Speaker 1: Looking down Field, clutchdown, Miami Run. What's up, doll fans
Speaker 1: and welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: How's it going, everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: and I'm here to bring you your daily dose of
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show, it's a preview.
Speaker 1: Thursday edition of the Drivetime Podcast will examine Sunday's matchup
Speaker 1: with the Houston Texans, position by position, tell you about
Speaker 1: some tendencies and key to the game. The Dolphins will
Speaker 1: win if the Houston Texans will win, if we'll show
Speaker 1: you the Three Keys, will pick Thursday night's game and
Speaker 1: go in depth on Miami versus Houston on Sunday from
Speaker 1: hard Rock Stadium. All of that and more from the
Speaker 1: Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This
Speaker 1: is the Drive Time Podcast. Before we dive in off
Speaker 1: the top here with the preview, I just want to
Speaker 1: let you guys know I'm not going to cover the
Speaker 1: career and Flora's pressers from Wednesday outside of some of
Speaker 1: the football commentary here maybe the coach made, but you
Speaker 1: can find those in their entirety on the team's YouTube channel,
Speaker 1: Busy morning on Wednesday at Baptist Health Training Complex and
Speaker 1: Sunday across the street there's a football game. I don't
Speaker 1: know about you, guys, but I can't wait. I always
Speaker 1: Sundays the sanctuary away from all the other drama and
Speaker 1: media attention that goes around the stuff outside of the
Speaker 1: actual game of football. And I like to keep the
Speaker 1: main thing the main thing in anytime there's a game,
Speaker 1: that's the main thing for me, and this podcast it's
Speaker 1: all about football. So let's dive into the Houston Texans here.
Speaker 1: We start these pods with a little bit of recent
Speaker 1: history on the opposition, and most of you are probably
Speaker 1: pretty well versed with the Texans in the way they
Speaker 1: have gone the last few years, the way you would
Speaker 1: be a divisional opponent, because well, we've been tracking those
Speaker 1: draft picks for a couple of years, haven't we, And
Speaker 1: it was ups and downs at time, no more fun
Speaker 1: than in kind of tracking their weekly progress and in
Speaker 1: that draft or I guess the season for one draft
Speaker 1: which helped produce a draft pick that Miami turned into
Speaker 1: an addition additional first rounder three and Jalen Waddle onto
Speaker 1: their current roster. So with Houston, I mean they were
Speaker 1: recently an annual division champion, winners of the a f
Speaker 1: C South four out of five times under the Bill
Speaker 1: O'Brien era, and that stretched as far as a twenty
Speaker 1: four point lead in the twenty nineteen divisional playoffs before
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes went Patrick Mahomes on them. But that was
Speaker 1: the peak of that run among four division championships and
Speaker 1: a couple of playoff wins here and they're including one
Speaker 1: with brock ost Wilder at the Helm that later resulted
Speaker 1: in a loss to Tom Brady in the New England Patriots.
Speaker 1: But they've not had a lot of draft picks to
Speaker 1: restock their cupboards after really a handful of those prominent
Speaker 1: Houston texts is that were parts of those division championships
Speaker 1: departed the franchise and that was a roster for a
Speaker 1: long time that was really loaded up top. But when
Speaker 1: they started getting injuries to guys like J. J. Watt
Speaker 1: or Whitney Merciless or but Nardrick McKinney or whatever the
Speaker 1: case may have been, that was difficult from the rebound
Speaker 1: from that. And then of course now Deshaun Watson, the
Speaker 1: recent quarterback there in Houston, not so much this year
Speaker 1: as he has not played a game, but J. J. Watt,
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins, but Ardrick McKinney, a significant portion of that
Speaker 1: core that really led them to those division titles are
Speaker 1: no longer there as they looked to rebuild the roster
Speaker 1: now as they kind of start to get their draft
Speaker 1: picks back right there. That last year was the last
Speaker 1: year as far as their picks coming this way, and
Speaker 1: they spent some picks otherwise on like a David Johnson
Speaker 1: trade for instance, so starting to get a chance to
Speaker 1: get back into the draft here in the future. They've
Speaker 1: got an interesting constructed football team because of a very
Speaker 1: crazy offseason where they signed something like twenty seven free
Speaker 1: agents I think it was, and the majority of those
Speaker 1: were one year deals to veterans. That stop gap is
Speaker 1: probably the wrong word, but is that you just didn't
Speaker 1: expect to have a long term outlook with the club,
Speaker 1: especially not all twenty seven of the guys. That's never
Speaker 1: how it works. But they had to throw out that
Speaker 1: roster right they they didn't have the draft picks, they
Speaker 1: didn't have the means to fill the roster oute that way,
Speaker 1: so they had to get someone in there to play football.
Speaker 1: So as they transition in a year where their previous
Speaker 1: starting quarterback has been an active all season and the
Speaker 1: number two quarterback has been injured since Week two, it's
Speaker 1: been the Davis Mills show, who was their first draft
Speaker 1: pick back in April in the third round, And that's
Speaker 1: where we start here, the Houston quarterback versus the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins safeties. And admittedly my exposure to Mills in the
Speaker 1: pre draft run up was pretty limited. I really only
Speaker 1: did work ups on those top five guys. But so
Speaker 1: far through seven games and six starts as of pro
Speaker 1: seven touchdowns, eight picks, completion rate, six point five yards
Speaker 1: per attempt, twenty sacks taken for a hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: yards of lost yardage, and a net five three five
Speaker 1: net yard passing attempt figure, along with an eighty point
Speaker 1: two pass a rating and a twenty nine point two
Speaker 1: quarterback rating. And going back over the tape, the New
Speaker 1: England game was his best so far, and in that contest,
Speaker 1: I thought he did a good job of taking what
Speaker 1: was offered to him. As far as the defensive structure,
Speaker 1: it was a lot of coverage and clamping in the
Speaker 1: red zone for the Patriots. But he did throw three
Speaker 1: touchdowns and three hundred and twelve yards in that game,
Speaker 1: and he was blitzed only seven times and completed four
Speaker 1: of six passes for twenty nine yards against the Blitz,
Speaker 1: but he was under pressure on seven dropbacks, only completing
Speaker 1: one of four passes, taking three sacks for three yards
Speaker 1: of positive yards in the past completion. He was kept
Speaker 1: clean in that game with three hundred nine yards and
Speaker 1: three touchdown passes on non pressure dropbacks, but he did
Speaker 1: take advantage of the opportunities he had in the vertical game,
Speaker 1: hitting three of five passes in the twenty plus yard
Speaker 1: air yard range for a hundred forty four yards and
Speaker 1: two scores. Now, that was the one game I pointed
Speaker 1: to because we know the Patriots and Dolphins have somewhat
Speaker 1: similar defensive styles as far as man coverage some of
Speaker 1: the games up front and playing more of a bend
Speaker 1: but don't break style, which has become more commonplace across
Speaker 1: the National Football League. But that was that game I
Speaker 1: wanted to focus on because on the season he's had
Speaker 1: some ups and downs against the Blitz, which is expected
Speaker 1: for any rookie quarterback. Complation is great six point two
Speaker 1: yards per attempt is not terrible against the blitz because
Speaker 1: the ball comes out of your hands quickly right, and
Speaker 1: then it's kind of incumbent on the receivers to make
Speaker 1: blaze at that point after the catch. No touchdowns and
Speaker 1: two picks. However, when not blitzed, six interceptions, So maybe
Speaker 1: that was the idea where to play that kind of
Speaker 1: seven man coverage and don't send extra bodies and sacrifice
Speaker 1: from the back end to get pressure on the front end,
Speaker 1: because you can make plays when there is just no
Speaker 1: pressure on the quarterback. And one thing I think the
Speaker 1: Dolphins need to get back to defensively is those big
Speaker 1: plays sacks and takeaways. It's been a bit of a
Speaker 1: departure from what it was last year, and with Mills
Speaker 1: in the lineup, twelve of their plays have resulted in
Speaker 1: a sack or a pick. So they need to keep
Speaker 1: that trend rolling here from Miami, and it starts in
Speaker 1: some ways with the content we focused on yesterday, right
Speaker 1: those Dolphins safeties Javon Holland and Brandon Jones, and Miami's
Speaker 1: ability to get flexible with those two young safeties I
Speaker 1: think could come into play here. We've seen them down
Speaker 1: around the line of scrimmage, either one of them. I'll
Speaker 1: be really curious to see the plane for the Dolphins here.
Speaker 1: Do you want to force the issue and attack Mills?
Speaker 1: And I keep kind of thinking about that Rams game
Speaker 1: last year war They would pressure him with with you know,
Speaker 1: the boot action, shutting that thing down, bringing blitz up
Speaker 1: the middle, forcing those quick throws in the zero coverage,
Speaker 1: and it would cause some tipball, some batted getting his
Speaker 1: arm hit when he went to throw the football, which
Speaker 1: caused to pick against U or the Eric rohe picked
Speaker 1: off in that game. Do you do that or do
Speaker 1: you sit back and stay patient and let those opportunities
Speaker 1: come to you. With regards to the Patriots and the
Speaker 1: limited blitzing action, they're actually below the league median and
Speaker 1: blitz rate point one percent, while Miami is third most
Speaker 1: at thirty three point six percent. When interesting dichotomy there,
Speaker 1: and I think maybe maybe that was more indicative of
Speaker 1: the Patriots plan this year on defense opposed to that
Speaker 1: specific game plan. That's where you want the games though,
Speaker 1: right We're gonna find out about how Miami wants to
Speaker 1: approach this thing and Davis Mills, and this is why
Speaker 1: I tend to favor the blitzing action a little more.
Speaker 1: He's just not gonna scramble a whole lot. In fact,
Speaker 1: he has only two scramble runs all season long. He's
Speaker 1: played seven games to scramble runs two does that pretty
Speaker 1: much every single week. It's you know, not to say
Speaker 1: one is better than the other, but it's just an
Speaker 1: interesting comparison. So if you can get him off the spot,
Speaker 1: that's where some of those forced errors or big play
Speaker 1: creation can come from, I think. And if you can
Speaker 1: do it with winning with four man pressure, fantastic. But
Speaker 1: if you have to bring extra guys and play that
Speaker 1: blanket coverage in the back end, I'm good with that too.
Speaker 1: But how about his options in the passing game. Before
Speaker 1: we get to that, first, let's go ahead and talk
Speaker 1: about the fact that Tyrod Taylor has a chance to
Speaker 1: return this week, and if he does well, he's a
Speaker 1: completely different quarterback than what Davis Mills is. He's one
Speaker 1: of the best creators there is out there in the
Speaker 1: game right now and would certainly change the entire dynamic
Speaker 1: of that game. Taylor scares me a little bit. But
Speaker 1: back to the weapons. Houston receivers and tied ends versus
Speaker 1: Dolphins cornerbacks. We touched on the potential presence of safeties
Speaker 1: in the box or up on the line, and check
Speaker 1: out these splits for a second. Jordan Aikins was a
Speaker 1: tied end from UCF a couple of years back. No,
Speaker 1: you know you're gonna like that. He has the second
Speaker 1: most past targets on the team with twenty four past targets.
Speaker 1: That's one better than David Johnson, five more than Nico Collins,
Speaker 1: the rookie out of Michigan, and that trend continues on
Speaker 1: down to Pharaoh Brown, fellow tight end Danny Amondola. We
Speaker 1: remember him, Chris Conley, Chris Moore, Anthony Miller. But who's
Speaker 1: the top that list? There's we're going in a direction
Speaker 1: with this. Brandon Cooks has sixty nine nice, has the
Speaker 1: go to guy without a doubt in the offense. So
Speaker 1: what's their focus going to be, Which means it's probably
Speaker 1: gonna be Brandon Cooks right, and that means that has
Speaker 1: to be the defense is focused to right. That's kind
Speaker 1: of how the math works there. But real quick, back
Speaker 1: to the tight end position. Aikins is a big body,
Speaker 1: post up type of tied down with some athletic ability
Speaker 1: who can flex out. So it's Eric Rose matchup maybe
Speaker 1: or is there some more Holland and Jones on him,
Speaker 1: maybe some more backer cut Ridge. I'll be keeping an
Speaker 1: eye on that because you can't let him go off either.
Speaker 1: But back to Cooks. That's the start and finished really
Speaker 1: with US Houston Texans offense as far as where the
Speaker 1: football goes to. We saw Miami kind of alternate their
Speaker 1: double teams last week between digs and Sanders and sometimes
Speaker 1: even inside with Cole Beasley, and he talked about how
Speaker 1: the times that he was left one on one he
Speaker 1: made both the most of it. It might be a
Speaker 1: little more clear here with regards to the guy you
Speaker 1: cap and funnel, because the targets tell you Brandon Cooks
Speaker 1: is where the football goes and he's one of the
Speaker 1: best route runners in the entire game. His career is
Speaker 1: kind of an enigma to me. I mean, he's incredibly
Speaker 1: quick and decisive. He knows how to set defensive backs
Speaker 1: up and attack blind spots with leverage advantages. I was
Speaker 1: a huge fan of his game coming out of Oregon State,
Speaker 1: and he really blew me away at the Senior Bowl
Speaker 1: as well. But he can run by you and make
Speaker 1: tough catches, just a combination of everything that you want
Speaker 1: from the position. He really encompasses all of it. And
Speaker 1: the reason his career is an enigma is because he's
Speaker 1: always been that good to me and he's played for
Speaker 1: so many teams like it's just one of those unusual
Speaker 1: situation is where a guy, despite high level production, has
Speaker 1: found his way out of a couple of cities with
Speaker 1: different teams. But he's a seventent split as far as
Speaker 1: outside and slot goes. So three force and about a
Speaker 1: quarter of the time in the slot, I should say
Speaker 1: three force out wide, one quarter in the slot, and
Speaker 1: that gives you obviously eight percent left over, but zero
Speaker 1: of that is in line and those nasty splits. So
Speaker 1: where does it come from? Well the backfield, So keep
Speaker 1: your eye on Brandon Cooks. They're gonna manufacture receptions for
Speaker 1: him behind the line on the screen game. So it's
Speaker 1: imperative to tackle well on the perimeter and continue to
Speaker 1: show the exemplary effort we've had on screens with not
Speaker 1: just the cornerbacks fighting through blocks, but the defensive line
Speaker 1: retracing those things and making big plays for you out wide.
Speaker 1: When the cornerbacks can force the receiver to bubble on
Speaker 1: those screens. I thought Miami really handled it well last
Speaker 1: week in that regard, so doing it again and tackling
Speaker 1: well could be a big key in this game. And
Speaker 1: you see that manufactured reception idea on display with his
Speaker 1: catch rate. Dudes got fifty one grabs this year for
Speaker 1: a seventy catch rate. Those are good numbers. Eight point
Speaker 1: four yards per targets, a good number eleven point five
Speaker 1: yards per catch. Not like blowing you away, but it's
Speaker 1: still a decent number. On twenty plus yard throws of
Speaker 1: of intended air yards, he's caught four of nine, so
Speaker 1: that's that's a pretty efficient downfield striking there with Brandon
Speaker 1: Cooks in the intermediate range though, thirteen of seventeen, so
Speaker 1: very efficient. He makes the most of that high number
Speaker 1: of targets. Six catches behind the line on six targets
Speaker 1: and twenty seven of thirty three in the zero to
Speaker 1: nine range. Two of the passes for Cooks this year
Speaker 1: have been picked off. So it kind of goes back
Speaker 1: to my thought there about Xavier Howard and putting him
Speaker 1: on the most targeted player because it gives you more
Speaker 1: chances interceptions. But I kind of feel a different way
Speaker 1: about this this week, and I'll tell you why here
Speaker 1: in just one second. Something else. Houston does a good
Speaker 1: job with us getting him matchups on non cornerbacks. He
Speaker 1: had three receptions last week against safeties and linebackers, and
Speaker 1: that's kind of a weekly thing for him. So Miami
Speaker 1: will have to make the choice between zoning it up,
Speaker 1: which can create those matchups, and playing more man, which basically,
Speaker 1: you know, just check him with one of your best corners,
Speaker 1: or do you double him with other players? Options exist
Speaker 1: here when you have a kind of one player heavy
Speaker 1: oriented offense, but I would think you want to focus
Speaker 1: on the guy that has tripled the targets of the
Speaker 1: number two passing option. So for me, I like the
Speaker 1: idea of, you know, need Um or Coleman with with
Speaker 1: a cap on top like a safety maybe you're in
Speaker 1: big Nickel there or a linebacker just finding a way
Speaker 1: to force him to have to beat two guys to
Speaker 1: beat you. Because the other guys in the receiving corps,
Speaker 1: it's they kind of spread it all over the place.
Speaker 1: And the situation is the same at running back and
Speaker 1: tight end too. It's it's a very unique, interesting offense
Speaker 1: as far as the distribution goes. Chris Conley is one
Speaker 1: of the guys that gets targets, but he's one of
Speaker 1: these more kind of athletic and fast guys. We heard
Speaker 1: a bunch of the defenders on Wednesday's media availability talk
Speaker 1: about the speed this Texans offense has, which has really
Speaker 1: increased this year compared to last season. But Chris Conley
Speaker 1: is one of those guys. And you guys know, I
Speaker 1: typically feel like with with a player like Conley's physical
Speaker 1: makeup that Byron Jones is to well, I mean it's
Speaker 1: not to me. It's just a fact athletically, testing, wise,
Speaker 1: change the direction, all that fun stuff that's really his
Speaker 1: bread and butter. So I kind of like that matchup.
Speaker 1: I like the idea of that matchup Nico Collins with
Speaker 1: Xavier Howard just kind of takeaway because Collins is the
Speaker 1: next highest receiver in terms of targets, Just take him
Speaker 1: out of the game with one player. I think x
Speaker 1: can do that. And then at this in the slot
Speaker 1: position against Brandon Cooks, double it, double look heck out
Speaker 1: of it, Conley on Jones, X on Collins. And then
Speaker 1: with Chris Moore Amondla Anthony Miller. There's so many guys
Speaker 1: that have so many snaps here, but we'll figure that
Speaker 1: out as we go along. Those are the three matchups
Speaker 1: I'm most concerned about. And then also with Jordan Nakins,
Speaker 1: just I'm not really sure on that one. Maybe it's
Speaker 1: a safety matchup and you just try to reroute him
Speaker 1: early and live with underneath stuff. But I really do
Speaker 1: like those matchups there for Miami. Now, before the ball
Speaker 1: gets into the air, it's always important to win the
Speaker 1: matchup up front, right, So the Texans offensive line the
Speaker 1: Dolphins defensive line, and they're down some dude. You're not
Speaker 1: gonna see Linony Tunzel, he's on injury reserve. No Justin Brett,
Speaker 1: they're starting center, and no Marcus Canon, who has played
Speaker 1: spot duty there for them a little bit. But the
Speaker 1: pressures allowed by the projected stars on Sunday are As follows.
Speaker 1: Charlie Heck eight pressures on a hundred and sixty seven
Speaker 1: pass blocking reps, Max Sharping fifteen pressures on two four,
Speaker 1: Justin McCray six on one seventeen, Jaron Christian Senior four
Speaker 1: on one seventy, and Tias Howard sixteen on three hundred
Speaker 1: and seven, but fourteen of those for Howard are hurries.
Speaker 1: He's by far the best healthy alignment on that offensive
Speaker 1: lineman right now, eighty one pressures allowed in total banged
Speaker 1: up group. Can Miami capitalize on that? They need to
Speaker 1: pressure this quarterback, and Howard's the most proven, most accomplished
Speaker 1: this season. He's been really solid since really weeks two,
Speaker 1: where he allowed four pressures in the first two games
Speaker 1: each eight total, but since that time in six games,
Speaker 1: just eight pressures allowed, and that's odd bas matchup, and
Speaker 1: you go back to some of the matchups where he
Speaker 1: did get beat a little bit Jacksonville with Dwayne Smoot
Speaker 1: or Josh Allen and those guys. His ability to kind
Speaker 1: of convert those speed to hour moves and the heavy
Speaker 1: handed ends, I really think that's something to keep an
Speaker 1: eye on here. If Oga can kind of get similar
Speaker 1: production he's been doing it all He's along so far
Speaker 1: with pressure production, batting the ball down the line, run defense.
Speaker 1: Keeping a big eye on that matchup, and if they
Speaker 1: can't handle that, that's gonna open up so much other
Speaker 1: stuff for this Dolphins front. Because inside, with all the
Speaker 1: games that Miami runs, all the depth they have in
Speaker 1: the ability to rotate bodies up front could help keep
Speaker 1: them fresh while dialing up that pressure look. But it's
Speaker 1: another new offensive line combination for Houston had a rookie quarterback,
Speaker 1: and it would seem to me you want to kind
Speaker 1: of test that communication. And with Christian and adams quickness
Speaker 1: off the snap and Ray Kwant and Zack's pure strength
Speaker 1: and power at the point, I like that matchup a lot.
Speaker 1: And this also incorporates the linebackers, which brings us to
Speaker 1: our final matchup on this side of the football. Houston
Speaker 1: running backs and Dolphins linebackers. First, Houston's averaging just three
Speaker 1: point three yards per carry and no gap has a
Speaker 1: better average than three point nine yards per carry, which
Speaker 1: is off right tackle Tyas Howard again, so Miami needs
Speaker 1: to needs their linebackers to really fit the run this
Speaker 1: week and do the same job, do the job in
Speaker 1: the same way the defensive line doesn't set up those
Speaker 1: third and long plays and get those big play opportunities.
Speaker 1: I think this is a great chance for Miami's defense
Speaker 1: to get healthy in that regard with some of the
Speaker 1: sacks and the pressures that lead to turnovers. It's such
Speaker 1: a focus for me this week and the Texans use
Speaker 1: a bevy of running backs. Mark Ingram no longer. They're
Speaker 1: back in New Orleans, which, by the way, thank science
Speaker 1: for that fact, because the fact that he is back
Speaker 1: there gives us the pairing of Alvin Kamara and mark
Speaker 1: Ingram at joint press conferences, which is the best thing ever.
Speaker 1: But David Johnson and Rex Burkehead and Philip Lindsay all
Speaker 1: get work. This is what I'm talking about. This the
Speaker 1: construction of this team is just so unique in terms
Speaker 1: of the different Like these guys are not the same
Speaker 1: player obviously, but they're they're somewhat interchangeable. And there's not
Speaker 1: like a young guy and a veteran. It is just
Speaker 1: three guys you know, from the last five or six
Speaker 1: years of the National Football League that all found their
Speaker 1: way to Houston. Johnson will flects out and run receiver routes.
Speaker 1: We know that about him from his days in Arizona.
Speaker 1: Not the same player he as then, but he can
Speaker 1: still be productive that way. It's so imperative that whether
Speaker 1: it's Baker, Baker or Riley, and Baker talked about being
Speaker 1: day to day in his press conference on Wednesday. It's
Speaker 1: so imperative that they can handle those receiver routes from
Speaker 1: David Johnson, because you can't double that route and still
Speaker 1: have success elsewhere. In my opinion, so important that those
Speaker 1: guys can handle that one on one matchup. And if
Speaker 1: it's blitzing more like like I talked about earlier, does
Speaker 1: Sam aguav And get an increased role? I think he
Speaker 1: would In that instance. Rex Burke has a past receiver
Speaker 1: that's kind of his game. Continue to find a way
Speaker 1: to cover him without committing, you know, really integral parts
Speaker 1: of the perimeter coverage, of the safety coverage on that back.
Speaker 1: And then Philip Lindsay My note on him was just
Speaker 1: you have to slice him. You have to cut him
Speaker 1: down before he can get that one cut slashing style
Speaker 1: that he does, because once he gets that second level,
Speaker 1: he becomes very difficult to tackle at that point. So
Speaker 1: don't let him open it up. As far as this
Speaker 1: Texans offense deployment goes, uh pretty standard. Out of eleven
Speaker 1: personnel out of twelve personnel, it's one back, two tight ends,
Speaker 1: so they will use that Farrell Brown Jordan Aikin's tight
Speaker 1: end package and then they do run eight percent out
Speaker 1: of thirteen personnel, which of course is one back, three
Speaker 1: tight ends on the other side of the football, Dolphins
Speaker 1: quarterback versus Texans safeties. First off, Lovey Smith as a
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, you know what that means. Tampa two coverage
Speaker 1: all day. Do you know what Tampa two means. It
Speaker 1: means you have two high safeties who basically play cover
Speaker 1: two where they both take a half a deep half,
Speaker 1: and then you have a middle linebacker that runs the
Speaker 1: pipe down the middle of the scheme of the field
Speaker 1: and the scheme and that's been really his scheme since
Speaker 1: I was in junior high good thinking back to those
Speaker 1: early Bears days and that's what the Texans run. So
Speaker 1: for Twah, he needs to be very sharp identifying the
Speaker 1: times that they come out of it. They roll the coverage,
Speaker 1: maybe they invert the two. Inverted two is where your
Speaker 1: safeties come up and play the short stuff and the
Speaker 1: cornerbacks get depth to play the deep half. All of
Speaker 1: that stuff they can do out of that package. Too.
Speaker 1: Needs to focus on the safeties because those guys will
Speaker 1: tell you where the coverage is gonna go, and it
Speaker 1: also typically means that there are opportunities in the middle
Speaker 1: of the field. More on that in the next segment here.
Speaker 1: Justin Reid is one of the best Texans players from
Speaker 1: my money, maybe even the best. He's limited completions to
Speaker 1: just eleven for seven team, which sounds like a lot,
Speaker 1: but look at other safetys numbers, it's not. It's a
Speaker 1: good number. He's rangey, very smart player who can come
Speaker 1: down play on the line of scrimmage as well. I
Speaker 1: kind of nose for the football two picks this year.
Speaker 1: You must account for him in those robber roles if
Speaker 1: if they disguise their two and play one and he
Speaker 1: comes down and robs those crossers. You have to watch
Speaker 1: for that to be very aware. Number twenty and then
Speaker 1: also the ability to go over the top of rounds
Speaker 1: like think about the Derham Smith pick a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago back in the Atlanta game. He can make
Speaker 1: those kind of places too, So just keep an eye
Speaker 1: on Number twenty pre snap and from tape. It looks
Speaker 1: to me like he's kind of the key to the
Speaker 1: disguise of their defense. So again, just keep your eye
Speaker 1: on that guy. Lonnie Johnson might remember that name from
Speaker 1: the draft a couple of years ago, is a converted
Speaker 1: corner who plays some safety with Justin Reid as well.
Speaker 1: He's got three picks himself. Now the duo combined has
Speaker 1: allowed seven total touchdowns. So it's big plays like big risk,
Speaker 1: big reward for those guys right who can make more
Speaker 1: big plays. But back to our point about Tampa two,
Speaker 1: that's a tight ends scheme and you at least need
Speaker 1: to have a seam buster who can take advantage of that.
Speaker 1: So with the Dolphins receivers and tight ends versus the
Speaker 1: Houston Texans cornerbacks, slash linebackers and safeties and coverage, who
Speaker 1: will match up with Mike Kisiki. Mike has been making
Speaker 1: big plays really for a solid five weeks stretch now,
Speaker 1: He's been catching tons of balls. That's got to be
Speaker 1: their focus in this game. And I think it'll be
Speaker 1: interesting if they asked their linebacker to run the pipe
Speaker 1: with them. Do you want to do that? You sure about?
Speaker 1: That's why those to me are some of two's best throws,
Speaker 1: those over the top, quick pops down the middle. So
Speaker 1: I'm really in tried to see how that plays out
Speaker 1: in this matchup. For instance, Cambu gruge Hill, we know
Speaker 1: who he is, was in coverage on eight targets last week,
Speaker 1: and five of those came against Robert Woods or Cooper Cup.
Speaker 1: If you get Jalen Waddle on a linebacker, for instance,
Speaker 1: it's probably where the ball should go. Those guys caught
Speaker 1: four or five targets for a hundred and seven yards
Speaker 1: and a touchdown when gruge Hill was in coverage might
Speaker 1: be something to look at. So as I look at
Speaker 1: that with the scheme, it makes me think about some
Speaker 1: of those in breaking routes. My aim. He's had success
Speaker 1: on square and his digs slants, some of the crossers
Speaker 1: that get hit early in that first window, that might
Speaker 1: be an area to go after. Now, as far as
Speaker 1: the cornerbacks go, Desmond King was kind of the main
Speaker 1: dude on the outside for them, but he was a
Speaker 1: healthy scratch last week for disciplinary actions. A couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago, DeAndre Hopkins was his primary target, and he
Speaker 1: caught all four of his targets on Desmond King a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago. King's a zone cornerback in the
Speaker 1: zone schemes. You can see why that makes sense. And
Speaker 1: in that game, zach Ertz matched up on Justin Reid, Comu,
Speaker 1: gruge Hill, and Christian Kirk and he on four targets.
Speaker 1: He caught three balls for sixty six yards and a touchdown.
Speaker 1: So again, if that's what Mike sees, if that's what
Speaker 1: Mike Kasiki gets, I have to believe the ball goes
Speaker 1: towards number eighty eight quite a bit. And then Vernon
Speaker 1: Hargraves was a nineties seven percent snaptaker a week ago
Speaker 1: just got released. Interesting dynamic there. Terrence Mitchell plays about
Speaker 1: the same number there, snaps the hard Graves did, and
Speaker 1: so does Tavier Thomas who played roughly the same workload there.
Speaker 1: But will King be back out there? I have to
Speaker 1: imagine he is in place of Vernon Hargraves, but it's
Speaker 1: hard to say. I mean, on the perimeter, for these guys,
Speaker 1: it's more size and strength and length and kind of
Speaker 1: disrupted at the blind scrimmage and then turn them free
Speaker 1: and get your eyes back on the quarterback. So from
Speaker 1: Miami kind of working on that cover two or two
Speaker 1: man type of defense, they typically played the disrupt and
Speaker 1: then get depth. And it sounds like King will be back,
Speaker 1: but in his own based defense, it's kind of hard
Speaker 1: to paint the matchups here. So for to be on time,
Speaker 1: being rhythm, be sharper the decisions and locating number twenty.
Speaker 1: Those are my suggestions. Now up front Miami's offensive line
Speaker 1: versus Houston's defensive line. They just traded Charles Amna, who
Speaker 1: who I loved coming out of the draft. A couple
Speaker 1: years back out of Texas, he led the team with
Speaker 1: sixteen quarterback pressures. He's now gone. Malik Collins on the
Speaker 1: interior defensive line leads the team now with fifteen quarterback pressures.
Speaker 1: Jacob Martin four team Jonathan Grennar. Grenard and DeMarcus Walker
Speaker 1: both have thirteen apiece as well. Up front, they don't
Speaker 1: bring a ton of pressure, so Collins will test you inside.
Speaker 1: He's kind of a squatty body, load to the ground,
Speaker 1: six ft two pounds, plays with a great pad level,
Speaker 1: so it's imperative to try to be the low man
Speaker 1: and kind of dig him out. Always make sure you
Speaker 1: get your hands inside. Don't get him outside. Get him
Speaker 1: inside on that guy, otherwise he will control the rep
Speaker 1: and get a flag on you. No pressures against the Rams,
Speaker 1: Pats or Browns, but he had three or more against
Speaker 1: the Cardinals, Bills, Panthers, and Jaguars. So can you find
Speaker 1: a way to contain maliek Collins would go a long
Speaker 1: way towards keeping the pocket cleaning for your quarterback and
Speaker 1: maybe give us a chance to attack vertically in this
Speaker 1: football game. Jacob Martin opposite deal. He's long, he's he's
Speaker 1: a little more thin and can get at you with
Speaker 1: some speed. Uh and he has that really good bend
Speaker 1: off the edge that you love to see as far
Speaker 1: as far as four man pressures go. But something to
Speaker 1: keep an eye on here. The Dolphins line had really
Speaker 1: good week two weeks stretched there with Atlanta and Jacksonville.
Speaker 1: In a tougher game last week against the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 1: Keep an eye on this match up to see if
Speaker 1: they can get back to it. Being at home I
Speaker 1: think certainly helps no more crowd noise to deal with
Speaker 1: and obviously not as complex as the system that Sean
Speaker 1: McDermott has put together over the course of four or
Speaker 1: five years there in Buffalo. New defense there in Houston's
Speaker 1: the kind of rebuild that thing under Lovey Smith. Dolphins
Speaker 1: running backs versus Texans linebackers. Christian Kirksey is a fantastic tackler.
Speaker 1: If you don't get him a race in the running
Speaker 1: game with blockers and chips and climbs, it's tough for
Speaker 1: the back to do it. But again, one of Miami's
Speaker 1: strong points in the running game, I think this year
Speaker 1: has been some of those doubles, some duo action and
Speaker 1: climbing up to that second level. So hopefully we can
Speaker 1: see some of that from Jackson Ryder and Robert Hunt inside.
Speaker 1: Zach Cunningham's the speed merchant of the group. He doesn't rush. Actually,
Speaker 1: none of these guys ever rush. We'll talk about that
Speaker 1: here in just one second. He'll play some coverage. I'll
Speaker 1: be curious to find out if they can get some
Speaker 1: backs matched up and flexed out wide, because that can
Speaker 1: kind of stress their defense by displacing that middle linebacker
Speaker 1: out wide, and that can create some of that space
Speaker 1: inside against that cover too, for some free releases and
Speaker 1: some quick pops on your interior receivers. And it doesn't
Speaker 1: hurt to just to try it, see how they react.
Speaker 1: Maybe you get a bit of discommunity or discombobulation and
Speaker 1: miscommunication out of it when you try that. Miles Gascon
Speaker 1: can certainly run routes from the number one receiver position
Speaker 1: all the way out wide, and again, they just don't
Speaker 1: use these backers to rush the quarterback. Just sixteen pass
Speaker 1: rush reps for Kirksey, only ten for Cunningham and twelve
Speaker 1: for Commo, who we saw do it with some success
Speaker 1: last year here in Miami. So coverage and run fits
Speaker 1: their sound tacklers again, can we find a way to
Speaker 1: get them out of the box. That's the challenge. That's
Speaker 1: the matchup you want. In my opinion, as far as
Speaker 1: special teams go, Houston v o A Miami's twenty nine.
Speaker 1: They're punter Cameron Johnson forty six point eight yards per punt,
Speaker 1: Kyami fairbarons three for five this year with a miss
Speaker 1: from fifty plus as well as one in the forty
Speaker 1: to forty nine range. Not much of return game there,
Speaker 1: So Mike Michael Pollardi, the punt team here can maybe
Speaker 1: get some flipped fields for you. Here is John Conjimmas
Speaker 1: to tell us about getting long fields. But Desmond King
Speaker 1: had a twenty yard or this year in average just
Speaker 1: twelve point eight yards per per return on four returns
Speaker 1: the season. Andrew Roberts has thirty three yards on eight
Speaker 1: returns with a long of eleven. So those are your
Speaker 1: position by position matchups. I have The Dolphins will win
Speaker 1: if they exploit the middle of the field. On off
Speaker 1: fence and if they can heat up Davis Mills and
Speaker 1: create some splash plays on defense, and the Texans will win.
Speaker 1: If Miami beats themselves and puts themselves behind the chains,
Speaker 1: gets some bad fouls on defense, misses some tackles on
Speaker 1: third down, just don't beat yourself. Miami, play your best
Speaker 1: football game of the season, and you should be able
Speaker 1: to come away of this with the victory. We've gotta
Speaker 1: get the best game of the season here here soon,
Speaker 1: hopefully it's this week. My three keys splash plays on defense,
Speaker 1: interception slash stack rate that's more than six such plays
Speaker 1: a game, forced the issue and capitalized. Number two locate
Speaker 1: Brandon Cooks every single snap sixty nine targets. The next
Speaker 1: closest has twenty four. Take it. Look at Brandon Cooks
Speaker 1: and try and take him out of the football game.
Speaker 1: Number three feed Mike Kisiki the scheme, ask for it.
Speaker 1: They're gonna put backers on him. Go after your big
Speaker 1: play tight end my Thursday night football pick this week.
Speaker 1: And just so you know, I'm not even gonna talk
Speaker 1: about my record last week. It was atrocious. We'll come
Speaker 1: back to it tomorrow. But Colts over the Jets. That's
Speaker 1: the pick. That's the podcast you all. Please be sure
Speaker 1: to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Leave us
Speaker 1: a rating, leave us a review. You can follow me
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Wingfield NFL, follow the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: Check out the Fish Tank Podcast with Seth and o
Speaker 1: J Sean Smith on this week, the YouTube channel for
Speaker 1: our media availabilities and Dolphins Today, and of course Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins dot com. Until next time, fins up Caroline, Daddy's
Speaker 1: Coming Home.