus test for us
Speaker 1: going into it right one and o Buffalo. So I
Speaker 1: wouldn't want a chance to get a two game divisional
Speaker 1: lead and put them behind as far as the tiebreaker
Speaker 1: goes as well. And then eventually you thought, if they
Speaker 1: did well in that game, that this game here on
Speaker 1: Halloween might be, you know, a stake for the division
Speaker 1: made way through the season. But it hasn't gone that way.
Speaker 1: A couple of bad offensive series, a long rushing touchdown
Speaker 1: there for the Buffalo Bills, then that hit on our
Speaker 1: quarterback that sends him to I R. That was just
Speaker 1: a day that I think we all want to mendum
Speaker 1: black ourselves and a race it from our memories and
Speaker 1: just get rid of it. So maybe this is our
Speaker 1: season as it relates to the Buffalo Bills timeline. Hopefully
Speaker 1: that's what it is. That's the hope, and sometimes things
Speaker 1: go off track, but things that you can't always see
Speaker 1: on the surface, because I still think with this team,
Speaker 1: despite the fact that, yes, you I don't like this saying,
Speaker 1: but I guess you are what your record says you are.
Speaker 1: I don't subscribe to that theory so much. I just
Speaker 1: still think this team can be better and can be
Speaker 1: better than the results they've shown, and it can turn
Speaker 1: it around at any point the season in my opinion.
Speaker 1: Now the record might be too late for that regard,
Speaker 1: but I do believe they have it in them to
Speaker 1: start stringing together some victories. So lastly, this game was
Speaker 1: kind of when things started to turn things around back
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen when Miami went up to Buffalo and
Speaker 1: it was supposed to be a comfortable win for the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills, and I'm hoping that can be the case here.
Speaker 1: Whereas the Dolphins lad that game in the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: fourteen to nine and had the football inside the ten
Speaker 1: yard line. So worst case scenario, you go up by eight, right,
Speaker 1: or even better than that, you go up by eleven.
Speaker 1: But it didn't happen, be because Trey White makes a
Speaker 1: ridiculous interception and things just kind of unraveled from there.
Speaker 1: So let's go to Buffalo and compete. That's what I'm
Speaker 1: here for, and it starts with Buffalo's quarterback versus Miami safeties.
Speaker 1: As we do the positional previews on the podcast every week,
Speaker 1: we always start here and Josh Allen is a good
Speaker 1: place to start as well. And even in a thirty
Speaker 1: five point loss, that really was the best showing we've
Speaker 1: had against Josh Allen since his rookie season and the
Speaker 1: last time Miami beat Buffalo. Not only did it hit
Speaker 1: some low marks against his career, in my his career
Speaker 1: against the Dolphins, I should say it was his lowest
Speaker 1: completion percentage, yardage total and passer rating game of the
Speaker 1: season and not great but not the worst rushing performance
Speaker 1: with thirty five yards on the ground for Josh Allen
Speaker 1: back in that week two games. So the question how
Speaker 1: do you replicate that production? I thought Miami did well
Speaker 1: to mix it up with Alan in terms of coverage
Speaker 1: is and blitz in that first matchup not too frequently,
Speaker 1: actually about two to one in terms of playing coverage
Speaker 1: versus blitz. Remember, if you blitz this guy, you have
Speaker 1: to get him down on that first way because once
Speaker 1: he extends your toast. So it's always a unique balance
Speaker 1: of four man pressure versus overloading and trusting the a
Speaker 1: it gets home and be that the coverage holds up
Speaker 1: and also see that you don't miss when you get
Speaker 1: I thought we had some of our best man man
Speaker 1: coverage last week against the Falcons, at least in spurts,
Speaker 1: I talked about that play out of trips where Miami
Speaker 1: plastered at the top of the stem on all receivers
Speaker 1: on that beautiful looking coverage rep. I thought that was
Speaker 1: a great sign and something they'll have to be extra
Speaker 1: sharp with this week against this Buffalo Bills team that
Speaker 1: can spread you out as well as anybody. And as
Speaker 1: for the safeties and how they match up in this game,
Speaker 1: we've been getting more Javon Holland than we had back
Speaker 1: in Week two, and obviously a m accordions down this
Speaker 1: week and for a couple of weeks at least, I
Speaker 1: think you could see a lot of too high looks.
Speaker 1: Forced Buffalo to play left handed and asked them to
Speaker 1: run the football. Not that they're not a good running team,
Speaker 1: but the lesser of two evils, right Like I'd rather
Speaker 1: take my chances on Zack Moss and Devin Singletary than
Speaker 1: I would on Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs, even though
Speaker 1: the last time I think one of the first place
Speaker 1: from scrimmage was a long touchdown run by Devin Singletary.
Speaker 1: They're explosive. It's not a good there's no good option,
Speaker 1: but the lesser of two evils, so they run the ball.
Speaker 1: I'll take the repeeve from reprieve rather from digs and
Speaker 1: Sanders and that dangerous passing games. So for the young safeties,
Speaker 1: they need to be on point. They need to communicate
Speaker 1: well and disguise well, because if there's one way to
Speaker 1: beat Josh Allen, it's to change the picture and create
Speaker 1: tight windows because he's not going to shy away from them,
Speaker 1: and nor should he. He's incredibly physically getted and it
Speaker 1: can fit almost any throw in the windows on the
Speaker 1: football field. But this also does lead to putting some
Speaker 1: footballs in harm's way, and when you get those chances,
Speaker 1: you have to capitalize. If you're going to beat Buffalo,
Speaker 1: they're gonna score points. So they're gonna get ten twelve
Speaker 1: possessions in a game, and they're gonna find the end
Speaker 1: zone three or four times, a couple of field goals
Speaker 1: and probably wind up with thirty points on the scoreboard.
Speaker 1: So when they give you chance to not only take
Speaker 1: away one of those drives, but to shorten the field
Speaker 1: for your offense on the ensuing drive, you absolutely have
Speaker 1: to do it. You have to capitalize on it. I
Speaker 1: said it a million times last year. If we get
Speaker 1: that Kyle van Noy pick or the Xavien Howard pick
Speaker 1: late in that game in Week two last season, the
Speaker 1: outcome probably changes. In that game. We saw the Titans
Speaker 1: capitalize on a tipped ball last week. That's what you need.
Speaker 1: Steal points from this Buffalo team. Last note here on
Speaker 1: the Miami safety's we saw Javon Holland time up a
Speaker 1: blitz and get Matt Ryan to the ground. I'll be
Speaker 1: curious if he sees more opportunities like that, because I
Speaker 1: remember Bobby McCain and I think it was I want
Speaker 1: to say Nick need him. Could be wrong on that,
Speaker 1: but a couple of Dolphins defensive backs got to Josh
Speaker 1: Allen in the last couple of games we played against him,
Speaker 1: and those defensive back blitzes can be effective. But you
Speaker 1: absolutely have to rap and drive because he's huge and
Speaker 1: he's gonna be bigger than your dbs, and we've seen
Speaker 1: Javan Holland do really well in that area as far
Speaker 1: as coming and coming downhill and control and rapping and
Speaker 1: have good sound fundamentals and technique on tackling, and Brandon
Speaker 1: Jones for that matter, two a couple of sacks in
Speaker 1: the game a few weeks back. As for the Buffalo
Speaker 1: receivers and tight ends, whichus Miami cornerbacks, I didn't mention
Speaker 1: Eric Rowe in the previous portion, and I was originally
Speaker 1: right about a matchup between he and Dawson Knox, but
Speaker 1: Dawson Knox is not gonna play this week who he
Speaker 1: has traditionally had success with, even though Knox had a
Speaker 1: good game back in week two. But it sounds like
Speaker 1: it'll be Tommy Sweeney, the rookie, in place of Dawson Knox.
Speaker 1: And I just wrote the same rule applies here. If
Speaker 1: Miami wants to compete in this game in this area,
Speaker 1: then you have to have Row or whoever draws that
Speaker 1: tight end matchup. You gotta be solid on Tommy Sweeney.
Speaker 1: You cannot let Tommy Sweeney win one on one matchups
Speaker 1: out there regardless, because if that position consistently gets wins
Speaker 1: and the one on ones, you're gonna have to take
Speaker 1: away a focus from different receivers and those guys are
Speaker 1: even worse news when they start beating you. So on
Speaker 1: that topic, the receivers to Fond Diggs, what's the plan
Speaker 1: for him? Well, last year I talked about this a
Speaker 1: little bit about how in that receiving corps the matchups
Speaker 1: they present are unique in the sense that Diggs is
Speaker 1: an all world receive eiver. But at the time I
Speaker 1: thought maybe Byron Jones athletically was more equipped to play
Speaker 1: against Stefon Diggs, and without xaviing Howard in that game,
Speaker 1: we saw no way Egg Bogaty make or draws. Stefond
Speaker 1: digs a handful of times, but athletically speaking, Diggs is
Speaker 1: going to challenge you, and so I think sometimes you
Speaker 1: see Byron Jones in that role, sometimes you'll see Stefon Diggs.
Speaker 1: In fact, in the first matchup this year, Byron Jones
Speaker 1: is on digs for two targets and allowed just one
Speaker 1: catch for seven yards, where Xaviing Howard three catches on
Speaker 1: six targets for fifty three yards and a touchdown and
Speaker 1: an interception as well. There, so there's a good unique
Speaker 1: balance but I think all things told, I mean with
Speaker 1: not that they're not deep in the position anymore, but
Speaker 1: I would definitely divert a lot of attention to Stefon
Speaker 1: Diggs because no one can beat you more and more frequently,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna get his like he'll he'll beat good
Speaker 1: coverage and and make tough catches. It's what he does.
Speaker 1: But you would be doing yourself a disservice to let
Speaker 1: him have good free opportunities, free access and just get
Speaker 1: easy catches. It's it's more, it's more difficult to do
Speaker 1: than it is to say. But you have to find
Speaker 1: a way to take him out of the game bracket,
Speaker 1: double trail cap whatever, whatever it has to be, you
Speaker 1: have to do it. And then Emmanuel standards is also
Speaker 1: a problem. This guy has been one of the most
Speaker 1: underrated receivers in the National Football League for a long time.
Speaker 1: In the last matchup, he had five targets, all against
Speaker 1: Byron Jones. He caught two of them for forty eight yards.
Speaker 1: But he's been coming along more and more so his
Speaker 1: slot vertical skill set that can challenge you too. So
Speaker 1: if he goes inside, do you chase him inside with
Speaker 1: Byron Jones do you put Nick need Um in that role.
Speaker 1: I'll be curious see how that works out. And then
Speaker 1: cole Beasley, he had three catches on three targets for
Speaker 1: fourteen yards against Justin Coleman last time around, and one
Speaker 1: catch on one target for twenty two yards on Jerome Baker.
Speaker 1: But then you also had Dawson Knox who won't play
Speaker 1: in this game, and Isaiah McKenzie as well, and the
Speaker 1: running backs with various targets throughout the course of that game.
Speaker 1: So I think that's kind of what the secret sauce
Speaker 1: was last time right, that nice mixture of man coverage,
Speaker 1: UH man coverage with blitzing, and zone coverage with playing coverage.
Speaker 1: You get what I'm saying. I think that for you know,
Speaker 1: maybe Byron follows digs inside and then ex getson when
Speaker 1: he goes outside, and then iron also works on Sanders.
Speaker 1: There's just not a great answer here because those guys
Speaker 1: are so so good. But you know what, so we're
Speaker 1: exhaubing Howard and Byron Jones, So I'm always excited to
Speaker 1: watch the way this matchup unfolds. And then additionally speaking
Speaker 1: finding ways to disrupt those crossers that they run, and
Speaker 1: so successfully last season against both man and zone coverage,
Speaker 1: and hopefully we get jer Own Baker back for that,
Speaker 1: because the last thing you really want to see is
Speaker 1: them getting a declaration for a matchup on one of
Speaker 1: those guys coming againstide to draw a linebacker. That's what
Speaker 1: they want. How can we stop them from getting to that.
Speaker 1: That's kind of a key in this football game. And
Speaker 1: I want to also play a clip here from Byron
Speaker 1: Jones who spoke to the media on Wednesday and spoke
Speaker 1: to me in the media on Wednesday. A question I
Speaker 1: had for Byron Jones regarding disguising coverage, because that's, you know,
Speaker 1: not only a key in football in general, but anytime
Speaker 1: you face one of these top dog quarterbacks, you better
Speaker 1: be able to disguise your coverage and confuse them, otherwise
Speaker 1: they'll wind up with those four hundred yard games and
Speaker 1: four touchdown games that they are wanting to do. So
Speaker 1: I asked Byron Jones, and specifically asked him about the
Speaker 1: difference in the relationship between how corners and safeties dis
Speaker 1: guy's coverage since he's played both positions. Here's the Dolphins cornerback. Well,
Speaker 1: it's all got to be married together. So the corners
Speaker 1: can be doing something different in the safety. So if
Speaker 1: you want to show Cover two, it's not just the corners,
Speaker 1: and it's not just the safeties, and in fact, it's
Speaker 1: also the linebackers too. Is where they where they align,
Speaker 1: uh some of their checks and what their calls may be.
Speaker 1: So uh yeah, disguising is really a whole secondary thing,
Speaker 1: and oftentimes it does include include the linebackers. Um so
Speaker 1: sin it's not one group doing one thing. It's really
Speaker 1: all of us operating on the same level in unison.
Speaker 1: And as always, it's also important to marry that coverage
Speaker 1: with rush and especially if you can do it with four,
Speaker 1: which takes us into our next positional match up here
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bill's offensive line versus the Dolphins defensive line.
Speaker 1: And last time Alan when he was blitzed in this
Speaker 1: game was four for twelve pretty good for the Dolphins
Speaker 1: twelve dropbacks and he had just a four point seven
Speaker 1: yards per a tempt at thirty three point three percent
Speaker 1: clip completion, no touchdowns, no interceptions. Like that's the thing, right,
Speaker 1: get home with that pressure and mix it up on
Speaker 1: the back end. But even when he wasn't blitzed, just
Speaker 1: thirteen one with five point nine yards per attempt and
Speaker 1: two touchdowns and a pick, so it kind of works
Speaker 1: both ways. They're like, it's just about finding the right
Speaker 1: time to go to those calls and that's gonna be
Speaker 1: up to Brian Floors and Josh Bowyer to make that happen,
Speaker 1: to get the guys in right position to execute the
Speaker 1: plays in the schemes. It will be a fun matchup
Speaker 1: to watch. So if we get those one on one
Speaker 1: wins in the past brush game, where can that happen?
Speaker 1: We have to get those right. Where can they happen?
Speaker 1: Where they can they come from? Well, first, they're total
Speaker 1: pressure number and we'll see if Spencer Brown plays this week.
Speaker 1: He missed Wednesday's practice, but from left to right, Dion
Speaker 1: Dawkins eleven pressures, three hits and one sack this year,
Speaker 1: John Feliciano fifteen pressures, three quarterback hits, Mitch Morrise ten
Speaker 1: quarterback pressures allowed one sack, and then Darryl Williams inside
Speaker 1: who played some right tackle as well, sixteen pressures, one sack,
Speaker 1: five hits, and then Spencer Brown eight pressures, one of
Speaker 1: those a QB hit, but he played just a hundred
Speaker 1: and thirty snaps compared to two hundred and sixty nine
Speaker 1: for others Feliciano two d and thirty eight snaps. Cody
Speaker 1: Ford was in the game back when the Dolphins played
Speaker 1: in Week number two, I believe, but Spencer Brown replaced
Speaker 1: him and they kicked Williams into guard, and so for
Speaker 1: the Week two matchups, Ford and Morse allowed three pressures
Speaker 1: of peace, Williams two and Dawkins won. Just to give
Speaker 1: you an idea where Miami had success. So they did
Speaker 1: a good job of keeping the pressure off Alan in
Speaker 1: that matchup. But remember it was a two to one
Speaker 1: coverage plan, more coverage than it was blitzing. But I
Speaker 1: think there are matchups here that Miami has a chance
Speaker 1: to get some production out of. We've talked about Christian
Speaker 1: Wilkins this year and how good he's been. This is
Speaker 1: actually the one game this season where he didn't have
Speaker 1: any QB pressures. We also get ray Kuan Davis back,
Speaker 1: who was not there last time, which allows both these
Speaker 1: players to show off more of that versatility and be
Speaker 1: more complete versions of themselves in my opinion. And I
Speaker 1: wanted to play some more audio here for you guys,
Speaker 1: because I got another good breakdown from a Dolphins player,
Speaker 1: Christian Wilkins this time. And I want you guys to
Speaker 1: watch Christian hands when you focus on him when you're
Speaker 1: watching the game this Sunday, or when you watched on
Speaker 1: game pass, wherever the heck you rewatch this thing. I
Speaker 1: hope you guys rewatch the games right, get a better
Speaker 1: feel for what happened. Watch his hands. He's just been
Speaker 1: more active, more aggressive, more physical with him, more impactful.
Speaker 1: You see, guys kind of get shooken back a little
Speaker 1: bit when he hits you. And he's able to get
Speaker 1: off those blocks very well as well. So I asked him, like,
Speaker 1: how does that additional or improved hand placement, hand shooting,
Speaker 1: handwork correlate with your production uptick this season? Like we
Speaker 1: talked about on the Wednesday podcast, here's Christian. You know,
Speaker 1: I recognize that, you know, as as an area for
Speaker 1: me to improve on. So all our season just you know,
Speaker 1: just and countless reps of shooting my hands inside hands,
Speaker 1: you know, just doing grip things, you know, to make
Speaker 1: my hands stronger, just you know, because as important obviously
Speaker 1: as a d lineman. Um so you know, and just
Speaker 1: really hands and eyes go together. So seeing my hands
Speaker 1: in shooting, shooting, shooting at my target, you know, and
Speaker 1: just being strong at the point of attack. That's something
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to improve on all off season and
Speaker 1: continue try to prove on each week dond the season.
Speaker 1: Anytime player uses their hands to kind of simulate a
Speaker 1: hand placement and handshooting, love to see that he was
Speaker 1: doing that during the video there. But also on the
Speaker 1: defensive line, Emmanuel Ogba had six pressures in this game
Speaker 1: last time around, working primarily against Cody Ford, who's not
Speaker 1: in the lineup anymore unless Spencer Brown miss is the game.
Speaker 1: But if he plays, it's gonna be a tall order
Speaker 1: for the rookie because Ogba's ability to not just win
Speaker 1: with power, but to show speed to convert to power
Speaker 1: and run through somebody. He really tests your technique and
Speaker 1: you're basically your ability to stay on balance against that
Speaker 1: bull rush. He's gonna need solid technique and solid stand
Speaker 1: of the pants to hold up against those bull rushes.
Speaker 1: And he'll get some chances. To me what he does
Speaker 1: with those chances and how the coverage holds up when
Speaker 1: he gets those one on one opportunities, that will go
Speaker 1: a long way towards disrupting the passing game in this
Speaker 1: game from Miami. Additionally, Van Ginko had three pressures. Phillips
Speaker 1: had one in their last meeting. Look at those guys
Speaker 1: potentially against Dion Dawkins. It's a tough matchup. That's where
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to get some more production in those
Speaker 1: one on one looks. Our final matchup on this side
Speaker 1: of the football, Buffalo running backs versus Miami linebackers. I
Speaker 1: know from experience that my that the Bills rather have
Speaker 1: been a bit ambiguous on their running back usage this season.
Speaker 1: Devin Singletarry is on my fantasy team. Lost a game
Speaker 1: last week felt five and two, damn it, and he
Speaker 1: started off as the main guy there and actually made
Speaker 1: me play him longer than I wanted to because he
Speaker 1: stopped getting carries at one point and cost me a
Speaker 1: fantasy points in that. But I digress. He did have
Speaker 1: that long touchdown and running get stuffs back in Week two.
Speaker 1: But Zack Moss has really taken that role in a
Speaker 1: lot of ways. Is the kind of primary back there.
Speaker 1: Both guys are three down backs. Single Terry has a
Speaker 1: little more juice in terms of speed and explosiveness, but
Speaker 1: Moss can bring the lumber, some thunder and lightning look there,
Speaker 1: but they both worked well and pass prote and they're
Speaker 1: both options in the passing game as well. And this
Speaker 1: here is why I think we not only need a
Speaker 1: healthy Jerome Baker, but the best version of Jerome Baker
Speaker 1: in this game. When he comes on the blitz, he
Speaker 1: needs to put both pressure on the backs to step
Speaker 1: up in pass pro and not get out into the route,
Speaker 1: but also forced Josh Allen off of his spot. It's
Speaker 1: a tall order, but Jerome Baker's built for it. Another obstacle.
Speaker 1: The Bills get a lot of movement and push in
Speaker 1: the running game. They're tough, they're a lot of that
Speaker 1: comes off the change on the right side. They've averaged
Speaker 1: five point six yards behind the right guard and five
Speaker 1: point seven yards when they run the ball off right tackle.
Speaker 1: So we talked about ogbas work in the passing game.
Speaker 1: He needs to show good eye discipline and stay in
Speaker 1: there versus the run, set a strong edge and trying
Speaker 1: to follow things back inside to get some help from
Speaker 1: his friends. Some Bills offensive notes here eleven personnel. Six
Speaker 1: of the time you attack that primarily with nickel defense
Speaker 1: unless they're in third and long like a third and
Speaker 1: long situation. I think you see a lot more sub
Speaker 1: this week, kind of like we saw it last week
Speaker 1: against the Falcons. Similar offensive structure in terms of how
Speaker 1: many playmakers they have. They do run ten personnel eleven
Speaker 1: percent of the time. That's one running back note tight
Speaker 1: ends that never probably goes up this week. Actually, without
Speaker 1: Dawson Knox in the lineup, they are one of two
Speaker 1: team that run this more than six percent of the time.
Speaker 1: Most teams across the league running like one or two
Speaker 1: percent at the time. It's four receiver sets them and
Speaker 1: the Cardinals running a lot. Cardinals like they're outrageously higher
Speaker 1: than everybody else. Buffalo is outrageously higher than number three.
Speaker 1: Then how about the other side of the football. And
Speaker 1: this is the part that I'm really, really really intrigue
Speaker 1: to see, as I'm sure most of you are as well,
Speaker 1: to see if two hung by loa and the offense
Speaker 1: can have a third good showing in a row. This
Speaker 1: defense had our number last matchup, and it didn't matter
Speaker 1: who was at quarterback pressure taking away the r p OH.
Speaker 1: They had themselves the hell of a game plan. And
Speaker 1: that's kind of where I start with this matchup. Dolphins
Speaker 1: quarterback Buffalo Safeties to a coming off six hundred and
Speaker 1: twenty yards six touchdowns right around se completion. The p
Speaker 1: F grades loved his performance over the last two weeks,
Speaker 1: and he's only taken one sack over those two games.
Speaker 1: And just real quick before we keep going here, you
Speaker 1: guys hear me talk all the time about footwork and
Speaker 1: the importance of it at the position and how I
Speaker 1: think it's an area where to a really shines week
Speaker 1: in and week out. So I asked him about it.
Speaker 1: To tell me about your foot in terms of how
Speaker 1: it puts you in position to have success, especially trying
Speaker 1: to deal with pressure and just play just play sharp
Speaker 1: from the position because of the feet up, I asked him.
Speaker 1: I said, you know, most quarterbacks there, they would say
Speaker 1: their skill set starts with their footwork, and their production
Speaker 1: starts with the footwork. How does it impact you? Here's
Speaker 1: two and then a follow up question about how to
Speaker 1: do it against pressure and how that changes things kind
Speaker 1: of quarterback one on one quarterback and one on one
Speaker 1: it's you know, your feet need to marry up with
Speaker 1: the route concept. So if you have a ten yard route,
Speaker 1: you know it's a three step drop timing and you
Speaker 1: know it's with no hitch, and you know, you kind
Speaker 1: of base it off of the routes that you have.
Speaker 1: You're taking a five step drop if it's a deeper route,
Speaker 1: and and then you you just kind of marry that
Speaker 1: into how you feel, you know, so when you are
Speaker 1: in the middle of a play that you kind of
Speaker 1: adapt that footwork to adjust what you're seeing from the defense. Yes,
Speaker 1: at times, yes, you know, if if you know there's
Speaker 1: pressure and you gotta get the ball out quick, and
Speaker 1: obviously you can't take a three step or five step drops.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I'd love to hear him tell me, like,
Speaker 1: you know, I do have the speed up footwork and
Speaker 1: that's a big part of my game. Obviously he's not
Speaker 1: gonna go and talk about that, but I was. I
Speaker 1: was going for it, and we got a pretty good
Speaker 1: answer there. So I'm very happy with that. Glad to
Speaker 1: have gotten that question in. And I knew too it
Speaker 1: would articulate it in a way that I never could,
Speaker 1: because well, he's an expert in that area, and I've
Speaker 1: always loved his ability to kind of slow the game
Speaker 1: down for those of us that don't know what it's
Speaker 1: like to go out there and do it. So I
Speaker 1: hope you guys enjoyed that the way I did, and
Speaker 1: he'll need those feet this week because the Buffalo defense
Speaker 1: does a phenomenal job of not just confusing protection with
Speaker 1: pressure looks and simulated pressure looks. They play sequence as
Speaker 1: well as anybody in the game. Last time, anyway, it
Speaker 1: was safety and nickel cornerback driven in terms of those
Speaker 1: pressure looks. And in those two series that to have played,
Speaker 1: it was te Ron Johnson and Micah Hyde coming off
Speaker 1: the edge with a filled defender stepping in front of
Speaker 1: the in breaking routes off of the r p O looks.
Speaker 1: So first you'd get a simulated pressure look with Milano
Speaker 1: and or Tremaine Edmonds mugged up in those A gaps,
Speaker 1: and when they took that step forward, that indicates to
Speaker 1: the running back and pass pro that he needs to
Speaker 1: fill right inside out. That's the scan search process for
Speaker 1: the running back against the blitz. Work inside to outside
Speaker 1: and take away the most immediate threat to your quarterback.
Speaker 1: So early they would get to that and get free
Speaker 1: runs off the edge, which obviously caused problems. Then later
Speaker 1: when Jacobe Burusett came into the game, they would green
Speaker 1: dog Milano, And what green dog means is you basically
Speaker 1: have a blitz call you can check to depending on
Speaker 1: how the protection holds up or how the protection slides.
Speaker 1: It's it's an opportunity to get pressure on the quarterback
Speaker 1: or play coverage within It's like a it's like a
Speaker 1: read option basically for the linebacker or the extra rusher
Speaker 1: to decide if he wants to come based upon the
Speaker 1: running back vacates or vice versa. So once the back
Speaker 1: identifies the mic linebacker or whoever slides down to that
Speaker 1: a gap position, once he i d s that player
Speaker 1: belling out back into coverage, he gets with he goes wide,
Speaker 1: look outside for the pressure, and then you can release
Speaker 1: into the passing route. Then when he the green dog
Speaker 1: sees that he can run free up the middle. It's
Speaker 1: a tough scheme to beat with how well they blitz
Speaker 1: off the edge and down the middle, and the speed
Speaker 1: and athletic ability and versatility of that entire defense. The
Speaker 1: best way to do it well, I'm gonna punt on
Speaker 1: that answer to another segment because it's not safety versus quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: But on that topic, remember the last time we did this,
Speaker 1: I asked two about those two players, Micah Hyde and
Speaker 1: Jordan Poyer and how he told me their interchangeability makes
Speaker 1: this defense tough. It helps the marriage between coverage and rush.
Speaker 1: And since both of them can rush, play down the
Speaker 1: rat in the hole, play the post split safety, they
Speaker 1: can they can flip, and they can invert, and they
Speaker 1: can do multiple things. They're tough to beat. But by
Speaker 1: the way, one good way to take them out of
Speaker 1: that aggressive game plan this is not this teaser. We'll
Speaker 1: get to that in a second. One of two ways
Speaker 1: is to get them over the top. The vertical game
Speaker 1: could help this offense big time in this game if
Speaker 1: they can find a way to get to it, which
Speaker 1: of course requires some wins. In our next matchup, Dolphins
Speaker 1: receivers and tight ends versus Buffalo cornerbacks. Last time on
Speaker 1: the matchups, Waddle cot six for seven for forty eight yards,
Speaker 1: three catches for thirty yards. Of that came against Toron Johnson,
Speaker 1: and you know, Toron Johnson has become one of the
Speaker 1: premier slot cornerbacks in the National Football League. So this
Speaker 1: is a matchup of good on good right here, quickness,
Speaker 1: route recognition. The Dolphins will have to play this, play
Speaker 1: it smart, because to Ron Johnson can can key and
Speaker 1: read and jump routes and get picks that way, so
Speaker 1: be very careful when going after him. He caught his
Speaker 1: only target. Jalen did against Levi Wallace, Jordan Poyer and
Speaker 1: Tremaine Edmunds, one for one on all three of those guys.
Speaker 1: But that in there is telling as far as where
Speaker 1: you ideally want to get the ball to him if
Speaker 1: there's a safetier linebacker in that mix, and some of
Speaker 1: that coincides with bracket coverage, like he draws double teams
Speaker 1: in his rookie season. It's pretty impressive to do that,
Speaker 1: and I'd assume they would do it again. But if
Speaker 1: he draws those one on one matchups, you have to
Speaker 1: hit those. Like if you get Gillan Wattle on a linebacker,
Speaker 1: that's where you're going. I don't care about anything else.
Speaker 1: If DeVante Parker is back, they'll probably go trade Abous
Speaker 1: White on him. They've had a lot of good matchups
Speaker 1: over the years. I think Devanta's best battle within battle
Speaker 1: here in this matchup is that one on one boundary
Speaker 1: side of the formation fifty fifty ball where they roll
Speaker 1: coverage away, you throw it up and White is so
Speaker 1: good in transition that he can handle the route running
Speaker 1: of DeVante Parker, the in and out of breaks and
Speaker 1: that type of stuff, and you know, kind of trying
Speaker 1: to get out of those breaks quickly and White can
Speaker 1: beat you to them. But DeVante can use that frame
Speaker 1: to high point the football over the top of White.
Speaker 1: I think that's where you want him in that matchup.
Speaker 1: Then there's Mike get Sick. You tough draw for anybody.
Speaker 1: He drew a whole lot of different coverage Milano, Wallace, Poyer, Hide,
Speaker 1: even Hughes drew him a couple of times. He caught
Speaker 1: three of six targets for forty one yards. And if
Speaker 1: we see a lot of that twelve personnel again, which
Speaker 1: I don't have any reason to believe we won't with
Speaker 1: the injuries that receiver and the production and the usage
Speaker 1: so far, the most twelve personnel heavy team, if you
Speaker 1: use that with those twin looks so unbalanced. Twelve personnel
Speaker 1: twin receivers is basically your twelve personnel means one back,
Speaker 1: two tight ends. You put unbalanced means both tight ends
Speaker 1: to the same side of the formation, twin receivers on
Speaker 1: the opposite side of the formation. And gives you a
Speaker 1: slot and a flanker with your double wise and if
Speaker 1: you get that, I think you can isolate Mike on
Speaker 1: some safety linebacker looks. When they go man coverage. It
Speaker 1: might be more zone for this Buffalo defense. When they
Speaker 1: go man in that particular package, the cornerback is not
Speaker 1: gonna be over there. You're gonna have a safety or
Speaker 1: linebacker go after that relentlessly. And if they play zone,
Speaker 1: we saw to a find Mike repeatedly in those soft
Speaker 1: spots last Sunday as well. And the area where last
Speaker 1: game got away from Miami in this matchup was the
Speaker 1: Dolphins offensive line versus the Bill's defensive line. Good chance
Speaker 1: to see how far Miami's offensive line actually has come
Speaker 1: over the last four or five weeks. Buffalo found their
Speaker 1: pass rushers this year, man like Epinessa and Greg Russo
Speaker 1: both enjoying big years so far. Jerry Hughes remains top
Speaker 1: dog there with eight team pressures. Epinessa has thirteen, Rousseau
Speaker 1: has eleven, Addison has eleven, Starlo Tulay has ten, and
Speaker 1: then at Oliver, Matt Milano and Zimmer all have nine
Speaker 1: pressures a piece, and they spread it out with all
Speaker 1: those different rush packages that pair so well with their
Speaker 1: mix of man and two uh cover two looks. On defense,
Speaker 1: they're complex, they have some zone blitzes that are also
Speaker 1: very prevalent. They're tough, tough defense to beat. And I'm
Speaker 1: looking at that right side in this one. Jerry Hughes
Speaker 1: lines over there frequently, lines up over there, frequently, I
Speaker 1: should say, but they really do mix them all up.
Speaker 1: But that's where a j epiness. I got that run
Speaker 1: on two that led to the big hit and eventually
Speaker 1: the injury. We have to handle that. Better handle the
Speaker 1: speed rush, get more vertical, get more depth, and you know,
Speaker 1: I'd really sacrifice in the inside post and let Russia
Speaker 1: going around the outside on two is blindhead again, So
Speaker 1: got to do better Over on that side. I mentioned Lotula,
Speaker 1: he didn't play last time around with and with him
Speaker 1: back in the lineup, you've gotta really pack the old
Speaker 1: sand of the pants to get this guy away from
Speaker 1: your quarterback untill push with power. And it's the same
Speaker 1: deal with at Oliver. So they try to win with
Speaker 1: speed off the outside, then collapse the interior with that
Speaker 1: size and power, and they can condense guys in that
Speaker 1: area too. They're well versed here. It's a tough matchup.
Speaker 1: It's I really want to see how the Dolphins do
Speaker 1: in this area and how much too I can overcome
Speaker 1: of it, because those guys, they're going to bring the heat. Finally,
Speaker 1: I tease this earlier. The other way to get them
Speaker 1: out of that tough blitz scheme, in addition to the
Speaker 1: vertical passing game is to run the football. I don't
Speaker 1: often say this. Dolphins running backs versus Bills linebackers and
Speaker 1: Buffalo's two losses. Tennessee ran for a hundred and forty
Speaker 1: six yards and Pittsburgh ran for seventy five yards. Not
Speaker 1: a ton there, but on just twenty one carries. They
Speaker 1: were able to stay committed to it early and open
Speaker 1: up Buffalo at least enough in the second half of
Speaker 1: Roethlisberger to have some success. I don't normally subscribe to
Speaker 1: you can actually run to set up the path. I
Speaker 1: think it's kind of a misnomer, but against this type
Speaker 1: of defense and one thing against the R P O
Speaker 1: game might be an option here. So Chermaine Edmund's uber athletic,
Speaker 1: a damn good tackler. Matt Malond does everything well in
Speaker 1: a football field, no Malcolm Brown. We'll see which back
Speaker 1: gets elevated. Coach Flores talked a little bit about the
Speaker 1: opportunity for Patrick Laird for the recently signed Duke Washington,
Speaker 1: or maybe it could be Jared Oakes the rookie. But
Speaker 1: I personally want to see what Savon Akhmed could do,
Speaker 1: especially in the passing game, because one of the quick
Speaker 1: answers to maybe get him out of that pressure look.
Speaker 1: Throw some screens to both receivers and to Savan Knachman,
Speaker 1: who has shown to me the most juice in the
Speaker 1: backfield this year. Get him involved in the passing game,
Speaker 1: try to erase the blitz with putting the running back
Speaker 1: into the pattern. That's kind of my hope there. I'm
Speaker 1: just curious see how Miami attacks it. There's a couple
Speaker 1: of options, but I like that one a lot. They
Speaker 1: have to stay balanced because if you allow Edmunds and
Speaker 1: Mallana to pin their ears back and play downhill, that's
Speaker 1: a tough deal to stop if you can't make them
Speaker 1: pay on the back end with those pressure looks. Buffalo
Speaker 1: Special Teams number one in d v O A. Tyler
Speaker 1: bast never misses while he's fourteen for fifteen, so he
Speaker 1: missed once. Matt Hawk averages and forty four yards per
Speaker 1: punt right around the polarity range. We gotta be better
Speaker 1: on field goal team. They had one block last week.
Speaker 1: The first extra point was also almost blocked. Coach Crossman
Speaker 1: told us about technique on that play on the podcast yesterday.
Speaker 1: You cannot have that. The three keys in this game pressure,
Speaker 1: Josh Allen gotta do it. You gotta have it. Win
Speaker 1: the middle eight minutes. That's the area that this team
Speaker 1: has not fared well in this year. And if they
Speaker 1: can do that with their fourth quarter and first quarter performances,
Speaker 1: I like their chances in any game. And three run
Speaker 1: to set up the past. It's such an old way
Speaker 1: of thinking. By thinking applies in this game. The Dolphins
Speaker 1: will win this game. To me if they can solve
Speaker 1: that blitz slash simulated pressure packages and make Buffalo pay
Speaker 1: for it. I think the Buffalo Bills will win if
Speaker 1: Miami is not super consistent with their coverage and rush
Speaker 1: working together and playing their best game on defense of
Speaker 1: the entire season. I forgot today was my birthday until
Speaker 1: I took my COVID test on Wednesday and the nurses
Speaker 1: told me hey, happy birthday tomorrow. And I was like, wait,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, yeah, that's that's how washed up you get
Speaker 1: at this age where you forget your own birthday and
Speaker 1: just for the younger audience out there that doesn't know
Speaker 1: about this yet, like once you start or stop caring
Speaker 1: about birthdays, I also don't care what I do. My
Speaker 1: wife asked me what I want to do for my
Speaker 1: birthday and I said, I want an ice cream cake
Speaker 1: from Dairy Queen. And I just want to watch the
Speaker 1: Packers and Cardinals because it's a good game on Thursday night.
Speaker 1: So I'm officially Ricky Williams years old today. In the
Speaker 1: words of bou Burnham, yea like, oh care, I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't care. I don't give a shit as for
Speaker 1: the game, give me this one's hard. I mean, y'all
Speaker 1: know Kyler Murray fan like I thought he was the
Speaker 1: best prospect that I've ever watched in my life. So
Speaker 1: watching him doing what he's doing, I enjoy that. And
Speaker 1: I'm checking to see who's the home team here. I'll
Speaker 1: take the Cardinals to keep it rolling. And maybe that's
Speaker 1: last week's atrocious record seven and six, seventy two and
Speaker 1: thirty five on the season, but I'm just not that confident.
Speaker 1: But I want to root for Kyler. Okay, give me
Speaker 1: the unbeaten Cardinals over the six game streaking Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers and that is gonna be my time. You all,
Speaker 1: please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast.
Speaker 1: Leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can
Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at winkol NFL, follow the team
Speaker 1: at Miami Dolphins, check out the fish Tank podcast Jay
Speaker 1: Williams this week, and of course the postgame show on
Speaker 1: five sixty. You can find our YouTube channel and all
Speaker 1: the media available heies that come along with that, as
Speaker 1: well as Dolphins Today and of course Miami Dolphins dot Com.
Speaker 1: Until next time, finds up in Caroline. That's right, Gaddy's
Speaker 1: coming home seeking