Speaker 1: Factors facing touchdown. What a win for this Miami Dolphin team. Wow?
Speaker 1: What is up? Dolphans And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast,
Speaker 1: part of the Miami Dolphins official podcast network, covering your team,
Speaker 1: your Miami Dolphins, each and every day. How's it going everybody?
Speaker 1: It is Thursday. I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and
Speaker 1: as always I am here to bring you your daily
Speaker 1: dose of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, it
Speaker 1: is Thursday. That means the start of a new week
Speaker 1: in the National Football League. Bengals and Browns tonight on
Speaker 1: Thursday Night Football. And then that's the appetizer for Sunday
Speaker 1: as the Dolphins welcoming the Buffalo Bills here at hard
Speaker 1: Rock Stadium at one o'clock Eastern on Sunday afternoon. We're
Speaker 1: gonna preview that game top to bottom. Here, give you
Speaker 1: the injury report, top matchups, the Bills personnel usage, their scheme,
Speaker 1: their system, their style, everything the Buffalo Bills do we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk about on this podcast and get you ready
Speaker 1: for game day for kickoff with some team notes, some
Speaker 1: player notes, all the good stuff you look for here
Speaker 1: on the Drivetime Podcast. We're also going to hear from
Speaker 1: coach Flores and a couple more Dolphins players on their
Speaker 1: Thursday media availabilities as well. All of that and more
Speaker 1: on this Thursday, September seventeenth edition of the Drivetime podcast.
Speaker 1: And as we start out on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
Speaker 1: podcast here on Drivetime, let's go ahead and get to
Speaker 1: the injury report for Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 1: For the Dolphins, just one change from Wednesday's report. Jachem
Speaker 1: Grant has been removed from the injury report on Thursday,
Speaker 1: and then four players limited safety Clayton Federalum, cornerbacks xaviing
Speaker 1: Howard and Byron Jones, and wide receiver Davante Parker. He
Speaker 1: Landed Roberts missed his second straight day of practice. He
Speaker 1: was a d n P on Thursday, and linebacker Kyle
Speaker 1: van Noy and wide receiver Preston Williams both were full
Speaker 1: participants for the second consecutive day on Thursday. For the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills, wide receiver John Brown, defensive tackle Vernon Butler,
Speaker 1: linebacker Tyrell Dotson. We're all full participants on Thursday. That's
Speaker 1: a big upgrade from John Brown, who d NP on
Speaker 1: Wednesday and for Tyrell Dotson, who was limited on Wednesday's practice.
Speaker 1: They had four players limited on Thursday's practice, linebacker Jermaine
Speaker 1: Edmonds and quarterback Jake From not injury related therefore From,
Speaker 1: but they added two players in defense Eve and Jerry
Speaker 1: Hughes and wide receiver Isaiah Mackenzie. They were not on
Speaker 1: the report on Wednesday. They were limited in Thursday's practice,
Speaker 1: and then two more d nps who are not there
Speaker 1: for Wednesday or Thursday's practice in linebackers Matt Milano and
Speaker 1: del Shan Phillips. All right, let's go ahead and kick off.
Speaker 1: Brian Flores is Thursday morning media availability with a question
Speaker 1: about snap counts at this stage of the season, both
Speaker 1: on offense and on the defensive side of the football.
Speaker 1: I mean, I wouldn't take one game and you know,
Speaker 1: try to put guys in the buckets as you know,
Speaker 1: far as every down players or situational players. Um, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't take one game and do that, especially uh, in
Speaker 1: this type of this type of season. So up next, coach,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about the quarterback receiver relationship. Specifically, he was
Speaker 1: asked about Preston Williams getting going with Ryan Fitzpatrick here's
Speaker 1: Coach Flora's on the importance of developing that relationship between
Speaker 1: the quarterback and all the receivers on this Dolphins football team.
Speaker 1: I think it's it's important to established connection, you know, receivers,
Speaker 1: excuse me, a quarterback to all the receivers, not just
Speaker 1: one in particular. So I mean that's something that you
Speaker 1: build that report and practice and you know, hopefully that
Speaker 1: it shows itself in the game. And that's why we
Speaker 1: go out there and practice, and you know, we'll do
Speaker 1: that again today. Established that rapport with you know, you
Speaker 1: mentioned Preston, but it's the same with really all the receivers,
Speaker 1: the back to tight ends um. Same thing defensively as
Speaker 1: far as you know, guys playing together, same thing in
Speaker 1: the kicking game. So it's something that you build over
Speaker 1: over the course of time and through practice, and we'll
Speaker 1: continue to do that. And going back to the defensive
Speaker 1: side of the football, you heard on the injury report
Speaker 1: that you Land and Robert's Dolphins linebacker was listed with
Speaker 1: a concussion. Coach talked about that a little bit, but
Speaker 1: also about who might be able to step into that
Speaker 1: role if Roberts were out on Sunday. Well, first off,
Speaker 1: you know, Roberts. You know, we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 1: You know, we're not counting him out. You know, we
Speaker 1: obviously have some other guys in the room and always
Speaker 1: played linebacker, uh Commos played obviously uh A linebacker Baker
Speaker 1: Sam Mega von Months and we've got some other guys
Speaker 1: in the room. So you know, if that's the case,
Speaker 1: if somebody's down with what other guys will step in
Speaker 1: and look at. It will be based on the game plan,
Speaker 1: based on what they give us offensively. Uh So we
Speaker 1: may have different different types of bodies in there. So
Speaker 1: but you know the good thing about that group is
Speaker 1: they're they're flexible, and they all have fversatility and play
Speaker 1: multiple positions. So we have a variety of options and
Speaker 1: we stay on the defensive side of the ball. As
Speaker 1: you hear a coach talking about the linebacker group there,
Speaker 1: and that was part of the off season plan, right
Speaker 1: to get some depth at that position. It's really good
Speaker 1: depth at all the defensive positions. As you heard him
Speaker 1: rattle off some of the names some of the capable
Speaker 1: bodies in that linebacker room. Story is same is the
Speaker 1: same rather at the safety position. As coach was asked
Speaker 1: about the growth of Bobby McCain and Eric Rowe now
Speaker 1: with one game and year two under their belts as
Speaker 1: safety's here in Miami, and the importance of the communication
Speaker 1: the leadership those two have exuded so far. Eric and Bobby. Uh,
Speaker 1: they played together for um it's call it half a year. Um,
Speaker 1: maybe less than that, but you know they played together some. Um,
Speaker 1: so they have a little bit of rapport you had,
Speaker 1: Uh Brandon too that you had Kavon Fraser to that.
Speaker 1: You know, you gotta mix of different people. UM. So,
Speaker 1: still trying to build that communication, that rapport, but you
Speaker 1: know those two guys, I mean, it's very important to them,
Speaker 1: So they'll do what it takes to to build those
Speaker 1: relationships and try to do it the way where we're
Speaker 1: asking him to do it. Uh, Brandon Jones, you know,
Speaker 1: he's a young player. He's improving on a daily basis,
Speaker 1: but he's still got a long way to go, just
Speaker 1: like all of our young players. And um, you know,
Speaker 1: every practice is good for him, every game experience is
Speaker 1: good for him. And uh, you know they're they're working
Speaker 1: hard this week to prepare for a very very tough opponent. Um.
Speaker 1: You know in the Bills with the quarterback and the
Speaker 1: running game and you know some receivers who are um explosive,
Speaker 1: you know, and tight ends, and I mean this is
Speaker 1: a a good offense that they've got tempo in their offense,
Speaker 1: so we haven't prepared for that as well. So we
Speaker 1: need as many guys like Bobby and Eric to communicate
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, play at a good level and
Speaker 1: bring other players with him. And I think they're trying
Speaker 1: to do that also, And we go back to the
Speaker 1: offensive side of the ball there after, Coach Flores talks
Speaker 1: about the defensive backs in this room and again to
Speaker 1: talk about the safeties with McCain, Rowe and Brandon Jones.
Speaker 1: All three of those guys have extensive coverage history in
Speaker 1: their background. So you hear coach talk about the skill
Speaker 1: sets the Bills Haven receivers in all the different ways
Speaker 1: they can hit you. On offense. It's always gonna beneficial
Speaker 1: to have guys that can cover on that back end
Speaker 1: because ultimately it makes your defense more flexible and it
Speaker 1: makes your defense more disguisable on that side of the football.
Speaker 1: So back to the offense and quarterback to a tog
Speaker 1: of Baloa, who was off the injury report for week too,
Speaker 1: after being listed in the Week one injury report. Here's
Speaker 1: coach Flora's on why and how that happened. He's doing well.
Speaker 1: He's really going into the from a rehab standpoint or
Speaker 1: just a strength training standpoint. Um, he's doing what everyone
Speaker 1: else is doing. So we you know, we felt like
Speaker 1: we could take him off and he's he's he's doing
Speaker 1: well physically, um and and mentally and you know, getting
Speaker 1: the practice reps and trying to improve, you know, from
Speaker 1: a football standpoint, from you know, learning and being a
Speaker 1: professional standpoint like all rookies, he's doing well. You know
Speaker 1: he's learning so you know, health wise though, from a
Speaker 1: health standpoint, because obviously it was it was a serious injury,
Speaker 1: and he's done a great job as far as you know,
Speaker 1: getting himself back healthy and get himself to a point
Speaker 1: where he can practice and take a lot of reps.
Speaker 1: So he's trying to get in the right direction from
Speaker 1: a health standpoint. And you go back to the interview
Speaker 1: I had with two of back when he was drafted
Speaker 1: with the Dolphins and had that kind of in depth
Speaker 1: dive onto his background and relaying the information from the
Speaker 1: two A tongue of Voloa three sixty episode of the
Speaker 1: Move the Sticks podcast when they had Trent Dilford, his
Speaker 1: personal coach, his quarterbacks coach, on the podcast to talk
Speaker 1: about his work ethic and the two of days the
Speaker 1: two would go through. It just kind of all corroborates
Speaker 1: there with what coach Flora said about tongue Vola's work
Speaker 1: ethic and dedication to get back to this point, to
Speaker 1: get himself in a position where he can take these
Speaker 1: reps on the practice field, because that's important, right, getting
Speaker 1: a guy to work as the backup quarterback. Those reps,
Speaker 1: those mental reps, but also those physical reps are important.
Speaker 1: So good for tongue Vola for putting the work in
Speaker 1: to get himself back on the field. After what coach
Speaker 1: Flores says, there was a serious injury up. Next we
Speaker 1: switch over to the guys the quarterbacks throw the football
Speaker 1: to and an injury regarding Davanta Parker. He of course
Speaker 1: left Game one with a hamstring injury. Here's Coach Flora's
Speaker 1: on DeVante Parker's update with the hamstring. As far as
Speaker 1: the history, I don't really kind of look into that,
Speaker 1: you know too much, you know, how are we right now?
Speaker 1: Where are we right now? That's kind of where you know,
Speaker 1: my conversations with Davonte are in our our trained staff.
Speaker 1: You know, he was out of practice yesterday. We'll see,
Speaker 1: we're taking this thing one day at a time. We'll
Speaker 1: see where we're at, you know, for for the game.
Speaker 1: And you know, that's really all I have for you
Speaker 1: right now. I mean, it's it's still early. We still
Speaker 1: got a couple of days before we gotta get there.
Speaker 1: He's doing everything you can to get out there, and um,
Speaker 1: but no, we don't take you know, previous hamstring injuries. Um,
Speaker 1: we're really just focused on this particular one, which you
Speaker 1: know has limited him some. But you know, he's he's,
Speaker 1: he's he's doing everything he can to to get back
Speaker 1: out there. We're gonna go ahead and finish up with
Speaker 1: a question here for coach about playing time for rookies
Speaker 1: and real quick on this, I get asked often like
Speaker 1: where did you school yourself on football knowledge? I suppose,
Speaker 1: And one of the things I always tell people is
Speaker 1: that just being a sponge but also a giant fan
Speaker 1: of someone that really just obsesses over the game in
Speaker 1: general and kind of taking in everything you can from
Speaker 1: every element of football you watch. And one of those
Speaker 1: things I took in at one point was the first
Speaker 1: season of All or Nothing on Amazon with the Arizona
Speaker 1: Cardinals and Bruce Arians, when David Johnson was kind of
Speaker 1: breaking out that year behind a running back who was
Speaker 1: the starter going into camp that season, and as games
Speaker 1: began to unfold, Johnson was showing himself to be the
Speaker 1: superior back. But Arians said, we gotta make sure we
Speaker 1: manage this guy and not get his ego or his
Speaker 1: temperament to a level where maybe it becomes a problem
Speaker 1: in the future. And here's coach talking about his rookies
Speaker 1: and how he kind of develops that plan for how
Speaker 1: to get them on the field, how he wants to
Speaker 1: use those guys. Every coach had different philosophies. Obviously, here's
Speaker 1: coach Flores on rookie usage. It's cased by k Omar
Speaker 1: and I think, you know, it's a small role, and
Speaker 1: then that role turns into a little bit more and
Speaker 1: a little bit more and a little bit more. I
Speaker 1: think give you guys would see that over the course
Speaker 1: of you know, five or six games, when do you
Speaker 1: realize it's not too big firm that takes a little
Speaker 1: bit more time. Um, you know, you needed, you know,
Speaker 1: stretches of games of consistency to really feel good that um,
Speaker 1: they understand how to be a professional. Um, that complacency
Speaker 1: doesn't set in. And now we don't we watch Hey
Speaker 1: we got all the answers, and um we watch a
Speaker 1: little less tape and you know there's to me, that's
Speaker 1: the thing. Those are the things that I try to
Speaker 1: harp on good performance or bad performance. We still have
Speaker 1: to watch the film that not have to know our
Speaker 1: next opponent. We have to get our lips in with
Speaker 1: stay on course with our nutrition. We gotta stay on
Speaker 1: course with our conditioning. Like, those are the things. You know.
Speaker 1: It's not one game, it's not two games, it's not
Speaker 1: you know. You know, once you started stringing four or
Speaker 1: five games together, then you that means you're doing something.
Speaker 1: You've been doing something over the last four or five weeks.
Speaker 1: I mean that's just my belief, UM, because I think
Speaker 1: the guys who become complacent, the guys who uh I
Speaker 1: think they have all the answers, eventually it catches up
Speaker 1: to him. I mean that's that's been my experience with players.
Speaker 1: So UM, we just try to stay on them about um,
Speaker 1: you know, keeping to their routine and just the importance
Speaker 1: of not veering off of that because you know, in
Speaker 1: this league, but so many good players and so many
Speaker 1: good coaches, Um, they'll find you, you know, if you're
Speaker 1: if you're if you're taking shortcuts, and you know we
Speaker 1: try to not allow that. But you know that's something
Speaker 1: you know, individually for each player that they they realize that.
Speaker 1: You know, often times you know when it's too late.
Speaker 1: But um, as you know, with the the amount of
Speaker 1: what is it, three years that guys are in the league,
Speaker 1: I mean oftentimes it's too late. So the players, the
Speaker 1: young players, I'm thinking figured out early enough, um that
Speaker 1: that routine, that that attention to detail, that the discipline
Speaker 1: of playing play after play after play and playing consistently.
Speaker 1: Once they realized how important that is, then you can
Speaker 1: see those what you're talking about, you know, whether or
Speaker 1: not it's not too big for him. So there is
Speaker 1: Coach Flores Thursday morning media availability. We're gonna hear from
Speaker 1: a few more Dolphins players after this, and we'll go
Speaker 1: ahead and sandwich this podcast here with the Dolphins Bills
Speaker 1: week to preview Miami enters this game. Oh and one
Speaker 1: Buffalo want to know after their victory over the New
Speaker 1: York Jets Sunday, September twenty one o'clock eastern kickoff at
Speaker 1: hard Rock Stadium here in Miami. As of Thursday, the
Speaker 1: forecast calls for eighty seven degrees with chance of precipitation,
Speaker 1: sevent humidity and twelve mile hour range with scattered thunderstorms
Speaker 1: throughout the area. Welcome to South Florida. This stuff changes
Speaker 1: every single hour, every single day here in South Florida.
Speaker 1: And it's another divisional foe here for the Dolphins the
Speaker 1: second and as many weeks as they welcome in the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills, who of course knocked off the Jets in
Speaker 1: that Week one game. And really the parallels between Sean
Speaker 1: McDermott's Buffalo team and the program Brian Flora's is building
Speaker 1: here in Miami, they're pretty vast. And although McDermott is
Speaker 1: in year four, Flora's in year two, you can see
Speaker 1: some similarities stacking up between the two. Both have the
Speaker 1: defensive minded background. McDermott ran many a good defense is
Speaker 1: out there in Carolina, Flora's and New England previously, both
Speaker 1: coaches in their second seasons put a premium on their
Speaker 1: team's draft capital The Dolphins entered this past draft with
Speaker 1: fourteen draft picks compared to Buffalo low in eighteen McDermott's
Speaker 1: second year with eleven draft picks. In that year, Buffalo
Speaker 1: got their quarterback and Josh Allen. The Dolphins selected two
Speaker 1: a ton of Baloa with the fifth pick in the draft,
Speaker 1: so they get their quarterbacks at five and seven overall
Speaker 1: in their second year. But above all of that, both
Speaker 1: coaches really emphasized culture and people and mentality the acquisition
Speaker 1: of players who prioritize the game of football. It means
Speaker 1: a lot to them, players who are tough, smart, physical
Speaker 1: and disciplined. And McDermott with that mentality and that makeup,
Speaker 1: and he and g M. Billy Bean Brandon Bean not
Speaker 1: Billy Beam, brought the Bills to the postseason and two
Speaker 1: of the last three seasons, and that first year in
Speaker 1: t seventeen with Tyrod Taylor at quarterback, broke the longest
Speaker 1: playoff drought in the four major sports here in America.
Speaker 1: With that trip to the postseason and then following up
Speaker 1: last year with the second trip in three years and
Speaker 1: beating a good football team at home and evening the market,
Speaker 1: one and one would give us both one and one
Speaker 1: records Miami and Buffalo would be a nice step here.
Speaker 1: Early on in Flora's a set year, we talked about
Speaker 1: the injury report already earlier in the podcast and going
Speaker 1: back to the Bill's personnel here. Continuity was one of
Speaker 1: those major talking points in the NFL this offseason, Right
Speaker 1: with off season programs limited, no O t A s.
Speaker 1: It was all virtual contact and classroom less than type settings.
Speaker 1: Many pondered if returning starters might play a key role
Speaker 1: early in the strange NFL season, and the Buffalo Bills
Speaker 1: were atop the charts and ESPN's off season continuity rankings.
Speaker 1: The study measured returning players and the percentage of the
Speaker 1: team snaps for which those players accounted. All three of
Speaker 1: Buffalo's coordinators are returning this year, in Brian Dayball on
Speaker 1: the offensive side, Leslie Fraser on defense, and Heath Farwell
Speaker 1: as the special teams coordinator offensively. For day Ball, he
Speaker 1: saw four percent of his offensive snaptakers last year in
Speaker 1: nineteen for that playoff team of the Buffalo Bills come
Speaker 1: back for so ultimate continuity there that was tops in
Speaker 1: the league. Defensive the Bills had the seventh highest returning
Speaker 1: snaptakers on that ESPN Continuity study and on paper, really
Speaker 1: a few rosters are more daunting than the squad assembled
Speaker 1: here by McDermott and Brandon Bean almost right Billy every time.
Speaker 1: Their moneyball one of my favorite all time movies. The
Speaker 1: Buffalo defense is stout and deep at all three levels,
Speaker 1: and it starts with the secondary. They added three stalwarts
Speaker 1: in the seventeen offseason alone. Safety's Jordan Player and Micah
Speaker 1: High are the definition of ball hawks. In three years
Speaker 1: with the team, Player and Hide have combined for nineteen
Speaker 1: interceptions and forty two pass breakups. Ultimate ball production, and
Speaker 1: Sunday against the Jets, Player was right back at it.
Speaker 1: Two run stops in the game. He allowed one catch,
Speaker 1: but made the tackle on that catch for an eight
Speaker 1: yard loss, and he also forced to fumble to get
Speaker 1: more ball production there for his defense. Then there's first
Speaker 1: team All Pro from last season, Tradevious White, seventeen first
Speaker 1: round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills. On top of
Speaker 1: game changing interceptions, he makes almost on a weekly basis,
Speaker 1: it seems, and he had a big one against the
Speaker 1: Offhans last year. In that week's seven game, he held
Speaker 1: opposing quarterbacks in his career to a sixty one point
Speaker 1: nine overall passer rating. Linebackers Tremaine Edmonds and Matt Milano
Speaker 1: are on the injury report. We'll see if they play
Speaker 1: on Sunday, but Edmonds made his first Pro Bowl at
Speaker 1: the ripe age of twenty one last season, and Milano
Speaker 1: in pass coverage allows an eighty one passer rating against
Speaker 1: and has one and three stops against the run over
Speaker 1: his three year career so far. It just keeps getting
Speaker 1: strong on the front as well. Edge Rushers Trent Murphy
Speaker 1: and Jerry Hughes both had three quarterback pressures against Sam
Speaker 1: Donald and the New York Jets in the season opener.
Speaker 1: Ed Oliver a top ten pick back in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: He's made his interior pocket collapsing impact fell early on
Speaker 1: in his career. He really picked up steam late in
Speaker 1: his rookie season, had thirty one total quarterback pressures over
Speaker 1: the course of that rookie season, but he got it
Speaker 1: going early in year two. He had six pressures and
Speaker 1: a run stop in the season opener. On the other
Speaker 1: side of the football, offensively, Josh Allen beginning to really
Speaker 1: come into his own here in your number three he
Speaker 1: starts the season with three hundred and sixty nine total
Speaker 1: yards and three touchdowns versus the Jets. Over four career
Speaker 1: games against the Dolphins, Alan has three d eighteen rushing yards,
Speaker 1: but only eighty eight of those in the two games
Speaker 1: last season. Doing most of his damage in two games
Speaker 1: against the Dolphins, but limiting Alan's ability to extend plays
Speaker 1: will be crucial for this Dolphins defense, and much like
Speaker 1: in the second dary, Buffalo really rebuilt their offensive line
Speaker 1: in short order under McDermott and being through both the
Speaker 1: draft and free agency, the Bills acquired a wall of physical,
Speaker 1: tough players with a nasty temperament. Dion Dawkins out of
Speaker 1: Temple Week one. His performance was much of the same
Speaker 1: as he has been to the first three years of
Speaker 1: his career. He averages just two pressures allowed per game
Speaker 1: in his career. Very good left tackle there for the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills. They signed center Mitch Morris last offseason. He
Speaker 1: helped stabilize the offensive line on the interior. He allowed
Speaker 1: just one pressure on Sunday against the Jets, and fellow
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen free agent acquisition Quentin Spain had the same
Speaker 1: stat line with one pressure allowed and he does his
Speaker 1: best work digging out bodies in that running game on
Speaker 1: the inside. Speaking of the running game, they are made
Speaker 1: up of some sizzle on spice with two juxtaposing backs
Speaker 1: in Devin Singletarry and Zack Moss. The former single Terry
Speaker 1: rushed for seven hundred and seventy five yards last year
Speaker 1: at five point one yards per clip and the ladder.
Speaker 1: Moss was the workhorse a tough, physical Utah youth program.
Speaker 1: He was the guy back there in that backfield. Over
Speaker 1: his final three years in college, Moss average three or
Speaker 1: ran for three thousand, six hundred and eighty five yards
Speaker 1: and thirty six touchdowns. Single Arry is very shifty, very agile,
Speaker 1: and can make big plays in the passing game as well,
Speaker 1: whereas Moss has that really stout, compact build and can
Speaker 1: really bruise guys and get that short yards for you.
Speaker 1: He's tough to bring down, usually takes more than one
Speaker 1: tackle to get into the ground, has great balance, great
Speaker 1: contact balance, and he'll run through arm tackles if you
Speaker 1: do not wrap him up. The matchup highlights in this game.
Speaker 1: We're kind of going back to basics here, so stick
Speaker 1: with me. But the Dolphins front seven versus the Bills
Speaker 1: runner We just talked about the running backs and Josh
Speaker 1: Allen and what they can do on the ground, and
Speaker 1: when you look at team defensive rankings, like really any
Speaker 1: Staton football, they require context. Right. The Dolphins enter Sunday
Speaker 1: with the number one ranks past defense, but the thirty
Speaker 1: second ranked rush defense. But the Patriots through the ball
Speaker 1: nineteen times and they ran the ball forty two times,
Speaker 1: so obviously gonna be some disparity there for the Dolphins
Speaker 1: ground game and passing game. On defense, Flora said on
Speaker 1: Wednesday that Buffaloes receivers are as good as there is
Speaker 1: in this league. So for the Dolphins to be competitive,
Speaker 1: stopping the run while containing the pass is a crucial
Speaker 1: element to this game. On defense, Allen kind of similar
Speaker 1: to Cam Newton in both the size and athletic ability departments.
Speaker 1: Both quarterbacks are six ft five. Alan gives ten pounds
Speaker 1: to Newton, but they both move exceptionally well. And last
Speaker 1: year the Bills running game hit chunk plays in the
Speaker 1: same breed option look the Patriots had success with in week.
Speaker 1: Number one quarterback kind of rides the running back and
Speaker 1: then pulls it out depending on what the defensive end.
Speaker 1: Does does he crash? You keep it? Does he not crash?
Speaker 1: As he contain he give it off to the running
Speaker 1: back inside. Once you account for Alan, it's then imperative
Speaker 1: to contain the running back, and this instance probably Devin Singletary,
Speaker 1: as he can bounce runs and hit the second level
Speaker 1: in a flash. Last year single Arry had twenty five
Speaker 1: runs of ten or more yards and he did that
Speaker 1: on just one and fifty one carry. So an explosive
Speaker 1: player for the Bills in the backfield. And of course,
Speaker 1: the running game starts in the trenches up front, where
Speaker 1: the Dolphins are not lacking in size by any stretch
Speaker 1: of the imagination. Og Bob goes to seventy five Shack
Speaker 1: Laws in two sixty seven, Wilkins three fifteen, God Show
Speaker 1: three eleven, and ray Kwon Davis three thirty. That's some
Speaker 1: beef up front on that line. But Flores says the
Speaker 1: Dolphins have to play with better fundamentals to handle Josh
Speaker 1: Allen in the Bills running game. He said, quote, Obviously,
Speaker 1: Josh Allen is big, strong, fast. He had something like
Speaker 1: sixty rushing yards on Sunday it was fifty seven sometimes
Speaker 1: or some similarities to what we saw at New England. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we're trying to get a lot of that fixed now
Speaker 1: from an edge setting standpoint, from a tackling standpoint. Schematically,
Speaker 1: will work on that over the course of the week,
Speaker 1: just from a technique, undamentals and practice standpoint. Hopefully it
Speaker 1: helps us on Sunday next week. And last week, the
Speaker 1: Patriots called on sixth offensive lineman Michael on when New
Speaker 1: for twenty two snaps as he plugged in at the
Speaker 1: end of that line of scrimmage. Did you know he
Speaker 1: was three hundred and fifty pounds. I didn't know that.
Speaker 1: In the game. I knew he was big, but man
Speaker 1: three d and fifty per Pro Football Focus, the Patriots
Speaker 1: rushed off either end, going off tackle eleven times for
Speaker 1: eighty three yards. Canbined running behind on when New and
Speaker 1: three hundred thirty five pound right tackle Jermaine Illuminoire and
Speaker 1: three ten pounds at left tackle and Isaiah Win So
Speaker 1: good edge running for the Patriots in that game. The
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills line much of the same. They average about
Speaker 1: three d thirty pounds on that offensive line, So big
Speaker 1: on big Dolphins and Bills. Up next the number two
Speaker 1: matchup to highlight here Dolphins dbs versus the Bills pass catchers,
Speaker 1: and the Bills are top heavy and deep at receiver,
Speaker 1: the best of both worlds for an offense. Stefon Diggs
Speaker 1: caught eight of his nine targets against the Jets for
Speaker 1: eighty six yards. He's a technician man. He sets up
Speaker 1: defensive backs with afty route running. He's got a natural
Speaker 1: feel for how to attack blind spots. He can flat
Speaker 1: out fly as well. He led all receivers in twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen and deep passing on throws twenty plus yards down
Speaker 1: the field with six D thirty five receiving yards on
Speaker 1: such throws. So the Dolphins have their work cut out
Speaker 1: for him for them with stefaon digs, but it doesn't
Speaker 1: get any easier. John Brown is also a speed merchant.
Speaker 1: He finished nineteenth in that same category in deep receiving yards.
Speaker 1: He turned eight targets into six receptions for seventy yards
Speaker 1: and a touchdown and five first downs and the season opener.
Speaker 1: In two games against the Dolphins last year, Brown caught
Speaker 1: fourteen passes for two D twenty yards and three touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Gotta find a way to get John Brown contained and
Speaker 1: no Bills receiver in Week one created more consistent separation
Speaker 1: than Cole Beasley. He averaged four yards of separation per
Speaker 1: next Gen Stats. The reliable slot target he has become
Speaker 1: over his years. Over the course of his career, he
Speaker 1: has caught seventy of his targets and five of the
Speaker 1: eight seasons in his career. So very reliable inside there,
Speaker 1: and its strength on strength here as Miami matches up
Speaker 1: all that talent with Byron Jones, Xavian Howard, Noah Egmonogeny,
Speaker 1: a trio of safetyes with coverage skills, and Bobby McCain,
Speaker 1: Brandon Jones, Eric Row. You've got Jamal Perry and Nick
Speaker 1: nied him in the fold as well in that Dolphins
Speaker 1: defensive backfield. And how the Dolphins choose to match their
Speaker 1: talent with buffaloes is one of the more intriguing storylines
Speaker 1: of the week. Who's got Digs, Who's got Beasley? Who's
Speaker 1: gonna go ahead and take John Brown on the outside.
Speaker 1: We know Byron Jones is super athletic, the testing metrics,
Speaker 1: the transition ability flipped the hips, exaviing Howard, a big, physical,
Speaker 1: strong corner who can really impose his will physically. Know
Speaker 1: what Bonogny a little bit of both of those two things. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the Olympians, the Olympia sprinter parents he has. He showed
Speaker 1: that same athletic ability in college, so those matchups really
Speaker 1: intrigued me. Last year, Eric Rowe was a second game
Speaker 1: at safety in that Week seven game against the Bills.
Speaker 1: He limited tight end Dawson Knox to one catch for
Speaker 1: two yards in that game, so we'll see if he
Speaker 1: matches up with Knox again. As a member of the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: In twenty nineteen, Byron Jones held Bills receivers on thanksgive
Speaker 1: to thirteen yards on three targets, including a pass breakup.
Speaker 1: So he had a good game against the Bills last season,
Speaker 1: and in his last game against the Bills and Xavian
Speaker 1: Howard intercepted two passes and allowed just two catches on
Speaker 1: eight targets. Back the third matchup to watch the Dolphins
Speaker 1: run game, verse the Bills front seven, and again back
Speaker 1: to basics, run the ball, stop the ball, win the
Speaker 1: matchup with the defensive back talent you acquired against the
Speaker 1: receiving talent Buffalo acquired this offseason. The Bills have a
Speaker 1: strong secondary of their own, so avoiding third down in
Speaker 1: long situations in which those playmakers will have freedom to
Speaker 1: roam and attack the football. That's critical. You have to
Speaker 1: keep them honest, keep their eyes on the running back,
Speaker 1: make sure you have balance on offense, and that starts,
Speaker 1: of course, with early down success, both in the passing
Speaker 1: game and the running game, finding balance, finding tendency breakers,
Speaker 1: that sort of thing. In the first meeting of nineteen,
Speaker 1: Miami rushed for one and nine yards and took a
Speaker 1: lead into the fourth quarter of that game. In the
Speaker 1: second matchup, they ran for just twenty three yards, as
Speaker 1: the Bills were able to open up a seven team
Speaker 1: point and really maintain that throughout the second half of
Speaker 1: that game. Keeping the Buffalo pass rush honest against the
Speaker 1: run and forcing all eleven on defense to key the
Speaker 1: ground game is going to help Ryan Fitzpatrick operate at
Speaker 1: his highest efficiency, which we know is a very very
Speaker 1: high level. Had three hundred yards and back to back
Speaker 1: games to close the season last year. Attacking away from
Speaker 1: Sebus White was beneficial as well. In that Week seven
Speaker 1: game last year and twenty nineteen, White limited Dolphins receivers
Speaker 1: to one catch on five targets against the other Buffalo corners.
Speaker 1: The Dolphins caught nine of twelve passes for one d
Speaker 1: and twenty six yards and a touchdown per Pro Football Focus.
Speaker 1: The Bills system we talked about it earlier in the week,
Speaker 1: nobody ran more plays than the Bills in Week one,
Speaker 1: eight one total snaps. As a result, day Ball called
Speaker 1: the league's most common package, eleven personnel, the third most
Speaker 1: in the entire NFL. They ran fifty three plays from
Speaker 1: three receivers, one back, one tight end, and the personnel
Speaker 1: deployment that really jumps off the page is the use
Speaker 1: of ten personnel, one running back, no tight ends, four receivers.
Speaker 1: Buffalo called that PA package twenty two times in Week one,
Speaker 1: the rest of the NFL and ten personnel packages just
Speaker 1: twenty times combined throughout opening weekends, so Buffalo called it
Speaker 1: more in their game than the other thirty one teams
Speaker 1: combined in Week number one, and then from there, Alan
Speaker 1: is able to put defenses in a bind with the
Speaker 1: decision to drop and play coverage or send extra rushers
Speaker 1: and put pressure on defensive backs to hold up against
Speaker 1: all those weapons at Alan's disposal. Finding that rush contained Lane,
Speaker 1: keeping him in the pocket and also getting after the
Speaker 1: quarterback and covering tight downfield. Going to be key. According
Speaker 1: to Pro Football Reference, the Bills blitzed Sam Donald fifty
Speaker 1: one of the Jets offensive snaps on Sunday, that was
Speaker 1: second most in Week one behind Baltimore, and the result
Speaker 1: was a twenty point five percent pressure rate that was
Speaker 1: sixteenth best in the league. PFRE also credits the Bills
Speaker 1: defense with three miss tackles that tied for the second
Speaker 1: fewest in the NFL, behind or with Miami, New England,
Speaker 1: and behind the Chicago Bears. A few final notes for
Speaker 1: this home opener for the Dolphins at one o'clock eastern
Speaker 1: September twenty. Dolphins will host thirteen thousand fans for the game.
Speaker 1: The all time series favors the Dolphins with a head
Speaker 1: to head mark of sixte and one, but the Bills
Speaker 1: were victorious in the three rivals and three of the
Speaker 1: rivals for playoff games. Miami or six and two in
Speaker 1: the past eight home openers and thirty four nineteen and
Speaker 1: one all time against the Bills at home. However, Buffalo
Speaker 1: has won three in a row against the Dolphins and
Speaker 1: five of the last six meetings, and going into this
Speaker 1: week to game, the Dolphins and Jets both fell on Sunday,
Speaker 1: so they are both oh and one. The Bills and
Speaker 1: Patriots both victorious. They both are one and oh. The
Speaker 1: Bills play Miami, the Patriots are in Seattle for a
Speaker 1: Sunday night football affair to take on the Seahawks, and
Speaker 1: the Jets host the forty Niners in Week two to
Speaker 1: wrap up the a f C East wrap around. We're
Speaker 1: gonna have recap coverage of this game on Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: dot com as well as on this podcast on Drive
Speaker 1: Time with me, yours truly, Travis Wingfield. Let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and get back into player media availability from Thursday, and
Speaker 1: we'll start with Dolphins happened? Dolphins safety Bobby McCain, who
Speaker 1: first touched on the rivalry between the Dolphins and the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills. Um, you know it's a division rival game. Um,
Speaker 1: they don't like us, well like them at the end
Speaker 1: of the day. And uh, you know they got new
Speaker 1: football players over there. We know that we have good
Speaker 1: full of players here. They know that. So it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a it's gonna be a fight, not not physical fight,
Speaker 1: but there's gonna be a fight in the game each
Speaker 1: and every quarter, each and every play, each and every series.
Speaker 1: Because you know, like I said, it is division robbery,
Speaker 1: and they count two division games count for two. You
Speaker 1: heard it there from Bobby McCain. Up next, I asked
Speaker 1: Bobby what the challenges are of getting a quarterback like
Speaker 1: Josh Allen to the ground, a big two d and
Speaker 1: fifty pound guy to the ground. McCain had a sack
Speaker 1: on Alan the first time these two teams met back
Speaker 1: in eighteen. Here's Bobby on tackling a massive quarterback. You
Speaker 1: gotta tackle a body, tackle the legs, make sure you
Speaker 1: get him on the ground because he has a big body.
Speaker 1: He's a good runner, he's a good athlete. I think
Speaker 1: he's about two forty two fifty, so he's a he's
Speaker 1: a big athlete, and he can get out of the
Speaker 1: park and make plays with his feet, make plays with
Speaker 1: his on So you gotta make sure you tackle the
Speaker 1: body and and don't fall off. And one more here
Speaker 1: for Bobby who was asked is playing against Cam Newton
Speaker 1: and Josh Allen basically the same. No. I love that one.
Speaker 1: All let's go ahead and move on here. Next, Dolphins
Speaker 1: defensive end Emmanuel Ogball, who I first had a question
Speaker 1: for him about playing his own read. Yeah, it kind
Speaker 1: of just depends if you're you know, you're a force
Speaker 1: player or not. But yeah, you gotta make sure the
Speaker 1: quarterback either doesn't have the ball or does have the
Speaker 1: ball before so you actually kind of really slow to react,
Speaker 1: but we're trained to do it, so you gotta do
Speaker 1: a better job doing it this week. So one of
Speaker 1: the guys the Dolphins call on to make plays on
Speaker 1: the defensive line alongside Emmanuel Ogball is Dolphins defensive tackle
Speaker 1: Christian Wilkins. Here's Agball on Wilkins and the growth he's
Speaker 1: seen so far from camp and through one game as
Speaker 1: a Miami Dolphin. Yeah, he's a working you know. Whenever
Speaker 1: he's out there, he tries to make play. So that's
Speaker 1: that's what that's I go as a defensive linunge just
Speaker 1: try to make plays help the team win games. And
Speaker 1: Christian did a good job last week. Even though it's
Speaker 1: South show he lost the game, he did a good job.
Speaker 1: He did his job. And I really like this next
Speaker 1: question here for Emanuel about the difficulties of a quarterback
Speaker 1: that can scramble and beat you with his legs and
Speaker 1: how that might change the way you approach it because
Speaker 1: you can't get up field with as much to nasty
Speaker 1: and much ferocity as maybe you like against a more
Speaker 1: traditional stationary pocket passing quarterback. First of all, the guys
Speaker 1: stopped the wrong. If we stopped the wrong making one dimension,
Speaker 1: that's gonna take care of itself. And we have guys
Speaker 1: that could chase after they get after the quarterback. So
Speaker 1: we have to folks on stopping the round for that's
Speaker 1: the most important thing in this game. And we're going
Speaker 1: to stay on topic on brand there and ask Emmanual
Speaker 1: ag Ball, what is the most important thing with regards
Speaker 1: to setting the edge as an edge defender, as a
Speaker 1: force defender off the outside of the defensive line, you
Speaker 1: got to get to the office the tackle or the
Speaker 1: tight end as fast as possible. Because you guys said
Speaker 1: set it, well, we tried to set the edge or
Speaker 1: one yard up the field, so we could do that.
Speaker 1: That will help a lot. And we need guys corraling
Speaker 1: to the ball and set the edge, because if you
Speaker 1: set the edge without nobody running to the ball, then
Speaker 1: you're just sitting and there's a free length him and
Speaker 1: keep running. So it takes the whole team, you know,
Speaker 1: to get after it. Up Next, a question from me
Speaker 1: for Emmanuel the Patriots rolled out that three d and
Speaker 1: fifty pound dude in that heavy package. When they add
Speaker 1: that extra offensive lineman to your side of the of
Speaker 1: the formation, how does that change your approach? It definitely
Speaker 1: changes their approach because the first guy you got worried about.
Speaker 1: That guy either double team. You're getting a double team
Speaker 1: block or base block. So you gotta attack it a
Speaker 1: different way than a tight end. It's right there. That
Speaker 1: makes sense. And let's go ahead and finish up here
Speaker 1: with Dolphins offensive lineman Eric Flowers, who of course played
Speaker 1: a college and high school ball in Miami, but also
Speaker 1: as a kid he grew up coming to Dolphins games
Speaker 1: Dolphins training camp. He was asked if he ever met
Speaker 1: any players or who his favorite players were for the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins back then, and talking a little bit about
Speaker 1: his experience growing up here in South Florida as a
Speaker 1: Dolphins fan as a child. I never really met players,
Speaker 1: I know. I mean, I've never really got a chance to.
Speaker 1: I was just sitting there. I'll be doing a stands
Speaker 1: for my dad, or at the games. I used to
Speaker 1: watch Jake Long and all them dudes, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, For Ricky Williams and all the dudes, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. I used to you know, listen
Speaker 1: to w q AM in the morning. Just you know,
Speaker 1: I've always been involved with I've always followed it and
Speaker 1: always you know, my family too so and I think
Speaker 1: this next one here is a great note to finish on.
Speaker 1: For this Thursday preview podcast with Eric Flowers, he was
Speaker 1: asked about what he wants the offense identity to be
Speaker 1: up on the offensive line. Here's Eric's answer to that
Speaker 1: question for me, I want to I want this. I
Speaker 1: would like our identity to be to be technical, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean? Technical? And I would say really
Speaker 1: more hard notes your physical physical, but technical, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, those like the good office and lines
Speaker 1: are technical, you know what I'm saying, from hand placements
Speaker 1: to everything in the combo blogs to games, just technical.
Speaker 1: And that's like what really wins, you know, matchup that
Speaker 1: being technicals. I don't I don't want us to go
Speaker 1: in that direction of just being technical. That's would be
Speaker 1: my perfect in vision, like to you know, like the
Speaker 1: Cowboys in those years, they were just super technical their hands,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. You have to love a
Speaker 1: call back there to the nineties Cowboys offensive lines there
Speaker 1: from Eric Flowers. As for today's podcast, that is gonna
Speaker 1: be my time. You all please be sure to subscribe
Speaker 1: to the podcast on Apple, podcast, Spotify, wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcast from. Go ahead and leave us a rating,
Speaker 1: leave us a review. I really really appreciate it when
Speaker 1: you all do that for us. Go ahead and give
Speaker 1: me a follow on Twitter, It's at Wingfield, NFL. Follow
Speaker 1: the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank
Speaker 1: and the audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com.
Speaker 1: We have the written preview up on the website as well,
Speaker 1: taking a look at those matchups, bills, personnel, the schemes,
Speaker 1: all that fun stuff on Miami Dolphins dot com until tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Until next time for a flashback Friday podcast fins Up