Speaker 1: Two fires touch stop Waddles knocked into the end zone
Speaker 1: of Miami Boy Tip bron Tike window. They had to
Speaker 1: get that touchdown on that play they gain it. What
Speaker 1: is up, Dolphins and welcome to the Drive Time Podcast,
Speaker 1: part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team,
Speaker 1: your Miami Dolphins. How's it going, everybody, It's a Friday.
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and as always I
Speaker 1: am here to bring you your daily dose of Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins football. And on today's show, it's a fan Friday.
Speaker 1: You know what that means. Your questions via the Twitter
Speaker 1: mail bag, will answer those with John kN Jemmy will
Speaker 1: break down this game on Sunday with John as well,
Speaker 1: and we'll also get into the NFL picks for week
Speaker 1: number seventeen. Two more weeks to go, and we are
Speaker 1: flying through the end of the season here on the
Speaker 1: podcast from somewhere in South Florida. This is the Drive
Speaker 1: Time Podcast. Let's go ahead and open this podcast as
Speaker 1: we do on Fridays, by welcoming and my friend John
Speaker 1: con Jemmy And after a week hiatus, I'm happy to
Speaker 1: welcome back into the Drivetime Podcast, John kN Jemmy. We
Speaker 1: didn't talk to you over the Christmas holiday, John, But
Speaker 1: how was your holiday? How are things going for you?
Speaker 1: My friend, Christmas was outstanding, Travis. Um, I hope yours
Speaker 1: was as well. Um. Yeah, I had spent time with
Speaker 1: the family. I got to get outside and and uh
Speaker 1: enjoy the South Florida Winner, which was like you know degrees.
Speaker 1: It was cooler in the morning and nice in the afternoon.
Speaker 1: So I got to play some golf with my son
Speaker 1: and my friends. So everything was safe and healthy, so
Speaker 1: active focusing on football now. All of my friends back
Speaker 1: home would be jealous of what you just said. Playing
Speaker 1: golf around Christmas time does not exist where I'm from,
Speaker 1: and you mentioned the weather down here. I couldn't wait
Speaker 1: to get back, John. It was nice to see everybody,
Speaker 1: but I couldn't wait to get back. And you know,
Speaker 1: the NFL, the way this league works, like the holidays,
Speaker 1: the work still comes and doesn't stop. So we're still
Speaker 1: plugging away here and I'm glad you had a happy holiday.
Speaker 1: New Year's coming up, actually New Year's Eve right now
Speaker 1: on this as we as we published this podcast on Friday,
Speaker 1: but let's go ahead and jump into the matchup on Sunday,
Speaker 1: because it's a big one. John, We've been kind of
Speaker 1: angling towards this point of the season. During the course
Speaker 1: of this winning streak, just keep basically keep saying, Hey,
Speaker 1: if they keep winning, the games keep getting more and
Speaker 1: more important. So we come into this game against a
Speaker 1: team that I believe they've punched their ticket to the postseason.
Speaker 1: If not, they're very close to having done so. So
Speaker 1: one of these kind of higher level A f C teams.
Speaker 1: What are the keys to stopping Let's go on the
Speaker 1: offensive side of the football. Ryan Tannehill, A J. Brown.
Speaker 1: They got things cranking in that game on Thursday. What
Speaker 1: do you think the keys are stopping that Titans offense. Well,
Speaker 1: they're a good team. They're a solid team. In most Sundays,
Speaker 1: they don't beat themselves. So I think for the Dolphins
Speaker 1: this week, it's gonna be a lot of what they've
Speaker 1: been doing in this seven game win streak is don't
Speaker 1: give the Titans the easy interception or don't give the Titans,
Speaker 1: you know, easy field position where they don't have to
Speaker 1: do too much to get points. And he goes back
Speaker 1: to the quarterback always and Ryan Tannehill, we know him well.
Speaker 1: He's a tough kid. He's not a kid anymore, but
Speaker 1: he is to me and um, you know it just
Speaker 1: when you watch him play. The better they are around
Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill, the better he's going to play because he
Speaker 1: doesn't have to risk the football. It's really a lot
Speaker 1: of curls, a lot of slants, Uh, some tight end
Speaker 1: play Uh. You get off of that play action if
Speaker 1: they can run it a little bit. Uh. They remind
Speaker 1: me of of the Miami Dolphins right now when you
Speaker 1: take a look at their offense. You know they have
Speaker 1: Foreman and McNichols and Hillard. I believe it is that
Speaker 1: they have a trio that's getting it done. With Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry out and it doesn't look like you know, he's
Speaker 1: coming back anytime soon. Maybe next week before the play offs,
Speaker 1: if if everything goes well for the Titans. But you know,
Speaker 1: it reminds me of Johnson, Gaskin and Lindsay over the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks. If they get enough out of
Speaker 1: that trio of running the football and whoever has the
Speaker 1: hot hand is gonna go for both teams. That helps
Speaker 1: to U, That helps Tannehill, That helps their their their
Speaker 1: quick passing game, it helps their play action, helps the
Speaker 1: r p O. It helps all that a quarterback is
Speaker 1: looking for when they're not just primarily a past first
Speaker 1: team So, um, I think you have to take that
Speaker 1: into account. You know, since the Henry injury, you know,
Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill's numbers, his percentages has been good around, but
Speaker 1: the touchdown to interception ratio hasn't been only five touchdowns
Speaker 1: to seven interceptions. So you feel like you've got the
Speaker 1: upper hand on defense, especially if they can shut down
Speaker 1: the run that is the Dolphins defense and get to
Speaker 1: that pressure package that has been really difficult on young quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: Let's see how it works on a on a veteran
Speaker 1: guy this week hopefully. Yeah. I think that's a key
Speaker 1: to this game is is multiple takeaways for this Dolphins defense,
Speaker 1: and that that's what they've been doing. I went back
Speaker 1: to basically after the o N seven start in twenty
Speaker 1: nine team when Miami put together that run that gave
Speaker 1: them a the NFL's longest streak of a consecutive games
Speaker 1: the takeaway. They've only had two games this year without
Speaker 1: a takeaway. So going back over the last thirty seven games,
Speaker 1: Miami's taking the football away sixty one times. It's what
Speaker 1: they do and I think they have to do it
Speaker 1: in this game. John, I have a few follow ups
Speaker 1: for you there that I want to get to, But
Speaker 1: number one, I want to ask you about play action
Speaker 1: passing when the running game is not working, and how
Speaker 1: you can thwart a team's play action passing game. Because
Speaker 1: for the Titans, and John, you mentioned we know Ryan Tannehill,
Speaker 1: well that's what he was so good good at down
Speaker 1: here in Miami that seen season twelve personnel hand the
Speaker 1: ball off to a gi hit the play action passing game.
Speaker 1: And it's not like you have to have a dominant
Speaker 1: running game to make that happen, because he's done that
Speaker 1: with him without Derrick Henry the lineup. He's done it
Speaker 1: throughout the course of his career. So my question is,
Speaker 1: how do you for a play action game is it's
Speaker 1: got to be more than just stopping the run, right,
Speaker 1: you have to find ways to get him a third long.
Speaker 1: What do you think is the best way to stop
Speaker 1: the play action game for the Titans. Well, the Dolphins
Speaker 1: obviously have to win on early downs. You know, you
Speaker 1: you have to take away Ryan Tannehill's first option. Most
Speaker 1: times it's a J Brown, could be you know, a
Speaker 1: checkdown on certain instances after play action, you play actually
Speaker 1: don't like it. Get it to the tight end, you play,
Speaker 1: actually don't like it. You scramble a little bit, you
Speaker 1: make a play with your legs. Those are the types
Speaker 1: of things that Ryan Tannehill does really well. The ad
Speaker 1: lib play and the on scheduled play. I think that
Speaker 1: they go hand in hand. That's part of what the
Speaker 1: Titans like to do on offense. Minus Derrick Henry. Now,
Speaker 1: if you can get him to hold the football, have
Speaker 1: him squeeze the air out of it, which sometimes in
Speaker 1: games that don't start off really well for Ryan, he
Speaker 1: has a tendency to hold it. Now, the Titans have
Speaker 1: given up forty five sacks. That means they're getting away
Speaker 1: from the running game. They're putting more pressure on their
Speaker 1: passing game. Uh you know that's that's fourth most in
Speaker 1: the NFL. The Dolphins can get to that situation where
Speaker 1: they take away the run, it really takes away your
Speaker 1: play action game because you don't have to honor it
Speaker 1: as much because the front four, the front five or
Speaker 1: kind of handling, you know, the line of scrimmage. Now
Speaker 1: you get to attack mode where you might put Xavian
Speaker 1: Howard or you might put Jones exclusively on a j Brown,
Speaker 1: Hey have run around with them the entire afternoon, or
Speaker 1: a combination of both of those guys, and you get
Speaker 1: after the quarterback is if you can get into that scenario,
Speaker 1: it goes back to stopping the run, stopping the play
Speaker 1: action if it's non existent, boy advantage Miami, because now
Speaker 1: they get into all that exotic defense and that exotic
Speaker 1: look and you either going to hold onto it. You
Speaker 1: either gonna throw it away or gonna throw it to
Speaker 1: a different colored jersey at some point in that equation.
Speaker 1: I was telling a friend earlier this week how weird
Speaker 1: it is to game plan, or you know, put a
Speaker 1: podcast together and have these conversations about how to stop
Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill after seven years of talking about how he
Speaker 1: can beat the opposition. It's it's kind of a bizarro
Speaker 1: world from me, John, And I was going back on
Speaker 1: my my Facebook memories of all things the other day,
Speaker 1: and I remembered that in that twenty nineteen season when
Speaker 1: he turned things around with the Titans, there they had
Speaker 1: run a CBF story on him, and they had a
Speaker 1: b roll of some different articles written about Tannehill and
Speaker 1: they focused on one that I wrote about when he
Speaker 1: was traded and it was Ryan or Dolphins trade Tannehill
Speaker 1: where things went wrong, and that was kind of a
Speaker 1: nice reminder of like myself starting to get recognized more
Speaker 1: and more here, and I found that very interesting. So
Speaker 1: as I'm sitting here talking about Tannehill, we've kind of
Speaker 1: beaten that horse. I think I want to just one
Speaker 1: last follow up here about the Titans offense. And you
Speaker 1: mentioned A J. Brown And I know Julio Jones is
Speaker 1: back and he's been kind of banged up this year,
Speaker 1: but again, that offense really got going when A J.
Speaker 1: Brown got involved. What's the best way to handle him?
Speaker 1: I mean, you've got so many options because of the
Speaker 1: way the secondary is built. We've seen, I mean we
Speaker 1: saw it on Monday, the way they doubled and took
Speaker 1: Alvin Camara basically out of that game. Is that the
Speaker 1: approach is a time for xaviing Howard to say, hey,
Speaker 1: you're an all pro quarnerback, go over there and handle him.
Speaker 1: Byron Jones is pretty good too, does he do it? Like?
Speaker 1: What do you think is the best approach for slowing
Speaker 1: down a guy that put up eleven catches on sixteen
Speaker 1: targets for a Buck thirty five and a touchdown last week. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean a G Browns and alpha male, right, Like,
Speaker 1: this is a guy that's going to get his catches.
Speaker 1: He's going to get his targets. I just think you
Speaker 1: have to make it consistently difficult and whether that means
Speaker 1: xaviing Howard is is shadowing him the entire game, and
Speaker 1: you feel like you can get away with, you know,
Speaker 1: the lesser evil of the two and let Ryan Tannehill
Speaker 1: pick and choose where else he wants to go with
Speaker 1: football or is he gonna try to you know, jam
Speaker 1: it to a J. Brown because he has such a
Speaker 1: big catch radius and he trusts him so much, you
Speaker 1: know when the balls in the air, or is it
Speaker 1: a combination of Howard and Jones? You know, I don't
Speaker 1: know how the defensive scheme is going about, you know,
Speaker 1: with their pressure packages and what they've shown on film
Speaker 1: and how much they're gonna vary from that. You know,
Speaker 1: sometimes you can outthink yourself and say, listen, we're going
Speaker 1: more against the veteran. It's not rookie. It's not rookie
Speaker 1: back to back weeks or a guy that's never taken
Speaker 1: a snap in the National Football League, and we have
Speaker 1: to depend on him throwing us to football on a mistake.
Speaker 1: You know, I would think that somewhere down the line.
Speaker 1: And I was having this conversation with Damn Reno the
Speaker 1: other day. I was saying, somewhere down the line, if
Speaker 1: I'm the offensive coordinator of an opposing team and the
Speaker 1: Dolphins line up with seven across the board and they're
Speaker 1: man coverage and it's zero, I'm telling a j Brown
Speaker 1: it might be this week. You get on your horse
Speaker 1: and you run as fast as you can right to
Speaker 1: the outside shoulder xaviing Howard or right to the outside
Speaker 1: shoulder of Jones, and you just get on your horse
Speaker 1: and go. And I'm gonna throw it with a bunch
Speaker 1: of air and it's gonna be meet you about forty
Speaker 1: yards down the field. But I'm gonna do that three
Speaker 1: or four times in the game to get the Dolphins out,
Speaker 1: because one of those times I might hit for six
Speaker 1: and it might back him off the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: So if I'm the offensive coordinator and I see that
Speaker 1: blitz coverage coming, and even if they bail out, I
Speaker 1: still want to be able to have somebody my best
Speaker 1: player going a million miles an hour down the field
Speaker 1: to try to do something different because the heels of
Speaker 1: the defender or planning firmly about eight to ten yards.
Speaker 1: And in that game against the Saints, they weren't moving.
Speaker 1: And if you if you watch the replay again, boy,
Speaker 1: that outside x ra Z receiver, he had a lot
Speaker 1: of daylight when the ball was thrown underneath. But if
Speaker 1: you hang some air underneath it, you just guess, right,
Speaker 1: you can guess for six. So that's how I would
Speaker 1: combat the Dolphins defense. And for the Dolphins, they you know,
Speaker 1: they maybe not outthink themselves. They've got something that's working.
Speaker 1: Let's see how it works against Bryan Tannehill once you
Speaker 1: shut the run down. Yeah, that vertical game certainly one
Speaker 1: area that can they can back you off that cover zero. Look,
Speaker 1: I think the Titans post probably the best challenge so
Speaker 1: far we've seen over the course of the winning streak
Speaker 1: of doing that, besides maybe the Ravens and Lamar Jackson.
Speaker 1: They had that one chance early in that game that
Speaker 1: didn't go to Sammy Watkins and they couldn't get back
Speaker 1: to the rest of the game. So again you talked
Speaker 1: about a J. Brown, that's xaviing Howard and Byron Jones.
Speaker 1: I like those matchups too, So let's go to the
Speaker 1: other side of the football and talk about this Titans
Speaker 1: up front. I mean, I'm curious about how you would
Speaker 1: approach this, John, because if you look at their their frontline,
Speaker 1: guys play a significant majority of the snaps and the
Speaker 1: production matches like Jeffrey Simmons and Dnico Autrey have insane
Speaker 1: pass rush production. The same is true of Harold Landry
Speaker 1: and Bud Dupree off either edge, and then beyond that,
Speaker 1: their depth hasn't had to play a whole lot this
Speaker 1: year and thus the production is not there. I'm curious
Speaker 1: if there's a way the Dolphins can force them to
Speaker 1: get their depth onto the field and see if other
Speaker 1: guys can beat you. Is there a way to tire
Speaker 1: those guys down or find a way to get their
Speaker 1: snap count way up there? The only way in my
Speaker 1: mind that Dolphins kind of have the upper hand. I
Speaker 1: think the offensive line needs to have their most complete
Speaker 1: game of the year. Now that that doesn't mean it's
Speaker 1: always in the run game or it's always in past protection.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about assignment football and not allowing you know
Speaker 1: that that free blitzer or that guy that just wins
Speaker 1: clean off the line of scrimmage. That's how that's how
Speaker 1: you slow down the Titans defense in that front seven
Speaker 1: because as you mentioned, you know, Harold Landry's coming off
Speaker 1: the edge with his hair burn on fire. You know,
Speaker 1: he has eleven sacks on the ear Simmons. You can
Speaker 1: move him anywhere along that defensive front. He can find
Speaker 1: the quarterback, he can occupy multiple blockers. Uh. And then
Speaker 1: I think Autrey's the guy. He may be out of
Speaker 1: the game. He might have been on the COVID list,
Speaker 1: I think yesterday, So I'm not so sure if he's
Speaker 1: you know where he's at in terms of coming back.
Speaker 1: But it's a formidable front. But I think I still
Speaker 1: feel like you do a little bit, Travis. I think
Speaker 1: the Dolphins they've got so much confidence right now, they
Speaker 1: don't care which running back it is. Somebody get a
Speaker 1: hot hand to still completes a high percentage of throws
Speaker 1: over this seven game win Street. If that continues and
Speaker 1: you you take out that one or two really bad
Speaker 1: play instead of a turnovers incomplete or even to take
Speaker 1: a sack, you know, just don't give it up and
Speaker 1: make them earn what they get in terms of field position.
Speaker 1: I think the Dolphins, gosh, I like their chances against
Speaker 1: this against this group. Yeah, if the offense can find
Speaker 1: kind of find a way to get things clicking, that's
Speaker 1: all I'm going to provide them with, you know, more
Speaker 1: ways to win down the stretch here. And we saw
Speaker 1: it on the Monday night game. I think it was
Speaker 1: pretty clear they wanted to play a complimentary style to
Speaker 1: really complement a defensive performance that had a good chance
Speaker 1: to play at a high level, and they definitely fulfilled
Speaker 1: that that outlook, and the offense was kind of just
Speaker 1: you know, like you mentioned, don't give them short fields,
Speaker 1: don't turn the ball over easy in receptions, things like that.
Speaker 1: I'm curious to see if they get into a situation
Speaker 1: in a game where they have to go make some plays,
Speaker 1: how they can go ahead and do that. And so,
Speaker 1: speaking of that offensive side of the football, what do
Speaker 1: you think is the key to making that happen here?
Speaker 1: Because Jalen Waddle has, i mean really throughout the course
Speaker 1: of the season, going back to training camp, it looks
Speaker 1: like he was clearly going to be a guy on
Speaker 1: this offense and he's taken that role to really another
Speaker 1: level to where he's basically setting records every single week
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins, for rookies across the NFL, whatever the
Speaker 1: case may be. What about his usage in this game
Speaker 1: some keys to the offensive success. You touched on the
Speaker 1: running backs a little bit, just kind of give us
Speaker 1: an overview about how you think this Dolphins offense might
Speaker 1: look in this game. I think it's it's time for
Speaker 1: two to have a dominant game, you know, in terms
Speaker 1: of not that complimentary guy, but come out and use
Speaker 1: that tempo a little bit, come out and really accentuate
Speaker 1: what he does well, and have guys around him other
Speaker 1: than Jalen Waddle, because Jalen is gonna be a focal
Speaker 1: point of the offense. But have other guys kind of
Speaker 1: make a play here there that that dictate how well
Speaker 1: the Dolphins do offensively. You know, whether it's Mike Kisiki
Speaker 1: making a tight catch, or or it's Germ mind, or
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's outside with Devonte Parker. You know Hollands,
Speaker 1: Like a big play like Hollands made against New Orleans Saints.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a hell of a catch at at
Speaker 1: a critical time. But but that's a chain mover. I
Speaker 1: mean that's a forty yard plus play. Plays like that,
Speaker 1: you have to stay consistent, you have to kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, pick and choose one to do it. But
Speaker 1: those are the types of plays I think that are
Speaker 1: gonna create some separation in terms of if the Dolphins
Speaker 1: start fast, stay consistent, don't make those critical mistakes. Are
Speaker 1: those errors early? I think they're they're as good as
Speaker 1: the Titans, if not better. Right now. I think they're
Speaker 1: on a more of a of a mojo role than
Speaker 1: the Titans are right now, even though they're coming off
Speaker 1: from a night Thursday night win and they have ten
Speaker 1: wins on the season. I think the Dolphins believe they're
Speaker 1: gonna every time they hit the field, they're gonna win now.
Speaker 1: And I think that's the mentality no matter if things
Speaker 1: go poorly early or not. But more important this week,
Speaker 1: I think with the rain, the in the snow, all
Speaker 1: the stuff that can happen on Sunday, and that's what
Speaker 1: they're calling for, it would be good early and make
Speaker 1: that a start point to have more success as the
Speaker 1: game goes on, ye and kind of drive that confidence factor.
Speaker 1: Like you're talking about home right, A quick score could
Speaker 1: really I think give the Dolphins all kinds of confidence.
Speaker 1: We saw on Monday night the defensive score. I really
Speaker 1: thought that changed the complexion of the rest of that
Speaker 1: ball game because all of a sudden, the back of
Speaker 1: ian books mind like, I can't make a mistake like
Speaker 1: that again. It cannot happen for us to have success.
Speaker 1: Do something like that. A big defensive takeaway and opening
Speaker 1: drive score, I think would go a long way. John
Speaker 1: has had a bunch here, but I want to go
Speaker 1: ahead and compartmentalize it into one thing. The Dolphins will
Speaker 1: win this game in your opinion, if fill in the blank,
Speaker 1: they win field position, special teams, and turnovers. So that's
Speaker 1: my focus this week because I mentioned whether and most times,
Speaker 1: you know, you don't have that be a factor. Living
Speaker 1: in South Florida, playing at hard Rock Stadium, and this
Speaker 1: year the Dolphins have been very lucky when they have
Speaker 1: gone on the road, haven't really faced any adversity in
Speaker 1: terms of mother nature. This week, I think it's there.
Speaker 1: They're calling for, you know, a little bit of rain early,
Speaker 1: they're calling for snow flurries, and they're calling for wind
Speaker 1: and gusts up to twenty five. Well, one thing that
Speaker 1: does it affects throwing the football down the field, and
Speaker 1: it affects your kicking game, and the kicking game is
Speaker 1: about a draw in my opinion in terms of Brandy
Speaker 1: Bullock and Jason Sanders. But Mike Palardy has been on
Speaker 1: a little bit of a role if he can continue
Speaker 1: his hot streak in terms of, you know, punts inside
Speaker 1: the twenty last week he had three one inside the
Speaker 1: five yard line. Great playing by Holland that you know
Speaker 1: to get the football uh covered up inside the five
Speaker 1: yard line. But it's field position, it's turnovers, and I
Speaker 1: think it's kicking game. I think it's gonna play a
Speaker 1: major factor in terms of where Ryan Tanhill starts, where
Speaker 1: to a tongue of violis starts his offense, and and
Speaker 1: how this game kind of progresses. If to only has
Speaker 1: to go forty six yards with with a lot of success,
Speaker 1: he can do that. If you put Tannehill on a
Speaker 1: long field for the majority of the game, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe the Dolphins win that field position and it it
Speaker 1: kind of kicks the confidence in that in that short
Speaker 1: field over to two. I think if that happens, you know,
Speaker 1: I think that the Dolphins can win this tough game
Speaker 1: on the road and where points are going to be
Speaker 1: in the premium to The Titans have only tried one
Speaker 1: field will of fifty plus yards this year. I think
Speaker 1: that could play a factor as well. See if they
Speaker 1: get more aggressive in the kicking game or stay aggressive
Speaker 1: on the offensive side. And to your point about the weather,
Speaker 1: I just pulled up the weather app here like Nashville's
Speaker 1: whether the next three days looks like it's beautiful? Now
Speaker 1: it's beautiful. It reminds me of like one of those
Speaker 1: like disaster movies. You have Friday seventy two degrees high
Speaker 1: chance of rain, Saturday seventy three with a nine chance
Speaker 1: of lightning, okay, and then Sunday goes down to fifty
Speaker 1: seven with a low of twenty seven a thirty degree
Speaker 1: range with a sixty chance of snow. That's it's wild.
Speaker 1: We'll see what happens comes Sunday. But hopefully this Dolphins
Speaker 1: team is is ready and prepared and we know they
Speaker 1: will be wherever. Do you know what it Travis? It
Speaker 1: goes back to saying, you know the offense can stay
Speaker 1: on the field and not consistently get behind the chains.
Speaker 1: You know weather plays a huge factor in your play calling.
Speaker 1: You know, because you're up in the booth going. I
Speaker 1: don't want to put this team in a bad situation.
Speaker 1: You gotta stay kind of on the edge. Even though
Speaker 1: it's bad weather, it's tougher on both sides. You know,
Speaker 1: at least on offense, you know where you're going, right,
Speaker 1: and that could play a factor into a big play
Speaker 1: and hopefully hopefully in the Dolphin's favor. Let's so, let's
Speaker 1: let's see how that plays out. I'm very excited about
Speaker 1: this game, John, It's been it's been a long time
Speaker 1: since we had a game this feling. I think, really
Speaker 1: really last year against Buffalo was the last kind of big, big,
Speaker 1: big game like this we've seen. So hopefully it goes
Speaker 1: our way this time around. I got three male bad
Speaker 1: questions for you, John, You ready, yeah, absolutely, all right.
Speaker 1: First one here, and this is going against what we
Speaker 1: want to talk about here. It's one day a time, right,
Speaker 1: But at Aaron asks, how far do you think this
Speaker 1: team can go if the defense continues to play at
Speaker 1: this level they have been since the streak began. Well,
Speaker 1: hopefully they can go for two more weeks, uh as
Speaker 1: solid two weeks because that gets you in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and it probably gets you right back into Tennessee facing
Speaker 1: the Titans. You know the way things look. But if
Speaker 1: this defense continues to create the turnovers, create the sacks,
Speaker 1: create the force fumbles and fuel position for this offense,
Speaker 1: this team can go a long way as long as
Speaker 1: they get some complimentary football from offense and special teams.
Speaker 1: But it's been fun to watch. I mean, there is
Speaker 1: no question the offense has played good, you know, but
Speaker 1: they haven't played great. The defense has played great to outstanding.
Speaker 1: I mean that this this unit has been spectacular. It's
Speaker 1: everything we thought they would be for the first maybe
Speaker 1: seven or eight weeks of the season. They've turned it around.
Speaker 1: They've turned it around in a spectacular fashion. I'm with
Speaker 1: you Sunday and in the following Sunday. Let's just keep
Speaker 1: going one game at a time and keep this thing rolling.
Speaker 1: Next question from at Uncle Poppy. Parker was targeted once
Speaker 1: last game and GESICKI not targeted very much. Either. Is
Speaker 1: this more of a game plan thing or is to
Speaker 1: not looking their way? John, I can tell you're off
Speaker 1: the top, hair, and you can continue this. Marshawn Lattimore
Speaker 1: drew Parker almost the entire game. That's one of the
Speaker 1: best cover cornerbacks in the league. What do you think
Speaker 1: what was the cause of that? Well, I think that
Speaker 1: had a lot to do with it. And I think
Speaker 1: game plan wise, when you looked at New Orleans and
Speaker 1: their weakness with all the COVID list defenders and especially
Speaker 1: at linebacker, you put Jalen Waddle in the backfield. Now
Speaker 1: you draw a linebacker immediately for coverage, or you get zone,
Speaker 1: or you get a guy that's running away from guys
Speaker 1: that don't have that type of speed. So I think
Speaker 1: the Dolphins really kind of game planned into a fact
Speaker 1: where do we have our best matchups and might not
Speaker 1: be on the outside because the Lattimore is one of
Speaker 1: their better players. And this week, you know, Jenkins is
Speaker 1: pretty good at the corner, you get Bird that's really
Speaker 1: good on the outside. You know, you gotta look at
Speaker 1: matchups and where do the Dolphins have the best advantage,
Speaker 1: you know, So last week it was by moving Jalen
Speaker 1: from slot to extra Z back into the backfield that
Speaker 1: are running back. This week it might be a tight end,
Speaker 1: or it might be uh, you know, somebody on the outside.
Speaker 1: So it's all about the matchups and and this week,
Speaker 1: you know, it's the front seven that are really good.
Speaker 1: They can get after the quarterback. But I do think
Speaker 1: there's some things you can take advantage of in the secondary.
Speaker 1: I want to give Parker some credit because I think
Speaker 1: you're right about the game plan, Like, let's not even
Speaker 1: try Alata more because we saw what happened when they did.
Speaker 1: He picked it off and gave him a short field.
Speaker 1: That's the kind of player he is. But Parker ran
Speaker 1: every route hard. He set some things up with like
Speaker 1: you know, setting rubs and picks and kind of being
Speaker 1: a decoy on someplace. So big time credit to him
Speaker 1: for just going through the game plan, probably knowing the
Speaker 1: ball is not gonna come this way very often. Last
Speaker 1: one here from at Russell Grace sixteen. He's already talked
Speaker 1: about this, but the forecast for Nashville is not good
Speaker 1: for Miami. Close to freezing temps and wind gusts up
Speaker 1: to twenty miles per hour. What kinds of preparation and games, Tragy,
Speaker 1: do you think the coaches will deploy? The last time
Speaker 1: they played in conditions like this, there was a lot
Speaker 1: of drop passes. John, What do you think how do
Speaker 1: you get ready for a game like that? Well, I
Speaker 1: don't know if you and get ready without being in
Speaker 1: the elements. And obviously you know preparing in South Florida
Speaker 1: isn't going to get you ready for that. But I
Speaker 1: think it's one of those things you draw on on
Speaker 1: prior experiences. You know, you you've all, if you've played
Speaker 1: this game long enough, you played in the rain, You've
Speaker 1: played in the snow, you've played in mud, you played
Speaker 1: in that. Pretty much every win any type of condition,
Speaker 1: you have to draw on some of the positives that
Speaker 1: you've had in the past and learned from some of
Speaker 1: the experiences that maybe didn't go so well. So you
Speaker 1: know what you like to do, what you don't like
Speaker 1: to do. And I think communication between all the coordinators,
Speaker 1: you know, whether it's offensive, defensive, and special teams. Particularly
Speaker 1: for me, when to a you know, you get with
Speaker 1: the coordinators you say, hey, this is what I really
Speaker 1: like in this situation. You know, I don't want to
Speaker 1: maybe throw that play outside the numbers. I'd rather get
Speaker 1: to something like this, or maybe I do want to
Speaker 1: take a shot when I see a certain coverage and uh,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna go ahead and kind of get to
Speaker 1: that play if this you know, certain yardage or certain
Speaker 1: down and distance presents itself. So I think communication is
Speaker 1: a big factor because when you're sitting in the box,
Speaker 1: but you know, with the other coaches, you're not out
Speaker 1: in the wind and the rain and the you know,
Speaker 1: in the snow, you really don't get a good feel
Speaker 1: for it. So you're calling plays in maybe from upstairs
Speaker 1: that look pretty good on paper, but it's communication with
Speaker 1: the guys that are out there here. I can get
Speaker 1: a guy because he's flat footed in in this this footing,
Speaker 1: he's not gonna be able to to you know, reroute.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's a double move here are there? So it's
Speaker 1: a communication is a huge factor when you have weather
Speaker 1: that's involved in the game, and hopefully Miami's short passing
Speaker 1: game can be efficient and kind of help them just
Speaker 1: you know, take that methodical approach and sustained like you
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, sustained possession, keep the defense fresh and ready
Speaker 1: to get after the opposing quarterback. There, John, you said
Speaker 1: it all as always, my friend. I appreciate your time
Speaker 1: on the podcast here. Happy New Year to my friend.
Speaker 1: It's Friday, So do you have any picks for the
Speaker 1: ball game today? Boy? I know, I don't know. I hope,
Speaker 1: I hope. Let's see. I guess we're we're owned by
Speaker 1: the guys that went to Michigan, So maybe go Wolverine
Speaker 1: smart and uh smart play there. Yeah, and you know what,
Speaker 1: I don't know, Cincinnati. Somehow God gets to this point.
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be a good game for in
Speaker 1: the beginning of this game because they're gonna play with
Speaker 1: a lot of emotion. But when things kind of settled,
Speaker 1: I think that Alabama's the dominant team. Tough to go
Speaker 1: against Bama. I do agree with you. I think Michigan
Speaker 1: against that Georgia offense is a big mismatch, even though
Speaker 1: Georgia's defense is great. We'll see how Stetson Bennet can
Speaker 1: handle that tough, tough Michigan defense. So we will see
Speaker 1: for the Bowl games as well as the Dolphins on Sunday, John,
Speaker 1: thank you again so much. Have a happy New Year
Speaker 1: with my friend, and we'll talk to you next week. Yeah. Absolutely, Travis,
Speaker 1: you as well, and the way he goes informative as
Speaker 1: always there with John con Jemmy can't wait to watch
Speaker 1: the season finale with him in the press box against
Speaker 1: the Patriots. But we do have a game coming up
Speaker 1: on Sunday, still on the road in Nashville against the Titans.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and get to the rest of the
Speaker 1: mail bag here and there are a few more questions
Speaker 1: will answer on the Miami doll dot com written edition
Speaker 1: of the mailbad. We start here with at Miami Kid eight,
Speaker 1: what do you think happened to spark this seven game
Speaker 1: winning streak. I think you go back to the Buffalo
Speaker 1: Bills game on Halloween, the seventh consecutive loss for the
Speaker 1: season four Miami in that particular space, and I thought
Speaker 1: the defensive production was coming around in that game through
Speaker 1: the first three or so quarters, with the type man coverage,
Speaker 1: a mix of good man and zone in the back end,
Speaker 1: some of the blitz packages, the ability to get run
Speaker 1: stops against that Buffalo offense and also create pressure on
Speaker 1: Josh Allen to force him outside the pocket into secondary reads,
Speaker 1: possibly some potential mistakes if you can get him to
Speaker 1: do that. I thought we saw that in that game,
Speaker 1: and it's just been a continuation of that ever since.
Speaker 1: Matching your opponent with the correct game plan for pressure,
Speaker 1: for playing kind of off, for mixing man zone, and
Speaker 1: offensively as well, I think two has come along really
Speaker 1: along in this kind of second portion of his second
Speaker 1: season with command leaders hip, the huddle etiquette, the accuracy
Speaker 1: has been really good, the ball placement, the ability to
Speaker 1: kind of erase some of the pressure in the pocket.
Speaker 1: They found some balance at times, and the two Jets
Speaker 1: games with the running game there as well, and of
Speaker 1: course some big explosive place I've really helped the offense
Speaker 1: complement with the defense has done. When we talked about
Speaker 1: the you know, the sixty four yard to Albert Wilson,
Speaker 1: I think it was like a fifty eight yard to
Speaker 1: Isaiah Ford or something in that. In that van against
Speaker 1: the Ravens, there was a forty six yard to Mike
Speaker 1: ga Sicky, the sixty five yard to Mac Collins, the
Speaker 1: fifty seven yard to Jallen Waddle. To have those explosive
Speaker 1: plays with this type of defense, to me, those are
Speaker 1: two things that go very well and go a very
Speaker 1: long way together to helping you win football games. At
Speaker 1: Cameron Fry three, speaking of TWA asks what is one
Speaker 1: thing you believe to I can improve on this offseason
Speaker 1: to take his game and the Dolphins to the next level.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of twas interceptions this year have
Speaker 1: come we talked about us on the Thursday podcast. Right
Speaker 1: interceptions that come from not being blitzed or even from
Speaker 1: clean pockets. I think that those picks have been where
Speaker 1: there's been some simulated pressure where it looks like color
Speaker 1: is gonna flash, but he actually isn't under duress, and
Speaker 1: then he doesn't get his feet set and kind of
Speaker 1: throws from awkward angles and that he can do that,
Speaker 1: but there are times where it's not right and the
Speaker 1: ball kind of floats on him. The first Jets game
Speaker 1: is a good example. I think the Saints game, that
Speaker 1: ball kind of got high in a way, even though
Speaker 1: there was a miscommunication there a little bit. That's been
Speaker 1: some of the common themes in those turnovers. That and
Speaker 1: then ball security in the pocket are two things I
Speaker 1: think he can really clean up to take his game
Speaker 1: to the next level. And then also just hit those
Speaker 1: little short, shallow crossers that are available to him, some
Speaker 1: of those immediate drag routes. I think take those, take
Speaker 1: the profit. He's usually really good about that, but just
Speaker 1: be a little more sound in that. That's a few
Speaker 1: things for you. And then he also has mentioned this
Speaker 1: a few times, making the right read on RPO and
Speaker 1: handing it off more and making the correct decision there.
Speaker 1: It happens in a flash. It's tough to do, but
Speaker 1: it's these are things that quarterback should need to work on,
Speaker 1: and I expect him to do that and get better
Speaker 1: that all those things and all the areas that he
Speaker 1: perceives his weaknesses this upcoming off season. Next question here
Speaker 1: from at Scattered three oh three. It got any New
Speaker 1: Year's resolutions? Something tells me this is a bit of
Speaker 1: a nod to the question post game at the Patriots
Speaker 1: and Bills game last week. So tip of the captive, sir,
Speaker 1: But I actually do. And you know, I haven't worked
Speaker 1: out in like three months, and that's like the first
Speaker 1: time I've gone more than just two or three days
Speaker 1: without a workout in almost a decade. Not a big,
Speaker 1: strong guy or anything like that, but I'd like to
Speaker 1: stay fit. I gotta get back on it. I gotta
Speaker 1: eat better too. I mean, the season and having the
Speaker 1: kiddo being up and running around has kind of created
Speaker 1: a lifestyle change that I didn't expect to ever happen.
Speaker 1: But I've adopted it as kind of being the lazy
Speaker 1: dad when it comes to anything else besides work and
Speaker 1: the kid, and so being that busy I think has
Speaker 1: kind of got me into a bit of a downturn
Speaker 1: on my physical health and fitness. But once the season ends,
Speaker 1: my plan, and that's kind of goes along with New
Speaker 1: Year's right, My plan is to get back on I
Speaker 1: work out regiment with the swimming pool right here across
Speaker 1: the street from my house, the going outside for runs
Speaker 1: and jogs, and then also the gym here at the facility,
Speaker 1: and we have a little gym in our garage to
Speaker 1: so plenty of opportunities going to get back into That's
Speaker 1: my news, new ys resolution, just quit being a kind
Speaker 1: of a piece of crap, to be honest with you. Okay,
Speaker 1: My Week eighteen NFL picks are as follows, and we
Speaker 1: are going into this week at one sixties, six seventy
Speaker 1: three and one eleven and five last week or for
Speaker 1: the week's seventeen picks, give me the Bears over the Giants.
Speaker 1: I'll take the Patriots over the Jaguars, Rams and Ravens.
Speaker 1: Is a tough one for me with Lamar Jackson potentially
Speaker 1: coming back, but I'll take the Rams to stay hot.
Speaker 1: I'll take the Bucks over the Jets, the Bills over
Speaker 1: the Falcons. The Chiefs over the Bengals is a big
Speaker 1: time matchup for seeding purposes and possibly a division clincher
Speaker 1: if the Bengals can pull the upset, I don't think
Speaker 1: they will. Give me the Chiefs. Take the Dolphins over
Speaker 1: the Titans. Give me the Colts over the Raiders. If
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz is not play, I reserve the right to
Speaker 1: flip that. Philadelphia over Washington. That was a close one
Speaker 1: for me too there, but I'll take the Eagles to
Speaker 1: kind of to get the sweep after the after w
Speaker 1: FT played down. You know a lot of guys, and
Speaker 1: that last time they match up on Tuesday a few
Speaker 1: weeks ago. Give me the Chargers over the Broncos. I
Speaker 1: think that would be a close game though, Vic Fangio's
Speaker 1: cover to defense and and just the attacking nature he
Speaker 1: has within that cover too, and pasts or Tan really
Speaker 1: does a good job of limiting younger quarterbacks. I'll take
Speaker 1: the Niners over the Texans, the Seahawks over the Lions,
Speaker 1: Cardinals over the Cowboys, although I do not feel great
Speaker 1: about that one. I think eventually Arizona gets things sorted
Speaker 1: out here. I'll take this week to be the week
Speaker 1: it happens, give me the Saints over the Panthers. I
Speaker 1: wanted to pick the Vikings over the Packers, but because
Speaker 1: it's in prime time, I'm gonna take Green Bay and
Speaker 1: then Cleveland over Pittsburgh to spoil Ben Roethlisberger's last game
Speaker 1: at hines Field, as he mentioned that he would play
Speaker 1: his last game at hines Field in this Monday Night affairs.
Speaker 1: So those a your week's seven team picks. That's gonna
Speaker 1: do it for the podcast. Keep an eye out on
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins dot com written portion mail bag which
Speaker 1: will be out sometime today, as well as the top
Speaker 1: news story. And also please be sure to subscribe to
Speaker 1: the podcast on Apple Podcast. Leave us a rating, leave
Speaker 1: us a review. You can follow me on Twitter at
Speaker 1: Wingfield NFL, follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out
Speaker 1: the fish Tank podcast as well as the postgame show
Speaker 1: on five sixty. That's got Seth and o g on
Speaker 1: both of those, myself on the postgame show. Check out
Speaker 1: Dolphins Today on our YouTube channel as well as the
Speaker 1: media availabilities, and of course Miami Dolphins dot Com until
Speaker 1: Sunday for the recap show. Fins Up Caroline Daddy. That's
Speaker 1: coming home,