Speaker 1: Touchdown Miami. What is up? Dolphins? And welcome to the
Speaker 1: Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins official podcast network,
Speaker 1: covering your team, your Miami Dolphins, each and every day.
Speaker 1: How's it going, everybody? It is late Sunday night. I
Speaker 1: am your host, Travis Wingfield, and I am here to
Speaker 1: bring you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football. And
Speaker 1: on today's show, you already know what time it is.
Speaker 1: It is victory Monday. It is three straight win, win,
Speaker 1: win win for your Miami Dolphins. We are over five hundred.
Speaker 1: We have the number one scoring defense in the National
Speaker 1: Football League at eighteen point five points per game. We're
Speaker 1: gonna detail all of that in this Sunday Night slash
Speaker 1: Monday recap edition of the Drive Time podcast. The dolphins
Speaker 1: seventeen win over the Los Angeles Rams, game notes, stats,
Speaker 1: my five takeaways, individual notes, and as always John con
Speaker 1: Jemmy here all of that and more on this Sunday,
Speaker 1: November the first recap edition of the Drivetime podcasts. Drive
Speaker 1: Time was brought to you by Auto Nation, where Dolphins
Speaker 1: fans can sell their vehicle for cash now visit auto
Speaker 1: nation dot com. And before we really get into recapping,
Speaker 1: this Miami Dolphins. I want to go ahead and start wars.
Speaker 1: Some pregame notes. We saw that Malcolm Perry was up
Speaker 1: and in action. Thought it was really cool to see
Speaker 1: him get his first playing time, his first reception as
Speaker 1: an NFL player. We saw plenty of the pistol, plenty
Speaker 1: of the spread out concepts, plenty of that R p
Speaker 1: O action there with two a tongue of bloa. Some
Speaker 1: different looks on offense. We're gonna get to more of
Speaker 1: that here. In the takeaways portion. We saw the defense
Speaker 1: varying their pressure looks, playing that hook zone with different
Speaker 1: guys up front. Man, what a game plan from this
Speaker 1: Dolphins defensive staff and the Dolphins coaching staff in general
Speaker 1: as they get their third consecutive win to move to
Speaker 1: four and three on the season. Buffalo did beat New
Speaker 1: England late in that game, so the Dolphins are still
Speaker 1: a game and a half out of the a f
Speaker 1: C East. The Colts also won, so we are still
Speaker 1: one game back of them chasing for that seventh spot
Speaker 1: in the a f C playoff picture as well. So
Speaker 1: Miami moving on up in terms of their win total,
Speaker 1: trying to pursue those teams ahead of them with the
Speaker 1: schedule coming up, Hopefully we can keep stacking some wins
Speaker 1: and get on top of those teams here in the
Speaker 1: near future. Let's go ahead and talk about the game
Speaker 1: notes in this one. Some interesting factoys for you out there,
Speaker 1: as the Dolphins have now won three games in a
Speaker 1: row for the first time since team The Dolphins have
Speaker 1: won four of their past five and nine of the
Speaker 1: last sixteen games. Today was the first time since November
Speaker 1: feet two thousand nine. Saw on the anniversary eleven years
Speaker 1: ago that the Dolphins scored a touchdown on offense, defense,
Speaker 1: and special teams in the same game, all three of
Speaker 1: those happening in the first half of this game, and
Speaker 1: according to that graphic on Fox I tweeted out, the
Speaker 1: Dolphins were the first team since the Colts in two
Speaker 1: thousand four to lead by eight team plus points at
Speaker 1: halftime and three consecutive games. Miami's got their fifth win
Speaker 1: in their past eight home games. They are now twelve
Speaker 1: and three all time against the Rams and have twenty
Speaker 1: two wins in their past thirty six games at hard
Speaker 1: Rock Stadium since the final renovations there In At hard
Speaker 1: Rock Stadium, Jachem grants eighty eight yard punt return touchdown
Speaker 1: was the longest return in Miami Dolphins history. He now
Speaker 1: has his fifth career touchdown return, a Dolphins record that
Speaker 1: he extended. He also broke O J McDuffie's mark of
Speaker 1: two thousand, one hundred and three kickoff return yards. Jakeem
Speaker 1: surpassed that to climb into sixth all time in Dolphins
Speaker 1: kickoff return yard So plenty of good stuff there from
Speaker 1: Jachem Grant. Eric Rowe had four pass breakups today, that
Speaker 1: was the most in a single game this year in
Speaker 1: the National Football League, and Jerome Baker hit his two
Speaker 1: hundred and fiftieth tackle in the game. He is the
Speaker 1: first Dolphins player since Channing Crowder between two thousand five
Speaker 1: and two thousand seven to have two hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: tackles through his first three years as a pro. So
Speaker 1: good on all those guys. Plenty more to come here.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and jump into the stats for the
Speaker 1: day for your Miami Dolphins. We know the box score
Speaker 1: wasn't super pretty. Dolphins had a bunch of big plays
Speaker 1: on special teams in defense that kept the Dolphins defense
Speaker 1: and Rams offense on the field. So as a result,
Speaker 1: Miami one forty five to yards to the Rams four
Speaker 1: seventy one. Miami had fifty five rushing yards, the Rams
Speaker 1: had one thirty one. Miami had ninety passing yards, the
Speaker 1: Rams three forty. But again, takeaways four first half takeaways
Speaker 1: for the Miami Dolphins, two in total for the Rams,
Speaker 1: a couple of fumbles they recovered there from the Dolphins.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins were three of twelve on third down, the
Speaker 1: Rams were seven out of seventeen. The Dolphins had the
Speaker 1: number one third down defense coming into the day and
Speaker 1: really put the clamps on the Rams offense for those
Speaker 1: first three quarters. A couple of drives there at the
Speaker 1: end they piled up some yards and a couple of
Speaker 1: third down conversions to kind of help that number out.
Speaker 1: Miami had two sacks, the Rams had one. The Dolphins
Speaker 1: had the football for twenty three minutes thirty one seconds,
Speaker 1: the Rams for thirty six minutes and twenty nine seconds.
Speaker 1: And penalties five against Miami for forty five yards and
Speaker 1: three against the Rams for thirty yards. And again you
Speaker 1: go back to the four drives that I think basic
Speaker 1: leave we're taken off the board for the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: offense in terms of even having a chance to produce yardage.
Speaker 1: We had a fumble on the second play of the drive,
Speaker 1: the opening drive of the game for the Dolphins, a
Speaker 1: fumble turnover, that drive goes by the wayside. You have
Speaker 1: Miles Gaston on the first play of a drive, he
Speaker 1: fumbles the football. That drive goes away as well. And
Speaker 1: then you get back on the defensive side with the
Speaker 1: strip sack from Emmanuel og Ball and that really started
Speaker 1: the entire avalanche of points there for the Dolphins in
Speaker 1: that second quarter. But you score on that play, so
Speaker 1: that's an offensive drive by the wayside once again. Then
Speaker 1: you get another defensive stop on the following drive and
Speaker 1: Jachem Grant takes a eighty eight yards to the house,
Speaker 1: so the offense doesn't get a chance to see the field.
Speaker 1: So take that into consideration, take the context into these
Speaker 1: stats as far as the offense goes. Obviously they have
Speaker 1: to play better to have mentioned it. Brian Floor has
Speaker 1: mentioned it, but he did also mentions a team win
Speaker 1: a team game. It's never one guy, it's all eleven
Speaker 1: guys on the field at once. But giving you some
Speaker 1: context for why the offense maybe he didn't play up
Speaker 1: to the standard of the expectation in the words of
Speaker 1: two a toungo Byloa. Maybe some context behind that can
Speaker 1: help you with that, but all still remember that there
Speaker 1: is room to grow and room to improve this year
Speaker 1: for this offense, for this team in every phase, in
Speaker 1: every area of the game. With that, let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and jump into our five takeaways here on the Drivetime Podcast,
Speaker 1: the recap edition of the Drivetime Podcast brought to you
Speaker 1: by Auto Nation, and we start here with takeaway number
Speaker 1: one from the Dolphins seen victory over the Los Angeles
Speaker 1: Rams at hard Rock Stadium once again, the third straight win.
Speaker 1: And the first takeaway was the defensive plan and the
Speaker 1: calls and the way the game just played out defensively
Speaker 1: from how the Dolphins planned to heat up Jared Goffin
Speaker 1: executed it on the field on Sunday, going with those
Speaker 1: zero rush looks and cover zero just means you're not
Speaker 1: gonna put a safety back there. You're gonna go man
Speaker 1: up across the board and put pressure on the quarterback
Speaker 1: and run that thing straight up Mono Imano. And they
Speaker 1: got pressure on the interior throughout the course of this
Speaker 1: game and pressure off the edge, and that mirrored up
Speaker 1: with those zero looks in the back end, or if
Speaker 1: they were in man, or if they were in zone,
Speaker 1: whatever it was, they found a way to play complimentary
Speaker 1: football on defense, and the calls just jelled well together
Speaker 1: with the game's up front, with the overload pressures, whatever
Speaker 1: it might have been. Everything was clicking for that defense
Speaker 1: in this game called a great game, Emmanuel og Boss said,
Speaker 1: Josh Boyer was to earn the credit for that for
Speaker 1: calling that great game. They showed so much pressure in
Speaker 1: every single gap throughout the course of the game, with
Speaker 1: different guys backing out. Defensive line would fall out, blind
Speaker 1: backer would fallout, Safeties would go up there and fall
Speaker 1: out or rush the quarterback. And that's disrupting all the
Speaker 1: crosses in the middle of the field that the Rams
Speaker 1: tried to run in this game, or that they do
Speaker 1: try to run in general, throwing the football over the
Speaker 1: middle in that short underneath area because you're not sure
Speaker 1: who to account for to throw the football in that spot.
Speaker 1: That's why you wind up with Christian Wilkins getting a
Speaker 1: pass thrown right into his chest and he squeezes that
Speaker 1: thing and holds on for the first pick of his career.
Speaker 1: All the twisting and stunting up front to get those
Speaker 1: interior pressure looks, so that when Jared Goff hit the
Speaker 1: top of his drop, he had to think otherwise. And
Speaker 1: by the time he did think otherwise, he had a
Speaker 1: big old paw in his face with that contain rush
Speaker 1: throwing bodies back into the quarterback, messing up the area
Speaker 1: where he wants to kind of step and drive into
Speaker 1: those throws. He's a big, tall pocket passer, and you
Speaker 1: crowd that area and make it uncomfortable, you're gonna wind
Speaker 1: up with several failed plays and incomplete passes and turnovers
Speaker 1: and sacks and plays that do not progress for the offense.
Speaker 1: And despite the high passing total, you had enough negative
Speaker 1: plays that it didn't matter at all by the time
Speaker 1: the end of the game came around. And the way
Speaker 1: the Dolphins just consistently went after him and made him
Speaker 1: uncomfortable on and even when they try to go play
Speaker 1: action and bootleg him on the backside, they had nick
Speaker 1: need him or another person there to greet him right
Speaker 1: in his face and force him to set up and throw,
Speaker 1: because he's not gonna beat you with the speed or
Speaker 1: the quickness and and try to juke you and get
Speaker 1: around you that way he wants to throw the football
Speaker 1: a more traditional pocket passing quarterback, and he just wasn't
Speaker 1: able to do it for the most part. And when
Speaker 1: you go with that zero pressure look and get all
Speaker 1: those bodies up front, like McCain and Row for instance,
Speaker 1: it creates multiple free runs at the quarterback because if
Speaker 1: you can confuse them by a half second on the defense,
Speaker 1: you've won. You're gonna get that free run from Jerome
Speaker 1: Baker up the middle, or Bobby McCain off the edge,
Speaker 1: or Emmanuel og Ball coming into three as a three
Speaker 1: technique between the guard and tackle out there. They were
Speaker 1: going cover zero with a one point lead in the
Speaker 1: first half and just unrelenting, knowing exactly how to attack
Speaker 1: that quarterback in that offense, and they did it. They
Speaker 1: made him uncomfortable throughout the game. I want to go
Speaker 1: ahead and play Brian Flores take on this on the
Speaker 1: on the ability to make golf uncomfortable. Here's a coach
Speaker 1: for about a minute and a half, and at the
Speaker 1: end of it, he tells you about the Rams forcing
Speaker 1: them to do some things that maybe they didn't want
Speaker 1: to do in this game. You know, I think every
Speaker 1: week we we you know, Josh and our defensive staff,
Speaker 1: they did a really good job this week, uh coming
Speaker 1: up with you know, different things that we think will
Speaker 1: give them some problems. Uh, look at in a week's time,
Speaker 1: there's only so much we can give the players. Um.
Speaker 1: Of what we gave them, they executed, and we were
Speaker 1: able to put some pressure on the quarterback. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'm just looking at the stats here. You know, they
Speaker 1: didn't on the ball retty effectively and you know, you
Speaker 1: know we did give up some passing yards, but I
Speaker 1: thought we were able to you know, put pressure on
Speaker 1: the quarterback and uh, overall we played well. We kept
Speaker 1: the points down and got off the field and third
Speaker 1: down um quite a bit. So well, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: different looks trying to put pressure, trying to apply pressure.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's not necessarily to sack total but I think
Speaker 1: you can, you know, you can watch a game and see,
Speaker 1: um that a quarterback it feels, you know, it feels us.
Speaker 1: I think that's essentially what you're looking for. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure how many sexs we had today, but UM, you
Speaker 1: know I know that we you know, we we applied
Speaker 1: some pressure, um and forced them to do some other
Speaker 1: things offensively. Maybe they didn't want to do not just
Speaker 1: you know, keep it back and keep it tight end
Speaker 1: and things of that nature. So keeping the back and
Speaker 1: the tight end in. One thing I noticed, and I
Speaker 1: pointed out to John con gem Me throughout the course
Speaker 1: of the game, and we'll hear from him here in
Speaker 1: just one second, was look at that running back they're
Speaker 1: bringing up to the line of scrimmage and having him
Speaker 1: just kind of pick out the A or B gap
Speaker 1: rusher that kind is in there to really help golf
Speaker 1: have that center central area of the pocket to operate in.
Speaker 1: They they change the way the Rams attacked them offensively
Speaker 1: and manage made a big difference. And I think that's
Speaker 1: why these stats always always always require context, because you're
Speaker 1: gonna look at the box score and see over four
Speaker 1: hundred yards of offense for the Rams. And that's why,
Speaker 1: to me, the best defense is concerned themselves with the
Speaker 1: one stat that truly matters. Points, eighteen point five points
Speaker 1: per game, number one in the National Football League right now.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins adjusted to the Rams, adjustments to them in
Speaker 1: a way that I thought helped preserve that lead. Because
Speaker 1: the Rams down by eight team points, how many of
Speaker 1: those quick outs did they take to Cooper Cup and
Speaker 1: too Robert Woods and the Dolphins kind of playing off
Speaker 1: just saying take those five yards because we have an
Speaker 1: eight team point lead. You're giving yourself only two or
Speaker 1: three more possessions with needing three possessions to score, and
Speaker 1: to stop us on those three possessions like that really
Speaker 1: helps the Dolphins chances of winning that game if you
Speaker 1: want to shorten the game by taking those underneath things.
Speaker 1: So that was kind of what they had to do
Speaker 1: to get the ball out of Goff's hands quickly because
Speaker 1: of all the pressure apply buy Miami and the good
Speaker 1: blanket coverage there on the back end, and it was
Speaker 1: it was fun to watch this team operate in unison
Speaker 1: on defense today with all the all the looks and
Speaker 1: all the different packages and the depth at each position.
Speaker 1: The guys that came in waves because this thing was swarming.
Speaker 1: It was dominant. It's what we've been talking about really,
Speaker 1: you know, on drive time and going back to my
Speaker 1: time with lockdown Dolphins for a couple of years now,
Speaker 1: with how this defense wants to be with that rush
Speaker 1: contained big guys, big strong guys that can reset the
Speaker 1: line and force the quarterback to have to get off
Speaker 1: that original spot and force the interior pressure don't run
Speaker 1: around the quarterback, push the pressure into the quarter right
Speaker 1: into the quarterback's lap. Then you get great man coverage
Speaker 1: on the back end from pretty much every defensive backs
Speaker 1: we know. This roster has three safeties who are playing
Speaker 1: the most right now, Bobby McCain, Eric Rowe, and Brandon Jones.
Speaker 1: They've all got cornerback experience. So the Dolphins identified what
Speaker 1: they wanted on defense, and I think through seven games
Speaker 1: the proof is in the pudding with the numbers right there.
Speaker 1: They know what they wanted, they went out and got it,
Speaker 1: and right now, at this moment, it's reducing. Got to
Speaker 1: continue to build on that and stack on that. And
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and play my question and answer from
Speaker 1: Eric Row here in the postgame press conference. I want
Speaker 1: to put that question because it provides better context for
Speaker 1: kind of how I tried to ask him this question
Speaker 1: about the confidence level the Dolphins getting playing that cover zero.
Speaker 1: Here's Eric Row on the confidence level of covers. Confidence
Speaker 1: level it gives you when the coach consistently goes back
Speaker 1: to that cover zero look and trust you guys kind
Speaker 1: of match up on the back end and not having
Speaker 1: any that help over the top. Oh Man it's it's
Speaker 1: just a mindset. Yeah. I mean we've been working on
Speaker 1: it since training camp. I mean it started out rough,
Speaker 1: but you know everyone sees, you know, the results that
Speaker 1: it puts. You know, the line, the coordinated the quarterback.
Speaker 1: You know, puts pressure on all of them and it
Speaker 1: kind of results. I mean, you know, quick passes, tip balls,
Speaker 1: I mean we were getting turnovers or sacks and obviously
Speaker 1: when they were off the field. So every time we
Speaker 1: call it, but we have, you know, all of us
Speaker 1: have high confidence. It was just fun to see the
Speaker 1: confidence level in them up twenty one nothing running that
Speaker 1: zero look and having it be so active still at
Speaker 1: that stage in the game. So I just go back
Speaker 1: to a few recent performances here from this defense, and
Speaker 1: I think they've proven they can really handle certain types
Speaker 1: of quarterbacks and really put the clamps on them. I
Speaker 1: mean it's been Jared Goff last week, Joe Flacco the
Speaker 1: week prior to that. They really got after Jimmy Garoppolo
Speaker 1: in the previous game to that. I'm curious to see
Speaker 1: how they continue to attack those style of quarterbacks. But
Speaker 1: also next week Miami has a big challenge and the
Speaker 1: way Kyler Murray plays that guy is so quick to
Speaker 1: be able to get off of his spot. So it'll
Speaker 1: be interesting to see how the Dolphins can defend him
Speaker 1: and that Cardinals offense. But for now, this Dolphins defense
Speaker 1: really playing well. Takeaway number two. That first one was
Speaker 1: a long one. New offensive looks in general. We saw
Speaker 1: the opening of the game Malcolm Perry and Jachem Grant
Speaker 1: and the opening opening play of the game, the opening
Speaker 1: package of the game. We're on the field together and
Speaker 1: you have the fake fly sweep there with Grant coming
Speaker 1: across the formation. You're doing some of the R P
Speaker 1: O game as well as to kind of keys and
Speaker 1: reads that linebacker and that edge defender to decide if
Speaker 1: he wants to keep it to to keep the ball
Speaker 1: in the belly of Gascon or Breta, or pull that
Speaker 1: thing out and rip it and throw it the quick
Speaker 1: hitch and flip the flick of the risk that he
Speaker 1: has back there. Saw that get utilized in this game
Speaker 1: and kind of utilizing some of the strengths of two
Speaker 1: we saw in college there at Alabama coming out that
Speaker 1: the quick feed, the quick set up, the ability to
Speaker 1: actively throw the football. I thought we saw plenty of
Speaker 1: that as well. But just this new style of offense
Speaker 1: and kind of the same vision as far as the
Speaker 1: defense goes, with Eric Rohod talking about how, yeah, the
Speaker 1: first couple of games we didn't get the results we wanted.
Speaker 1: But now as kind of time develops and we have
Speaker 1: time to work on it and build on that, you
Speaker 1: see it grow and accumulate and have success halfway through
Speaker 1: the season. Now just about one more game until the
Speaker 1: halfway point. You have to kind of consider that offensively
Speaker 1: as well, that a new quarterback. Sure there are probably
Speaker 1: gonna be similar system things as well, but you do
Speaker 1: have different strengths you build on with those quarterbacks and
Speaker 1: kind of developed that chemistry. So with to a tongue
Speaker 1: of volo and the game give that that new style,
Speaker 1: that new version of the offense with with his direction
Speaker 1: time to kind of develop. I think we saw the
Speaker 1: beginning stages of that in this game, and I think
Speaker 1: we'll continue to see more of that going forward. Obviously
Speaker 1: as he plays quarterback. Let's go ahead and get to
Speaker 1: a quote here from tah As. The first question posed
Speaker 1: to him was, how do you feel like you're performing
Speaker 1: in this game tonight? Well, you know, I don't think
Speaker 1: I played to the standard of what this offense is
Speaker 1: capable of. Um, you know they were there were certain
Speaker 1: plays where you know, I could have stepped up and
Speaker 1: made the right throw, made the right decision. But I've
Speaker 1: heard heard it many times from the guys in the
Speaker 1: locker room. Um, you know, it's it's good that we
Speaker 1: still came out with the wind. Um And aside from that, no,
Speaker 1: thank god we got a good defense. I think that's
Speaker 1: just the perfect quote right there. Thank God we've got
Speaker 1: a good defense, complete team. Complimentary football win for your
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. A couple of things I liked about too
Speaker 1: is game was on the touchdown pass. We saw the
Speaker 1: Rams really bring the heat and really send the house
Speaker 1: as far as blitzers come after him, and he hung
Speaker 1: in there and threw that ball off the kind of
Speaker 1: awkward platform because of the quick setup you have to
Speaker 1: have with that much pressure, you just you can't block
Speaker 1: seven eight guys because you're not gonna have that many
Speaker 1: guys into blocks. You're gonna get pressure. So his ability
Speaker 1: to kind of adapt the arm angle and get the
Speaker 1: feet right to make the throw accurate. Again, we saw
Speaker 1: that plenty of times when he was at Bama. To
Speaker 1: see it in the pros here to be able to
Speaker 1: rip that ball accurately to Davante Parker, who made one
Speaker 1: hell of a catch. That was great to see, and
Speaker 1: that really leads into my next point. And I said
Speaker 1: this to John kN Jimmy during the middle of the game.
Speaker 1: I said, watch the way he has this this zip
Speaker 1: when he throws the football on those those plays where
Speaker 1: he's latterly with the lion scrimmage moving to his left
Speaker 1: and kind of has to tork his hips and really
Speaker 1: flick that thing out there. He has We know he
Speaker 1: has the large hands. He measured large hands, I guess
Speaker 1: that metric at the scouting combine. So to grip it
Speaker 1: and to drive that thing on those tough throws on
Speaker 1: the move, I thought that was cool to see. Talked
Speaker 1: about the quick feet in the r P O game.
Speaker 1: I thought the deep shot to Mike Gasicki was an
Speaker 1: absolute dime, but the defender made a hell of a
Speaker 1: player to break that thing up, so that was looking good.
Speaker 1: The Jachim Grant comebackground before the touchdown pass to Parker
Speaker 1: to set them up at first and goal down there
Speaker 1: to kind of went through the whole progression of the
Speaker 1: play and whipped his head back to that part of
Speaker 1: the field, and you you saw on the TV replay
Speaker 1: up there in the press box, you saw him kind
Speaker 1: of picked through his way across the field as his
Speaker 1: head kind of moved across the field there and his
Speaker 1: ability to kind of know the backside picture by looking
Speaker 1: at the front side picture. We saw him talk about
Speaker 1: that on ESPN Detail with Nick Saban. I thought that
Speaker 1: was kind of cool and on display there, and there's
Speaker 1: again just there's something there I think can grow each
Speaker 1: and every game, each and every day, each and every
Speaker 1: rep with this offense. Takeaway number three Special teams remains
Speaker 1: on top of it. Man big blocks on that punt
Speaker 1: return Jachem Grant talks about it here a little bit.
Speaker 1: We'll go ahead and play his sound, but nobody really
Speaker 1: even got near Jachem on that play. There was a
Speaker 1: possible back block in the back that I think it was.
Speaker 1: I think it was Igbo, but I'll have to check
Speaker 1: on that where he kind of comes in but puts
Speaker 1: his hands up and doesn't get the block in the
Speaker 1: back like he was aware that he was in position
Speaker 1: to do that, gets his hands up, doesn't commit the penalty,
Speaker 1: and Jachim from their breaking arm tackle and go off
Speaker 1: to the distance, off to the races. Just you're not
Speaker 1: You're not gonna catch that guy. That was fun to watch.
Speaker 1: They were third in d v o A coming into
Speaker 1: the game. I have to imagine that improves with a
Speaker 1: good return game and the excellent coverage throughout the course
Speaker 1: of this game. One kickoff out of bounds. I leaned
Speaker 1: over to Congemi and said, that was the first mistake
Speaker 1: Jason Harris has made all years. So special teams remains
Speaker 1: on top of it. And let's go ahead and hear
Speaker 1: of the star of that unit for this game. On
Speaker 1: that one play, Jachem grant the eighty eight yard punt return.
Speaker 1: Here he is on that play, um and we coach
Speaker 1: went into it. He told me that I was gonna
Speaker 1: get opportunity to fill one in. We know that he
Speaker 1: is a great bonner. So it was only the only
Speaker 1: one opportunity that I got a chance of and made
Speaker 1: the most of it. Like all credit to my you know,
Speaker 1: my teammates ness off, but that was on the union.
Speaker 1: I don't even think I got to it. So, like
Speaker 1: I said, man, it's all credit to them. I gotta
Speaker 1: love hearing that again. These guys have the same team.
Speaker 1: First mindset. We heard Christian Wilkins also and his press
Speaker 1: conference availability talk about the mentality of this team and
Speaker 1: taking on the personality of the structure of how this
Speaker 1: team was was constructed as far as you know, having
Speaker 1: that relentless, tough minded mentality of these guys that kind
Speaker 1: of bounced back, and coach Flores talked about that as well,
Speaker 1: with the mental fortitude, the mental toughness to overcome a
Speaker 1: tough start. Right seven zero off the bat wound up
Speaker 1: being seven there in the blink of an eye. So
Speaker 1: the mental toughness, I think that was that kind of
Speaker 1: resonates there and you hear jakeem Grant talk in that
Speaker 1: way on his postgame presser. So take away number three
Speaker 1: Special teams remains on top right now, a top five,
Speaker 1: if not three, if not number one or two in
Speaker 1: this NFL Takeaway number four this team's versatility and the
Speaker 1: complimentary style of football. Christian Wilkins comes in a fullback
Speaker 1: and leads Miles Gaskon in for the touchdown run there,
Speaker 1: but also to peel back and play coverage as a
Speaker 1: defensive tackle, you know, at three plus pounds dropping into
Speaker 1: that hook zone, getting the interception in the middle of
Speaker 1: the field. Let's go ahead and hear from Christian Wilkins,
Speaker 1: who was more than happy to break down his pick
Speaker 1: and his postgame presser. You know, well it was it
Speaker 1: was so let me let me take out to the play.
Speaker 1: Let me take it to the mind of of of
Speaker 1: of a defensive back. You know, it called me to
Speaker 1: drop it gets all in the hips. I just really
Speaker 1: had to open my hips and break on the ball,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. I saw it. I saw
Speaker 1: the line of the quarterback. You know, I think where
Speaker 1: he wanted to go, so I just had to break
Speaker 1: follow his eyes. I was able to break and make
Speaker 1: a nice play for the team. Just happy to make
Speaker 1: plays that help us win. Let's go ahead and keep
Speaker 1: the topic here on Christian for just one second, who
Speaker 1: also again lined up at fullback to lead Gasking into
Speaker 1: the end zone. He explains his interception on that play,
Speaker 1: kind of dropping into coverage and playing the quasi linebacker
Speaker 1: hooks own playing coverage in that area, but then talking
Speaker 1: about playing fullback and and maybe having a chance to
Speaker 1: do what he did last year and catch a touchdown
Speaker 1: from that fullback position. Here's Christian Wilkins on playing offense.
Speaker 1: I mean, I've been saying it for for a couple
Speaker 1: of years now that I could play legit receiver in
Speaker 1: this league, or you know, be a legit offensive weapon. Um,
Speaker 1: And hopefully coaches and everybody else will start taking me
Speaker 1: a little more serious about that, because you know, i'd
Speaker 1: like to ultimately, Like I said, I just like the
Speaker 1: health the team. And Christian finishes up that answer with
Speaker 1: a big jolly laugh too, so he's always kind of
Speaker 1: joking around after these winning press conferences. Always a fun
Speaker 1: time to talk to Christian there as well. Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and hear from coach Flora's real quick on Christian
Speaker 1: Wilkins interception today. First the momentum and kind of how
Speaker 1: it swung the tide of the game, but also about
Speaker 1: him bugging coaches about using his hands on the offensive side. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it was. Um. You know, we got all
Speaker 1: to a slow start, so you know when I talk
Speaker 1: about the mental tupness of the team, I think you
Speaker 1: know that was part of it. To a slow start,
Speaker 1: had to turnover, they score and we're down. I think
Speaker 1: they get the ball back and we just keep playing hard.
Speaker 1: And it was a big interception by Christian. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: He's always talking about how great he's hands he has,
Speaker 1: and I don't know, I gotta listen to that, um,
Speaker 1: you know, moving forward, and he's gonna ask for the
Speaker 1: ball and you know, go on situations and things of
Speaker 1: that nature. Um, but you know, and it's worth listening
Speaker 1: to it, you know. I guess you know if he's
Speaker 1: gonna make good plays like that. So hey, how good
Speaker 1: of a quote is that you're gonna make plays? We'll
Speaker 1: go ahead and give you opportunities, big fellows, So big
Speaker 1: game for Christian Wilkins. Once again, I liked at one
Speaker 1: point the twenty nineteen first round draft picks sets up
Speaker 1: round draft pick or the first of the three draft
Speaker 1: picks for the interception to the touchdown who throws it
Speaker 1: to the first round draft picks. So Dolphins draft picks
Speaker 1: making plays all over the field. But back to the
Speaker 1: original point, the team's versatility for Christian Wilkins to play
Speaker 1: those multiple roles and the complimentary style of football you get.
Speaker 1: The offense turns the football over, the defense gets from
Speaker 1: the football right back, and not only that, they scoop
Speaker 1: it up and take it back seventy eight yards for
Speaker 1: a touchdown. There for Andrew van Ginkl. The defense gets
Speaker 1: a big time three and out, so you have to
Speaker 1: get that stop to force the punt on a long
Speaker 1: field so you're not pinning the punt deep into the
Speaker 1: ten twenty yard line, right. They get the long punt
Speaker 1: and Jachem Grant turns into eighty eight yards for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Compliment every style of football out of the Wilkins pick
Speaker 1: the Dolphins score. One play is great, but you start
Speaker 1: stringing together three, four or five, hell a whole quarter
Speaker 1: of explosive plays. That's how you create these massive, insurmountable
Speaker 1: leads that change the way the game has played from
Speaker 1: that point. For this game was completely different than it
Speaker 1: was at the opening gun, because you change the way
Speaker 1: you play when you go up by three scores. And
Speaker 1: we had Cameron Wake talk about this thing, this exact
Speaker 1: idea after the Miami miracle, about how there was plays
Speaker 1: made before the miracle occurred that allowed us to get
Speaker 1: to that moment, and we just continue to see that
Speaker 1: from this Dolphins team. You Land and Roberts the big
Speaker 1: TfL before Emmanuel Ogbas fumble Byron Joe. It's a great
Speaker 1: coverage on third down before jakeem Jachee Grant's big punt
Speaker 1: return gask and getting it down to the three yard
Speaker 1: line on the second down run before to a touchdown
Speaker 1: pasta Davante Parker. So versatile players both that can play
Speaker 1: multiple positions and be versed on what you asked them
Speaker 1: to do. Complimentary style of football. The fourth takeaway, our
Speaker 1: fifth takeaway is having the multiple ways to win. And
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go ahead and just let coach Flores take
Speaker 1: this one from here. But total team, offense, defense, special team.
Speaker 1: I thought it was a really good drive. But by
Speaker 1: the offense at the end picking up the first down,
Speaker 1: we really need it and we need that in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. So as far as the rest of the game,
Speaker 1: I mean, I was playing the fourth quarter critical and
Speaker 1: you know they showed up for us. You got us
Speaker 1: a big first down late. So a lot of things
Speaker 1: we first improve on my throw our every week. But um, good,
Speaker 1: good team. And I think our guys showed a lot
Speaker 1: of mental toughness this week. Um a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot of a lot of quarterback change and a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of I think I thought they showed
Speaker 1: a lot of mental toughness. But and there was a
Speaker 1: lot of other things going on basically aside from football,
Speaker 1: I would say, and you know, those guys kind of
Speaker 1: put that stuff to the background. I'm really you know,
Speaker 1: focused and prepared and um, you play well. Yeah. Getting
Speaker 1: the team to be on the same page regardless of
Speaker 1: the outside noises something Coach Floor's definitely preaches and he
Speaker 1: you know, they walked the walk today. So the ability
Speaker 1: to find multiple ways to win, not just the special
Speaker 1: teams making the big plays or the defense making big plays,
Speaker 1: but offense converting first downs on the defense absolutely had
Speaker 1: to have a breath or two on the in the
Speaker 1: late in the game, in the fourth quarter with the
Speaker 1: Rams trying to find ways to get those long sustained drives.
Speaker 1: So multiple ways to win. Mental toughness, the team taking
Speaker 1: on the personality, or head coach, all three of those.
Speaker 1: Will go ahead and marry those up for our final
Speaker 1: takeaway here on the podcast. Before we get to John
Speaker 1: kN Jim, you want to go over ahead and go
Speaker 1: over some individual notes because there are some names we
Speaker 1: did not touch on yet that I think we'd be
Speaker 1: remissed if we did not do that. That receiver Isaiah
Speaker 1: Ford had a clutch catch on a third one that
Speaker 1: turned into ten yards before the after the Rams fourth
Speaker 1: quarter touchdown, So do not a on the field and
Speaker 1: get the defense right back onto the field after that
Speaker 1: quick turn there. I thought that was super important. Along
Speaker 1: the offensive line, I had a couple of nice blocks
Speaker 1: from Solomon Kinley, had Jesse Davis with a good kind
Speaker 1: of closed down block to erase the edge on a
Speaker 1: bend back run from Miles Gaskin. But the offense didn't
Speaker 1: really get a whole lot done yardage wise today. So
Speaker 1: we'll go back and look at the AL twenty two
Speaker 1: and get you more notes on that. Defensively, I had
Speaker 1: plenty of notes. I had Zach Seiler and here several
Speaker 1: times winning on the outside shoulder and working down the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage with those long, strong arms, the ability
Speaker 1: to disengage and get off the block and make the
Speaker 1: tackle at that point. It's one thing to get there,
Speaker 1: which is impressive enough and tough enough to do, but
Speaker 1: to get off the block and make the tackle. He's
Speaker 1: he's a disruptive force in their man, getting his hands
Speaker 1: up in the air, batting passes down at the line
Speaker 1: of scrimmage, working working wide, showing the hustle, the retrace
Speaker 1: ability on screenplays, this guy just really checks a lo
Speaker 1: out of the boxes. I think he's playing really really
Speaker 1: good football up front. What more can you say about
Speaker 1: Amanual Ogba? Stack and shed for a tackle, pass break
Speaker 1: up in this game, nearly had a p BU they
Speaker 1: got almost got picked off, I should say, had the
Speaker 1: big sack that really just changed the entire course of
Speaker 1: the game. Running free their kind of line up on
Speaker 1: the same side of Shack Lawson, free run at the quarterback,
Speaker 1: get the long arms that kind of come up and
Speaker 1: down and forced goff into that that tough spot, and
Speaker 1: it allows you to get to the ball quicker because
Speaker 1: you're faster and longer, an elite athlete off that edge.
Speaker 1: So Emmanuel Ogba another another big game for him for Miami,
Speaker 1: And I thought Shack Lawson was damn good in this
Speaker 1: game too. Obviously, the forced fumble that's a huge splash play.
Speaker 1: It's a pass breakup, tipped a ball at the line
Speaker 1: on fourth down that really, in essence kind of clinched
Speaker 1: the game there in the fourth quarter. Up by three
Speaker 1: score still, that was big time. And had a couple
Speaker 1: of big plays against the run as well. Shack Lawson
Speaker 1: had a very very nice game off the edge. I thought.
Speaker 1: I thought Kyle van Noy was terrific. There were so
Speaker 1: many hard edges that had to be set in this game,
Speaker 1: and I thought both he and Andrew van Geikl did
Speaker 1: a bang up job of doing just that and finding
Speaker 1: ways to create negative runs. It's not all about the
Speaker 1: total number of yards at the end of the game,
Speaker 1: it's how many running players do you win and forced
Speaker 1: the rams in the second and eight, second and seven,
Speaker 1: eventually third and six, and give yourself a chance to
Speaker 1: get off the field on third down on defense. Coach
Speaker 1: Flores talked about that a little bit post game as well.
Speaker 1: But the Dolphins entered today the first the first ranked
Speaker 1: third down defense in the NFL, and that might change.
Speaker 1: I haven't looked around the scoreboard or anything yet, but
Speaker 1: I can't imagine it changes too much because once again
Speaker 1: they were under allowing third down conversions, and Van Noy
Speaker 1: and Van Gigl's ability of set hard edges, I thought,
Speaker 1: really played a big part of that, like it did
Speaker 1: with ag Ball and Lawson and Zack Seeler and all
Speaker 1: the guys that got involved up front up there as well.
Speaker 1: I thought, you Landed Roberts had another good game, really
Speaker 1: shows his metal throwing flying through the middle there blitz
Speaker 1: in the kind of a gaps as a rum blitzer
Speaker 1: and getting back in the backfield. Had that super impressive
Speaker 1: player where he threw the fullback or the tight end
Speaker 1: coming across the formation I should say, right back into
Speaker 1: the running back for a big TfL Comu grug Hill
Speaker 1: had a couple of plays I liked where he was
Speaker 1: working off the edge beating blocks for tackles as well.
Speaker 1: So this entire Dolphins front seven and the back seven,
Speaker 1: what more can you say? I thought Nick Needum had
Speaker 1: his best game of the year so far. He was
Speaker 1: everywhere in coverage, playing physical off the edge. Again, the
Speaker 1: RAMS test your corner acts physicality on the edge, and
Speaker 1: Byron Jones, Nick need him xaviing Howard, Eric Row and
Speaker 1: Bobby McCain, the two safeties as well, and Brandon Jones,
Speaker 1: all these guys were up for the test on that
Speaker 1: regard and coverage. They were just as good as well,
Speaker 1: blanketing guys deep down the field, on those crossers, helping
Speaker 1: having that robber come down and help those crossers as well.
Speaker 1: Miami was communicating it well. They were covering well. I thought, Jones, Row,
Speaker 1: McCain need him x. All these guys in this game
Speaker 1: were so so good on defense and it complimented the
Speaker 1: front seven so very well. That's how you wind up
Speaker 1: allowing just seven team points despite two short fields and
Speaker 1: scoring seven points of your own against an offense that
Speaker 1: has previously been high ranked in the NFL for the
Speaker 1: last four or five years there under Sean McVeigh. So
Speaker 1: the defensive backs all got the job done, and special
Speaker 1: teams as well as achem the big kickoff return Matt
Speaker 1: Hawk a bunch of punts down into the twenty yard
Speaker 1: line once again. So the individual compliments kind of turned
Speaker 1: into a team compliment there once again. But that's just
Speaker 1: what this game was, a total team win. Good job
Speaker 1: by the Miami Dolphins, three straight wins. And with that,
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and turn now to the three takeaway
Speaker 1: days from Miami Dolphins dot COM's own John kN Jemmy
Speaker 1: and joining me now on the Drivetime podcast as we
Speaker 1: do every Sunday night, and John, I feel like the
Speaker 1: last time we joked about the losses on the podcast,
Speaker 1: we have since won three straight now, so off the
Speaker 1: third consecutive win, John kN Jemmy Sunday Night Takeaways from
Speaker 1: Dolphins ram seventeen. John, how are you doing this this
Speaker 1: Sunday night. I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm excited. I'm so
Speaker 1: glad that the defense and special teams was able to
Speaker 1: play at a level where, you know, when the offense
Speaker 1: wasn't having a great gay movie in the football, uh,
Speaker 1: they were able to protect the lead by the way
Speaker 1: they played, and it was fun to watch that flurry
Speaker 1: of of action, you know, first quarter, second quarter. It
Speaker 1: seemed like the defense and special teams really set the
Speaker 1: table for the entire rest of the game, and it
Speaker 1: played out that way. The Dolphins had their first game
Speaker 1: in exactly eleven years back in two thousand nine at
Speaker 1: the Meadowlands there in New Jersey against the Jets. The
Speaker 1: Dolphins had an offensive, defensive, and special teams touch down
Speaker 1: all in the same game. We talked about complimentary football
Speaker 1: is one of the biggest buzz words there is, one
Speaker 1: of the biggest buzz phrases there is. I can't think
Speaker 1: of more complimentary ball than that. And with that, John,
Speaker 1: I want to go ahead and get to your first
Speaker 1: takeaway from this Dolphins victory. Well, I think it's just
Speaker 1: getting points off of turnovers and it's easy scores and
Speaker 1: it's momentum changing plays that do it. You know, Christian
Speaker 1: Wilkins started off the fireworks with that interception. He just
Speaker 1: drops in zone coverage, shows off his athleticism and and
Speaker 1: Jared Goff throws one right in his lap. So that
Speaker 1: and the one with Eric rowe Um, you know, getting
Speaker 1: the interception. It really was momentum changing plays and being
Speaker 1: able to get points off of those turnovers. And then
Speaker 1: you talk about the the agbas sack and force fumble
Speaker 1: with the Van Ginkle scoop and score and Shack Lawson
Speaker 1: doing the same thing and Van Noy getting the fumble
Speaker 1: recovery and almost getting into the end zone. But it
Speaker 1: leads to points. So plays that lead to points, getting
Speaker 1: points off for those turnovers always make winning that much easier.
Speaker 1: And I think the Dolphins they're a really good job
Speaker 1: of that today. Yeah, quick strags got the defense onto
Speaker 1: the field often, and they made plenty of plays while
Speaker 1: they were out there. That was one of the takeaways
Speaker 1: I had, John, was not just the big splash plays
Speaker 1: that happened, but plays to help set those up right,
Speaker 1: Because right before the big takeaway down there in the
Speaker 1: red zone, you have a land in Robert's stuff on
Speaker 1: it or and then when we're back up against our
Speaker 1: own ends, and I should say right before the uh
Speaker 1: interception or the fumble return of Andrew Van Ginkl, you
Speaker 1: have the land and Roberts closing that thing down making
Speaker 1: a TfL in the backfield. So the setup plays the
Speaker 1: complimary plays that got the Dolphins on the board. John,
Speaker 1: your second takeaway for this game was what special teams
Speaker 1: were special? You know, they gave a boost to um
Speaker 1: an offense that was struggling to put plays together, positive
Speaker 1: plays together. Anytime you can see Jackemp Grant, you know,
Speaker 1: over the recent couple of games, be one block away
Speaker 1: from maybe getting an explosive play, or finally happened today
Speaker 1: on the your punt return, Grant was able to, you know,
Speaker 1: stretch it out with his speed. He really used his
Speaker 1: speed to get to the Dolphin sideline and then he
Speaker 1: waited for no Bonogady to make a key block and
Speaker 1: Cavan Fraser had one right at the end that got
Speaker 1: him to the opening in the wall and then he
Speaker 1: just broke through and and exploded into the end zone.
Speaker 1: You know the rest of the way, He's been one
Speaker 1: block away pretty much the entire season. It seems like
Speaker 1: on some of these punt returns, and they also had
Speaker 1: a nice kickoff Returney had one one opportunity for forty
Speaker 1: five yards, And I thought Hack did a really good job.
Speaker 1: Hawk did a really good job of punning the football.
Speaker 1: Nine punts today, five of them inside the twenty yard line.
Speaker 1: So you have a special teams, uh that that have
Speaker 1: been counted on with field goals, but now you get
Speaker 1: the punting and the return game, and it just leads
Speaker 1: to leads to points and it leads to field position,
Speaker 1: and I thought they did an excellent job. Yeah, a
Speaker 1: couple of guys on the team can um exactly what
Speaker 1: you just said. With regards to Jachem Grant being the
Speaker 1: one block away, he said that coach kind of told
Speaker 1: him that pregame, and I wasn't sure if he was
Speaker 1: referring to Flores or Coach Crossman, but he said, you know,
Speaker 1: we're getting close. You're gonna get your opportunity today against
Speaker 1: Johnny Hecker and this RAMS punning unit. And then also
Speaker 1: just the picking guys up when certain elements maybe aren't there.
Speaker 1: Not that Jason Sanders wasn't there, He just didn't have
Speaker 1: any field goals to kick but you have another part
Speaker 1: of special teams, kind of raising the bar and making
Speaker 1: them make plays once again for the third consecutive week.
Speaker 1: And that brings us to your third and final takeaway
Speaker 1: for the night, John. I really thought that the pressure,
Speaker 1: the defensive pressure on the line of scrimmage complimented the
Speaker 1: coverage that was behind it. So I'm gonna say pressure
Speaker 1: and coverage defensively. We really saw Josh Bowyer turn up
Speaker 1: the heat against Jared Goff in this Rams offensive line,
Speaker 1: and I thought it really it married the coverage because
Speaker 1: Bobby McCain was in and around the line of scrimmage
Speaker 1: a lot during the football game, and that meant there
Speaker 1: was gonna be zero coverage, which means nobody in center field.
Speaker 1: It was gonna be just dead man coverage and everybody
Speaker 1: you know chasing receivers that are very talented. And I
Speaker 1: thought Howard and Jones and Rowing and especially Nick need
Speaker 1: him he was one of those guys that McCain's out
Speaker 1: of the center. Needham was in coverage and he did
Speaker 1: a very good job of running around and being active,
Speaker 1: and I thought that that that allowed that the pressure
Speaker 1: at the line of scrimmage to get after Golf so
Speaker 1: he didn't have time to get comfortable, be able to
Speaker 1: sort out where he wanted to go with the football.
Speaker 1: It led to a lot of battened balls at the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. It led to some throwaways and obviously
Speaker 1: led some turnovers. So I thought that that pressure, that
Speaker 1: equal pressure and coverage really married together well and it
Speaker 1: really really showed its face for the Miami Dolphins defense. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I can't wait to watch this game on the All
Speaker 1: twenty two. I don't think I've been looking forward to
Speaker 1: one aspect, like one side of the ball for the
Speaker 1: Dolphins on an All twenty two tape, like this defensive
Speaker 1: performance that as I have been in a long time.
Speaker 1: It's it's gonna be a fun rewatch for us. John
Speaker 1: appreciate your time for the three takeaways. He is the
Speaker 1: co host of the audible here on the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: podcast Network. You can find that on Apple or Spotify
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcast from, So go ahead
Speaker 1: and check that out. John, appreciate your time tonight, man,
Speaker 1: and we'll see you next Sunday. I guess two Sundays, right, Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: We'll see you in two Sundays. So youre for Los
Speaker 1: Angeles again, Part two, the charges this time John, thank
Speaker 1: you very much, you got it, Thanks Travis, and so
Speaker 1: away he goes, and away we go on another action
Speaker 1: packed Sunday Night Recap podcast. Another Sunday Night victory recap
Speaker 1: edition of the Drive Time podcast. You know where to
Speaker 1: find us, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast from.
Speaker 1: Go ahead and leave us a rating and leave us
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