WEBVTT - Dolphins Packers Week 16 Preview 0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:05.400 You're listening to the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network. This is 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:08.559 Drive Time with Travis Whinfield. Back to throw to a 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:16.200 looking GIPSLCA Water, Dolph Touchdop, c Rick cal Man. I 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:19.680 want to help you soon up on his wattle, waddle 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:23.239 to a shotgun, back to throw, looking ups up fires 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:30.000 touchtop It's waddle. It's six touchdown of the day. Drive 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:34.519 Time with Travis Winfield begins. Now let me check your 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:41.839 pulse if what is up? Dolphins And welcome to the 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:45.440 Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network, 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:50.160 covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going? Everybody? 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:53.240 I am your host, Travis Winfield. And on today's show, 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:56.000 it is a game preview edition of the d T Pod. 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:59.960 Back to our regularly scheduled podcast here on Thursday, we'll 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.120 a deep dive into the tape, into the numbers and 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:06.080 the matchups as we go position by position to get 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:08.360 you ready for Christmas Day and the only game at 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:12.960 one o'clock on the NFL Sunday schedule, Dolphins and Packers, 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:15.880 plus What's at stake and the Three Keys to Victory 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:19.160 from the Baptist Health Studios. Inside the Baptist Health training complex. 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:27.600 This is the podcast. Always enjoy the intro to our 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:31.120 pods here with a little walk down recent memory lane 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:35.320 of the incoming opponents, specifically against the NFC team since 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:39.520 we only see them once every presidential presidential election. The 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:43.399 Packers have been the model of stability for a long time. 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.440 They've had two quarterbacks since with the occasional spot starter 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:49.440 in a few games missed by Rogers here and there. 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:52.920 Their head coach arrived in nineteen and won thirteen games 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:56.560 all three years ahead of this six and eight campaign. Currently, 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:00.440 a loss on Sunday removes them from the playoff equation, 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.160 and with the Vikings clinching last week, it's the first 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:06.279 year under Matt Lafleur that they won't win the NFC 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.160 North And Brian Gouda Kuntz was there a year earlier 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:13.320 in eighteen, and that was one of those rare retool 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:17.720 type of eras for a successful organization. We saw Baltimore 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:20.520 do it between Flacco and Jackson, but the Packers didn't 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:23.800 change quarterbacks. Now, Rogers did have some injuries in twice 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:27.480 seventeen and eighteen that forced him to miss nine games 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:31.080 in seventeen and the oneeen didn't make him miss any games, 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:33.320 but he just wasn't the same and the Packers went 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:36.079 six nine and one that year, and then they came 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:38.840 right back and got back to being you know, Aaron 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:41.600 Rodgers of old. That's what's when the drafted Jordan Love 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.839 right the next year after that. So it's been it's 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:46.600 been a lot of good years for the Packers, and 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:49.600 especially when Matt Lafleur got there, who won thirty nine 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:54.040 games over three season, one championship game appearance, two trips 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:56.720 to the divisional round. I mean, we haven't done that 0:02:56.760 --> 0:03:00.359 since two thousand one. Now. I would take three straight 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:03.520 thirteen win seasons any day of the week, but to 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.000 go two and three in the playoffs in those years 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:08.640 with the winds being over a Seahawks team who limped 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:15.040 in twenty nineteen and a Rams team was yeah, I 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:18.760 think it was who had a hobble Jared Goff that 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:21.600 backed into the postseason that year, and ultimately that kind 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:23.280 of end of the year led to his departure with 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:25.960 the Rams. And then last year's one and done against 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:28.600 the forty Niners and two of those losses came against 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:31.000 two Yeah, that same team, the forty. There's a lot 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.160 of intrigue there see if McDaniel can kind of continue 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:37.240 what's been a personal hell for the Packers and Matt 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:40.040 Lafleur going up against a Shanahan or in this case, 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:42.400 a Mike McDaniel team. And of course, this is a 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:44.960 team that has long been known for building through the draft, 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:48.680 up and down the offensive roster. Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones, 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:52.600 A J Dillon, Christian Watson, Romeo Dobbs, Alan Lazard, even 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.920 Randall Cobb after leaving and coming back, all drafted by 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.000 the Packers. Same up front with bak tr Elton Jenkins, 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:02.400 Josh Myers. This defense is a little different because they 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:04.680 nabbed with Seuel Douglas after he was cut from the 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:07.520 Eagles last year and he has a monster, like one 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:10.440 year out of nowhere type of season and gets the 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:12.840 big extension and it's been a tough road for him. 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:15.880 This year. Devandre Campbell signed, you know, basically like a 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:18.320 come to camp and see what happens type of one 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:21.000 year deal back in one and he part laid that 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:24.240 into an all pro year and a massive contract extension 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:27.440 with the Green Bay Packers. They had imported a pair 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:29.600 of dominant edge rushers and free agency a couple of 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:32.039 years ago with Preston Smith and a Darius Smith, and 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.919 that was kind of the to me, the lynchpin of 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:38.520 this defense becoming almost the strength of the football team 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.799 in some ways. During those thirteen win seasons. They also 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:44.880 signed Geron Read to the defensive line, Adrian am Wilson 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:48.159 the defensive backfield, and that free agent capital was used 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.840 to supplement some more good drafting, you know, brought in 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:55.080 some dominant figures in Kenny Clark and JayR Alexander and 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:57.880 a handful of several more really good players like Darniell 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:00.839 Savage and Quay Walker and Devonte way It. I want 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:02.840 to go ahead and talk about that game up coming 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:04.720 up here, but first a six and eight teen that 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.960 I don't think has played really good football this year. 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:12.360 It's a defense that doesn't really rotate, you know, at 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:16.080 the to disguise their zone coverages all that often. They 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:18.240 don't always carry and pass off. There's lots of bust 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:20.799 and coverage you see on tape, and they're often scrambling 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:22.919 to make up for blitz is that just don't get home. 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:26.200 And offensively, the line has been up and down all year. 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:29.080 They're very young a wide receiver, and Rogers just hasn't 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:32.280 clicked with those young targets as separation downfield has been 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:35.839 a big issue. Their wins Bears, and they beat the 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:38.880 Bucks by two points back in September. They beat Bailey 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:42.039 Zappy and the Patriots and overtime. In October, they scored 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.400 an impressive win against the Cowboys after a five game 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:47.000 losing streak, and then they beat the Bears and the Rams, 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:50.640 who both have really kind of punted on the season. 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:53.400 Uh So, we'll see what happens on Sunday. Let's go 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.719 ahead and talk about the matchups Dolphins offense versus Packers defense, 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:59.760 and the quarterback and offense from Miami versus the safety 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.440 and the defense of the Green Bay Packers. Now, we 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:05.920 saw to enjoy a really nice bounce back game on 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:07.640 Saturday night, and I thought was one of his best 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:10.240 tapes against the Buffalo Bills. Thought he made great decisions. 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:12.720 I thought he identified what the Bills were doing and 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:15.760 often had the right spot in mind and led an 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:18.160 offense that piled up over four hundred yards in a 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:21.400 cold weather game. It's a great morale boost type of performance, 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.360 even if it didn't result and wind up where we 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:26.960 wanted it to on the scoreboard, and we might need 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:29.280 that cold weather operation again this week because there was 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.120 a cold front coming in. And these South Florida cold 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:35.880 fronts are crazy to me. Like last year at Whiffle Blast, 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:39.280 the Jason Taylor Foundation Whiffleball Tournament, which was won by 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.840 the O. G. McDuffie team and myself on that club. 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:43.880 By the way, it was in the low forties and 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.000 windy and just downright not fun except for the fact 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:48.800 that we won and heated up as the day went 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:52.360 along and got that trophy and route and undefeated day. 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.719 But man, these things show up like an unwanted knock 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:57.760 at the door, the drop in guests, your in law 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:00.400 coming over that you didn't ask to come over. Friday 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:03.279 has a temperature range of sixty to eighty one degrees, 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:05.240 which is pretty typical. And I was just out by 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:09.040 the practice field earlier uh this week, and at practice 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:12.920 time it was a cool seventy two degrees. Man, then 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:16.640 you wake up on Saturday and it goes to fifty 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:19.440 to sixty three degrees. And this last part has been 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:21.920 shifting all week, but at the time that I'm writing this, 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:25.040 the Sunday weather calls for a se chance of rain 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:28.160 with thunderstorms and a range of forty seven to fifty 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:31.080 six degrees. That is cold for down here, man, and man, 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:33.280 you look at Wisconsin this week is in the single digits. 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:35.320 Would have been nice to have them go from like 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:38.800 nine degrees to mid seventies. But I digress. So the 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:41.960 Packers defense is defined by two things from my tape watch, 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:45.760 and those are they blitz a lot, the second highest 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:49.240 rate in football, and they play primarily zone coverage, usually 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.960 Cover three. It's actually the fourth most in the National 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:54.920 Football League using Cover three. Let's go ahead and roll 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:56.560 out the tell the tape here and the three four 0:07:56.640 --> 0:08:00.000 defense is of the time and a four three defense 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.000 six percent of the time, so a decent number of 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.360 hybrid reps there. And the big takeaway for me is 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:08.040 that are in base you know, of the time, they 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:10.920 are in nickel six percent of the time, which is 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:14.720 it's pretty pretty much on par with eleven personnel for 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.800 opposing offenses. And they also roll out their dime defense 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:21.120 on three percent of their defensive calls. Number of high 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:24.960 safeties pre snap very even here forty nine plays and 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:31.840 cover zero otherwise it's too high and one high, but 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:33.720 they don't really rotate. It's like almost the same thing 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:35.480 every time. We'll talk about that here in just a second, 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:37.920 I mentioned the thirty five point eight percent blitz rate 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.520 is the second highest there, twenty three point six percent 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:43.160 pressure rate is ninth in the NFL. And those numbers 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:46.640 really flipped in that Rams game. They blitzed may feel 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:50.240 just four times and produced third team pressures. And you know, granted, 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:53.000 the Rams offensive line has been probably one of the 0:08:53.000 --> 0:08:55.280 worst units in the National Football League this year as 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:57.600 they have gone through attrition like nobody's business on that 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:01.200 offensive line, and it's basically derail their season. So the 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:03.319 Packers found a way to to capitalize on that and 0:09:03.360 --> 0:09:05.520 get a w in a game that was really tilted 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:07.920 in their favor in primetime in a cold weather, you 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.880 know spot against a team from Los Angeles. It's awfully 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:12.720 banged up and on a quarterback who's still just got 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:14.720 there two weeks ago. But before that game, they had 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:16.800 a thirty eight percent blitz rate, so that dropped like 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:18.560 by two percent, which is a lot this late in 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:22.520 the season, and pressure rate which increased by almost two percent, 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.160 which is also a lot this time of year. So 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.480 improvement in that pressure rate without sending the extra rusher. 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:30.600 It's a big deal. And Matt Lafleur s had in 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:33.319 a press conference earlier this week that they have to 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:35.280 find a way to get pressure on two a tungle 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:37.600 by Low And now does that mean blitz him? Does 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:39.800 that mean hope to win with three and four rushers? Well, 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:41.840 he's not going to tell us that obviously, But I 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:43.880 think it's very interesting to see how they attack this. 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:47.640 I don't know. Primarily it's a Cover three defense, and man, 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:50.680 there are soft spots all over the zone on tape 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:53.959 they play and Cover three, which again is the fourth 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:57.240 most in all of football, and it's just like when 0:09:57.240 --> 0:09:59.800 you watch the games on tape, there's like this delayed 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:04.880 action which against this Dolphins offense, like it's not gonna 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:07.240 bode well if if it keeps up in this game. 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:10.600 That three deep shell typically consisted of Eric Stokes, but 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:12.960 he's out, so it's been Keyshawn Nixon filling in for 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:15.880 him and then Darnell Savage and JayR. Alexander as the 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:18.960 deep thirds coverage and the two perimeter corners are are 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:22.040 Nixon and Alexander, with the free safety being Savage. Their 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:24.520 strong safety is Adrian Amos, who will start in that 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:27.800 too high look and most often rotate down. Often the 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:30.520 conflict defender, kind of that guy that buzzes. You know, 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.160 that that whip route by Jylan Waddle that led to 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:36.280 a sack. We didn't throw those quick crossers, those nows, 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:38.480 those slants, those types of things. He wants to be 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:42.840 involved in that fashion, and he's been slower both in 0:10:43.160 --> 0:10:45.600 the I think the processing but also on the step, 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:48.480 the physical step aspect of it this year, turning age 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.439 thirty this season. But he's often the conflict defender in 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:54.360 addition to the linebackers, and this coverage scheme with those 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:56.360 three deep shells like keep the roof on the house 0:10:56.520 --> 0:10:59.480 run back, it puts a lot of conflict on Amos 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:02.520 and those linebackers in that middle portion of the field. 0:11:02.720 --> 0:11:04.600 We'll get to their coverage numbers in the running back 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:08.280 in linebacker section. They played Cover two on just thirty 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:11.120 total snaps out of more than eight hundreds, So you 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:13.959 know that too high will typically change after the snap, 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:15.800 but like it does rotate, but you you kind of 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:17.559 know what it's gonna do. And that's another reason why 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:19.160 I think to a dice is in this game, not 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:21.679 a lot of disguise, and man, when he knows what 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.120 he's got and he has a good pocket, I'm literally 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:27.760 taking him over. Every quarterback in the NFL under those circumstances, 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.520 and you might get those circumstances in this game on Sunday. 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:34.280 When both safety stay high, it's usually quarters or cover six, 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:36.679 which we can run by. We've proven that like a 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:40.240 zero or I should say like a zero blitz, all 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:42.120 four guys just kind of back off and we throw 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:44.880 tyreek deep past them or that cover six. You have 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:47.040 some options in the in the deep I should say, 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.319 the intermediate portion of the field, those over routes to 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:52.480 Wattle that we've seen all your have success. I think 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:54.360 we'll see a lot of man coverage in this game, though, 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:57.520 because that's where they've excelled at times and that's the 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:01.800 only really potential blueprint for slowing Miami. But I don't know. 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:03.959 I think they'll play man and blitz and hope to 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:07.000 get home with that extra rusher and disrupt timing underneath 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:09.360 them in the meantime, which is why I think fans 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:11.320 are going to be in for an aerial show on Sunday. 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:13.719 Either way, Really, I think Miami is gonna have its 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:15.959 biggest passing day of the season in this one, including 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:18.840 some long place. That's my take this week. That would 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.280 be a departure from their norm to play that much 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:24.720 man coverage because again typically Cover three when blitzing, and 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:27.200 that means too it has to find those hots, those hitches, 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:30.400 those glances, those now routes to the perimeter. You look 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:33.640 at the Packers passing bins on defense, teams are completing 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.760 of their passes outside the numbers and inside ten yards. 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:41.079 That's Cover three textbook right, Like, that's where the vulnerability 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.400 is in a Cover three defense. Short outside. They're also 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:47.720 completing better than fifty five and the ten to nineteen 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:50.840 yard range outside the numbers. That's like a twelve percent 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:53.040 jump over league average because a tough spot to throw 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:55.080 the football too, and against US Cover three, you can 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:57.120 push them back and then when those comeback routes and 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.240 if two can see and anticipate it, you can get 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:01.640 some nice complete aation just based upon the scheme. This 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:03.360 is why I love doing this each week, because you 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:06.640 have your expectation or what makes sense to you or whatever. 0:13:06.880 --> 0:13:09.520 But football coaches are smart man like. They adapt and 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:12.640 teams can show their flexibility in any given week. The 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.559 Packers literally did it three days ago against the Rams. 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:18.400 So we mentioned that the safeties don't do a ton 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:22.120 of you know, interchanging of the responsibility. So for Tua 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:24.440 to get the pre snap check and make his post 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:27.440 snap decisions from what he has there has been a 0:13:27.440 --> 0:13:30.120 pretty solid approach this season. I was watching the Buffalo 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.040 game when someone on Twitter told me that he missed 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:36.000 a wide open Tyreek Hill on that opening the first 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:37.920 field goal driver of the game. It was drive number two, 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:40.600 the sack on third and one down by the red zone. 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:43.760 I'm like, that's not what happened on that play. Uh. 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:45.920 What what it was was the middle of the field 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:47.880 was closed by a safety who planted right in the 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:50.160 middle of the field, and Tyreek runs a post at 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:52.839 the safety. That's an indicator right away pre snap that 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.360 you're not throwing. You don't throw slants or posts to 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:57.760 the middle of the field closed, you just don't do it. 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.880 And the pre snap motion showed man covers to the boundary, 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:02.960 which is why a waddle ran that whip route. And 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:05.200 so to a pre snap syst I'm not going to slant. 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:06.880 I know I have the man coverage and he was 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:09.240 gonna throw it there, but to Ron Johnson, who's a 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:11.640 great player, buzzes that route and takes it away and 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:14.600 then the rush got home. So maintain that type of 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.920 processing on a snap by snap basis and you'll eventually 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:19.360 get yours. That was a good call and a good 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:21.520 play by the Bills, But the point is to a 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:24.280 To me, it's right back to where he was before 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:26.880 that slump, seeing the field very well. And as it 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:29.520 pertains to the safety's pre snap alignments and their numbers, 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:33.480 Adrian almost in the post in the box. For all 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:35.000 their blitzing, they don't do a lot of it with 0:14:35.040 --> 0:14:37.600 the safeties. He's got nine pass rush reps, but five 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:40.640 pressures on those nine. He's also got nineteen run stops 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.400 and teams are twenty seven for thirty five for a 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:46.960 buck eighty eight and six touchdowns with no picks targeting him. 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:48.560 That's kind of some of the zone getting lost in 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:51.720 coverage back there, particularly in the red zone. You'll see 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:53.960 this trend. A lot of really good players are having 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.400 kind of career worst years in this system. And it's 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:59.280 year two of Joe Barry's defense. I don't know why 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:01.400 that's the case, but it's what's what you see on tape. 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:05.080 And then Darniell Savage in the post in the box, 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:07.760 but the run stop number indicated who winds up where 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:10.360 more frequently just two on the year. For Savage, he 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:13.920 plays away from the football, mostly because that's just what 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:16.080 he's best at. He has ten pass rush reps this 0:15:16.160 --> 0:15:19.480 year and no pressures. Teams are seventeen six with two 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:22.160 seventy one, two touchdowns and no picks this season on 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:24.240 him and then Rudy Ford's played a lot of football 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:29.120 at the third safety spot forty three snaps. That's a 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:31.840 little less than half of their snaps. He's the big 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:35.000 nickel dimes safety type nine for fifteen in coverage for 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:37.280 seventy five yards a touchdown in two picks. He's got 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:39.720 more picks than the other two. Guys can bind receivers 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:42.840 and tight ends versus corners. Here arguably their best player 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.360 resides in this group, which makes a fun matchup given 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:48.520 our Dolphins wide receivers and what Hill and Wattle have 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:51.240 done this year. And you pair Alexander's ability with his 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.480 confidence in bravado and trash talk. That makes me pretty 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:56.480 excited to see what happens on Sunday. I know Jaiyar 0:15:56.520 --> 0:15:58.280 and Tiger will probably have a good time on Sunday. 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:00.400 With that, he is back to himself after a year 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:03.240 of injuries for him last season, just a sixty six 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.600 point seven passer rating against fifty five percent completion and 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:09.280 that's on sixty one targets. Now. The one number that 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:11.680 isn't like the others is the yards per catch. He's 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:13.800 letting up fifteen yards per catch this year and a 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:16.480 buck sixty four after the catch. So there have been 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:18.840 some big plays on him. Five hundred and six yards 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:21.160 in total allowed, and that's part of the deal with 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.720 a player of his caliber. He plays so aggressively that 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:26.560 you might have an opportunity here there, but you better 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:29.120 hit them because he'll get you on the chances that 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:31.040 he does take and make his own plays. Four picks 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:33.520 this year, seven pass breakups. He's got eleven picks and 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:36.040 forty two pass breakups in his fifth year here. He's 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.840 an elite ball hawk, a man coverage savant. He's been 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:40.800 asked to play more zone the last couple of years. 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:43.880 They haven't been on travel defense. He primarily plays on 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:45.840 the left side. Nixon plays on the right side and 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.400 for Stokes and then Douglas plays in the slot, so 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:51.440 we'll see. I don't he might be a guy that 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:53.680 I kind of neglect because you look at the rest 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:57.000 of the crew here, h Douglas thirty eight for fifty two, 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:01.320 four four touchdowns and three picks, and that's that's one thing. 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:05.520 But four six forty with explosive metrics, you know, shuttle, 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:09.680 three cone, change of direction, broad vert all measure under 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:13.000 forty two percent tile among cornerbacks. He's a stiff player. 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:17.920 Keyshawn Nixon twenty two, fourteen yards, no touchdowns in a 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:22.679 pick good forty time, but fourteen percentile and three cone, 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:26.959 six percent tile and short shuttle and twenty second percentile 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:29.200 in the vert. You get the idea here, right, If 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:32.159 it's man coverage, I like our matchups against the stiffer players, 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:34.320 Douglas and Nixon, and I just think you look at 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:36.120 this and you don't want to shy away from players. 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:39.920 But if you start by going after vulnerabilities in an offense, 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.560 anybody not named Alexander has been that this year for 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:47.879 the Packers, structurally speaking, again primarily off coverage. As we 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:51.120 mentioned in the open, as it operates. That's Cover three defense. 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:55.520 In general, they play off percent compared to nineteen percent press, 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:58.640 and it's a sixty nine nice to thirty one percent 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:02.000 zone to man different chill Again, I'm just really curious 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:07.040 to see what they do because what they've largely done, 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:10.600 or you know, if they altered it all, is play 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.600 that zone coverage. But teams eventually get to both man 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:15.600 and zone decent number of times. But the reason I 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:17.960 have so much indecision here with these is how it looks, 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:20.199 and how it looks, I should say, is because I 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:23.119 really don't know the right way to defend this. Dolphins 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:26.040 receiving corps winning quickly I think will be a key 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:29.080 because of their blitzing and hitting those big plays. Teams 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.000 have gotten deep on the Packers this year. For a 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:33.320 couple of big strikes as we've seen from Tyreek and 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:35.679 Waddle the last few weeks, could tilt this game and 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:37.919 help the defense play from a lead on the other 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:39.639 side of the football. Let's go ahead and take our 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:41.840 first break and come back and finish up Dolphins offense 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:44.160 first Packers defense. Then I'll go ahead and change over 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:45.960 the other side. We'll do special teams. What's at stake 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:48.240 three keys planning to come your way. Here on the 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:51.680 Thursday edition of the Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:59.280 brought to you by Auto Nation, we pick it back 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:01.200 up here with it was always a key in any 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.880 football game, Dolphins offensive line versus the Packers defensive line. 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:08.280 Previewing Christmas Day, the six and eight Green Bay Packers 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.560 are in town to face the eight and six Miami Dolphins, 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:12.840 who desperately need a victory to get back in the 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.600 winning ways. We talked a lot about the Miami offensive 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:18.240 line on the podcast yesterday and if it's a sign 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:21.080 of things to come heading forward, gosh, you gotta be 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:23.640 encouraged about the rest of this campaign. Hopefully they can 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:26.040 build on that. I keep thinking back to what Tohron 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:28.320 said about this being a new system, a lot of 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:30.040 young players in a new system and how you kind 0:19:30.040 --> 0:19:32.119 of have to see things first before you can really 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:35.240 apply lessons and teaching moments and take the coaching to 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:38.440 really drill it down to be second nature. And now 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:41.760