Speaker 1: Fires touch stop by Waddles knocked into the end zone
Speaker 1: of Miami Boy type pro tike window. They had to
Speaker 1: get that touchdown on that play. They get it. What
Speaker 1: is up, Dolph fans and welcome to the Drivetime Podcast
Speaker 1: part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team,
Speaker 1: your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host,
Speaker 1: Travis Wingfield and as always, I am here to bring
Speaker 1: you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football. On today's show,
Speaker 1: it's preview time. We're taking a look at Sunday's matchup
Speaker 1: with the New York Giants, a chance to make it
Speaker 1: five straight victories for the second time in as many years.
Speaker 1: Will break it down position by position, tell you how
Speaker 1: Miami can secure that fifth straight dub, give you the
Speaker 1: three keys of the game, and a whole lot more
Speaker 1: from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 1: This is the Drivetime Podcasts Miami. A. Yeah, it's preview
Speaker 1: day and is it just me or has this week
Speaker 1: been kind of a fun one. I've watched last week's
Speaker 1: game several times, but now I'm on to the Giants.
Speaker 1: We got another chance to make it a fun week
Speaker 1: with the Giants coming to town, and we'll have to
Speaker 1: wait to find out which quarterback is gonna be under
Speaker 1: center for Big Blue. As Joe Judge addressed the next
Speaker 1: train suffered by Daniel Jones in the game Sunday, and
Speaker 1: he was limited in practice on Wednesday and will be
Speaker 1: all throughout the course of this week, but he would
Speaker 1: not rule Jones out as previous reports had said they
Speaker 1: were going to do. So we'll see who plays on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Their backup as Mike Glennon, and they just signed Jake
Speaker 1: from from the Buffalo practice squad, so we should find
Speaker 1: out sometime this weekend, either the Friday practice report, maybe
Speaker 1: it's a game time decision. We shall see. But before
Speaker 1: we get into the quarterback versus the Miami safety's matchup,
Speaker 1: how did the Giants get to their current position. They
Speaker 1: brought Dave Gentleman in as GM as they searched for
Speaker 1: a return to the winning ways of really the early
Speaker 1: and before that, with that ferocious defense, the four man
Speaker 1: pass rush they could provide Plexico Burris Eli manning all
Speaker 1: those star players they had back in those Super Bowl years.
Speaker 1: They did make the postseason back in twenty sixteen, but
Speaker 1: then dropped to five wins in seventeen, opting to bring
Speaker 1: Gentleman in from Carolina, and that was also it the
Speaker 1: end of the road for Ben mcado, a two year
Speaker 1: stint there with the Giants, and Gelman was joined by
Speaker 1: Pat Shermer for a year, but he lasted just that
Speaker 1: one season before the Giants went after special teams coaching
Speaker 1: whiz and something of a disciplinarian up there in New
Speaker 1: England and Joe Judge to fill that big chair. Gelman
Speaker 1: was clear from day one about his initiative. He wanted
Speaker 1: to build a team that runs the ball and stops
Speaker 1: the run, and they drafted like it first four picks,
Speaker 1: say Kwon Barkley with the number two pick in that draft,
Speaker 1: and that was bandied about a lot in the pre
Speaker 1: draft process, because you might recall that teen draft class
Speaker 1: at the quarterback position produced five first rounders, and two
Speaker 1: and a half of them have been very successful. So
Speaker 1: we'll find out on Baker Mayfield. The other two not
Speaker 1: as much, with Rosen and Sam Donald going into backup
Speaker 1: gigs at the stage's of their career. Donald has been
Speaker 1: injured and lost the job that way. But you get
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. Here's that's kind of the general point there.
Speaker 1: But in that draft class, sake Quombarkie number two with
Speaker 1: only Mayfield off the board, Will Hernandez, Lorenzo Carter a linebacker,
Speaker 1: and b J Hill so running back, O line linebacker,
Speaker 1: d tackle nineteen, they do get their quarterback this time
Speaker 1: around Daniel Jones, who Dave Gentleman said was in full
Speaker 1: blue love going through the draft process of evaluating this
Speaker 1: quarterback from Duke. He takes him at number six overall.
Speaker 1: Then in the first round Dexter Lawrence the defensive tackle
Speaker 1: and a cornerback in DeAndre Baker. And then back to
Speaker 1: the front seven with Oshane him and Az another cornerback,
Speaker 1: slash safety and Julian Love. Then back to linebacker Ryan Connolly.
Speaker 1: They finished off receiver, corner tackle, defensive tackle. They've draft
Speaker 1: the same three or four positions pretty much every single year.
Speaker 1: Andrew Thomas kicked off draft number four, the first tackle
Speaker 1: taken off the board in that loaded tackle class. Xavier
Speaker 1: McKinney back at safety in the second round, then back
Speaker 1: to the offensive line Matt Pert, darn A Holmes a cornerback,
Speaker 1: then this guard, linebacker, linebacker, linebacker, cornerback, linebacker, then one
Speaker 1: Darius Tony the receiver, as these Oglari the outside backer
Speaker 1: slash defensive events slash really damn good player out of Georgia.
Speaker 1: Then cornerback, linebacker, running back, cornerback, so you get it.
Speaker 1: A lot of resources spent on the trenches, plenty of
Speaker 1: cornerbacks in that mix, which is truly a position of
Speaker 1: strength for them in defensive backfield in general when they
Speaker 1: are healthy right now a little bit banged up. And
Speaker 1: we also go along into as they enter this four
Speaker 1: and seven, or this game rather at four and seven,
Speaker 1: and like Miami, they've been bitten by the injury buggets
Speaker 1: some of those skill positions on offense because when they
Speaker 1: have them, as Brian Flores stated on Wednesday, it's name
Speaker 1: after name in that line up. But they've not been
Speaker 1: healthy all year long since that eleven win sixteen season
Speaker 1: for the Giants three wins, five wins, four wins, and
Speaker 1: six wins. So they are in position right now with
Speaker 1: a strong December to match or even surpass that high
Speaker 1: watermark of these last five years. But with six games
Speaker 1: to go, they're gonna have to get some w Let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and get to this game here in Miami
Speaker 1: and start as we do weekly with the Giants quarterbacks
Speaker 1: versus the Dolphins safeties, and since there is a fair
Speaker 1: amount of uncertainty about who it will be under center,
Speaker 1: and Flora said they are preparing as if Danny Dimes
Speaker 1: will be up, we'll spend some time on both quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in this segment, but I think it's more about us,
Speaker 1: and so we talk about these safeties like Javon Holland,
Speaker 1: Brandon Jones, Eric Rowe, and of course Jones missed the
Speaker 1: game last week, but as we talked about in the
Speaker 1: pods earlier this week, I thought you really saw the
Speaker 1: versatility of that room on display because of the absence
Speaker 1: of Brandon Jones. Has Holland and Roe have their roles
Speaker 1: adapted to fill that void? And that versatility constantly reminds
Speaker 1: me of the question I had for two of back
Speaker 1: in Week two about the Buffalo Bill safeties and their
Speaker 1: interchangeable nature and how to us said, it was tough
Speaker 1: to decipher what the defense is because they can line
Speaker 1: up in one place and then wind up something somewhere
Speaker 1: completely different after the snap, And I think the same
Speaker 1: thing here applies with Miami, and the key there is
Speaker 1: to continue to force take away opportunities, which is obviously
Speaker 1: a complete team effort. But the Giants quarterbacks have thrown
Speaker 1: a collective nine picks this year and taking twenty three
Speaker 1: sacks and fumbled the football eight times. That's seventeen potential
Speaker 1: turn over opportunities and twenty three sacks, working out to
Speaker 1: one point five five potential t o s per game
Speaker 1: and two point one sacks per game. Now, Miami over
Speaker 1: these last four weeks are averaging two point seven five
Speaker 1: takeaways and four sacks per game. So you have to
Speaker 1: think that the Dolphins are kind of gearing up hoping
Speaker 1: they get the same kind of production in this contest.
Speaker 1: And we'll see if those averages play out in the
Speaker 1: game on Sunday. But how do you create that chaos?
Speaker 1: How do you get to those numbers? Well, to the
Speaker 1: numbers again. Mike Glennon is three for nine with twenty
Speaker 1: nine yards this year in a touchdown pass and a
Speaker 1: pick against the Blitz, where Daniel Jones a much greater
Speaker 1: sample size is sixty averaging six and a half yards
Speaker 1: per pass one touchdown. That all sounds good, right, But
Speaker 1: or picks and that's been something of a formula to
Speaker 1: kind of force the issues, and not to mention fifteen
Speaker 1: of the twenty two sacks on Jones come when sending
Speaker 1: that extra rusher and with them the way Miami can
Speaker 1: cover on the back end. Perhaps that's the formula, but
Speaker 1: also when kept clean, Jones has eight touchdowns and five picks,
Speaker 1: and five of the total picks are in that ten
Speaker 1: plus yard range. So when he throws the ball deep
Speaker 1: down the field or if there's an extra rusher coming
Speaker 1: at him, or even kept clean, there's opportunities for interceptions there,
Speaker 1: and at least as far as what he's been so
Speaker 1: far in the season. You can always improve and get better.
Speaker 1: You can play a better game too, So I think
Speaker 1: about what we saw with Javon and the interception and
Speaker 1: kind of trying to put him in conflict, but he
Speaker 1: just kept his eyes on the quarterback's eyes and drove
Speaker 1: on the football and made a big time play. So
Speaker 1: I'm not so sure it's not quite as obvious with
Speaker 1: regards to sending the extra rushers or playing coverage and
Speaker 1: let the thing come to you. Opposing teams have blitz
Speaker 1: Jones of the time, which is more than twelve percent
Speaker 1: fewer than Miami's season average of thirty eight point four percent,
Speaker 1: which is just point eight percent below the Bucks for
Speaker 1: the highest rate in the NFL. So again, this dichotomy
Speaker 1: exists between what the Giants do well or what kind
Speaker 1: of makes them vulnerable, and what the Dolphins do well.
Speaker 1: And that's something Brian Flores has talked about, finding the
Speaker 1: balance between going after their weaknesses and doing what you're
Speaker 1: doing best. But what the Dolphins do best is unrelenting
Speaker 1: pressure over the last month or so. So again, very
Speaker 1: interesting dichotomy to me. But our next position group gives
Speaker 1: you something of an indicator for how the best attack
Speaker 1: like the Giants receivers and tight ends versus the Miami cornerbacks. Look,
Speaker 1: Darius Tony is a separation creating machine. He moves in
Speaker 1: ways that many guys cannot. And I mean, we talked
Speaker 1: about Jalen Waddles impact. Tony has not been quite on
Speaker 1: that level, but he's been very impactful for that Giant's offense.
Speaker 1: And that was kind of his game coming out of Florida.
Speaker 1: A slippery guy who runs these routes that will put
Speaker 1: you in the blender. He's tough to cover, and this
Speaker 1: group really is kind of when healthy that bass get
Speaker 1: ball line up we've talked about on the podcast for years,
Speaker 1: going back to Lockdown Dolphins days, and they've got unique
Speaker 1: skill sets across that group, and that Kenny Golladay is
Speaker 1: that big, go get the football type of guy, contested
Speaker 1: catch guy. He's actually competed with DeVante Parker in that
Speaker 1: realm for a few years now, previously with the Lions,
Speaker 1: now with the Giants, and next gen separation stats has
Speaker 1: him at two point oh which is the fourth fewest
Speaker 1: among qualifying past catchers. Stirling Shepherd is a sure handed,
Speaker 1: primarily slot guy with an average separation of two point
Speaker 1: seven yards. Darius Slayton up to three point oh and
Speaker 1: then cold Darius Tony at three point four, and then
Speaker 1: tight end Evan Ingram leads the crew at three point eight. Now,
Speaker 1: some of that has to do with the routes these
Speaker 1: guys run. Some of the quick hitters can be more
Speaker 1: separation because you're just if they're playing off coverage, you
Speaker 1: catch the ball with an automatic built in three or
Speaker 1: four yards of separation. How about the yak yard? And
Speaker 1: this is where I really look at this Giants offense
Speaker 1: as a possibility from Miami to rally up tackle and
Speaker 1: have some success their yak above expected. So when you
Speaker 1: catch the football, data from decades of football gives you
Speaker 1: an idea of what they're expected to do with that
Speaker 1: football based upon previous data and big seth Wils tell
Speaker 1: me that that has nothing to do with any given
Speaker 1: player on any given game. But I digress, I love you, bro.
Speaker 1: All jokes aside, but yak above expected Darius Tony is
Speaker 1: plus one point eight, then a drop off negative point
Speaker 1: oh two for Goladay, negative point oh three for bull
Speaker 1: Shepherd and Ingram, and negative point oh four for Slaton.
Speaker 1: And we talked about how Miami's tackling has come along,
Speaker 1: especially in the secondary and really beginning in that Baltimore
Speaker 1: game with those guys just tackling everything on the perimeter
Speaker 1: up to a season best last week just two miss tackles.
Speaker 1: So what does this all say, Well, it looks like
Speaker 1: a recipe for being conscious of the deep ball, forcing
Speaker 1: them to play underneath and rallying up and tackling, because
Speaker 1: if they're not gonna make the big play after the catch,
Speaker 1: then it would serve you to kind of playoff and
Speaker 1: force them to do that and be consistent in that way.
Speaker 1: Then you really clamp down and win against him in
Speaker 1: the red zone on the occasions they get there. We'll
Speaker 1: talk about that here in just one second. We'll see
Speaker 1: how Miami wants to play it, because, as is the
Speaker 1: case every week, the Dolphins flexibility gives them options. So
Speaker 1: how do you match up? First? Who was available last week?
Speaker 1: No Shepherd, no Tony, No Kyle Rudolph. That gave John
Speaker 1: Ross eleven reps. It gave Pharaoh Cooper thirty five snaps.
Speaker 1: But Sae Kwon Barkley did play despite his questionable designation,
Speaker 1: and he played eight seven percent of their snaps. We'll
Speaker 1: talk about that as well in a later segment, but
Speaker 1: they're usedage as far as inside outside is also interesting.
Speaker 1: Cooper eighty eight point two percent inside, he's a slot receiver.
Speaker 1: Shepherd that's also a slot receiver. Evan Ingram much like
Speaker 1: Mike get Sick sixty in the slot, and then can
Speaker 1: Darius Tony in the slot. But he can play satellite,
Speaker 1: he can play that kind of offset h back, he
Speaker 1: can play in your backfield. He does it all. Then
Speaker 1: there's a massive drop off. The next is Kyle Rudolph
Speaker 1: at thirty seven percent in the slot. In line, he's
Speaker 1: more of your kind of Drham Smith, Satellite, Ross, Golla Day,
Speaker 1: and Slayton are all outside eighty percent of the time
Speaker 1: or more. And while we talk about versatility, well, you
Speaker 1: typically wind up with Jones and X on the outside right.
Speaker 1: So Kenny Golladay's game physicality, the downfield contestant catch us.
Speaker 1: He wants to beat you with with basically being able
Speaker 1: to win at the top of the route, and that's
Speaker 1: where X really excels among other areas obviously, So I
Speaker 1: kind of like that matchup there as far as trying
Speaker 1: to pick which way you want to go. And of
Speaker 1: course the Dolphins don't typically travel, so you'll get different matchups,
Speaker 1: but that might be an idea that you look at
Speaker 1: in terms of where to go, where not to go
Speaker 1: when they do line up in that particular position. And
Speaker 1: Slayton has a bit of an expanded route tree compared
Speaker 1: to Gola Day, a little more elusive. Laterally, that to
Speaker 1: me matches up with Byron Jones, who is an athletic
Speaker 1: phenomen broking breaking records at the combine you know several
Speaker 1: years ago. John Ross he's a deep target, That's that's
Speaker 1: what he does. He runs down the field. We'll see
Speaker 1: how much he plays if the Giants get other guys
Speaker 1: back this week, but you want to account for that
Speaker 1: speed regardless if he's out there. That's the thing about
Speaker 1: four three four two speed, Like it doesn't matter what
Speaker 1: the guy's production is, you have to account for it.
Speaker 1: Some slot options, I mean Nick need Um, justin Coleman.
Speaker 1: The safeties have all played in those roles and they've
Speaker 1: played well. So Cooper it's just five ft eleven but
Speaker 1: over two pounds, so he kind of has that thick
Speaker 1: lower half and maybe you want to play more physical
Speaker 1: against him as well. Kind of an option they're thinking
Speaker 1: about how to match up on him. Evan Ingram is
Speaker 1: always also rather size, but he's also very athletic and
Speaker 1: can move. So is that Jerome Baker is that Eric Row?
Speaker 1: I tend to lead more towards an Eric Row type
Speaker 1: and tied end. Maybe you get some chips off the
Speaker 1: line and help that way as well. Darius Tony is
Speaker 1: the tricky one because again he moves so well, so
Speaker 1: you need to be able to match that. Maybe you bracket,
Speaker 1: plus you don't want to let him catch the ball
Speaker 1: in space and get free. Everybody else is not as
Speaker 1: much of a threat to go big run after the catch,
Speaker 1: but he certainly is. And then Shepherd's the most polished
Speaker 1: route runner of the bunch, So you probably want to
Speaker 1: get a cornerback that can again move and and not
Speaker 1: take the cheese on fakes and sluggos and double moves
Speaker 1: and that type of thing. Now, we talked about those
Speaker 1: matchups a lot last week, but the next position really
Speaker 1: kind of took center stage as Miami heat up the
Speaker 1: Panther's passing game and really didn't make the outside stuff
Speaker 1: all that event with good coverage as well. So can
Speaker 1: they replicate that success. Let's go ahead and move on
Speaker 1: now to the Giants offensive line verse Dolphins defensive line.
Speaker 1: And here are the players they started against Philly and
Speaker 1: their pressure numbers. This is out a four hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy four pass balking snaps. You get an idea of
Speaker 1: how much time there guys have missed up front. Andrew
Speaker 1: Thomas ten pressures on two snaps. It's a two set
Speaker 1: to hit one sack. A huge jump from year one
Speaker 1: for him. Matt Scurrow, we know who he is. Eight
Speaker 1: teen pressures, two snaps, five hits, one sack. He's played well.
Speaker 1: Billy Price sixteen pressures on four hundred and twenty nine snaps,
Speaker 1: four hits in one sack. Will Hernandez. The right sides
Speaker 1: where things kind of get dicey here Will Hernandez, twenty
Speaker 1: five pressures allowed on four hundred and seventy four pass
Speaker 1: walking snaps. Well, I guess that's pretty good compared to
Speaker 1: the averages of the left side three hits and four sacks.
Speaker 1: And then they sold our thirty pressures allowed four hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty snaps, six hits, six yeah, six hits and
Speaker 1: four sacks. Almost got that mixed up. I wrote some
Speaker 1: of these backwards. I don't know why do that. But
Speaker 1: Andrew Thomas has three pressures allowed since returning after missing
Speaker 1: four weeks, and that was against Tampa Bay and Philly.
Speaker 1: That's a good defensive line play right there. He's really
Speaker 1: turned to the corner and becoming that franchise left tackle
Speaker 1: you expect to get when using the fourth overall pick
Speaker 1: on the player. He hasn't surrendered more than two pressures
Speaker 1: in the game this entire season for Matt Scura, not
Speaker 1: a lot of pressure early on from him, but the
Speaker 1: last two weeks eight pressures and a lot of that
Speaker 1: Within Dominican Sue Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave. They overwhelmed
Speaker 1: him at times and past protection. Something to keep an
Speaker 1: eye on. Billy Price. He's kind of settled in with
Speaker 1: his new team here after coming over from the Bengals
Speaker 1: in the off season, a former first round pick. Five
Speaker 1: pressures in the opener against Washington. That's different, different season
Speaker 1: almost at this point against all those big interior defensive
Speaker 1: lineman they have, like John Allen and never more than
Speaker 1: two pressures since, including just two against the Bucks and
Speaker 1: their stout interior front even without Vida Veia, Will Hernandez
Speaker 1: kind of similar to Matt Scura. Strong start, some tough
Speaker 1: matchups lately. Tampa Bay had six pressures against him, Philly
Speaker 1: had two, case He had four, Carolina had three, and
Speaker 1: a game with the Raiders Sandwich in between. He allowed
Speaker 1: just one pressure in that game. But you see a
Speaker 1: lot of the same things power Derek Brown and Carolina,
Speaker 1: Chris Jones and Casey Sue and Tampa Bay, Cox and
Speaker 1: Hardgrave in Philadelphia and then out Wide Soldier. He's kind
Speaker 1: of also found his rhythm the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: PF did not like his game against Las Vegas three
Speaker 1: weeks ago, just three pressures allowed, however, in the last
Speaker 1: two games, but Shaq Barrett did get him for a
Speaker 1: sack versus the Bucks. So the common theme is that
Speaker 1: teams with a lot of power and bull rushing experts,
Speaker 1: so to speak, have given the Giants more problems than
Speaker 1: the fleet of foot guy the one gap penetrator types.
Speaker 1: And that's well. The former is what the Dolphins do
Speaker 1: so well, both inside and outside. I don't have to
Speaker 1: break down the power of Ogba, of Phillips, of Wilkins,
Speaker 1: of Davis of Seiler, as we've seen several rush moves
Speaker 1: from each of those guys produce some production in these
Speaker 1: recent weeks. I'll be curious to see how Miami wants
Speaker 1: to go, how often they want to go to their
Speaker 1: grush games they have upfront. The Giants just haven't had
Speaker 1: a ton of continuity up front because of those injuries.
Speaker 1: I mean, Matt pert has missed a bunch of games,
Speaker 1: Nick Gates and Shane Lemieux, those three guys were supposed
Speaker 1: to be starters going into the season, and the last
Speaker 1: two guys have been out on i R for some
Speaker 1: time and Matt Perch missing some games and not playing either.
Speaker 1: So tough tough call there for the Giants in terms
Speaker 1: of getting that continuity. Can Miami dive deep into their
Speaker 1: game operation with the twist slants and stunts and the
Speaker 1: loopers and the green dogs and the delays, so many
Speaker 1: options there? Will they go to it? We'll see At
Speaker 1: the other position here on offense, Dolphins linebackers versus Giants
Speaker 1: running backs, And y'all know about se Kwon Barkley. He's
Speaker 1: as talented as they come, but he's played just two
Speaker 1: D nineties seven snaps this season, fifty two of those
Speaker 1: last week, and perhaps his most effective game last game,
Speaker 1: even though it's just three point one yards per carry
Speaker 1: and a half yard departure from his three point six
Speaker 1: season average, but he averaged three point six two yards
Speaker 1: after initial contact. And one of the craziest stats is
Speaker 1: that PF didn't credit him with the forced miss tackle.
Speaker 1: In fact, he hasn't had one of those in Week
Speaker 1: four against New Orleans. He's only carried the ball twenty
Speaker 1: one time since that time, but you still get the
Speaker 1: point like that's usually what his game is, especially behind
Speaker 1: an offensive line that hasn't played consistently. Just five runs
Speaker 1: of ten plus yards all year for him, and never
Speaker 1: more than one in the single game, so no real
Speaker 1: explosive element of this running game. Davante Booker has nine
Speaker 1: of them, but that's fourteen in twelve games. It's not
Speaker 1: very many. And that's such an important element of what
Speaker 1: Miami does to set themselves up for success on defense.
Speaker 1: Get into third and long, send that pressure, bad things
Speaker 1: happen for the offense. So obviously this is more than
Speaker 1: just about the linebackers and running backs. But Christian Wilkins
Speaker 1: had a quote on Wednesday about how he can have
Speaker 1: the game of his life and the run to game
Speaker 1: and not make a tackle. And I think we've seen
Speaker 1: that play out in recent weeks with how Jerome baker
Speaker 1: A laying, the Roberts and even Duke Riley have played
Speaker 1: in their all their roles, all really kind of hitting
Speaker 1: their stride here in the month of November going into December.
Speaker 1: So their speed is gonna be tested, their physicality will
Speaker 1: be tested. They'll have to have an answer for sake
Speaker 1: Qua when he flexes out two small sample size that year,
Speaker 1: but he's been either in the slot or out wide,
Speaker 1: and they can bind twenty five snaps. It's just less
Speaker 1: than ten percent. Again, don't sleep on DeVante Booker. He's
Speaker 1: very versatile on his own right, but most of his
Speaker 1: damage in the passing game comes from the backfield. He's
Speaker 1: also at three point seven yards per carry, so a
Speaker 1: half yard better than se Quon and a bit more
Speaker 1: production with four point five times as many carries. He
Speaker 1: has seven four Smiths tackles and nine runs of ten plus.
Speaker 1: So kick guys to the party and bring him down.
Speaker 1: That's kind of the key to the game here. As
Speaker 1: far as Giants running game goes offensively, over thirty percent
Speaker 1: of the Giants points come from field goals. That's the
Speaker 1: highest rate in the league by a long shot. I
Speaker 1: was carious with their fourth down conversion rate because are
Speaker 1: they kicking field goals on fourth and short? Not so much,
Speaker 1: I mean they're they're you know, winning for the winning
Speaker 1: in the red zones critical for the Dolphins this week,
Speaker 1: But that forty three point four percent conversion rate in
Speaker 1: the red zone ranks thirty second. They are also an
Speaker 1: aggressive team on fourth down, who's attempted seventeen fourth down tries,
Speaker 1: which is tied for ninth most. Now their conversion rate
Speaker 1: is forty seven point one percent, and that's twenty one
Speaker 1: Maybe some of those drives go by the wayside down
Speaker 1: there on fourth down failures, but the vast majority of
Speaker 1: that comes on fourth and very short. So if you
Speaker 1: can force them into fourth and three or longer, they're
Speaker 1: likely going to kick the football, which is mostly true
Speaker 1: of most teams. Eleven personnel that's exactly a league average
Speaker 1: twelve personnel percent. That's seven percent above league average, and
Speaker 1: no other packages greater than three percent, So not a
Speaker 1: ton of diversity there and their deployment. You have to
Speaker 1: wonder if eleven might be even more or if some
Speaker 1: more for four receiver personnel packages might be more prevalent,
Speaker 1: or even two back personnel with Barkley healthy, If all
Speaker 1: these guys were healthy, Tony Slaton Gola Day have missed
Speaker 1: a combined fourteen games, and that is separate besides of
Speaker 1: of Evan Ingram's to miss games. Say Kwon Barkley's four
Speaker 1: miss games, and Kyle Rudolph has missed one games. Not
Speaker 1: the best injury luck here for the Giants. Daniel Jones
Speaker 1: has started all eleven games. We'll see if he makes
Speaker 1: it twelve on Sunday or not, or if it's Mike
Speaker 1: Glenn's first start since weeks seventeen. Last year with the
Speaker 1: Jags was oh and five as a started last year,
Speaker 1: six and twenty one is a start in his career.
Speaker 1: He was sixty last year completion five point nine nine
Speaker 1: yards per pass on a hundred and seventy nine throws,
Speaker 1: seven touchdowns and five picks and a rating of eighty
Speaker 1: point one. He's thrown just twenty five passes this season, touchdown,
Speaker 1: two picks, one six percent completion. How about the other side,
Speaker 1: Dolphins quarterback versus Giants safeties for tah we know about
Speaker 1: the two straight games with eighty percent completion. He did
Speaker 1: it earlier this year against the Falcons as well, and
Speaker 1: if he could do it again for a fourth time
Speaker 1: this year, that would tie an NFL record for number
Speaker 1: of games in one season with eight percent or better
Speaker 1: completion percentage. I think it's a winning formula again this week,
Speaker 1: stay on schedule, protect the football, and continue to play
Speaker 1: this complementary style of football. That's what everybody wants to do.
Speaker 1: I'm intrigued by this tour tour to an Xavier McKinney
Speaker 1: matchup because back at the Combine in I had a
Speaker 1: chance to ask Xavier about sharing the practice field with
Speaker 1: two a tongue of by Low competing against him and
Speaker 1: discussing what each other saw each practice after practice, and
Speaker 1: he was very forthright about him and to A constantly communicating.
Speaker 1: So I wonder who might be the beneficiary, if either
Speaker 1: of them at all in this. Will he know what
Speaker 1: Too wants to do to manipulate coverage? Will to a
Speaker 1: no Xavier's disguise tactics fastening storyline to me, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: ask John Conjenny about that on tomorrow's podcast and get
Speaker 1: more insight on that. But the Giants playing Too High
Speaker 1: more frequently than single high, and teams have been able
Speaker 1: to find success in that way. A hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: passing yards against them and too High compared to ninety
Speaker 1: point one yards per game against single High, and we
Speaker 1: saw Miami have some success with that last week. That's
Speaker 1: where a lot of those throws over the middle, working
Speaker 1: off play action, and that second level behind the linebackers
Speaker 1: is a money spot on kind of those dig routes,
Speaker 1: those in cuts, those curls deep down the field, and
Speaker 1: that's where two has had a lot of success too.
Speaker 1: So as far as the blitz and pressure goes, that
Speaker 1: kind of coincides with how the Giants want to play
Speaker 1: at philosophically, we mentioned the emphasis they have on the trenches.
Speaker 1: They blitz right at the median, tied for sixteenth and
Speaker 1: seventeenth most in the league at twenty four point four percent.
Speaker 1: They want to win their matchups up front and play
Speaker 1: as much coverage as they can, and they have the
Speaker 1: weapons outside to do it. Now, as far as their
Speaker 1: pressure rates, they're not great. Eighteen point seven percent pressure
Speaker 1: is the third fewest in the National Football League, same
Speaker 1: as their quarterback knockdown that's a five point seven and
Speaker 1: they are tied for twenty four with sex Julian Love.
Speaker 1: He's been encourage a lot for the safety position, twenty
Speaker 1: completions on twenty seven targets for two d and twelve
Speaker 1: yards and a hundred forty eight yacht yards. So against
Speaker 1: some of those incut routes, those slants to waddle. If
Speaker 1: he can get those again, split those safeties and take off,
Speaker 1: that's what you want to see. McKinney has been in
Speaker 1: coverage on twenty nine targets for twenty completions, and this
Speaker 1: is that too high thing we talked about. McKinney and
Speaker 1: Love have just twenty one pass rush reps out of
Speaker 1: a thousand total, and Logan Ryan did it more with
Speaker 1: sixteen of his own on six hundred and six snaps.
Speaker 1: And Jabill Peppers is still on injury reserve, so they're
Speaker 1: deep into their back up there. But McKinney in coverage
Speaker 1: twenty yards just eighty nine yacht yards. He's a good
Speaker 1: shirt tackler out wide. Dolphins receivers and tight ends against
Speaker 1: Giants cornerbacks. They've got some dudes here. And remember the
Speaker 1: investment we talked about at the position, Well, their best
Speaker 1: guy is a free agent. James Bradberry has had a
Speaker 1: really nice career, thirty nine complations on sixty two targets
Speaker 1: this season for four hundred and fifty two yards but
Speaker 1: a hundred and eighty yak yards. But that four fifty
Speaker 1: two is on four seventy three coverage snaps, so less
Speaker 1: than a yard per coverage rep. He's typically going to
Speaker 1: take inside coverage. He did get out on Mike Evans
Speaker 1: two weeks ago for seven targets and held him to
Speaker 1: just forty five yards on those targets. Last week, it
Speaker 1: was only Dallas Godder and Jalen Reagor for the Eagles
Speaker 1: and then the week before Hunter Renfro and Darren Waller.
Speaker 1: So inside matchups could mean a lot of Mike Kasiki,
Speaker 1: could mean a lot of Jalan Waddle, whoever Mighty wants
Speaker 1: to put in that regard, and Waddle has seen some
Speaker 1: brackets and doubles. That could be the case here. But
Speaker 1: when you go twelve personnel and the defense adjust more
Speaker 1: of a base type of look, he doesn't leave the field.
Speaker 1: So maybe on those snaps that he plays, you get
Speaker 1: a few of them outside. Maybe you get him on
Speaker 1: the perimeter with a place he's not as familiar with playing,
Speaker 1: So maybe you get him on the perimeter with more
Speaker 1: of that package that is running league high, and twelve
Speaker 1: personnel by a lot is like more than the next team.
Speaker 1: Maybe you do that. Darnay Holmes went out last week.
Speaker 1: He's down, He's played snaps. But Dorri Jackson is the
Speaker 1: other plus guy with brad Berry, he locked the Raiders
Speaker 1: down one catch on seven targets and pretty good versus
Speaker 1: Tampa as well, three on seven targets for thirty four
Speaker 1: yards and a pick, then zero catches last week on
Speaker 1: two targets. He might be the guy you try to avoid.
Speaker 1: If that's something you want to do. He's really coming
Speaker 1: into his own. Other teams have avoided him for the
Speaker 1: most part. Take Crowder has been the most targeted cornerback
Speaker 1: the last three games, but it's all over the field
Speaker 1: against back, tight ends and receivers. We'll see if Miami
Speaker 1: wants to go after that with whoever they go after
Speaker 1: it with, I should say, and I'm most curious about
Speaker 1: the potential return here of Davantae Parker. He practiced on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: I think, given Waddles kind of coming on here, with
Speaker 1: Mike and Durham playing so much, that there could be
Speaker 1: really another nice compliment to that offense. And I'm curious
Speaker 1: to see how they dictate those matchups. Traveling isn't as
Speaker 1: much of a thing these days, and the Giants do
Speaker 1: not have the corners travel, so they're gonna have to
Speaker 1: communicate well on some of the bunches and the stacks
Speaker 1: and things of that nature. But how about the inside
Speaker 1: matchup here the Dolphins offensive line versus the Giant's d line.
Speaker 1: Leonard Williams thirty eight pressures this year, seven sacks and
Speaker 1: six hits. By Pro Football Focus, they don't credit half sacks,
Speaker 1: so some of those numbers are different than what you'll
Speaker 1: see on counting stats sites. Dexter Lawrence twenty eight pressure,
Speaker 1: so the interior that's where they collapse the pocket the most.
Speaker 1: Ziz Ojulari has been a big hit outside for them
Speaker 1: twenty six pressures, six sacks and two hits. His game
Speaker 1: is speed, speed, speed, and in tenacity. He's also just
Speaker 1: a good player with solid techniques, so he can do
Speaker 1: stuff in the running game, pass rush, even fall into coverage.
Speaker 1: But up next in pressures with eighteen as another Idel
Speaker 1: Austin Johnson. So those four guys have a total of
Speaker 1: eighty four run stops amongst them as well, so four
Speaker 1: very productive player. Then you get Lorenzo Carter with twelve
Speaker 1: quarter back pressures and then a drop off down to
Speaker 1: four guys who have seven pressures each. So we saw
Speaker 1: Miami with a great game plan last week against Brian
Speaker 1: Burns and Hassan Reddick, who are primarily outside guys. It
Speaker 1: could be a situation where you kind of work the
Speaker 1: opposite and that could mean a variety of approaches like
Speaker 1: we saw against the Jets with John Franklin Myers and
Speaker 1: Quentin Williams. Do you wham them and just let them
Speaker 1: go up field and take them out with a wham
Speaker 1: block by tight end. Do you keep your backs and
Speaker 1: pass pro and mug them up and have them take
Speaker 1: those guys out immediately. Do you squeeze and leave your
Speaker 1: tackles one on one on the perimeter. Maybe some chip
Speaker 1: help out there too, Lots of options. I'm excited to
Speaker 1: see how Miami matches up the physicality inside. That's what
Speaker 1: Austin Jackson and Rob Hunt do best at Dolphins running
Speaker 1: back versus Giants linebackers. Finally, here in the second level,
Speaker 1: they're banged up here. They've got four in inside linebackers
Speaker 1: on the reserve list. That includes Blake Martinez who was
Speaker 1: brought into kind of quarterback that defense there for the Giants.
Speaker 1: So the top guys now in terms of snap counts,
Speaker 1: and this fits in line with their big physical approach.
Speaker 1: Reggie Ragland you remember him, He played thirty four snaps
Speaker 1: last week, but Narderik McK any, who's a new signy there,
Speaker 1: played twenty two snaps, and Quincy Rochet played thirty one.
Speaker 1: Teams have tried to get them to leave the middle
Speaker 1: and go outside and cover, because that's not really their game.
Speaker 1: They're more thumpers in the running game, and we know
Speaker 1: how this backfield operates in the passing game, So do
Speaker 1: you do that? Do you keep men and pass pro
Speaker 1: We saw a lot of variety last week from these
Speaker 1: Dolphins backs in the offense really in general, and the
Speaker 1: same thing could be said about putting some conflict upon
Speaker 1: the shoulders of those backers, especially as they try to
Speaker 1: kind of acclimate here as more full time guys and
Speaker 1: the absence of the other So some good matchups there
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins. On special teams, the Giants ranked and
Speaker 1: d v O A the Dolphins ranked twenty six. Graham
Speaker 1: Gono has three miss kicks this year, two of them
Speaker 1: from plus fifty one from inside thirty nine yards, but
Speaker 1: no missed extra points. He's good for all fourteen of
Speaker 1: those twenty five on field goals, and then Riley Dixon
Speaker 1: averages forty five point three yards per punt and on returns.
Speaker 1: Jabrill Peppers is their primary guy, but he's down. Nobody
Speaker 1: else has more than three. That's Pharaoh Cooper with thirty
Speaker 1: five yard on three returns eleven point seven yards average,
Speaker 1: and c. J. Board has eleven kickoff returns an averages
Speaker 1: twenty four point eight per per return, no special teams
Speaker 1: touchdowns for the Giants. The Dolphins will win this game
Speaker 1: if the defense continues to execute. New York has had
Speaker 1: injury slash continuity bugs all year, and if Miami can
Speaker 1: continue to stay multiple, formulate a Giant specific game plan
Speaker 1: that they lock in on an execute, it's gonna have
Speaker 1: a tough time for the Giants to beat this Dolphins defense.
Speaker 1: If they can do that, they could be able to
Speaker 1: have one of those relentless pressure slash beneficial field possession games.
Speaker 1: That sets the offense up for a bunch of success again,
Speaker 1: and the Giants will win if they generate takeaways. They're
Speaker 1: gonna have to do that to get this upset. We
Speaker 1: saw them to keep Philly out of the end zone
Speaker 1: time and time again last week with all those turnovers
Speaker 1: late down the field and at critical times. I think
Speaker 1: if the offense stays patient and doesn't make the critical mistake,
Speaker 1: then Miami can make it five straight. My three keys
Speaker 1: for the game create third and long situations for the
Speaker 1: New York offense. We'll see how this Dolphense defense can
Speaker 1: tee it up again if they get in those situations.
Speaker 1: Number two, dominate the red zone Giants have struggled downe there,
Speaker 1: keep that going number three. Protect the football, Do not
Speaker 1: give them short fields, do not give them extra possessions.
Speaker 1: Those are the three keys to the game. My Thursday
Speaker 1: night football pick this week Dallas over New Orleans. Two
Speaker 1: teams construct one right now, but give me the Cowboys
Speaker 1: to bounce back after that tough Thanksgiving night loss. All right,
Speaker 1: that is gonna be my time. You all, please be
Speaker 1: sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast. Leave
Speaker 1: us a rating, leave us a review. You can follow
Speaker 1: me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL, follow the team at
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins across all social accounts. Check out the fish
Speaker 1: Tank podcast with Seth and o J and of course
Speaker 1: our postgame show on five sixt w q a M.
Speaker 1: Check out the YouTube channel for Dolphins Today and all
Speaker 1: of our media availabilities had some good ones on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time
Speaker 1: finds up Caroline, Daddy is coming home.