Speaker 1: You are listening to the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network.
Speaker 2: This is Drive Time with Travis Wingfield. Back to throw
Speaker 2: to a looking whips about.
Speaker 3: The wide Dolphin touchdown time recul unpelievable, just bluevire for.
Speaker 2: A second time. Don't know where he was going right away.
Speaker 2: I want to hit that the man. I want to
Speaker 2: help you, soone, keep on your bandwagon.
Speaker 4: Wattle, Wattle to a shot gut back to throw looking
Speaker 4: at them.
Speaker 2: Up fires touchdown. It's Waddle his sixth touchdown.
Speaker 5: Paradom of this day.
Speaker 3: Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now let me check
Speaker 3: your pulse if enough for.
Speaker 4: What is up? Dolphins And welcome to the Draft Time podcast,
Speaker 4: part of the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network, covering your team,
Speaker 4: your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host,
Speaker 4: Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, the great Joe Marino
Speaker 4: from Don Bills joins me to break down this Dolphins
Speaker 4: and Bills pivotal Week four matchup coming up on Sunday. Plus,
Speaker 4: we'll pick the games across the NFL in week number
Speaker 4: four and hear from the assistant coaches as they spoke
Speaker 4: to the media on Thursday. From the Baptist Hell Studios
Speaker 4: inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Draft
Speaker 4: Time Podcast, Maggie Jeffy. First, let's get right to my
Speaker 4: guest today, Joe Marino. You guys know what time it is.
Speaker 4: He has the right name. He roots for the wrong team.
Speaker 4: I make that joke every time. It never gets old.
Speaker 4: Trust me, I can confirm that he's a friend of
Speaker 4: the show anyway, and a friend of mine. Joe Marino, Joe,
Speaker 4: here we go again, man, Dolphins and Bills, and this
Speaker 4: one seems as big as it's been for a while.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they've been getting bigger and bigger throughout the years.
Speaker 3: I mean three matchups last year and they were all critical, obviously,
Speaker 3: And here we are surprised this game winds up being
Speaker 3: one o'clock on a Sunday afternoon. I think maybe in
Speaker 3: the future the NFL will be spotlighting these games, as
Speaker 3: both these teams look like they have some staying power
Speaker 3: here in the AFC for a while.
Speaker 4: I'm okay not going up there on a short week
Speaker 4: in the middle of a blizzard or a potential coming
Speaker 4: a blizzerd down the coming to the pike as it
Speaker 4: was last time around that fourth quarter, But either way. Yeah,
Speaker 4: I mean, you guys kind of get the benefit in
Speaker 4: terms of, you know, January down here in South Beach
Speaker 4: a nice little a little vacation after Christmas and New
Speaker 4: Year's and we get the benefit of going up there
Speaker 4: when the leads are still changing colors and it's not
Speaker 4: miserably cold. So looking forward to this one, Joe, looking
Speaker 4: forward to this chat. And I want to start with
Speaker 4: you with a Dolphins question, which I don't think I've
Speaker 4: ever done that, but I respect the hell out of
Speaker 4: your opinions. I want to know, why do you think
Speaker 4: it is that this Dolphins team is different so far
Speaker 4: this year? How is this year's three to zero Dolphins
Speaker 4: different or is it from last year's.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's some things that I really like about this
Speaker 3: Dolphins team compared to last year's.
Speaker 2: And I think it starts with proof of concept, right.
Speaker 3: I think there's a lot of questions about Mike McDaniel,
Speaker 3: first year coach with TUA, and how this was all
Speaker 3: going to come together. And I think you saw the
Speaker 3: foundation laid last year for what this offense has shown
Speaker 3: us it is this year, Right, there were some lulls
Speaker 3: at times last year, with some certainly some very explosive moments.
Speaker 3: And one of my biggest questions this year coming in
Speaker 3: this year was what is Mike McDaniel's CounterPunch to some
Speaker 3: of the some of the roadblocks that were put up
Speaker 3: for them later in the season last year. And it
Speaker 3: looks like he's got all the right counter punches and
Speaker 3: all the right levers that he's pulling and has really
Speaker 3: evolved a scheme. And you can just tell that Tua's
Speaker 3: comfort in the scheme is at at a crazy level, right,
Speaker 3: I mean, just extremely, really comfortable with what's going on.
Speaker 3: And they've really added to and built upon the foundation
Speaker 3: that they laid last year with even more speed in
Speaker 3: the backfield, with some improvements to the offensive line. But
Speaker 3: the comfort that Tua has running this offense, the speed
Speaker 3: in which he's processing what he's picking up pre snap,
Speaker 3: that's turning into post snap decisions. It's taking something that
Speaker 3: appeared like he could be dynamic into something that nobody
Speaker 3: wants to deal with. Nobody wants to play the Miami
Speaker 3: Dolphins right now with the way that this offense is hunting.
Speaker 3: So you have proof of concept on offense and building
Speaker 3: on that. But also I think there's some legitimacy that
Speaker 3: Vic Fangio brings to this defense is certainly injuries hurt
Speaker 3: the defense last year, but I think just I think
Speaker 3: VIC is better position to maximize a very very talented defense.
Speaker 3: It doesn't even have Jalen Ramsey at this point. That still,
Speaker 3: you know, early in this scheme, right, only three games
Speaker 3: under their belt. I think it's only gonna get better
Speaker 3: and better. I think the talent is legit and on
Speaker 3: all three levels, and so proof of concept. On offense,
Speaker 3: it's building one of the elite defensive minds in Vic Fangio,
Speaker 3: with a lot of talent, and it's getting healthy. So yeah,
Speaker 3: there's plenty to look at this three and old Dolphins
Speaker 3: team and say, you know what, I think they can
Speaker 3: stick around for a while.
Speaker 4: I think both offenses are enjoying the fact that they
Speaker 4: have that continuity. And you're number two from a new
Speaker 4: play caller and offensive coordinator for going from you know,
Speaker 4: Brian Dable to Ken Dorsey and Buffalo and obviously Mike
Speaker 4: McDaniel here, and you're seeing both these offenses pick it
Speaker 4: right up. Number one for the Dolphins, number two for Buffalo.
Speaker 4: Now Miami's forty three points per game a little bit
Speaker 4: skewed by a seventy point out outburst last Sunday, which
Speaker 4: is still absurd to me to think about. And look
Speaker 4: at my schedule here with a seventy next to the
Speaker 4: Broncos name on that schedule. So you know, I was
Speaker 4: talking to Tracy Wolfs, new to be on the podcast
Speaker 4: tomorrow and saying, like, I hope it's Dolphins and Bills
Speaker 4: for a long time, with you know, the Marino Kelly
Speaker 4: comparison to Alan and two potentially if they can continue
Speaker 4: to be those guys for a long time here. To me,
Speaker 4: the division is the best when it's Miami and Buffalo
Speaker 4: and then the Jets and Patriots can kind of play
Speaker 4: for third place.
Speaker 2: We can agree on that. That's for sure at Travis,
Speaker 2: that the.
Speaker 3: Patriots and Jets can can stay down there at three
Speaker 3: and four for as long as they want.
Speaker 4: Hopefully that's how it goes here going forward with Miami
Speaker 4: on top of course, Joe, I know you prefer it
Speaker 4: differently there, and you know.
Speaker 2: That's where we're going to disagree. That's a pushback there.
Speaker 4: Let's go ahead and go back to your sideline here though,
Speaker 4: and start where we always do on these podcasts with
Speaker 4: the quarterback, and this guy at Joe has always fascinated
Speaker 4: me since the days at Wyoming when I loved his
Speaker 4: college taper where he just carried a bad college team
Speaker 4: to six five wins, trying to find the way into
Speaker 4: bowl season every single year. And he started this year
Speaker 4: as poorly as you possibly could have drawn it up
Speaker 4: for Buffalo in that offense, but then he gets right
Speaker 4: back to doing his usual stuff the last two weeks.
Speaker 4: I guess what I want to ask you, Joe, is
Speaker 4: how do you think Josh took last season which kind
Speaker 4: of you know, at times got away, especially that payoff
Speaker 4: game against Miami, got away from the patient take. What's
Speaker 4: their approach that I thought really rounded out his game well?
Speaker 4: And then the first game of the year with the
Speaker 4: kind of you know, turnover issues. What's been the difference
Speaker 4: these last two games compared to those maybe more aggressive
Speaker 4: approaches he took Week one and last year.
Speaker 3: Well, I think the what's been happening around him has
Speaker 3: been a lot more secure this year. And I would
Speaker 3: say in Week one against the Jets, I think Josh
Speaker 3: Allen was the problem in that game. I thought Ken Dorsey,
Speaker 3: the offensive coordinator, had a good game plan, I thought defensively,
Speaker 3: they played well enough to win. I think Josh Allen
Speaker 3: was just looking to put on a show on Monday
Speaker 3: Night Football in Week one against the defense that it
Speaker 3: wasn't time to put a show up against it.
Speaker 2: Certainly the Jets.
Speaker 3: Jets have Josh Allen's number, there's no question about that
Speaker 3: right now, and it doesn't feel like it's changing right
Speaker 3: It feels like perhaps it's even getting worse when it
Speaker 3: comes to the Jets having his numbers. So it's you know,
Speaker 3: that's a real test for him to be able to
Speaker 3: be patient. We know Josh wants to make all the
Speaker 3: big plays, big time competitor, all that stuff, but against
Speaker 3: the Jets team with that defense, you got to be patient,
Speaker 3: and I think they the perfect storm of Week one.
Speaker 3: Monday Night Football was not the right scene for Josh Allen.
Speaker 3: He didn't have the right mindset going into that game,
Speaker 3: but like you mentioned, really bounced back over the next
Speaker 3: couple of weeks and did a good job of taking
Speaker 3: what Ken Dorsey built in for him. I think the
Speaker 3: protection schemes have been really good for the Bills and
Speaker 3: that's allowed Josh Allen to be more comfortable. And it's
Speaker 3: still a new offense, right. I know that it's year
Speaker 3: two with Ken Dorsey and a lot of carryover from
Speaker 3: Brian Dables offense, but they're running twelve personnel, Travis, I mean,
Speaker 3: this is a really different look and feel. You're seeing
Speaker 3: a gap run scheme and over fifty percent twelve personnel
Speaker 3: two tight ends on the field. So there's definitely a
Speaker 3: different look and feel to this offense.
Speaker 2: And I think it.
Speaker 3: Does come back to Josh and being able to thread
Speaker 3: the needle between taking what's there and playing the right way,
Speaker 3: playing the smart right way, and then also you know,
Speaker 3: picking your spots on when to try to land those
Speaker 3: haymakers and he'll probably have to land a few of
Speaker 3: those against Miami and all the points they are capable
Speaker 3: of scoring on offense.
Speaker 4: Yeah, last year we saw it on in the playoff game, right,
Speaker 4: a couple of big plays to the Dolphins defense, but
Speaker 4: a bunch of big plays for the Bills offense that
Speaker 4: got them back into the game and eventually into the
Speaker 4: winner circle.
Speaker 3: There.
Speaker 4: You mentioned the surrounding talent and that the twelve personnel
Speaker 4: ship is so crazy to me because you know, I
Speaker 4: remember going back when I first started working for the
Speaker 4: team and doing these previews, it was like Buffalo ran
Speaker 4: a ton of ten personnel and they were like leading
Speaker 4: the league, lapping the league by several laps in that category.
Speaker 4: Now they've gone completely the opposite direction with Keen Kid
Speaker 4: and Dawson Knox there. But the trenches is where I
Speaker 4: want to really get to because it seemed like last year,
Speaker 4: you know, and he still does this as well as
Speaker 4: anybody in football, but Josh just kind of creating on
Speaker 4: his own and trying to find ways to mitigate, you know,
Speaker 4: breakdowns and protection and just making plays with his legs,
Speaker 4: with his arm. But it seems like this year they're
Speaker 4: just better in the trenches. How have they accomplished that?
Speaker 4: And how do you think Miami can get them back
Speaker 4: to you know, I guess back on their heels again.
Speaker 3: Well, I think they've made two upgrades to their offensive
Speaker 3: line with two new starters. Connor McGovern coming over from
Speaker 3: the Dallas Cowboys. That was the most significant free agent
Speaker 3: contract the Bills handed out. He stabilized the left guard position,
Speaker 3: and then they drafted Osyrus Torrance out of Florida in
Speaker 3: the second round that he's become a Day one starter
Speaker 3: at right guard. And I think those additions have been
Speaker 3: important for the Bills where there's been a lot of
Speaker 3: instability at guard for the Bills, they haven't had the
Speaker 3: same primary starters at guard year over year since twenty
Speaker 3: sixteen into twenty seventeen. It's been a while. It's been
Speaker 3: a really a revolving door with a lot of miscalculations,
Speaker 3: whether it's been extensions handed out, draft picks, free agent dollars,
Speaker 3: they haven't been able to get the guard position secured.
Speaker 3: And I certainly hope that between Torrance and McGovern second
Speaker 3: round pick and a pretty decent free agent deal, you
Speaker 3: have that figured out. But what I think the Bills
Speaker 3: have done a better job of, like I think you
Speaker 3: have better personnel, but also their protection schemes have been
Speaker 3: a lot better where I think you make a point there.
Speaker 3: They ran a lot of ten personnel, a lout of
Speaker 3: eleven personnel, a lot of spread, and it was you know,
Speaker 3: five maybe six man protections at times. And well, Josh
Speaker 3: Allen can make everybody miss in the pocket, so we'll
Speaker 3: put all of our eligibles out in routes and trust
Speaker 3: that the you know, the prized quarterback can make everyone
Speaker 3: miss and make throws. I think this year, they're actually
Speaker 3: helping their offensive line there. They're understanding that, you know,
Speaker 3: you need to count for a really good defensive lineman
Speaker 3: so that your quarterback doesn't have to make everybody miss
Speaker 3: and he can feel a little bit more comfortable back
Speaker 3: there just reading it and ripping it. And I think
Speaker 3: that's what's really manifested itself this year is a couple
Speaker 3: of better players at guard, but more willingness to help
Speaker 3: the protection schemes with even six seven man protection schemes
Speaker 3: at times, and just trusting Josh that he does have
Speaker 3: the arm talent to slot throws.
Speaker 2: Even if you're going to play coverage against that.
Speaker 3: So I think that's been the big difference in why
Speaker 3: the Bills have had a lot more success seemingly this
Speaker 3: year to this point.
Speaker 2: Blocking it up and giving Josh time.
Speaker 4: Joe Marino locked on Bills, lock on NFL Scouting, my
Speaker 4: guest today breaking down this big Dolphins and Bills matchup
Speaker 4: Sunday up in Buffalo, one o'clock on CBS, Nance Romo Tracy,
Speaker 4: the whole crew is there. That's how you know it's
Speaker 4: a big game. And Joe, I have so many different
Speaker 4: ways I want to ask you questions about this Bill's defense.
Speaker 4: But I think I'll start here because I asked Tua
Speaker 4: in the press conference he had on Wednesday about the
Speaker 4: value of this defense having high employer back, and you
Speaker 4: kind of pivoted on me and talked more about Taron Johnson.
Speaker 4: And that takes me right into my question about the
Speaker 4: way this defense functions, because I had DMG you and
Speaker 4: asked you, like, how do they get the production they
Speaker 4: get out of this? Look right, it feels like you
Speaker 4: would be able to just line up heavy personnel and
Speaker 4: force the Bills to shift what they want to do,
Speaker 4: which is a perpetual Nickel scheme, Like ninety eight percent
Speaker 4: of the time they're in that Nickel package. How does
Speaker 4: it function? Like, can you explain it for our fans
Speaker 4: here so we understand better.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's basically a four to five defense base Nickel.
Speaker 3: They live in Nickel. That's it. It's pretty much. Those
Speaker 3: back seven players are those back seven players.
Speaker 2: They don't change.
Speaker 3: And it really does come back to Taron Johnson, and
Speaker 3: I think Tua was wise to point that out. I
Speaker 3: think him being this multifaceted player that of course does
Speaker 3: all the traditional slot corner things in terms of covering
Speaker 3: slot players. But he's got real responsibilities as a run defender, right.
Speaker 3: I mean he's literally, I mean a Sam linebacker, right,
Speaker 3: the Sam linebacker and a nickel corner all at the
Speaker 3: same time. And you look at that and probably think, well,
Speaker 3: run the ball on them. And there are times when
Speaker 3: other teams can run the ball on the Bills. But
Speaker 3: you know, Taron Johnson's no slouch at that position. He's
Speaker 3: paid well for what he does. He plays almost one
Speaker 3: hundred percent of the snaps and he's a key player
Speaker 3: for what they want to be And and you know
Speaker 3: they've the Bills have had. You look at Taron Johnson,
Speaker 3: Micah High, Jordan poy Er, Trey White. Those guys have
Speaker 3: been together running this defense since like twenty seventeen, and
Speaker 3: that's a lot of time on tasks together.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: They've seen all the coverages, they've seen all the run schemes.
Speaker 3: They can play well off of each other. Now the
Speaker 3: other cornerback spot's been a little bit in and out,
Speaker 3: and of course, uh swapping out Tremain Edmonds this pass
Speaker 3: offseason for Terrell Bernard. But you know, I think those
Speaker 3: guys have so much time on tasks together. They've seen
Speaker 3: a lot. They play fast, and you know they're certainly
Speaker 3: giving you light personnel. You're not going to find a
Speaker 3: lighter second level of a defense in the NFL than
Speaker 3: what the Bills have. Milano is two twenty five, Bernard's
Speaker 3: maybe two twenty five, might be two twenty and then
Speaker 3: Aron Johnson's a slot corner probably around one ninety five.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: So it's just it's a small group and they are
Speaker 3: an attack oriented defense that plays up the field and
Speaker 3: you might get a few runs on them, but they're
Speaker 3: playing for negative plays.
Speaker 4: So just to kind of follow up on that, like
Speaker 4: you mentioned the size difference, and you know Bill Parcels
Speaker 4: always said it's a game of big, strong men, right,
Speaker 4: Like what's to stop a team from just loading up
Speaker 4: and trying to out physical and outsize them? Like, has
Speaker 4: that been something teams have tried in the past and
Speaker 4: has it been successful?
Speaker 3: I seen in the McDermott area. I've seen it happen twice,
Speaker 3: the Eagles and the Colts. Like Colts like prime Jonathan
Speaker 3: Taylor like when they were good, right, and then the
Speaker 3: Eagles a few years ago where they just kind of
Speaker 3: took the Bills will running the football, but There's been
Speaker 3: so many other instances where the Bills have historically done
Speaker 3: great against Derrick Henry, done great against Nick Chubb. They
Speaker 3: just held Josh Jacobs to negative two rushing yards on
Speaker 3: whatever the nine carries or something. You know, So there's
Speaker 3: there's typically those instances where you feel like the other
Speaker 3: teams are gonna come at them and they meet the
Speaker 3: moment Now where I think the Bills run defense gets
Speaker 3: a little bit leaky. It's not it's not a snap
Speaker 3: to snap thing. It's that they have a propensity to
Speaker 3: get gashed. Right, they will give up a long explosive play.
Speaker 3: You saw that Monday night football against the Jets. Breese
Speaker 3: Hall ripped out an eighty three yard run and on
Speaker 3: the other twenty six carries they had a total of
Speaker 3: eighty nine yards. Right, So it's like, how do they
Speaker 3: mitigate that one or two explosive runs that they tend
Speaker 3: to give up? You know, I wouldn't say every week,
Speaker 3: but regular enough for you to question it. And in
Speaker 3: that instance it was a misalignment. They played thirteen personnel.
Speaker 3: The Bills linebackers didn't shift. But you know, I think
Speaker 3: you saw I think you saw in that second Dolphins
Speaker 3: Bills game last year in Buffalo, Raheem Moster had a
Speaker 3: good game, right. They ran the ball very, very effectively,
Speaker 3: and you know that can certainly happen at times. And
Speaker 3: if you're Miami and you're coming off of with three
Speaker 3: hundred rushing yards against Denver, I think you're gonna probably
Speaker 3: want to test the Bills run defense on Sunday.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Raheem had one hundred yards in the first quarter
Speaker 4: of that game thanks to a sixty eight yard gash
Speaker 4: you had up the sideline running behind alec Ingold, who
Speaker 4: I put a lot of stock into his value on
Speaker 4: this football team. So you mentioned it earlier about the
Speaker 4: content see there on the back part of the defense.
Speaker 4: I do my intro into the Bills, how they got here,
Speaker 4: how they built their team every single time we play
Speaker 4: you guys on the podcast, and I pretty much have
Speaker 4: a copy and paste from like it all began back
Speaker 4: in twenty seventeen, and they got these four defensive backs
Speaker 4: and then they got Josh Allen the next year. That's
Speaker 4: all you have to know. But they do have a
Speaker 4: new pairing, or at least half of a new pairing
Speaker 4: at the position you just talked about there at the
Speaker 4: linebacker spot with a guy that we know very well.
Speaker 4: For my money, probably maybe Fred Warner might be better,
Speaker 4: but that's about it in terms of the best linebackers
Speaker 4: in the NFL. But a newer guy, Interrell Bernard, who
Speaker 4: was also a Defensive Player of the Week last year.
Speaker 4: How has that new pairing worked out, going from Milano
Speaker 4: Edmonds to Milano Bernard.
Speaker 3: Way better than I imagined I was nervous about. This is
Speaker 3: my biggest question for the Bills going into the season
Speaker 3: was replacing Tremain Evans, a five year starter, multi time
Speaker 3: Pro Bowler captain every year. You know, you felt like
Speaker 3: he was an important piece of the defense, especially with
Speaker 3: a lot of too high shells on defense in Tremain's range,
Speaker 3: right he six five to forty with thirty five inch arms,
Speaker 3: and he can run really fast right, and his ability
Speaker 3: to get his hands up in the middle field just
Speaker 3: it took a lot of throws off the menu, and
Speaker 3: I felt like he was really important for them.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: Where Tremaine I thought was always a bit inconsistent, was
Speaker 3: playing downhill and like two hundred fifty pund linebacker, you
Speaker 3: don't want that to be an issue. But he wasn't
Speaker 3: that good playing downhill, and so I thought it was
Speaker 3: gonna be a big deal. And through three games, Terrell
Speaker 3: Bernard has just been tremendous. I did not expect this.
Speaker 3: Like you mentioned the AFC Defensive Player of the Week
Speaker 3: last week, and his previous two games were really good.
Speaker 3: I think he's been a lot more decisive as a processor,
Speaker 3: like he will he will fire his gun and trigger downhill,
Speaker 3: and I've appreciated that he plays fast.
Speaker 2: His communication has been really good.
Speaker 3: It's the coverage as well that I think has really
Speaker 3: stood out to me where you'd expect that right a
Speaker 3: two hundred and twenty something pound linebacker. That's where he
Speaker 3: needs to be able to win. And I think what
Speaker 3: he showed us so far this year in terms of
Speaker 3: being able to read the backfield in his own heavy defense,
Speaker 3: but also just have an innate feel for what's happening
Speaker 3: behind him and getting the proper depth and being able
Speaker 3: to cut off routes, it's been really good and in
Speaker 3: ways I didn't just being a strength of his at
Speaker 3: this level at this point, so I think the key
Speaker 3: for him is sustaining it and of course staying healthy.
Speaker 3: But right now, the Bills look like they made a
Speaker 3: great choice, letting Tremaine walk for eighteen million dollars a
Speaker 3: year and leaning into their third round pick from twenty
Speaker 3: twenty two.
Speaker 4: Those are the kind of moves that can really help
Speaker 4: your football team going forward to just you know, basically
Speaker 4: supplement the rest of the roster when you get hits
Speaker 4: like that in the middle parts of the drafts. And
Speaker 4: the Dolphins are hoping they got the same thing with
Speaker 4: Devon ah Chin. Damn it said it again, Devon a
Speaker 4: Chan the running back who just went off for two
Speaker 4: hundred yards in his first real NFL action this past week.
Speaker 4: And speaking of that, that match up right there is
Speaker 4: the funnest part of this game to me is how
Speaker 4: Bernard can continue with all that processing and keying that
Speaker 4: he and Malana both do against an offense that just
Speaker 4: has eye candy on top of eye candy. Joe, I'm
Speaker 4: sure you've enjoyed watching the tape or maybe maybe nervously
Speaker 4: watch the tape on the Dolphins offense. There a little bit.
Speaker 4: We've mentioned those games a season ago, three contests all
Speaker 4: decided by three points or less. The Bills get two
Speaker 4: of the three, and of course the most important one
Speaker 4: in the playoffs. How do you think those matchups last
Speaker 4: year can inform us to what you expect this year? Like,
Speaker 4: what do you think the Buffalo Bills learned from the Dolphins
Speaker 4: for the first time in a long time playing I'm close.
Speaker 3: Well, I think I think the Bills have always respected
Speaker 3: every opponent, right, I think that's they've always done that.
Speaker 3: I don't I don't anticipate that being any different. But
Speaker 3: I think last year, certainly in the Dolphins made a
Speaker 3: statement and said hey, we're coming, We're coming. We played
Speaker 3: three very close games, and even like you mentioned in
Speaker 3: the playoffs with the backup quarterback to you know, really
Speaker 3: having the Bills in their heels. I think a lot
Speaker 3: of that was self inflicted by the Bills with their
Speaker 3: turnovers and short fields, but I mean it was a
Speaker 3: I mean, they had a chance with the Paul late
Speaker 3: in the game to go win the win the game.
Speaker 2: And so I think that that perks you up.
Speaker 3: And and if you know, the Bills have had a
Speaker 3: lot of success against Miami, and I think perhaps you
Speaker 3: could take it for granted and say, okay, Dolphins on
Speaker 3: the schedule, let's go. But now you know they're certainly
Speaker 3: stressing you in new ways and so I think that's
Speaker 3: what it came down to, is like this is this
Speaker 3: isn't the same Dolphins, right Obviously, it's really really different
Speaker 3: in every imaginable way under Mike McDaniel and what this
Speaker 3: team showed us last year. And so I think the
Speaker 3: Dolphins certainly made their statement and the Bills have. The
Speaker 3: Bills have definitely become different. I think this year in
Speaker 3: so many ways, like Sean McDermott's fully taken over this defense.
Speaker 3: Leslie Fraser is no longer around, and like you would
Speaker 3: think that Sean McDermott, a defensive minded coach, would have
Speaker 3: his fingerprints on the defense. Based on comparing the way
Speaker 3: that it looks and feels and what they're trying to
Speaker 3: do through three games compared to what Fraser did, it's different.
Speaker 3: And I mean twelve personnel. They didn't run any twelve
Speaker 3: personnel last year. Fifty percent now gap oriented run scheme.
Speaker 3: Like for as much continuity as the Bills have had,
Speaker 3: they're still evolving as a football team themselves and you know,
Speaker 3: trying to put their best roster together and lean into
Speaker 3: the strengths of those players. And so I think that
Speaker 3: you saw two teams last year that were obviously very
Speaker 3: good teams, but even with continuity, are still evolving, and
Speaker 3: I'm certainly thinking that they have each other in mind
Speaker 3: as they try to build these rosters.
Speaker 4: Could certainly be another case where we have three matchups
Speaker 4: again this season. I think both these teams going to
Speaker 4: be right there in the very end in the AFC
Speaker 4: playoff picture Joey and these podcast, these crossover episodes the
Speaker 4: same way every single time. The Bills win the game,
Speaker 4: if and the Dolphins win the game, if and use
Speaker 4: are fill in the blanks.
Speaker 3: Well, I think turnovers, right, the Bills, Josh Allen can't
Speaker 3: turn over the ball in this game. Probably anticipating some points.
Speaker 3: I think maybe there's gonna be less points than some
Speaker 3: people think. But you have the value the ball, you
Speaker 3: have the value possessions, and so I think that's going
Speaker 3: to be the most important part for the Bills is
Speaker 3: taking care of the football and not giving Miami's offense
Speaker 3: more opportunities with the ball. I think for Miami, I
Speaker 3: think they have to win in the red zone and
Speaker 3: on both sides of the football.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: Field goals not touchdowns when you're on defense. Touchdowns not
Speaker 3: field goals when you're on offense because I think both
Speaker 3: teams are gonna get yards. I think both teams are
Speaker 3: gonna get down there, and both teams have been really
Speaker 3: good in terms of red zone offense and defense. But
Speaker 3: you know, they haven't played each other yet, right, I mean,
Speaker 3: there's no transitive property in football. That's something that we
Speaker 3: always have to remind ourselves of. And so while the
Speaker 3: Bills defense has been like lights out in the red zone,
Speaker 3: you know all the Miami offense has been lights out
Speaker 3: in the red zone. So I think it's gonna be
Speaker 3: when you have a chance to score six, you got
Speaker 3: to score six and not limited to three. So turnovers
Speaker 3: for the Bills, red zone success for Miami.
Speaker 4: I thought that was the difference in the game. Last year,
Speaker 4: we had a couple of touchdown passes go through the
Speaker 4: hands of receivers from Miami early in the game, wind
Speaker 4: up losing the game by three points. So every trip
Speaker 4: down there is critical. Locked on NFL scouting, locked on Bills,
Speaker 4: girl dad, all around, good dude, Joe Marino, nothing but
Speaker 4: the best for you, man, Appreciate your time as always,
Speaker 4: my friend.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Travis, thanks for having me on, and I guess
Speaker 3: maybe we'll do it two more times this.
Speaker 4: Year, at least once, hopefully twice, and away he goes.
Speaker 4: Always fun catching up with Joe. Let's go ahead and
Speaker 4: take our first break right there and come back on
Speaker 4: the other side and hear from the assistant coaches. That's
Speaker 4: next Draft Time podcast to your host, Travis Wingfield, brought
Speaker 4: to you by Auto Nation. Picking it back up here
Speaker 4: with assistant coach Audio. We're just going to go one by
Speaker 4: one down these clips that I thought were interesting, starting
Speaker 4: here with Vic Fangio, who was asked about the challenges
Speaker 4: of defending Bill's quarterback Josh Allen.
Speaker 6: Yeah, he's a handful to play against. I don't think
Speaker 6: there's any one way to play him. You know, that's
Speaker 6: kind of the definition of a great quarterback. There is
Speaker 6: no one way to play him or everybody would do it.
Speaker 6: And he's tough to handle, you know, and he can
Speaker 6: You always got to defend two plays, you know, the
Speaker 6: play they call in the huddle and the play he
Speaker 6: can create on the run. And they utilize the RPO
Speaker 6: game too, which he's good at. So he's a tough assignment.
Speaker 4: You're going to get this theme a lot on the
Speaker 4: podcast today. Javon Holland, what is it about him that
Speaker 4: makes him so special? Here's coach Fangio.
Speaker 6: He has a tremendous impact. We utilize his abilities a lot,
Speaker 6: and as you alluded to, some of it's not very
Speaker 6: visible to the average person. And you know, he's just
Speaker 6: a tremendous player, you know, and he has a chance
Speaker 6: to be a special, special player in the NFL.
Speaker 4: To get a scheme question into VIC about the Bills
Speaker 4: heavy twelve personnel offense. What makes it difficult to defend
Speaker 4: when you have two tight ends who are both capable
Speaker 4: of stretching the field vertically. Here's a Dolphins DC.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it gives them a lot of versatility. They can,
Speaker 6: as you says, a twelve offense, but they can run
Speaker 6: an eleven offense with those people on the field, and
Speaker 6: then they do that, So it gives them versatility. You
Speaker 6: never know quite what mode they're in. And anytime you
Speaker 6: have versatile players offensevely or defensively, it's a plus. And
Speaker 6: they have that.
Speaker 4: I want to go next to Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith,
Speaker 4: who gave us a great breakdown here on the overarching
Speaker 4: message the team put to their players, or that coach
Speaker 4: McDaniel put to the staff back in OTAs, and I
Speaker 4: just thought this whole answer was comprehensive and very good.
Speaker 4: Here's coach Frank Smith on the overarching theme from OTAs
Speaker 4: translating here to the regular season three weeks in.
Speaker 7: The greatest opponent you face every day is yourself. How
Speaker 7: do you maximize not having to fight that opponent? You're
Speaker 7: playing with that opponent. So I think everything just goes
Speaker 7: to how do we want our tape to look? How
Speaker 7: do we want to play the look? And it starts with,
Speaker 7: you know, the basics. You know, I always laugh when
Speaker 7: you talk talk about, like John Wooden back in the day,
Speaker 7: put your socks on first and you work the process
Speaker 7: all the way to before you go to your performance.
Speaker 7: So it's the same thing with football. You know, when
Speaker 7: you start off your off season, where can you get
Speaker 7: better at? And you identify those areas that are under
Speaker 7: your control to improve at.
Speaker 2: And I think.
Speaker 7: That that is the key emphasis to our program is
Speaker 7: that we're a process driven organization, a process driven program.
Speaker 7: So to improve, it's not looking at the result, it's
Speaker 7: looking at how the process to get there. And it's
Speaker 7: a constant thing and it starts every year when you
Speaker 7: start in April, you start your process over. How do
Speaker 7: you teach it, what do you enforce, how do you
Speaker 7: communicate it? How do you get guys to understand the intent?
Speaker 7: And then the challenge then as you go through offseason,
Speaker 7: training camp, preseason, regular season playoffs, staying true to what
Speaker 7: you believe in what you're emphasizing with the group. And
Speaker 7: I think that's what he meant with it. Going back
Speaker 7: to the beginning, because it's Wednesday, process begins for the week, right,
Speaker 7: you know, yesterday.
Speaker 4: I would highly urge everyone to go check out these
Speaker 4: press conferences in their entirety. I'm just playing some of
Speaker 4: the highlights for you guys, but they're always so informative
Speaker 4: that I can't possibly jam them into a thirty to
Speaker 4: forty minute podcast. Here, I've got two more from Frank Smith.
Speaker 4: He's going to talk here a little bit about the
Speaker 4: motions and the bedrock of the offense and how they've
Speaker 4: set the defense up to attack them. Here's coach Frank
Speaker 4: Smith on that.
Speaker 7: I think it's kind of the bedrock to what we do. So,
Speaker 7: I mean, we start up day one, first installation, and
Speaker 7: we're moving.
Speaker 2: So, like you know, we've.
Speaker 7: Talked about numerous times the real thing is that we
Speaker 7: don't move to move, you know, like some people say, hey,
Speaker 7: that was eye eye candy or something to that extent.
Speaker 7: It's like, for us, there's a reason for everything we
Speaker 7: move and why we do it, and the reaction of
Speaker 7: the defense. If it's what we anticipate, there's a complimentary
Speaker 7: play that connects off of that. And if it wasn't
Speaker 7: the reaction that we anticipated, why and you know, what
Speaker 7: do we need to do to get to the reaction
Speaker 7: with what we anticipated. So ultimately, when you move as
Speaker 7: much as we do to motion shift and do all that,
Speaker 7: it comes down to the players and their understanding of
Speaker 7: what we're trying to do and what we're trying to execute,
Speaker 7: because you could move and get them all open, but
Speaker 7: if they don't understand what the defense is trying to
Speaker 7: do inside of that, it would be fleeting. You just
Speaker 7: be trying to move guys around for the sake of
Speaker 7: moving them. So I think ultimately it comes into yes,
Speaker 7: it helps us attack the defense, but ultimately I think
Speaker 7: it comes down to the players and their understanding of
Speaker 7: why we're doing what we're doing. And that's been the
Speaker 7: best part so far.
Speaker 4: I have one here from Joe Casper, Dolphin's safety's coach,
Speaker 4: and I asked him a question about Javon Holland playing
Speaker 4: outside the scheme, and he talked about PhD level player
Speaker 4: that Javon is. I'll go ahead and save that for
Speaker 4: when you guys see it on YouTube, but I wanted
Speaker 4: to play this clip when I asked him a question.
Speaker 4: I'm just gonna go ahead and play the entire question
Speaker 4: and answer from me to Dolphin safety coach Joe Casper, coach.
Speaker 4: I don't know if you happened to see Hard Knocks
Speaker 4: this summer, but there was a clip where the Jets
Speaker 4: defense was watching Aaron Rodgers and they were kind of,
Speaker 4: you know, excited about what he brought to the offense.
Speaker 4: I'm curious, when you guys go back and watch your
Speaker 4: practice tape. With Tua's level of anticipation, the way he
Speaker 4: sees the field, do you guys have some of that
Speaker 4: as well?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I didn't see Hard Knocks this year,
Speaker 5: but I will tell you that when you have a
Speaker 5: quarterback playing as well as two is playing, that it
Speaker 5: excites the entire organization. You know, when you see a
Speaker 5: guy making the throws, he's making making the decisions he's
Speaker 5: making the explosive plays. It fires everybody up, fires me
Speaker 5: up on the sideline. So yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2: Doubtly that's our leader.
Speaker 5: So we love to see him do such a good job.
Speaker 4: And we'll go ahead and finish up here with Dolphins
Speaker 4: offensive line coach Butch Berry, who's just fired up to bear.
Speaker 2: Pretty cool?
Speaker 4: Oh, pretty cool. I mean that's how I felt watching
Speaker 4: the entire thing. Let's go ahead and start here with
Speaker 4: coach Barry, who let's see what did he give us?
Speaker 4: Why has the offensive line been so good? He didn't
Speaker 4: really have a great answer, he said, but then he
Speaker 4: gave us a great answer. Here's coach Barry.
Speaker 1: I don't know that I have a great answer to
Speaker 1: that question. To be quite honest with you, I think
Speaker 1: that the biggest thing that we try to just focus
Speaker 1: on every day is say that worry about what I
Speaker 1: can do today to make myself better. Because as an
Speaker 1: offensive lineman we have to understand is that every day
Speaker 1: it's a groundhog day to some degree, and we gotta
Speaker 1: do the same things.
Speaker 2: Over and over and over again. Can we master that?
Speaker 1: Can we specifically master like, can we have five individuals
Speaker 1: do it exactly how we're supposed to do it on
Speaker 1: every single play. Is that possible? I don't know, but
Speaker 1: I'm a strive like hell to get that to happen.
Speaker 1: And so whenever that changes, then we're then then we're
Speaker 1: not doing we're supposed to be doing. Okay, So I
Speaker 1: don't know how to answer that question, to be quite
Speaker 1: honest with you, but I know how we have to
Speaker 1: approach every single day. That's what I can talk about.
Speaker 1: And so when we can get all five guys flying
Speaker 1: off the ball, set in their backside, shoulder in a
Speaker 1: hand at the proper aiming point, and we can do
Speaker 1: that play and then do it the next play, and
Speaker 1: then do it the next play, now I think I
Speaker 1: got something I can be really excited to talk about
Speaker 1: on a consistent basis.
Speaker 4: Coach Mike McDaniel has mentioned a few times the right
Speaker 4: kind of players they bring in here, So I'm curious
Speaker 4: from your teaching aspect, how coachable is this group on
Speaker 4: the offense?
Speaker 2: Coach is this is very coachable group.
Speaker 1: They're very cool and and talk about being grateful.
Speaker 2: I'm grateful as I'll get out to walk into that room.
Speaker 1: I'm excited every day to walk into this building a
Speaker 1: to get a chance to work with Mike Frank, Chris
Speaker 1: Greer and then let alone walk into that line room.
Speaker 1: We got a bunch of guys that are highly motivated
Speaker 1: to be at their best right and that's all that's
Speaker 1: all we want is guys to play at their very
Speaker 1: best for me, for me to consistently try to get
Speaker 1: that out of them.
Speaker 2: I owe it to them. I owe that to them.
Speaker 2: That's my job.
Speaker 4: Just insanely good. There's a lot more in there, chew On.
Speaker 4: I want you guys to go to the YouTube channel
Speaker 4: again and check that stuff out, because they were just
Speaker 4: fantastic all day for us on this media availability. Let's
Speaker 4: go ahead and take our last pause right here and
Speaker 4: come back on the other side and do Week four
Speaker 4: game picks. That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 4: brought to you by Auto Nation, and finishing up with
Speaker 4: the Week four picks. Let's go ahead and cue the
Speaker 4: music and get this going. Thirty five and thirteen on
Speaker 4: the season is yep, boy, and I don't feel that
Speaker 4: great about this week. I think there's a bunch of
Speaker 4: games where I am completely fifty to fifty split and
Speaker 4: that starts here with Detroit and the Packers on Thursday
Speaker 4: Night football. I really want to go Packers here, but
Speaker 4: I also really want to go Lions. I like the
Speaker 4: Lions at home more than I do on the road,
Speaker 4: although it should be pretty nice in Green Bay, and
Speaker 4: the Packers are still pretty banged up, even though Christian
Speaker 4: Watson and Aaron Jones could still go in the game. Gosh,
Speaker 4: I'm conflicted here. Give me the Lions. I think the
Speaker 4: Lions are going to continue to roll from what we
Speaker 4: saw last week. I think they had a bit of
Speaker 4: a down week in week number two after beating the
Speaker 4: Chiefs in primetime in week one. Give me the Lions
Speaker 4: on the road for a big Thursday night football win.
Speaker 4: Then we go over to London, and this one is
Speaker 4: a little easier. I do not believe at all in
Speaker 4: what the Falcons offense is doing right now. Give me
Speaker 4: Jacksonville to win and bounce back after a big loss
Speaker 4: of the Texans a week ago. Give me Jacksonville in London.
Speaker 4: You guys already know I'm taking Miami over Buffalo. Just
Speaker 4: think our offense right now is playing at a level
Speaker 4: that cannot be stopped or matched on the other side
Speaker 4: of the football. And then another game where I don't
Speaker 4: know who to pick, but this one's because they're both
Speaker 4: are terrible. The Bears and the Broncos. I don't know.
Speaker 4: I think there's gonna be a hangover effect for the
Speaker 4: Broncos next week. Give me the Bears get their first
Speaker 4: win and get off the Schneid. Give me Baltimore over Cleveland.
Speaker 4: The Browns are playing great defense right now, but if
Speaker 4: you look at their opponents kind of a kin to
Speaker 4: what the Bills have been facing so far. They have
Speaker 4: played Pittsburgh, who cannot get out of their own way.
Speaker 4: They have played the Bengals, who look awful on offense,
Speaker 4: and then who was their other game against, I don't know,
Speaker 4: but either way, they've played three really poor offenses. I
Speaker 4: think the Ravens give him a wake up call and
Speaker 4: show them what real offense looks like. Give me Baltimore
Speaker 4: big over Cleveland. This another game that I just don't
Speaker 4: know who to pick, because both offenses are stuck in
Speaker 4: the mud right now, even though they bounce back on
Speaker 4: Monday Night Football over the Rams. I think the Bengals
Speaker 4: offense is just not clicking at this point. Burrow, without
Speaker 4: that pocket mobility he usually has, is just not playing
Speaker 4: very well, but still the Titans offense is even worse somehow,
Speaker 4: and this Bengals defense. The reason I'm taking this one
Speaker 4: is because the Bengals pass rush upfront against the Titans line.
Speaker 4: Give me the Bengals to top the Titans. I got
Speaker 4: the Colts to continue rolling, and we talk about the
Speaker 4: Bengals pass rush upfront. The Rams offensive line with a
Speaker 4: couple of injuries, just like last year, all of a
Speaker 4: sudden cannot block for Matt Stafford. I like the Colts
Speaker 4: to whether it's Richardson or Minshew, to get this dub
Speaker 4: right here and go to three and one on the year.
Speaker 4: Who we're to see in that coming Bucks and Saints
Speaker 4: another game? I have no idea because Derek Carr will
Speaker 4: not play. I'm taking the fighting Baker Mayfields over the Saints,
Speaker 4: and that one. A couple of Jamis turnovers should do
Speaker 4: the trick there if that is to happen. Give me
Speaker 4: the Eagles over the Commanders. I don't think I have
Speaker 4: to explain that one. Pittsburgh over Houston. I really want
Speaker 4: to take the Texans here because hey, hey, guys, go
Speaker 4: ahead and pull in closer. Who told you about c J. Strouw,
Speaker 4: Who told you crow I was the best quarterback in
Speaker 4: his class. It didn't even freaking close. And isn't it
Speaker 4: weird how when you went from the pocket in college
Speaker 4: you can win from the pocket in the NFL. I
Speaker 4: saw a tweet of Zach Wilson highlights at BYU, and
Speaker 4: I'm like, what the heck happened to Zach Wilson. It's like, Yeah,
Speaker 4: he's doing the exact same thing. He's taking the snap
Speaker 4: and rolling out to his right and throwing from outside
Speaker 4: the pocket in open space to receivers open down field.
Speaker 4: Like that's not NFL football. That's why he's not good.
Speaker 4: But CJ. Stroud can win from the pocket. I say
Speaker 4: all of that, Just pick the Pittsburgh Steelers here because
Speaker 4: the Texans offensive line is still so bad. So give
Speaker 4: me TJ. Watt and the boys to get home and
Speaker 4: frustrate the rookie in Pittsburgh's win in this one. The
Speaker 4: Vikings and Panthers another battle of two zero to threes.
Speaker 4: Give me Minnesota big in this one. Just had a
Speaker 4: believer in the Panthers team right now. I think they're
Speaker 4: at least a year away, and I think they took
Speaker 4: the wrong quarterback as well. Give me the Chargers over
Speaker 4: the Raiders for similar reasons as the Raiders are just
Speaker 4: I don't think they're gonna be very good. Chargers seem
Speaker 4: to be hitting their stride a little bit offensively here
Speaker 4: defense to a question. But give me the Chargers to
Speaker 4: beat their division rivals. Give me the Cowboys big over
Speaker 4: the Patriots after a tough loss of the Cardinals week ago,
Speaker 4: and the Patriots get their first win. I think those
Speaker 4: two roles reversed this week. Niners over the Cardinals, Chiefs
Speaker 4: over the Jets, and then we'll take Seahawks over the
Speaker 4: Giants on Monday Night football. So there you go. Good stuff,
Speaker 4: Week four. Picks in the books tomorrow. Tracy Wolson. Kyle
Speaker 4: Krabs joins us for five on Finn's Draft. We have
Speaker 4: our Friday D Tour. That's what I'm calling it right now.
Speaker 4: It's like a drive put right, you get it. We're
Speaker 4: in the car. We're driving on the street, taking a
Speaker 4: D tour to go talk about what was a narrative
Speaker 4: formerly the Friday Narrative is now the Friday D Tour.
Speaker 4: Play on the fact that we're driving, going off script
Speaker 4: and giving you something interesting around the football team. We'll
Speaker 4: do that surrounding the offensive line on the podcast tomorrow.
Speaker 4: In the meantime, you all please be sure to subscribe
Speaker 4: to the podcast on Apple Podcast. Leave us a rating,
Speaker 4: leave us a review. You can follow me on Twitter
Speaker 4: at Wingfold NFL and the team at Miami Dolphins. Check
Speaker 4: out the fish Tank Pod with my guys Seth and Juice,
Speaker 4: the YouTube channel for media availabilities, Dolphins Today and so
Speaker 4: much more. And last button not leaves to Miami Dolphins
Speaker 4: dot com. Until next time finds up Carolyn and Cameron.
Speaker 3: Daddy comes home.