Speaker 1: You are listening to the Miami Dolphins Podcast Network. This
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Speaker 2: The wide Dolphin touchdown time, Riquel, uncolievable, just blue fire.
Speaker 1: For a second time. Don't know where he was going
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Speaker 3: I want to hit that the man.
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Speaker 1: Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins.
Speaker 2: Now check your pulse if enough for two?
Speaker 1: What is up? Dolphins?
Speaker 4: And welcome to the Draft Time podcast, part of the
Speaker 4: Miami Dolphins podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going everybody?
Speaker 4: I am your host, Travis Wingfield And on today's show,
Speaker 4: we made it.
Speaker 1: It is that time.
Speaker 4: The last game preview podcast we did was on January twelfth,
Speaker 4: almost exactly nine months ago. We are back out of
Speaker 4: again and Daniel with a changed up format that I'm
Speaker 4: really excited about. We're telling you the story of the
Speaker 4: twenty twenty three Chargers, the key matchups and the key storylines.
Speaker 1: We'll also hear.
Speaker 4: From some of the guys on the matchup and much
Speaker 4: much more from the Baptist Health studios inside the Baptist
Speaker 4: Health Training Complex.
Speaker 2: This is.
Speaker 1: The Drive Time podcast.
Speaker 4: May Caroline takes us right into our first game preview
Speaker 4: podcast and at long last, we have arrived two game week.
Speaker 4: Let's go ahead and do a temperature check on the
Speaker 4: locker room with wide receiver Tyreek Hill right now.
Speaker 3: You know, everybody's obviously happy and everybody's just the message
Speaker 3: you know from all of the leaders is mindset, mentality
Speaker 3: each and every day because at the end of the day,
Speaker 3: we still got to work you know, today, Wednesday, Thursday,
Speaker 3: Friday leading up to that point. So just trying to
Speaker 3: keep all the young guys, you know, focus for the
Speaker 3: guys that's that's like new to play in the league.
Speaker 3: So so far, everybody's excited. You know, I'm very excited.
Speaker 3: I can't wait to see you know, onno back on
Speaker 3: the field and it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1: It is gonna be fun.
Speaker 4: Off to the left coast, we go for a four
Speaker 4: to twenty five eastern kickoff at Sofi Stadium in the
Speaker 4: climate controlled environment where you know, Dolphins fans will travel
Speaker 4: well and this is the beauty of having a transformative
Speaker 4: superstar in your alumnus, your alumni, your alumnias, you get
Speaker 4: fans from all over the country, a similar effect to
Speaker 4: the Mariners with King Griffey Junior, and the same way
Speaker 4: that Dan Marino helped the Finns fan base be so
Speaker 4: well represented, California and New York seem to be the
Speaker 4: two hubs for it all. The MetLife takeover, obviously, and
Speaker 4: you're gonna see droves of Finns fans come Sunday before
Speaker 4: we get into all the matchups. And since you've been
Speaker 4: hearing about our team for the last nine months, let's
Speaker 4: go ahead and get to know the Some are picking
Speaker 4: this Chargers team to break through and get to the dance,
Speaker 4: most notably Greg Rosenthal of NFL Media, who picked a
Speaker 4: Eagles Chargers Super Bowl. And I think the talent matches
Speaker 4: out there in Los Angeles. It all starts with their
Speaker 4: selection of their quarterback from what I think will go
Speaker 4: down as the best class ever in twenty twenty, Justin
Speaker 4: Herbert and he spearheads a remade offense under new offensive
Speaker 4: coordinator Kellen Moore. After that group finished thirteenth in the
Speaker 4: NFL a year ago in both total offense and scoring.
Speaker 4: Their offensive line is anchored by a draft grand slam
Speaker 4: left tackle Rashaun Slater and a free agent hit in
Speaker 4: Corey Linsley at center, Austin Eckler, one of the greatest
Speaker 4: franchise fines in terms of the UDFA market. He has
Speaker 4: produced thirty eight touchdowns over the last two seasons outside
Speaker 4: or I guess inside For the receivers, Keenan Allen's one
Speaker 4: of the best pure route runners in the game, while
Speaker 4: Mike Williams plays above the rim. We saw that last
Speaker 4: year in the matchup. On defense, they return a ton
Speaker 4: of players from injury this year, including Anthony Johnson and
Speaker 4: Sebastian Joseph Day, to a defense that really struggled inside
Speaker 4: against the run. Adding reinforcements inside for Brandon Staley's defense
Speaker 4: Eric Kendricks Day on Henley Go Koog's they offer speed
Speaker 4: coverage and Bliss's ability to Kenneth Murray's thump inside Khalil
Speaker 4: Mack and Joey Bosa one of the best edge rushing
Speaker 4: tandems in the entire game. While the defensive backfield is
Speaker 4: led by do it all safety Derwin James. You probably
Speaker 4: recall the name Michael Davis. He made a name for
Speaker 4: himself last year as a plus corner, really starting with
Speaker 4: this Dolphins game, and they're hoping to get a bounce
Speaker 4: back from last year's big free agent splash J C. Jackson,
Speaker 4: who was playing terrible for an injury, so I'm curious
Speaker 4: to see him back on the field for the Chargers
Speaker 4: in Week one. I think it's the most intriguing matchup
Speaker 4: on the entire Week one docket. I think both teams
Speaker 4: are double digit win outfits this year, and whoever gets
Speaker 4: out with a victory is going to be riding as
Speaker 4: high as any other team in the league going into
Speaker 4: the Week two matchup, maybe the winner of Jets Bills
Speaker 4: or some crazy upset that we don't foresee coming. But
Speaker 4: I think if Miami gets this game, I think you're
Speaker 4: looking at a trip to Orchard Park on October first
Speaker 4: at three to zero. That's kind of how I see
Speaker 4: this game tilting the skills from Miami over the next
Speaker 4: couple of weeks. As for the Chargers road to get
Speaker 4: here under Staley and even longer back Tom Telesco, this
Speaker 4: roster has never been short on talent, yet things just
Speaker 4: seem to pop up, whether it's injuries, missed field goals,
Speaker 4: or the craziest way to lose games late, all while
Speaker 4: the chargering it slogan they've been tabbed with. They were
Speaker 4: a playoff team last year but went one and done.
Speaker 4: That was their first playoff appearance after I devastating loss
Speaker 4: in twenty twenty one in Houston in December that folks
Speaker 4: don't seem to bring up in the quarterback conversation very often,
Speaker 4: but Herbert threw two backbrecking picks in that game which
Speaker 4: crippled their pluss and chances that year. That was a
Speaker 4: nine win season, preceded by seven and five win campaigns
Speaker 4: ahead of a twelve and four to twenty eighteen season
Speaker 4: that saw them get to the Divisional round before being
Speaker 4: trounced by the Brady led Patriots. For twenty twenty three,
Speaker 4: CBS Sports has their win projection at nine and a half.
Speaker 4: There are six teams with overall better win totals k C, Cincinnati, Philly,
Speaker 4: San Francis, Go, Buffalo and Jacksonville, and they are tied
Speaker 4: with eight teams. One of those teams is US with
Speaker 4: nine and a half over under. So all the excitement
Speaker 4: Dolphins fans. The Chargers fans feel the same way, all
Speaker 4: twelve of them. Additionally, only seven teams are projected with
Speaker 4: a better shot at the Super Bowl. Same goes for us.
Speaker 4: So that's the history. Let's go ahead and look at
Speaker 4: some of the key storylines heading into this game. They
Speaker 4: are a plenty. This is a team coming off their
Speaker 4: last game, a twenty seven to nothing lead in the
Speaker 4: first half of a playoff game that ultimately turned into
Speaker 4: one of the biggest collapses we've seen in a postseason
Speaker 4: game or game anywhere. So they've had that to chew
Speaker 4: on for the last nine months. But for the Dolphins,
Speaker 4: they've had since last December chew on the contest against
Speaker 4: this same team. And that's where it really all starts
Speaker 4: with me. Are the narratives that were born from that game,
Speaker 4: despite the previous weeks of dominance. And that's how it
Speaker 4: goes in this world, right, So we can't complain about
Speaker 4: it too much, I guess. Let's go ahead and hear
Speaker 4: from Tyreek Hill when I asked him how playing against
Speaker 4: a Fangio defense every day in practice would prepare you
Speaker 4: not just for the Charge and a coach that learned
Speaker 4: under Fangio, but all the coaches across the NFL as
Speaker 4: this is the most replicated off not duplicated defense ran
Speaker 4: in the NFL. How does seeing that defense every single
Speaker 4: day benefit you guys heading into the twenty twenty three campaign.
Speaker 3: It's definitely gonna help us because watching the film, you know,
Speaker 3: and going against the defense, you know, you bring up
Speaker 3: a good point. There are a lot of similarities. So
Speaker 3: you know, we we aren't gonna, you know, take our
Speaker 3: foot out the gas. We're gonna continue doing what we've
Speaker 3: been doing, you know, practicing fast, practicing deliberate, and you know,
Speaker 3: getting too our spots for our quarterback, you know, and
Speaker 3: as far as the offensive line, you know, those guys
Speaker 3: are going are going to take pride in, you know,
Speaker 3: protecting our quarterback because he's clearly he's our key to
Speaker 3: success and everybody knows that. So that's that's the plan. Baby.
Speaker 1: I think it was Chris Kaufman C. K.
Speaker 4: Parrott on Twitter had tweeted about this that, you know,
Speaker 4: the Dolphins offense in the entirety of it, seemed off
Speaker 4: that night. They weren't their efficient selves in the running game,
Speaker 4: lots of no gains and losses on first down runs
Speaker 4: that would eventually put them behind the chains. And then
Speaker 4: the Chargers' ability to win with playing to their leverage
Speaker 4: and the secondary and re routing some of the guys
Speaker 4: getting hands on footballs. And the one I always talk about,
Speaker 4: the one where Tyreek got free at the start of
Speaker 4: the second quarter down the middle of the football field.
Speaker 4: The ball was there, but it just looked like he
Speaker 4: didn't see it or missed it in the lights. I'm
Speaker 4: not really sure still to this day, but I tend
Speaker 4: to think that we were just off that night, and
Speaker 4: that's going to happen over the course of a seventeen
Speaker 4: game season. Remember last year the Chiefs were stifled by
Speaker 4: a Colts team who was dreadful in Week three, stifled
Speaker 4: to the tune of three hundred and fifteen yards of
Speaker 4: offense and just thirteen points on that day, when they
Speaker 4: averaged four hundred and forty yards over the other sixteen games.
Speaker 4: Like it happens, and that was a night where the
Speaker 4: Chargers were super thin on the defensive line because of injuries.
Speaker 4: That's also a defense that plays by the theory that
Speaker 4: we welcome you to run the football any snap you want,
Speaker 4: because for yards a pop opposed to throwing the ball
Speaker 4: every down where most quarterbacks average between seven and eight
Speaker 4: yards per pass, or if you're too, nine and a
Speaker 4: half yards per pass, and it checks out. I think
Speaker 4: it's sound reasoning. But if a team can commit to it,
Speaker 4: they can obviously shorten the game, which I think is
Speaker 4: an overrated trope. But you can shorten the game and
Speaker 4: make your offense really have to be perfect, because if
Speaker 4: you only have seven or eight drives, you better score,
Speaker 4: you know, on half of those in order to be
Speaker 4: able to keep up with an offense that is moving
Speaker 4: the ball consistently down the field and keeping your offense
Speaker 4: off the field. I'm really curious to see how they
Speaker 4: use last year's recipe to attack. If you guys saw
Speaker 4: the great story from Jory Epstein on Yahoo's Sports where
Speaker 4: she detailed how McDaniel sees offense as an ever evolving unit,
Speaker 4: and we know that's kind of how it works under
Speaker 4: that Shanahan tree from all those offensive geniuses. You know.
Speaker 4: Jordan Rodrieg mentioned that on the podcast as well. I
Speaker 4: just really, really really trust Mike McDaniel to have had
Speaker 4: a full offseason to craft what this year's offense will
Speaker 4: look like, and ultimately this week one game plan. Le's
Speaker 4: go ahead and hear from coach real quick when he
Speaker 4: was asked about playing into the Chargers planned a season ago.
Speaker 2: But just from a coach's perspective, and I told Brandon
Speaker 2: this after the game, it was so impressive how there.
Speaker 2: It just tells a lot about that team, how they
Speaker 2: didn't blink and they came out to challenge this and
Speaker 2: they did so I think that goes to you know
Speaker 2: that that's a lesson that can never fall to the
Speaker 2: wayside for any coach or team that uh that you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's all about the group of people coming together
Speaker 2: and you know, they they were prideful, they they came
Speaker 2: out with a chip on their shoulder, I would say.
Speaker 2: And it was cool from a coaching perspective to see, uh,
Speaker 2: see a team attack it that way and that will
Speaker 2: happen nine times out of ten if if people have
Speaker 2: that competitive edge on you and that that's something that
Speaker 2: the second you forget in this league. You know, that's
Speaker 2: a great thing about the National Football League is the
Speaker 2: parody is so real. The the you know, the fact
Speaker 2: that you know eighty plus percent of games come down
Speaker 2: to turnover differential, like it just speaks to how it's
Speaker 2: a communal effort by a bunch of individuals and if
Speaker 2: you don't bring it, it will get brought on you.
Speaker 4: And on top of that, we know the previous comment
Speaker 4: we talked about in the preseason and the Dolphins ability
Speaker 4: to get the ball to Smythe and Burrios in that
Speaker 4: Houston game against what was Cover six with that wall
Speaker 4: off defender in the middle of the field, and that's
Speaker 4: been a you know, point of contention for this offense.
Speaker 4: That just shows me that, okay, take away this, We've
Speaker 4: got to adapt to it and then hopefully you know,
Speaker 4: two or three moves beyond that as well. That's the
Speaker 4: genesis of coach McDaniel's offense, right, that's the genesis of
Speaker 4: all the great offenses out there, thinking multiple steps ahead,
Speaker 4: and the Chargers will have to play guestwork as to
Speaker 4: what our thoughts are in that regard for a week
Speaker 4: one game.
Speaker 1: And it works both ways too.
Speaker 4: The next storyline, pupil meet teacher and Ronaldo Hill as well.
Speaker 4: I'm talking about Brandon Stalely and Vic Fangio here because
Speaker 4: as we know, Staley got his start under Fangio as
Speaker 4: a d C and eventually conported that system over to
Speaker 4: the Rams, where he parlayed that work into the Chargers
Speaker 4: head coaching job. And Fangio has said previously impressors that
Speaker 4: he's always an available resource. And I just have to
Speaker 4: imagine the conversation of hey, Vic, you know when you
Speaker 4: were in this look and I do this, how would
Speaker 4: you counter that? That has to have happened a few times, right,
Speaker 4: so now you get a chance to counter the counter
Speaker 4: of the counter. And in fact, you know, coach Fangio
Speaker 4: discussed this back in August when he was asked if
Speaker 4: Mike ever comes to him for ideas and thoughts, well, I'm.
Speaker 5: There for any time Mike wants to use me as
Speaker 5: a resource, and he does that on occasion. You know,
Speaker 5: I've got my hands full trying to run the defense
Speaker 5: and I'm not going to try and impose my will
Speaker 5: on things. But Mike's not reluctant to ask an opinion,
Speaker 5: and if he wants to use it, he can. If
Speaker 5: he doesn't, he doesn't.
Speaker 4: I think the idea of having Fangio and Hill in house,
Speaker 4: and this is an extension of McDaniel's entire coaching philosophy,
Speaker 4: Let's get smart people, experience people who brings something to
Speaker 4: the table that maybe not everyone else does. And back
Speaker 4: to that Jory Epstein piece, McDaniel laid out what he
Speaker 4: was looking for in a quarterbacks coach and it included
Speaker 4: one having worked with multiple previous high profile quarterbacks Russell Wilson,
Speaker 4: Brett Favre, on and on and on for coach Bev,
Speaker 4: and two a former offensive coordinator Slash having play calling experience,
Speaker 4: which Bev checks both those boxes. And I think ultimately
Speaker 4: it boils down to a complete trust and McDaniel to
Speaker 4: maximize his resources, and in this game he has two
Speaker 4: very very smart resources who were either in that building
Speaker 4: next year or literally taught the man who's calling this
Speaker 4: defense really what to do. So it's a hell of
Speaker 4: a storyline as we have throughout this game. Before we
Speaker 4: move on to the next one, some defensive metrics here
Speaker 4: for the Chargers from twenty twenty two, sixty one percent
Speaker 4: of the time in nickel, twenty five percent in their
Speaker 4: base three four, and then eight percent in dime and
Speaker 4: then other variations of sub packages there, which is pretty commonplace.
Speaker 4: And this goes back to what I mentioned with Staley
Speaker 4: welcoming the run and the need for your middle linebacker
Speaker 4: to be able to have insane range a lah. While
Speaker 4: I think David Long is a great fit here in Miami.
Speaker 4: You know, they try to get that from Kenneth Murray.
Speaker 4: It hasn't worked out really great there. They've added Eric Kendricks,
Speaker 4: they drafted day On Henley, so clearly a point of
Speaker 4: contention finding that speedy, rangy middle linebacker. And you know,
Speaker 4: Kendricks a little bit long in the tooth, and we'll
Speaker 4: talk about him here a lot in this podcast. And Henley,
Speaker 4: as much as I love him, he's still kind of
Speaker 4: a position convert, so I don't think you're going to
Speaker 4: see much of him on defense in this opener. But
Speaker 4: to tie it back to the you know, personnel in general,
Speaker 4: you're going to get personnel matching. That's like, you know,
Speaker 4: thirty of the three two teams, we'll do that. So
Speaker 4: it's not uncommon, but you can sort of dictate against that. Right,
Speaker 4: So let's go ahead and revisit this.
Speaker 1: You bookmark that.
Speaker 4: We'll come back to that in the matchups portion. The
Speaker 4: next storyline installing a new offense under Kellen Moore. It's
Speaker 4: going to be a new system for the Chargers, no surprise.
Speaker 4: They list their depth chart in eleven personnel because just
Speaker 4: like the defense, this is commonplace across the National Football
Speaker 4: League and they work off each other. So one running back,
Speaker 4: one tight end, three receivers. That's eleven personnel. The two
Speaker 4: numbers account for the running backs on the field and
Speaker 4: the tight ends, and then you're left over for eligibles.
Speaker 4: The total numbers five is how many receivers you have,
Speaker 4: So eleven, one back, one tight end, what's one plus
Speaker 4: one two? So there's three remaining three wide receivers, And
Speaker 4: again customary for all teams across the league. Before we
Speaker 4: get into some of the numbers and the personnel groupings,
Speaker 4: I want to look back at game ones for the
Speaker 4: Cowboys under Kellen Moore, and we're on the wrong side
Speaker 4: of a trend here, but I think you'll still appreciate
Speaker 4: this point anyway. Last year they scored three points in
Speaker 4: the openers had two hundred and forty four yards of offense.
Speaker 4: Both of those were season lows, and they don't play
Speaker 4: their stars in the prese neither, So something's interesting to
Speaker 4: chew on there for Kellen Moore and Cowboys and Chargers.
Speaker 4: Twenty twenty one was very good. Same Bucks team. They
Speaker 4: lost both games, though, but twenty nine points and four
Speaker 4: hundred and fifty one yards are obviously really good totals.
Speaker 4: In twenty twenty, just seventeen points in three hundred and
Speaker 4: eighty yards. Those were both bottom five outputs for that
Speaker 4: Cowboys team. Also a loss to the Rams back in
Speaker 4: twenty nineteen, they went off thirty five points four hundred
Speaker 4: and ninety four yards in this time a win against
Speaker 4: a pretty good offensive production.
Speaker 1: Is there much to take from that? I don't know.
Speaker 4: I wanted to look further and go look at coaches
Speaker 4: who were installing new systems on offense last year. And
Speaker 4: this is not coaches who were promoted from a position
Speaker 4: to OC guys that were brought in to install an
Speaker 4: entirely new system. You know, think about Ken Dorsey and Buffalo.
Speaker 4: But from twenty twenty two. Here's the twelve teams point
Speaker 4: outputs last year that had new OC's Bears nineteen, Broncos,
Speaker 4: sixteen Texans, twenty Colts, twenty Raiders, nineteen, your Miami Dolphins,
Speaker 4: twenty Vikings, twenty three Patriots, seven Giants, twenty one Steelers
Speaker 4: had twenty. They scored twenty three and overtime so three
Speaker 4: in the extra period. Seahawks seventeen, Buccaneers nineteen. I found
Speaker 4: this interesting that only one team scored more than twenty
Speaker 4: one points, and it was just twenty three, and the
Speaker 4: average was eighteen point four points per game. If you
Speaker 4: get eighteen points out of the Chargers on Sunday, you're
Speaker 4: gonna win the game.
Speaker 1: That's that's how it's gonna go.
Speaker 4: And that includes the Miami offense that was a juggernaut,
Speaker 4: a damn good Vikings offense, a Seaattle offense that evolved
Speaker 4: into a pretty good attack in its own right. I
Speaker 4: think it's reasonable to expect some growing pains right out
Speaker 4: of the gate. Only one of those teams adhere to
Speaker 4: the non preseason playing time philosophy, and it was Brady,
Speaker 4: So the rust idea kind of comports itself there as well.
Speaker 4: But being able to capitalize on the Chargers potentially being
Speaker 4: slow out the gates, I think it's very important in
Speaker 4: this game, getting a couple of early scores against them
Speaker 4: and then holding them on defense. I think if you
Speaker 4: get out to a ten point lead or something in
Speaker 4: the first quarter, I think you're going to cruise to victory.
Speaker 4: So really capitalizing on the potential of that rust if
Speaker 4: it exists, and all of that takes us into our
Speaker 4: next storyline here. But real quick, just some offensive splits
Speaker 4: for Kellen Moore a year ago in Dallas sixty one
Speaker 4: percent of the time and eleven personnel, so you're going
Speaker 4: to see us match that likely with lots of five
Speaker 4: dB personnel. But also they ran twelve personnel one back
Speaker 4: two tight ends twenty two percent of the time, which
Speaker 4: allows us to get into our depth in the front
Speaker 4: seven play more. You know, Chubb Agba, Phillips, Baker and
Speaker 4: long type of guys Seeler and Wilkins and Raq one like,
Speaker 4: keep those guys out there because you can stay with
Speaker 4: that base against that personnel package and then just go
Speaker 4: X and Cater and all of a sudden, you're not
Speaker 4: getting into our depth in the cornerback room. So please
Speaker 4: run twenty two personnel. You've got the possibility of matching
Speaker 4: some big nickel with the safeties that we use to
Speaker 4: come down and love to hit in the running game.
Speaker 4: De Shan Elliot's that guy, Brandon Jones is that guy.
Speaker 4: There's options. That's pretty much it, though nothing else more
Speaker 4: than seven percent run from Dallas a year ago. We'll
Speaker 4: do more on this next week, because I just don't
Speaker 4: want to get into the weeds when it's predictive. We
Speaker 4: don't have actual data to go off of the two
Speaker 4: more storylines. Actually, we're at the break time right now.
Speaker 4: Let's go ahead and do that. Let's take our first
Speaker 4: break and come back and finish up two storylines and
Speaker 4: then get into the matchups for the game. That's all
Speaker 4: next Draft Time Podcast your host Travis Wingfield, brought to
Speaker 4: you by Auto Nation. Tis the season for football Dolphins.
Speaker 4: Join your Miami Dolphins for our season kickoff party at
Speaker 4: Oasis on Saturday, September ninth. Fans can enjoy giveaways and
Speaker 4: a guest performance from Grammy nominated DJ Audien. For more information,
Speaker 4: visit Miami dolphins dot com Slash Kickoff. I meant to
Speaker 4: get to all the storylines in that first segment, but
Speaker 4: this is a beefy show, so we're gonna go ahead
Speaker 4: and punt two of them here to this segment, and
Speaker 4: the first one here is no preseason workload for the
Speaker 4: Charger starters.
Speaker 1: They didn't play a single one of them.
Speaker 4: I don't necessarily think that's there's a right or wrong
Speaker 4: way to do it, but we can always study the
Speaker 4: numbers that come with it, right, Teams who didn't play
Speaker 4: their quarterback in the preseason last year went three and
Speaker 4: eight on opening Day, and the three wins were from
Speaker 4: quarterbacks who played opposing quarterbacks who also did not play
Speaker 4: in the preseason, So zero to five were quarterbacks who
Speaker 4: didn't play against quarterbacks who did play. I think this
Speaker 4: is always always always going to be debated. What should
Speaker 4: teams do. I think you're crazy if you don't think
Speaker 4: there will be some rust. But could it prevent some
Speaker 4: health issues? I guess that's your trade off you have
Speaker 4: to accept either way. It's fascinating as hell to me.
Speaker 4: And then finally, we're not gonna not talk about this
Speaker 4: Tua versus Herbert, and of course this is always going
Speaker 4: to be a topic when these two teams meet from
Speaker 4: here forward and hopefully for the next fifteen to twenty years.
Speaker 1: Tua got the best of the rookie year matchup.
Speaker 4: Herbert got the best of last year, which is funny
Speaker 4: because Herbert had a better rookie season than Tua, and
Speaker 4: Tua heead a better twenty twenty two than Herbert did.
Speaker 4: I guess this is my spot to kind of tell
Speaker 4: you how criminally underrated I think Tua is by the
Speaker 4: national cogniz empty. I allude to it all the time.
Speaker 4: Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Media NFL Network Draft analyst says, the
Speaker 4: two reels you look at first when evaluating a quarterback
Speaker 4: are third and long at six plus yards and the
Speaker 4: red zone body of work. Well, Tua last year was
Speaker 4: the number one passer in terms of rating in the
Speaker 4: red zone at one twelve point two, and he was
Speaker 4: also the number two rated passer on third down at
Speaker 4: one thirty point one. Scorching in the situation where there's
Speaker 4: no system to help you out right, Third down and
Speaker 4: long is all about how do you compete within your
Speaker 4: own playmaking ability and to a ball out all year long.
Speaker 4: In that regard, It's why I don't get these knocks
Speaker 4: that are on him. But I guess if you don't,
Speaker 4: you know what, never mind? Then I also think the
Speaker 4: discussion really shows you the flaws and evaluation based on
Speaker 4: I guess the velocity of the throw. I don't know,
Speaker 4: Maybe I'm just too innodated on social media, but it's
Speaker 4: literally the only argument I ever see does to a
Speaker 4: throw of some of the most miles per hour in
Speaker 4: the league.
Speaker 1: No, he doesn't does it matter. No, not really. I
Speaker 1: mean there's some.
Speaker 4: Throws where it does, but a very small fraction, and
Speaker 4: arm velocity is not arm talent. Can we get that
Speaker 4: perfectly clear right now? Tua's ability to get the ball
Speaker 4: out quick is part of arm talent. His ability to
Speaker 4: throw from different arm slots and finesse the football in
Speaker 4: different ways.
Speaker 1: That's arm talent.
Speaker 4: The throw, to throw different types of pitches, you know,
Speaker 4: to drive the ball, to layer it, to do different
Speaker 4: types of things that you can, you know, get it
Speaker 4: over a defender, under another defender. That's arm talent, not
Speaker 4: how fast you throw. You know, if it was all
Speaker 4: about velocity, the guy that throws the ball ninety five
Speaker 4: when he's drinking beer with his buddies in a minor
Speaker 4: league game and sees the measure how fast you throw,
Speaker 4: and he puts everything he hasn't too it and tears
Speaker 4: his laborman ucl. If that was all it took, then
Speaker 4: that's all it would take, right, But that's not all
Speaker 4: it takes.
Speaker 1: It takes a lot more than that to have arm talent.
Speaker 4: So when you watch these two very very different, very
Speaker 4: very good quarterbacks compete on Sunday, just remember that, while yes,
Speaker 4: Randy Johnson had a Hall of Fame career with an
Speaker 4: average fastball of like ninety six I think is what
Speaker 4: I came out to be, but he did hit one
Speaker 4: h two at times. Greg Maddox was also one of
Speaker 4: the greatest pitchers of all time, Hall of Famer and
Speaker 4: some of the best numbers you'll ever see. He topped
Speaker 4: out at ninety three in his career, averaged just around
Speaker 4: ninety miles an hour, and by like seven or eight
Speaker 4: years into his career, he was averaging eighty six miles
Speaker 4: per hour. So either way, I think it's the best
Speaker 4: comparison I can make. But either way, I just hope
Speaker 4: fans enjoyed this fun matchup for years to come with
Speaker 4: guys that were picked back to back and will be
Speaker 4: compared for years because it's fun. We're gonna keep getting
Speaker 4: into the weeds here, and I wanted to change how
Speaker 4: we do this a little bit this season. Those storylines
Speaker 4: will probably be less in future matchups as we get
Speaker 4: more data and there's just less you know, Dolphins and
Speaker 4: Giants don't have the same lore as this one does, obviously,
Speaker 4: for you know, coaching changeover quarterback comparison, all that fun stuff,
Speaker 4: plus we'll get more data to give you more number
Speaker 4: driven matchup stuff, but we just don't have that for
Speaker 4: the first game of the year. So Dolphins offense versus
Speaker 4: a Charger defense. I want to go ahead and read
Speaker 4: the projected lineups for Sunday. Tongue of I Looa up
Speaker 4: against a secondary of Derwin James A Loohi Gilman and
Speaker 4: Jaseer Taylor are wide receivers versus their corners. Look for
Speaker 4: the main matchups of Hill and Waddle versus J. C.
Speaker 4: Jackson and Michael Davis. Then when you get that slot
Speaker 4: interior position, you know Hill and wattall will play both,
Speaker 4: but Barryos and Smyth is your slot and tight end
Speaker 4: versus a guy like Asante Samuel who is all gamble
Speaker 4: all the time. And then on the interior defensive line
Speaker 4: or I should say offensive line, Isaiah Win, Connor Williams,
Speaker 4: Robert Hunt up against Sebastian, Joseph Day, Austin Johnson, and
Speaker 4: Chris Hinton. And then off the edge, is it gonna
Speaker 4: be Tea Stead. I tend to think it's going to
Speaker 4: be Lamb.
Speaker 1: We'll see though.
Speaker 4: Coach on that in his press conference on Wednesday and
Speaker 4: didn't really commit to either he him or the left
Speaker 4: guard position, but I think you can read the tea
Speaker 4: leaves there. And then Austin Jackson up against Khalil Mack,
Speaker 4: Joey Bosa, Morgan Fox, and Chris Rump, and then Raheem Moster,
Speaker 4: Savon Achmed, Devon ah Chaang alec Ingold up against linebackers
Speaker 4: like Eric Hendricks, Kenneth Murray, and Dayon Henley.
Speaker 1: So just a quick note before we get to that.
Speaker 4: The Chargers had to see Atterley retire in training camp,
Speaker 4: and I think that really impacted their safety depth. Just
Speaker 4: Seer Taylor's a special teams guy. Alohi Gilman was not
Speaker 4: supposed to start this year, but now he's thrust into
Speaker 4: that role. Atterley played eight hundred and eighty two snaps
Speaker 4: last year, and the other three safeties the most snap
Speaker 4: was Taylor. He played one hundred and sixty one on defense.
Speaker 4: Their corner depth beyond those first three guys are all
Speaker 4: converted safety. So if we can test that conditioning in
Speaker 4: the first game out and get those guys with hands
Speaker 4: on hips, the options are to bring up essentially practice
Speaker 4: squad level guys and have tired dudes out there running
Speaker 4: with Tyreek and Jalen.
Speaker 1: Does that sound good to you Dolphins fans? I think
Speaker 1: it does.
Speaker 4: I mentioned the personnel matching the defenses due it allows
Speaker 4: offenses to do the exact same thing. It works when
Speaker 4: you're you know, on defense as well. But if you
Speaker 4: don't do that, teams will just stay in the package
Speaker 4: of the attacks of vulnerability.
Speaker 1: Because that's all of football.
Speaker 4: I think here, you look at the Chargers personnel and
Speaker 4: ask yourself, do I want to see more of Morgan Fox,
Speaker 4: Joseph Day, Austin Johnson, Eric Hendricks, or do I want
Speaker 4: to get into that defensive depth backfield. The aforementioned players
Speaker 4: have a lot of experience and success. The same is
Speaker 4: not true beyond those top four or five dbs. I'm
Speaker 4: very curious see what the Chargers dime personnel package looks like.
Speaker 4: And you can get that by spreading things out right.
Speaker 4: So there's an interesting choice there for Dolphin, the Dolphin's
Speaker 4: coaching staff. But what I really like, I want to
Speaker 4: see Eric Hendricks in coverage. I think that's your rabbit
Speaker 4: hat there. He and I Lohi Gilman. There was a
Speaker 4: game against the Rams a few years ago where they
Speaker 4: just kept going after Kendricks matchup on the three receivers
Speaker 4: with the strength, and he couldn't hang. And you dictate
Speaker 4: that by your personnel and your packaging, whether it's Azukama,
Speaker 4: whether it's Burrios, maybe even a running back. I think
Speaker 4: that's a matchup you exploit here. We'll come back to
Speaker 4: that more in a moment. Some key matchups and achievements
Speaker 4: for the offensive line pass pro versus Mac and Bosa. Look,
Speaker 4: both those guys are premier rushers who can ret games
Speaker 4: in one on one situations, especially Bosa. Twenty twenty two
Speaker 4: was an injury plagued one for both guys. They did
Speaker 4: have the lowest Mac had the lowest pressure rate of
Speaker 4: his career, just eleven point eight percent. But don't get
Speaker 4: it twisted. He is still really, really good. Bosa plays
Speaker 4: with strength and craftiness and a more that does not quit.
Speaker 4: He typically lines up off the offense is right, and
Speaker 4: I think it's pretty clear that you have to slide
Speaker 4: your protection that way to give Austin some help, and
Speaker 4: especially if Tearan can go, but even not Kendall lamb
Speaker 4: against Mac. I like that a lot more than Bosa
Speaker 4: on Jackson. I think the next two keys play into
Speaker 4: that key, and they are isolating the linebackers in the
Speaker 4: middle of the field passing game and run the football
Speaker 4: successfully on early downs. Didn't do that enough last year.
Speaker 4: The whole offense operates through running off the football and
Speaker 4: selling that run action. Right, So if we can get
Speaker 4: that second level thinking about the run and having to
Speaker 4: anticipate in order to catch up to a run game
Speaker 4: that's clipping off five or six yards of pop, then
Speaker 4: you can really control those players in that area, and
Speaker 4: from there you can get into isolating those matchups. I'll
Speaker 4: never forget the twenty eighteen That twenty eighteen game, and
Speaker 4: it was eight on eight, eight of eight passing against
Speaker 4: linebackers and mostly Eric Hendricks for two hundred and three yards.
Speaker 4: Thanks to Pro Football Focus for that. So stretching that way,
Speaker 4: creating space with their personnel successfully running the football, operate
Speaker 4: in the screen game to solve those pass rushers down
Speaker 4: and get your big guys out in space against a
Speaker 4: very ferocious front. You do those things, you're gonna be
Speaker 4: very hard to stop. And then finally another counter there
Speaker 4: getting vertical shots to take them out of that two
Speaker 4: man press inside leverage defense. We know about it last year, right,
Speaker 4: we talked about it at length. They had a bunch
Speaker 4: of guys who played really well at jamming, re routing
Speaker 4: and competing at the catch point.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 4: I just don't think lightning strikes twice like that against
Speaker 4: the likes of Tyreek and Jalen.
Speaker 1: If they do tip your hat, good job, you guys
Speaker 1: did it.
Speaker 4: But I think you have an opportunity here to prove
Speaker 4: a point, to hit those spots, counter when they overplay it,
Speaker 4: and just continue to evolve.
Speaker 1: And gosh it feel's good to talk about a football game.
Speaker 4: And if they want to play press man and get
Speaker 4: backs turned motion jet sweeps wide receivers carrying the football,
Speaker 4: Tyreek and Wallace in the backfield could get them also
Speaker 4: two on the run.
Speaker 1: Don't sleep on that.
Speaker 4: Let's go ahead and take our last break right there
Speaker 4: and come back and talk about Dolphins defense versus Chargers offense.
Speaker 4: We'll talk about keys and routes to victory and where
Speaker 4: too attack and where we're vulnerable. All that's next Draft
Speaker 4: Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by
Speaker 4: Auto Nation Tims the season for football Dolphins. Join your
Speaker 4: Miami Dolphins for our season kickoff party Saturday, at Oasis,
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Speaker 4: Slash kickoff the Dolphins defense versus the Chargers offense. Going
Speaker 4: down the list here, Javon Holland, Brandon Jones and Deshaun
Speaker 4: Elliott up against Justin Herbert and that quarterback Xavier and
Speaker 4: Howard cater coohu, and then we'll see who it is
Speaker 4: between Eli Apple and Cam Smith going up against Mike Williams,
Speaker 4: Josh Palmer and Quinton Johnston. And then of course inside
Speaker 4: cater Coohu, Keenan, Allen, Gerald, Everett, Donald Parham. That's a
Speaker 4: fun matchup there, co who On Keenan, Allen, Wilkins, Steeler
Speaker 4: and Ray Kwan versus Zion Johnson, Corey Linsley and Jamari Sailor,
Speaker 4: Chubb Phillips and Ogba off the edge against Ray Shawn
Speaker 4: Slater and Trey Pipkins. And then David Long and Jerome
Speaker 4: Baker up against Austin Eckler and Joshua Kelly. And as
Speaker 4: far as personnel usage, we discussed this in the storylines,
Speaker 4: but wanted to declare the format going forward when we
Speaker 4: have an actual twenty twenty three data set on these teams.
Speaker 4: We're not going to talk about it here, but some
Speaker 4: key matchups and achievements for our defense to look forward to.
Speaker 4: Can we change the picture to force Herbert into some
Speaker 4: mistakes that's where he's got in trouble before. Maybe there's
Speaker 4: some rusts there, some of those quick throws of the
Speaker 4: outside where he's thinking, man that you have a zone coverage,
Speaker 4: so and corner, peel off and make a play and
Speaker 4: go back for six. The best plans are always the
Speaker 4: same against all good quarterbacks, a good mix of both
Speaker 4: man and zone. And we saw xaviing Howard get a
Speaker 4: pick on Herbert when he thought it was a man
Speaker 4: coverage play and he fell back into his zone back
Speaker 4: in twenty twenty to basically put that game on ice.
Speaker 4: Herbert will put the ball in your guys's hands if
Speaker 4: you give enough chances. But we also saw him torch
Speaker 4: our man coverage last year, notably going up top to
Speaker 4: Mike Williams against xaviing Howard on two bad groins on
Speaker 4: the year, though he was fifth against man coverage and
Speaker 4: twenty six against zone. So I kind of think that
Speaker 4: tells you where this system benefits going up against the
Speaker 4: quarterback like him. Another big matchup I think is Rayquan
Speaker 4: Davis on Corey Linsley. If we can hold Lensley and
Speaker 4: not let him climb and get to second levels and
Speaker 4: get to additional blocks, that's going to free up Christian
Speaker 4: and Zach to have one on one matchups against Zion
Speaker 4: Johnson who was a disaster last year and Jamari Sailor
Speaker 4: who was a good rookie, but he's no matchup for
Speaker 4: those two guys. Raque against Lensley, can you just hold
Speaker 4: him at the point and not let him climb as
Speaker 4: a big heath me in this game. And I mentioned
Speaker 4: Coohu on Keenan Allen like you know X. I like
Speaker 4: X healthy against Mike Williams because his physicality usually matches
Speaker 4: up well with those guys. It's the speedsters and the
Speaker 4: change of direction guys that he does not do so
Speaker 4: well against. But I think Cater's feet are exactly what
Speaker 4: you need to be able to hang with a technician
Speaker 4: like Keenan Allen. It's a fun matchup to watch. And
Speaker 4: then Phillips on Pipkins. Pipkins loves to not overset, and
Speaker 4: then we'll lunge and do his blocks when you go
Speaker 4: at that speed rush off the edge. So I'm curious
Speaker 4: to see if JP can use his in game adjustment
Speaker 4: knowledge to get him lunging there before crossing face and
Speaker 4: winning back inside. I think JP has a big sack
Speaker 4: in this game that changes it. That's kind of one
Speaker 4: of my predictions here, and I'm super super intrigued to
Speaker 4: see what the Chargers conditioning is, Like I mentioned that earlier,
Speaker 4: but people are gonna tell you about depth is our issue,
Speaker 4: but then they have no idea what other teams are
Speaker 4: working with because every team has depth issues because that's
Speaker 4: how fuck sports works. If you get any cramping at
Speaker 4: receiver or dB for LA, They're gonna have to turn
Speaker 4: to what's essentially a practice squad guy like Ignogny or
Speaker 4: crossing it for us a year ago. Think about that, Like,
Speaker 4: last time that happened for our offense was Baltimore in
Speaker 4: Week two and how did that turn out for them?
Speaker 4: So very interesting to have to watch there. My keys
Speaker 4: to victory create indecision for Herbert and the Chargers offense.
Speaker 4: Every coach says this every week, ever, but what I
Speaker 4: mean is causing a sense of indecision. I think this
Speaker 4: is going to be a key for us all year
Speaker 4: because what I think we have in the past rush chamber,
Speaker 4: but against this quarterback. He beat us last year with
Speaker 4: some extending of plays and us just not having an
Speaker 4: bullets on third down keeping them behind the chains. Hitting
Speaker 4: the quarterback and changing the picture on him could lead
Speaker 4: to holding the football or sacks or quick decisions where
Speaker 4: he puts the ball in harm's way. So just giving
Speaker 4: Herbert a second indecision to a second of indecision could
Speaker 4: go a long way here. Number two efficiently run the football.
Speaker 4: And again that sounds generic, but specifically to this defense
Speaker 4: and how they want to play it and look like
Speaker 4: Tua and the weapons. They're going to have their days,
Speaker 4: but I think this day is more about the running game.
Speaker 4: I just I think that's kind of how you want
Speaker 4: to build your offense to be able to win in
Speaker 4: multiple ways. And this one, to me goes to the
Speaker 4: running game. If they want to they want you to
Speaker 4: get bored taking a profit, but the best play callers
Speaker 4: don't get bored taking a profit. They want you to
Speaker 4: throw in completions and get to their dime personnel and
Speaker 4: then let their pass rush go to work against tight
Speaker 4: windows and create chaos that way. But running the football
Speaker 4: keeps their quarterback off the field, keeps us ahead of
Speaker 4: the chains, It keeps everything open what we want to
Speaker 4: do in terms of the passing game. And in fact,
Speaker 4: I found this really cool information here for you guys.
Speaker 4: I wanted to plug in the podcast. I bookmarked it
Speaker 4: on Twitter. I don't know how to pounce this guy's name,
Speaker 4: Argen Menon. He posted a clip of how the Chargers
Speaker 4: were the worst team at defending runs off either tackle
Speaker 4: and the Dolphins were the best team running off tackle
Speaker 4: a season to go. And I think that bodes very
Speaker 4: well for the Dolphins in this game, especially with how
Speaker 4: they can set the screen game up that way, how
Speaker 4: they can set up those deep play action roles and
Speaker 4: get Tyreek and Jalen on crossers the running game. Man,
Speaker 4: if they run the ball successfully in this game, it's
Speaker 4: going to be a long.
Speaker 1: Day for the Chargers.
Speaker 4: Number three, keep the foot on the gas. We mentioned
Speaker 4: the conditioning, and we practice in the most brutal training
Speaker 4: camp whether in the entire country. The Chargers don't play
Speaker 4: their stars in the preseason, so keeping them on the
Speaker 4: field make them get their football legs in this game,
Speaker 4: keep them from substituting. Having you know, success breeds more
Speaker 4: success and brings more changes to run more plays, which
Speaker 4: leads to more chances for a breakdown. So stay aggressive,
Speaker 4: attack and let's go lie at that scoreboard.
Speaker 1: Baby. If you do that, what the.
Speaker 4: Chargers offense does won't even matter. So some areas to attack.
Speaker 4: Eric Kendricks mentioned him getting you know, not a good
Speaker 4: year for him last year, operating a very similar system
Speaker 4: under ed Donnotel in Minnesota, creating matchups that puts him
Speaker 4: in space and coverage. I would include a low heat
Speaker 4: Gilman there as well, generating slot matchups for Tyreek and Jalen.
Speaker 4: Keep an eye on that run the ball and the
Speaker 4: teeth of their defense. In addition to the outside stretch stuff,
Speaker 4: you should get doubles catching climb opportunities to soften up
Speaker 4: the middle of that defense. After you stretch them vertically,
Speaker 4: and if they never react, just do it for sixty minutes.
Speaker 4: If they sneak a safety down or go you know,
Speaker 4: pull someone else into the box, go up top and
Speaker 4: hit your vertical shots. The premiere are perimeter passing game
Speaker 4: against zone you know, backs, tight ends, flats, sticks, hitches
Speaker 4: to the wide receivers and then go vertical when they
Speaker 4: play man. My areas of concern protecting the edges, especially
Speaker 4: if we don't have to Ron, Armstead, Bosa and Mac
Speaker 4: could wreck this game if we get behind the chains,
Speaker 4: stay in third and long, and have to do a
Speaker 4: more true drop back passing. I want to say the coverage,
Speaker 4: but I just don't. I don't believe that Tyreek and
Speaker 4: Jalen are going to get beat by that personnel. Again,
Speaker 4: I don't believe it's going to happen, So I'm not
Speaker 4: concerned about it, even though I put it in there.
Speaker 4: And then justin Herbert as a runner, you know, I
Speaker 4: think our defense is going to be very good, So
Speaker 4: I'm not worried about most quarterbacks most of the time.
Speaker 4: I mean, they're great quarterbacks get theirs. But Herbert as
Speaker 4: a runner was what killed us last year to create
Speaker 4: some of those third down opportunities. Until we stop a
Speaker 4: quarterback on the move, I just don't predict it's going
Speaker 4: to happen, even though it's all new defense. But his
Speaker 4: ability to extend could throw out all the goodwill of
Speaker 4: Vic Fangio's system and how they communicate and pass off
Speaker 4: and create confusion for quarterbacks if Herbert runs all that's
Speaker 4: out the window and then finally special teams until they're not.
Speaker 1: It's a concern for me.
Speaker 4: And there you have it. That is our first official
Speaker 4: preview podcasts. Let me know what you think of the
Speaker 4: new format.
Speaker 5: Again.
Speaker 4: It's gonna be maybe a little bit less convoluted next
Speaker 4: time around, as we have more information from the opponent
Speaker 4: to go off of there. But I appreciate you guys
Speaker 4: checking it out with me here and getting ready for
Speaker 4: a game on Sunday in Los Angeles. Let's gook, get
Speaker 4: this win, man, Go get a big win on the
Speaker 4: road and come back and get ready for a game
Speaker 4: two up in Foxboro. All right, you guys know where
Speaker 4: to find me. Download the podcasts, subscribe, rate, review all
Speaker 4: that fun stuff. Check out both my and the team
Speaker 4: social media at Winklin NFL at Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: Check out the fish Tank podcast with Seth and Juice.
Speaker 4: Of course our YouTube channel for media availabilities Dolphins Today
Speaker 4: and much more content up there, and have last but
Speaker 4: not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com.
Speaker 1: Until next time.
Speaker 4: Finn's Up, Carolina, Cameron Daddy