Speaker 1: To on the move gLing deep speedways, Peace do hell Peas.
Speaker 2: From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 3: This is Drive Time with Travis Wingfield.
Speaker 1: He's got my advands in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: What is up Dolphins? And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast.
Speaker 2: I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show,
Speaker 2: djb Enemy, the Texans reporter for ESPN, joins me to
Speaker 2: break down this matchup and like me, he likes to
Speaker 2: get into the weeds. Like me, he goes on several
Speaker 2: tangents and so you're gonna learn a lot about the
Speaker 2: Texans and this Dolphins Texans matchup coming your way on Sunday.
Speaker 2: It's a big one. Can we finally win this one?
Speaker 2: That's the big question. We'll also talk about the AFC
Speaker 2: playoff picture from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist
Speaker 2: Health Training Complex.
Speaker 4: This is.
Speaker 3: The Drive Time podcast right.
Speaker 2: Big game means we're bringing out the big guns this
Speaker 2: week with South Florida native DJB Enemy. He covers the
Speaker 2: Texans for ESPN. DJ Welcome in man, Hey man.
Speaker 4: Thank you for having me. I've been looking forward to
Speaker 4: this week for some time.
Speaker 1: I just you know, would have thought the Dolphins would
Speaker 1: had a better record, but you know, those darn injuries.
Speaker 3: I know, I know.
Speaker 2: It always seems to be something because this team is
Speaker 2: very talented and playing some of their best ball right now,
Speaker 2: and so hopefully they can keep this rolling here against
Speaker 2: the Houston Texans that you cover. But before we get
Speaker 2: into that, DJ, you're wearing this hat, and I have
Speaker 2: such a fond memory of that game, not because of
Speaker 2: the game itself, but I distinctly remember DJ's wearing a
Speaker 2: ninety five Super Bowl hat Chargers and Niners, and the
Speaker 2: Niners blew the doors off the Chargers in that game.
Speaker 2: I'll never forget riding my bike around the neighborhood at
Speaker 2: halftime because the game was already over. So you found
Speaker 2: that hat, you said, in a thrift store.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thrift story in Brooklyn, New York, about two years ago.
Speaker 2: That's pretty impressive. One of my earliest football memories here
Speaker 2: coming back to life. But I want to go ahead
Speaker 2: and get to the Dolphins and Texans game because it
Speaker 2: is a big one. But I do want to start
Speaker 2: with the bye week, DJ, because and what that means
Speaker 2: for the Texans. If you can give us the latest
Speaker 2: on the Texans maybe getting healthier, and perhaps how valuable
Speaker 2: this break might have been for the Texans football team.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think it's valuable, mainly for the mental break that
Speaker 1: they needed because they started training camp before everybody else,
Speaker 1: like ten days could have started believing on July fifteenth,
Speaker 1: and most teams reported mid twins of July they had
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame game. So they've basically been at
Speaker 1: it for approximate almost five straight months with very little breaks.
Speaker 1: The only mini break they had was many buy after
Speaker 1: they played the New York Jets on Thursday Night football.
Speaker 1: So they've been in a constant grind talking to a
Speaker 1: lot of guys. Every time I would say, man, you're
Speaker 1: ready for that bye week, They're all look at me
Speaker 1: and be like, man, who you telling? So I think
Speaker 1: for them it was more mental than anything because there's
Speaker 1: not many There's not much they can do schematically to
Speaker 1: change things because they are who they are.
Speaker 4: If not really I mean change that.
Speaker 1: They can make a particularly on the old line, to
Speaker 1: improve path detection and run blocking, or improve safety, help
Speaker 1: or play or cover standpoint.
Speaker 4: There's not really that much they can do there because
Speaker 4: we are and weak.
Speaker 1: I don't know what we're in week fifteen or fourteen,
Speaker 1: but regardless, you know, there's only so much that they
Speaker 1: could do at this point.
Speaker 4: So for them, it was more about the mental aspect.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you mentioned the mental break, and I saw just
Speaker 2: scrolling your X timeline there before we came on the
Speaker 2: on the air here that you had been I saw
Speaker 2: that fans were kind of discussing back and forth with
Speaker 2: you the possible impact of an emotional lift without a
Speaker 2: zz Alshay year, and I'm curious how the team has
Speaker 2: kind of taken that information, taken the suspension and what
Speaker 2: do you think that could mean for not just this game,
Speaker 2: but going forward for the Texans.
Speaker 4: I think it's more just the next guy up.
Speaker 1: I don't see it as a allying cry or guiding
Speaker 1: the life. Oh we're gonna band together that do this
Speaker 1: for disease. I don't really get that vibe. And it's
Speaker 1: not because they don't love disease, because these obviously he
Speaker 1: is a great player him, But I think it's more
Speaker 1: of a cliche like this.
Speaker 4: Is this is pros and this is college maybe, but
Speaker 4: this is the pros.
Speaker 1: Like and on top of that, I think some guys
Speaker 1: do feel like, all right, you know not the substanially justified,
Speaker 1: but you can't be hitting a quarterback like that because
Speaker 1: if the roles were reversed and CJ got hit like that,
Speaker 1: everybody would have won ballistics. So I think it's in
Speaker 1: today's NFL you got to protect the quarterbacks fair or not,
Speaker 1: and I just don't see.
Speaker 4: That in a rally and cry. I think it's just
Speaker 4: more like next guy up.
Speaker 1: They got Christian Harris back, who caught a pick six
Speaker 1: in the playoff game against the Keevan Browns last year,
Speaker 1: so they getting him back.
Speaker 4: But this is gonna be the.
Speaker 1: First time he's practiced with team since he got hurt
Speaker 1: in I believe August, so he doesn't played much football
Speaker 1: since the playoff game is the Ravens. It doesn't even
Speaker 1: hit anybody since the Ravens game, so I don't anticipate
Speaker 1: he'll play this week, but he could be a move
Speaker 1: for them once to get to the playoffs.
Speaker 2: It was him and Kenyon Green were both activated this week.
Speaker 2: You think we will play at left, left guard right.
Speaker 4: So that's an interesting one, Demico.
Speaker 1: When asked about it, he said that they're not going
Speaker 1: to make any decision on any offensive line changes in
Speaker 1: this moment during the press conference, I think so. I
Speaker 1: think they're going to go through the weekend and see
Speaker 1: because while King Green is a liability and end up
Speaker 1: in past blocking he struggled with stunts and things of
Speaker 1: that nature, he is an upgrade over ju Scruggs at
Speaker 1: a guard in the running game, like a legitimate upgrade.
Speaker 4: It's not even close. Juic struggles to move people off
Speaker 4: the ball, and I think.
Speaker 1: In a game like this that might be viable to
Speaker 1: have a guy like Kenyan Green out there to be
Speaker 1: able to handle Kalis Campbell, handle Zach Zeeler, because if
Speaker 1: you can't run the ball against Miami with.
Speaker 4: The way Houston's currently structured, there's going to be a
Speaker 4: long day offensively because they struggle on third and longs
Speaker 4: for various reasons. Because the pressure can get to see
Speaker 4: your pretty quickly.
Speaker 1: If you do a lot of cloud coverages and take
Speaker 1: away Nico, he can get a little bit murky because
Speaker 1: sometimes he likes to go big play hunting a lot,
Speaker 1: so you intend to pat and hold the ball trying
Speaker 1: to make go for the big play, which leads the
Speaker 1: high varians type of plays right, and it needs to
Speaker 1: bring from being exclosive work it leads to incompletion and punts.
Speaker 1: So I think for them, they're going to have to
Speaker 1: be able to run the ball in this game.
Speaker 4: I think Kenyan Green could be very valuable in that aspect.
Speaker 2: Yeah. In quick spoiler for the preview podcast, one of
Speaker 2: the keys is going to be to force the Texans
Speaker 2: in a third down long situations because of what you
Speaker 2: just talked about right there, trying to get them behind
Speaker 2: the sticks and create some negative plays for a Dolphins
Speaker 2: defense that right now is kind of struggling to find
Speaker 2: those at the current time. I'm always curious DJ about
Speaker 2: this question, and we could do it every single week
Speaker 2: across the National Football League, because hell, our next three
Speaker 2: opponents are featuring Bobby Slowick, Kyle Shanahan, and Kevin Stefanski.
Speaker 3: It's a case in point.
Speaker 2: With this offensive system that all the coaches has produced
Speaker 2: across the NFL, you're gonna find familiarity every single week.
Speaker 2: It seems like, how do you think that familiarity with
Speaker 2: the offensive system on either side of the ball can
Speaker 2: add intrigue to this matchup?
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I'm ready.
Speaker 1: I was talking to somebody about this yesterday on Mike
Speaker 1: duguar our guy athletic, and I was just, you know,
Speaker 1: I was like, man, I'm curious to see what anything
Speaker 1: Weaver does against Bobby Sloyds, mainly because I want to
Speaker 1: see it's gonna use a lot of the same game
Speaker 1: plan that he had against the Rams. Were they able
Speaker 1: to slow down that offense and hold him to only
Speaker 1: fifteen points. So I'm really curious in that aspect for
Speaker 1: you to go a bunch of too High to the
Speaker 1: Texans offense actually has struggled a decent amount on a
Speaker 1: yard per play standpoint against too High. They run the
Speaker 1: ball very effective against that, especially against teams that are
Speaker 1: good stopping round. Obviously, some of the numbers gonna be
Speaker 1: a little juiced since they did, you know, see some
Speaker 1: of the cowboys in Jags, and they're able to run
Speaker 1: pretty effectively.
Speaker 4: But those two teams struggled at everything on the defense.
Speaker 1: So against better teams, I guess the Titans, Joe Mixon
Speaker 1: had fourteen carries for twenty two yards, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. So I'm incaid to see what the game
Speaker 1: plan is going to be there in terms of cause
Speaker 1: obviously he's seen that offense already goes against a variation
Speaker 1: of the offense in practice we kept week after week.
Speaker 1: So I'm curious that aspecting him Demko knowing Mike McDaniel,
Speaker 1: so they're on the same coaching staff back in San Fran,
Speaker 1: he kind of knows what Mike like to do. He
Speaker 1: was the I guess, the first guy that I was
Speaker 1: able to start to slow down Miami's offense going back
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two when they went against them in
Speaker 1: San Francisco. So I'm really curious to see, like what's
Speaker 1: that going to be. But I think the difference between
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two team, what he had with San Fran
Speaker 1: versus this Texas team right now is currently constructed. I
Speaker 1: don't know if he has the same amount of horses. Obviously,
Speaker 1: I think on the D line there's some comparable comparable
Speaker 1: responssiblity have a friend. Obviously, Jimmy War was a lot younger,
Speaker 1: and in that aspect, I think they still have War
Speaker 1: at that point. Steaming warded comparable Sting having a phenomenal year,
Speaker 1: but Lufanga like they don't have that right now.
Speaker 4: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: You have Armori is a is a good corner, talented corner,
Speaker 1: but he's still young, so I'm really curious to see,
Speaker 1: like what else, what's that going to look like? Because
Speaker 1: the Texans they play a lot of quarters on early
Speaker 1: downs and that's when teams can hit their shot place
Speaker 1: against them. They're gonna play a lot of quarters, and
Speaker 1: I'm curiously how Miami is gonna attack that because the
Speaker 1: Texans safety struggle and coverage down the field, Like there's
Speaker 1: been a lot of times where teams have been able
Speaker 1: to exploit that. The Titans game when if you go
Speaker 1: back and watch that one, well, Levis had a career
Speaker 1: day because Brian Callahan was just calling up shot plays,
Speaker 1: putting the safeties and buy and putting the safeties in
Speaker 1: one on ones down the field and they were just losing.
Speaker 4: And even mac Jones even last well not like well,
Speaker 4: I guess.
Speaker 1: You said, technically last week when they went against the Jags,
Speaker 1: he stepped in, Doug Creeterson cast some shot plays and
Speaker 1: is able to get Brian Thomas down the field for
Speaker 1: some one on ones they didn't conneence. But still that
Speaker 1: kind of goes back to the point of if you
Speaker 1: really want to attack the Texans defense, you attack up
Speaker 1: the spine. And that's why I felt like the Z's
Speaker 1: lost is going to be a big one because he's
Speaker 1: pretty smooth and coverage.
Speaker 4: And the Dolphins obviously love it's tack in the middle
Speaker 4: of the field.
Speaker 1: That if the spine of your defense is weak in
Speaker 1: terms of past coverage, Doll, I mean, you know that's
Speaker 1: going to be a problem against a team like Miami
Speaker 1: who thrives and throwing in between the numbers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they love to throw those deep shots against brackets.
Speaker 2: So we've seen Tyreek beat a couple of those over
Speaker 2: the years. And they tried to slant and go to
Speaker 2: waddle on the game tying field goal drive. But DJ
Speaker 2: Rea did a good job of staying with him and
Speaker 2: getting vertical to not let him split that bracket.
Speaker 3: So good stuff there.
Speaker 2: And just for clarity, Mike Dugar writes for The Athletic
Speaker 2: covers the Seattle Seahawks.
Speaker 3: He went to Washington State.
Speaker 2: He says, go Koog's on my favorite podcast, the Head
Speaker 2: the Call podcast all the time, I say on my
Speaker 2: show all the time. So a good company there, DJ
Speaker 2: and microor Tight, So good stuff.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 2: Let's let's go back to the quarterback here, because you
Speaker 2: know this is this is my setup here, DJ for
Speaker 2: telling you. I loved CJ coming out and still love
Speaker 2: his game. I had this content idea where I wanted
Speaker 2: to like compare him into for how they process and
Speaker 2: their accuracy. It just I just think they're really good
Speaker 2: in the critical areas of the position. But my question
Speaker 2: is what's been different for him? And remove all the
Speaker 2: you know, this is probably kind of you know, cheating
Speaker 2: the process, but like remove the external factors between the
Speaker 2: offensive line, the play calling, the receipt, whatever you want
Speaker 2: to say, is impacting CG. I know that the offensive
Speaker 2: line play hasn't been great, but from his perspective, what's
Speaker 2: been different between rookie year CJ.
Speaker 3: Stroud and sophomore year c J Drowd good or bad?
Speaker 4: So I think he's actually a better quarterback now he
Speaker 4: has more on his plate.
Speaker 1: I think the piece around him obviously has kind of
Speaker 1: gotten a little bit worse, especially the offensive line, But
Speaker 1: I would say that just kind of leaning more on
Speaker 1: playing boying football. I think he's kind of at the
Speaker 1: stage within this offense that tool was in where you know,
Speaker 1: pushing the ball down the field you have a lot
Speaker 1: of success, and then team started taking away. Sometimes you
Speaker 1: should try to force that and the way too is
Speaker 1: playing now where he's just all right, that's not there.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna just hit this Ki John Smith unerneath.
Speaker 1: I'm on hit Chen and the backfield or on the
Speaker 1: hit just you know, on the kneath route and keep
Speaker 1: the offense on schedule. I think sometimes he still trying
Speaker 1: to fit it in because he's still averaging almost ten
Speaker 1: yards per tenth in terms of the air yards. So
Speaker 1: I think he's at that point of his maturation where
Speaker 1: now he says, okay, things going around.
Speaker 4: Me are in great in terms of pass detection.
Speaker 1: All right, if this isn't there, let me just hit
Speaker 1: the check down and let's let's keep the offense on track.
Speaker 1: So he's more playing more fishing football in that aspect,
Speaker 1: because you know, I was talking to a coach a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago who coached not coach, but the
Speaker 1: game plan against CJ. And one thing he said is
Speaker 1: he's a big play hunter, so he doesn't necessary plays.
Speaker 4: He isn't play boring football all the time. He can
Speaker 4: do it.
Speaker 1: That's what sometime he could be kind of I don't
Speaker 1: want to say frustrating, but intriguing to watch his maturation
Speaker 1: in that aspect because he even admitted that sometimes he
Speaker 1: could play better by just taking the checkdown. But he's
Speaker 1: such a big play hunter, dating back to what he
Speaker 1: did back at our state and his first year in
Speaker 1: the NFL, where he was able to really strike team
Speaker 1: the park well actually let the league in passing yards
Speaker 1: FORER game at two seventy four. So I think for him,
Speaker 1: it's more about just trying to take him what the
Speaker 1: defense gives you and kind of go from there.
Speaker 4: I think he sees the feel extremely well. He's rare
Speaker 4: where he like gets fooled, like like.
Speaker 1: I haven't there haven't been Like even all the interceptions
Speaker 1: he's throwing this year, he throw nine's compared to the
Speaker 1: only five last year. The majority of it has been
Speaker 1: like you can see what his thought process is that
Speaker 1: he just missed the throw or someone makes a great play,
Speaker 1: you know, but you can see the thought process.
Speaker 4: Like it's really rare.
Speaker 1: Where like he thinks he's gonna be discoverage and it's
Speaker 1: not that he forces the ball into that coverage now
Speaker 1: like most of the times, it's he's seeing it pretty well.
Speaker 1: He'll be a little off on the throw or you know,
Speaker 1: he'll force the throw that doesn't need to be like
Speaker 1: one against the Titans. He's trying to hit a dagger
Speaker 1: when it did coming across and the linebacker sinks Undernico
Speaker 1: and he's all right, I'm gonna try to throw it
Speaker 1: and whoop it over the linebacker, and the linebacker made
Speaker 1: a great play, like he made a full extension intercept
Speaker 1: that he called intercept and he.
Speaker 4: Had a full extension right.
Speaker 1: Granted, he probably wouldn't throw that ball, but again he
Speaker 1: wasn't fooled by the coverage.
Speaker 2: You know, Yeah, I mean that that tracks to I
Speaker 2: guess where the struggles have happened, because, like you to
Speaker 2: your point earlier, like some interior offensive line struggles for
Speaker 2: a big play hunter who's not you know, CJ's athletic
Speaker 2: and has mobility to get around in the pocket, but
Speaker 2: he's not gonna, like you know, Lamar Jackson, beat you
Speaker 2: off the edge with his legs. So I think that
Speaker 2: kind of tracks with where the struggles have been this year.
Speaker 2: Let's take a real quick break, come back on the
Speaker 2: other side and talk more about this matchup in the
Speaker 2: Texans defense. That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 2: brought to you by Auto Nation. Back here with my
Speaker 2: guests from ESPN Houston DJB enemy talking Dolphins and Texans,
Speaker 2: and let's go ahead and pivot to the defensive side
Speaker 2: of the football here, DJ. You know, it sounds like
Speaker 2: that could be a possible benefit for the Dolphins this matchup.
Speaker 2: But one area of the Texans are probably kind of looking,
Speaker 2: you know, licking their chops with here is the Dolphins
Speaker 2: could be down both their starting tackles if Toron Armstead
Speaker 2: cannot go. Austin Jackson obviously out for the season, So
Speaker 2: in that case, it would be Kendall Lamb and Patrick Paul,
Speaker 2: who both played really well in that Jets game. But
Speaker 2: let's be real, I mean, the Texans have maybe the
Speaker 2: best edged combination of the NFL with the you'll Hunter
Speaker 2: and Will Anderson. What do you think about that match up?
Speaker 2: And can they just fly out wreck this game for
Speaker 2: the Texans?
Speaker 1: Yeah, that can be problematic for the for the Dolphins
Speaker 1: because the Texan right now, they're fourth and pressure rate.
Speaker 1: I just to go and double check that because the
Speaker 1: Cowboys might have you know, jumped them. But either way,
Speaker 1: they're both you know, almost at forty percent per drawback.
Speaker 4: And both of them all have over ten tacks. I
Speaker 4: think like ten and a.
Speaker 1: Half to both and Will Anderson missed like three games,
Speaker 1: so he's at ten and he's missed a few games,
Speaker 1: so that could be a massive problem. I think what
Speaker 1: Demiko would try to do is make to a hitch
Speaker 1: and try to beat his reads to the spot, beat
Speaker 1: the spot to the reader or how do you want
Speaker 1: to put it? And then because I know dred Buberg
Speaker 1: was saying because they run a very similar scheme and
Speaker 1: in that aspect that you know, if was hitting his
Speaker 1: back foot like it's kind of hard to get to him,
Speaker 1: but the way it gets him is, you know, make
Speaker 1: him hold the ball.
Speaker 4: So I think that.
Speaker 1: If it's going to really start with the coverage, I
Speaker 1: always say when you're when you're going against a guy
Speaker 1: like to a it's not about your front It's more
Speaker 1: about your coverage. It's more about your back end spot.
Speaker 1: But they have to be able to make to hold
Speaker 1: the ball for more than two point six seconds, so
Speaker 1: then you have time to get to him if you're
Speaker 1: not if the coverage on the back end isn't good or.
Speaker 4: It's not doing supposed to do, because you get the
Speaker 4: ball out.
Speaker 1: So many games I remember arguing with a bunch of
Speaker 1: people like that before they played the Eagles last year,
Speaker 1: and I was like, they were like, Oh, the d
Speaker 1: Lion is gonna get in to it, and then that's
Speaker 1: gonna be what I'm like, No, it's gonna be about
Speaker 1: the coverage on the back end making them hold the
Speaker 1: ball long enough for God to get to them. So
Speaker 1: it's really still even though yes Danil and yes will
Speaker 1: you rec Havoc, they're gonna it's still gonna come down
Speaker 1: of sting Jum not Jeleen PG, but Jimmy Warden Slot
Speaker 1: and Kamari Last on the outside being able to force
Speaker 1: too to hold the ball just for a smide it
Speaker 1: so then those guys can get to him because if not,
Speaker 1: it doesn't really matter, because it doesn't really matter to remember,
Speaker 1: I know, you remember last year Week one against the Chargers,
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack and Joey Bolsa coming off the edge with
Speaker 1: no armstead. It didn't matter because you can get them
Speaker 1: all out, you know exactly, you know, And even last
Speaker 1: week the judge of a good defensive line like Will
Speaker 1: McDonald is to the topping sacks. You have Quinn Williams
Speaker 1: and you have Hassan Reddick zero quarterback hits zero sack
Speaker 1: because if he's hitting his back foot and he's seeing
Speaker 1: things pretty quickly, you're gonna get the ball out where
Speaker 1: he needs to go and and that's gonna be that.
Speaker 4: So it's gonna come back. It's gonna come all the
Speaker 4: way back.
Speaker 1: To the coverage, the question is what coverage do you
Speaker 1: play against them? You know, do you just try to
Speaker 1: play a bunch of cover two that we've seen hasn't
Speaker 1: worked for a lot of teams. Obviously the Packers had
Speaker 1: some success for two was still through for almost four
Speaker 1: hundred yards. Do you do that or you just try
Speaker 1: to cloud to play a bunch of cloud covers because
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to throw some disguises because if you're
Speaker 1: kind of static, it can get a little wonky for you.
Speaker 2: I'm curious if they will try to play to almost
Speaker 2: bait the Dolphins into the deep game, because Miami just
Speaker 2: hasn't had those DJ all year long. It's been well,
Speaker 2: you're not gonna let reakan watle get on top of us.
Speaker 2: And to your point about the CJ. Stroud, you know,
Speaker 2: evolution of his game. The thing that most impresses me
Speaker 2: about two and I know you like the podcast. So
Speaker 2: you know, I've heard I've talked about a lot, but uh,
Speaker 2: I just I really love the way they've evolved the
Speaker 2: offense to attack every blade of grass where they like
Speaker 2: the Jets played all this off coverage against him, and
Speaker 2: they just kept throwing those outs to the field, which
Speaker 2: you know, the knock on too was he can't he
Speaker 2: can't make those throws. But he made it like eight
Speaker 2: times in that game. Was impressive to watch. So that, man,
Speaker 2: what a fun matchup. I'm curious, do you do you
Speaker 2: think they'll come after him with the blitz because somebody
Speaker 2: asked me about two was blitz numbers today and he like,
Speaker 2: he's been sacked twenty two times, only four of those
Speaker 2: were on the blitz. He's completely like seventy five percent
Speaker 2: of his passes against the blitz and has like one
Speaker 2: hundred and ten passerwating, Like you kind of get burned
Speaker 2: if you do it. But Demiko's the kind of coach
Speaker 2: that I would trust to cook up a good brush
Speaker 2: plan to come after him.
Speaker 3: What do you think he might do on Sunday?
Speaker 1: So the Mikojoni Blitz is on, he put on a
Speaker 1: thirty percent of his job. I think like that around
Speaker 1: twenty seven. I think third downs when he blitzed a
Speaker 1: little bit more. The issues for me is that he
Speaker 1: trusts Jimmy Ward, Talm Bullock, and Eric Murray and coverage
Speaker 1: to do that. I know he'll trusting and I know
Speaker 1: he'll trust Kamari. The issue is, I think we'll do
Speaker 1: it on some third downs. So third down when it happened.
Speaker 1: The issue is it's gonna be high variants, so some
Speaker 1: place where it works, some places where it might go
Speaker 1: for fifty yards, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: And is he okay with that? You know?
Speaker 1: Because as much they've caught sixteen interceptions, second most of
Speaker 1: the NFL, but they've given up the most passing touchdowns
Speaker 1: in the NFL, I believe at twenty five or twenty
Speaker 1: six the two. So they're a high variants defense across
Speaker 1: the board. So that so that I'm really curious about
Speaker 1: because I do not think that there are five dbs.
Speaker 1: Obviously stingly I think can hold Tyreek one on one.
Speaker 1: I actually think he's had an amazing year. I don't
Speaker 1: think that the other guys who can cover the other
Speaker 1: guys on on one, you know what I'm saying. Or
Speaker 1: with with the safety help over the top, because we
Speaker 1: saw what the Jets did to them on Thursday Night Football,
Speaker 1: right the second half of when they made their adjustments
Speaker 1: and then boom yet scored on every single drive, right
Speaker 1: because third downs. That's why I think the Blizmones go
Speaker 1: down third down, the Migo kind of goes man coverage
Speaker 1: or some variation of match. So you're gonna have you know,
Speaker 1: basically Waddle versus Kamari or against Jimmy Ward and O'Dell
Speaker 1: against whoever, and John will Smith against the linebackers or
Speaker 1: you know Henry Totoe, Devin White or heaven his.
Speaker 4: Name or make you laugh Neville hew it, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean? Or yeah, yeah, that's a real throwback,
Speaker 4: you know, or Eric Mary.
Speaker 5: So it's it's gonna be. He's gonna throw some disguises.
Speaker 5: But the thing is he didn't disguised as much this
Speaker 5: year because he doesn't have to. I believe he doesn't
Speaker 5: feel like he has the horses that he did last year.
Speaker 5: Last year he disguised way more.
Speaker 4: On the back end. I can see some really really
Speaker 4: interesting coverages, some really cool coverages.
Speaker 1: But he's a little bit younger now back there and
Speaker 1: he's really anti giving up explosives. Even know he's given
Speaker 1: a bunch of exclusive but he does one of the
Speaker 1: guys to play fast, and when you throw all those
Speaker 1: you know, erotic looks, guys intend to play a little
Speaker 1: bit slower. So we'll see, we'll see in that regard,
Speaker 1: I think he'll he'll try to cook some stuff up.
Speaker 1: I think for me, it's going to be more about
Speaker 1: how the Dolphins is just in the second half, because
Speaker 1: the second half is when the Texans fall apart.
Speaker 4: Good Bobby's gonna took some good stuff up early drives.
Speaker 1: The Texans will probably have ten points at some point
Speaker 1: midway through the second quarter, may be able to score
Speaker 1: one more at the end of the second because they
Speaker 1: average like I think, like fifteen points in the first half.
Speaker 4: It's the second half where everything fall off a cliff.
Speaker 1: They average like eight points in the second half, and
Speaker 1: the defense gives up like I want to say.
Speaker 4: Fourteen and a half fifteen points per game in the
Speaker 4: second half.
Speaker 1: So for me, it's more about we're standing the sheer
Speaker 1: physicality and speed that the Texans do present defensively and
Speaker 1: schematically on the offense. You know, well stand that to
Speaker 1: the game close, and the second half is when you
Speaker 1: can usually have your way with the Texans because they
Speaker 1: struggle that Justin could have very very very much a
Speaker 1: you just got to out execute you.
Speaker 4: Sometimes you got to outskieme people.
Speaker 2: Well, Hopefully for the Dolphins they get off to a
Speaker 2: hot start because they've kind of struggled to get out
Speaker 2: of the gates and these big time games. And to
Speaker 2: your point about the coverage, it sounds like maybe and
Speaker 2: Jillen Waddle's first game back in his hometown, maybe he
Speaker 2: could have some opportunities for a big day out.
Speaker 3: Here against the Texans. Just real quick? Didjy finish up
Speaker 3: for us? Real quick?
Speaker 2: I usually ask the Texans could win this game if,
Speaker 2: but this is such a big game and a fun matchup,
Speaker 2: I just want to ask, what's your lean?
Speaker 3: What's your gut telling you about how this game might
Speaker 3: go on Sunday.
Speaker 1: My lean is all over the place, mainly because it's
Speaker 1: like there's two ways for both teams to win. And
Speaker 1: like the Dolphins, obviously they just keep doing what they're doing,
Speaker 1: especially last week, they'll be able to move the ball.
Speaker 1: The issue is saying, well, Daniel and will wreck the
Speaker 1: game in that aspect if the coverage in the back
Speaker 1: end works, and I.
Speaker 4: It's it's so up and down. So I think for me,
Speaker 4: like it's really good gonna come down to.
Speaker 1: I think they'll probably come down to which kickers on
Speaker 1: because both kickers have been pretty good with fifty yards.
Speaker 1: So if coming's one, then you know, Texans will win.
Speaker 1: If Jason Sanders is on, then I think the Dolphins win.
Speaker 1: I think both offices have some success moving the ball.
Speaker 1: It's really gonna come down to probably who has the
Speaker 1: ball last. In all honestly, at that point the quarterbacks
Speaker 1: would have seen everything. Yeah, and then you know, kind
Speaker 1: of go from there. But I'm leaning right now.
Speaker 4: I'm leaning towards Miami.
Speaker 1: Because of the Texans safety issues on the back end,
Speaker 1: and I think they'll be able to exploit that and
Speaker 1: I think we could see some, you know, some big plays.
Speaker 4: Because every team has tried it. Like the book is out.
Speaker 4: The book is out.
Speaker 1: And when Miami played the Miko in twenty twointy two,
Speaker 1: they did lose that game.
Speaker 4: But I know, whenever you want back and watch.
Speaker 1: The film, there's a lot of opportunities left out there,
Speaker 1: and the Miko strikes me more of the guys we're
Speaker 1: gonna exteally you and go from there. I don't I
Speaker 1: don't see him as a guy that's gonna be like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: we're gonna completely vamp everything and change it, you know.
Speaker 1: I don't see him pulling dan Quinn where dan Quinn
Speaker 1: against the Dolphins when we're gonna just go a hello
Speaker 1: to Hi, you're gonna drop back.
Speaker 4: We're not gonna play as much man as we usually do.
Speaker 1: I don't see the Miko kind of switching what he's
Speaker 1: always done at the DC, And I think we'll see
Speaker 1: a lot of quarters match coverage on third down as
Speaker 1: when you come down to the Dolphins, you know, the
Speaker 1: trio of Wadle, Tyreek and John new winning.
Speaker 4: I don't think textan I mean, don't think Dolphins don't
Speaker 4: run the ball effectively much unless you know.
Speaker 1: The only time I think they can run the ball
Speaker 1: is if whenever Daniel and Will rotate, then you might
Speaker 1: be able to run the ball and hit some outside
Speaker 1: of zone runs and things of that nature.
Speaker 4: But outside of that, it's gonna be back on the
Speaker 4: arm of tour, just being able to ride with the
Speaker 4: emotions of the game because they're gonna be there, gonna
Speaker 4: be some sacks. There will be some sacks. There might
Speaker 4: even be an interception.
Speaker 1: But just ride with the emotions of the game, and
Speaker 1: I think, uh that that secondary outside of Sting and
Speaker 1: Kamari will for sure girls.
Speaker 2: From explosives well, and think it was possible. You got
Speaker 2: me more excited for this game comes Sunday. I'm looking
Speaker 2: for a big Dolphins win Texas reporter for ESPN. His
Speaker 2: name is at his name or his as I should say,
Speaker 2: is his name on social at Djbenemy, DJ appreciate you man.
Speaker 2: Enjoyed that beautiful Houston son and that dog you got
Speaker 2: hanging out there behind you, my friend, no.
Speaker 4: Problem right now, I was like thick some degrees, so
Speaker 4: the Sunda ain't that beautiful.
Speaker 2: It's cooler here too, so we're actually enjoying it. Take care,
Speaker 2: DJ appreciate you man, No problem, and away he goes.
Speaker 2: Always fun talking with DJ. Let's go ahead and take
Speaker 2: our last break right there. Come back on the other side.
Speaker 2: I have lots of thoughts about the playoff picture and
Speaker 2: Sunday's matchup. Next Drive Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 2: brought to you by Auto Nation, So this whole segment
Speaker 2: is completely off script.
Speaker 3: I have a plan to kind of do.
Speaker 2: A live four week prediction or four week simulation, I
Speaker 2: should say, of the NFL Playoff machine. But I first
Speaker 2: just want to put this to you guys, because I
Speaker 2: talked about it on the air when I did a
Speaker 2: pregame show before the Packers game with OJ McDuffie, the
Speaker 2: Great Juice obviously, and I was telling Oj, like, I
Speaker 2: love this matchup. I went over the film all week long.
Speaker 2: I think the Dolphins can exploit the Packers defense in
Speaker 2: so many ways. Didn't feel the exact same way about
Speaker 2: the Dolphins defense against the Packers offense, and it played
Speaker 2: out that way. Offensively, did not play out the way
Speaker 2: I thought it would. But even despite the confidence I
Speaker 2: felt from the x'es and o's, and I'll never forget
Speaker 2: Seth telling me like, sometimes you have to factor in
Speaker 2: like the human element. That's why with that Jets game,
Speaker 2: I was thinking, like, these guys might come down here
Speaker 2: and think they're on vacation because they've already given their
Speaker 2: all for what a three to nine season, And that
Speaker 2: too was wrong, which plenty of stuff you say on
Speaker 2: a podcast when you do this is going to be wrong,
Speaker 2: because this league is impossible to predict and why I'm
Speaker 2: so damn proud of that seventy one percent rate I
Speaker 2: have right now in my picks. But the point is,
Speaker 2: despite all the x's and o's looking a certain way
Speaker 2: and how I thought it, you know, benefited Miami, I
Speaker 2: just could not shake that feeling of despair, of anticipatory regret,
Speaker 2: and you know, sadness, I guess is the way I'm
Speaker 2: looking for. I was thinking about the game in Buffalo
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two and how the Dolphins had just
Speaker 2: lost that Niners game and the Chargers game, and going
Speaker 2: into that one, it was a chance to get back
Speaker 2: to within a game with a division a big win
Speaker 2: on the road in Buffalo, and the whole day I
Speaker 2: was like, sad, Travis, like, you're gonna lose this game,
Speaker 2: and they did, but they came out and competed at
Speaker 2: a very high level and actually had a double digit
Speaker 2: lead in the fourth quarter of that game and showed
Speaker 2: me something I didn't expect that day. But that's the
Speaker 2: feeling I have in these big games now. I didn't
Speaker 2: feel that way back in Week two against Buffalo. I
Speaker 2: thought that was gonna be a different game.
Speaker 3: Did not go that way. I did feel that way
Speaker 3: in the Week nine game against the Bills.
Speaker 2: I felt that way big time in the game against
Speaker 2: the Packers, and I cannot help but shake that feeling
Speaker 2: again heading into the Texans game, even though the Texans
Speaker 2: have issues and they're struggling. I don't know, man, maybe
Speaker 2: it's just being a Dolphins fan, but I just have
Speaker 2: this sinking feeling that it's not gonna work out.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I feel like they should beat them, but it just
Speaker 2: can't get over that feeling. We'll see how that tracks
Speaker 2: throughout the course of the week. On Sunday, I'll keep
Speaker 2: you guys updated on my feelings. Not that you care
Speaker 2: about those, but I just want to get it out
Speaker 2: there because I feel like some of you probably feel
Speaker 2: the same way. It's rough to go into these big
Speaker 2: matchups and just feel like everything that can go wrong
Speaker 2: will go wrong. You'll muff a punt, you'll have three
Speaker 2: penalties in your penalties in your opening drive. Offensively, you'll
Speaker 2: blow coverages, you won't tag. You just are conditioned to
Speaker 2: think that way. And I hopefully it changes this week
Speaker 2: and we get a big win and we have a huge, huge,
Speaker 2: huge home game next week to basically put ourselves in
Speaker 2: the driver's seat for playoffs if you can beat the Niners.
Speaker 2: After beating the text and speaking of that, let's go
Speaker 2: ahead and take a look at how this might play
Speaker 2: out here, because everyone's wondering how this might turn out.
Speaker 2: And fun story for you guys, a little TMI. I
Speaker 2: was in the bathroom at halftime of the Dolphins and
Speaker 2: or was it before the game? I forget it was
Speaker 2: either halftime before the game of it was halftime of
Speaker 2: the Dolphins in Jets game, and I the the press
Speaker 2: box bathrooms were busy, so I had to go down
Speaker 2: to the concourse and I was able to get in there,
Speaker 2: but the line was starting to back up at halftime
Speaker 2: with all the fans filtering out, and I overheard a
Speaker 2: fan saying, like, there's no way the Broncos are going
Speaker 2: to lose two more games and we're not going to
Speaker 2: play for playoffs. Why won't we go for the fourth
Speaker 2: down like we're are? Season's over anyways? And I just
Speaker 2: don't see it that way. I still firmly believe that
Speaker 2: if the Dolphins win the final four games, they will
Speaker 2: go to the playoffs. Now my opinion has shifted. I
Speaker 2: thought they could do that I don't think that anymore.
Speaker 2: I think the defense is tired and is too banged
Speaker 2: up to continue to play at a high enough level
Speaker 2: to beat some of these better offenses we're going to see,
Speaker 2: like on Sunday or in two weeks against the Niners.
Speaker 2: But I don't think the rest of the AFC will
Speaker 2: be the reason why. And I want to tell you
Speaker 2: guys about it right now, because as I go through
Speaker 2: these predictions, let's just say NFC games don't matter. Ravens
Speaker 2: over the Giants. Let's just find the games that matter here,
Speaker 2: Bengalle Chiefs over Browns. If the Dolphins, So the Dolphins
Speaker 2: have to win, right, So they beat the Texans, Broncos
Speaker 2: and Colts. That's an interesting one because I think you
Speaker 2: probably want the Colts to win that game. And here's
Speaker 2: I'll tell you why won. Because if the Broncos lose
Speaker 2: this one, I don't there's no way the Broncos run
Speaker 2: the table. So the Broncos losing this game to me
Speaker 2: automatically means at least at least a ten to seven record,
Speaker 2: if not worse. I tend to think they're gonna lose
Speaker 2: a couple more games down the stretch. Now, the Colts
Speaker 2: have an easier road the rest of the way, so
Speaker 2: we'll see. I do think the Colts are not good
Speaker 2: enough to run the table. I just don't think they
Speaker 2: can be to four NFL teams in four consecutive weeks.
Speaker 2: But I am picking the Colts because I think their
Speaker 2: game translates more into what could be bad weather and Denver.
Speaker 2: So they win that game, that's gonna go ahead and
Speaker 2: continue through. Do you want Buffalo to beat Detroit on Sunday,
Speaker 2: by the way, because that keeps them in contention for
Speaker 2: the one C with KC you need Casey to slip
Speaker 2: up at some point as well. I'm also gonna take
Speaker 2: the Bucks over the Chargers. I just think the Bucks
Speaker 2: getting their offensive pieces back, and that quarterback is you know,
Speaker 2: high variants. But the Chargers like play Dave Wanstead football,
Speaker 2: and I think if you have anything offensively, you can
Speaker 2: beat that team. I just don't trust them. With Lad
Speaker 2: mcconkee down, Will Distleey got down, they might come back
Speaker 2: in this game, but that quarter I just don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't trust them. So the Bucks in that one.
Speaker 2: And so if you get that, if you get the
Speaker 2: Colts to win on Sunday, and the Bucks to win
Speaker 2: on Sunday, you open up this massive like world of
Speaker 2: opportunities for the Dolphins to find their way and the
Speaker 2: Playoffst's go ahead and pick the Eagles over the Steelers,
Speaker 2: Packers over the Seahawks.
Speaker 3: NFC games, who cares? Who cares? Who cares?
Speaker 2: So you go into Week sixteen if you get that
Speaker 2: Colts game and that Bucks game in your favor, Now
Speaker 2: you have a Thursday night football matchup where the Chargers
Speaker 2: and Broncos play and they're both at eight and six.
Speaker 2: So whoever loses that game it has seven losses.
Speaker 3: And so there you go.
Speaker 2: You found your way in already, and the Dolphins will
Speaker 2: have the tiebreakers should they go ten to seven against
Speaker 2: a ten and seven Denver or Chargers teams. Let's go
Speaker 2: ahead and pick I guess we'll take the Chargers in
Speaker 2: that one. But here's where things get interesting, and why
Speaker 2: if the Colts beat the Broncos, it's doubly good because
Speaker 2: you could have a situation where the Texans are the
Speaker 2: one on the outside looking in, and if you beat
Speaker 2: the Texans, you would have the tiebreaker over them because
Speaker 2: check this out, Texans lose to the Dolphinslet's say that happens,
Speaker 2: that would put Miami at seven and seven and Houston
Speaker 2: at eight and six. Guess who the Texans played next Saturday.
Speaker 2: They play at the Chiefs, and the Chiefs have voodoo magic.
Speaker 2: It does not allow them to lose football games, So
Speaker 2: you pick them to win that game. All of a sudden,
Speaker 2: Houston's nine to six, and if the Colts can beat
Speaker 2: the Titans, they be up to eight and seven, one
Speaker 2: game back of the Texans. And the Texans finish with
Speaker 2: the game at home AVERSUS the Ravens. Do you feel
Speaker 2: good about that one? And then they play at the
Speaker 2: Titans to finish the year. So let's say they lose
Speaker 2: to the Chiefs and the Ravens after losing to US.
Speaker 2: If the Colts do their business and they win their games,
Speaker 2: guess who they jump the Texans in the division. So
Speaker 2: if the Colts beat the Broncos and then you're saying,
Speaker 2: oh no, there's no more games they could lose the
Speaker 2: rest of the way, then you have to flip it
Speaker 2: where you root for the against the Texans against two
Speaker 2: really good football teams, because the Colts could actually take
Speaker 2: the Texans spot atop the AFC South.
Speaker 3: And then here's something else.
Speaker 2: It's probably not gonna happen, but if that is the
Speaker 2: result you get, there's an outside chance Miami finds us
Speaker 2: way into the five seed. I don't think it's gonna happen.
Speaker 2: Can you imagine playing the Colts in Indy with TUA
Speaker 2: in the first round of the playoffs? You could say
Speaker 2: goodbye to the playoff drought if that happens. But I
Speaker 2: don't think it's gonna happen. So I digress there, but
Speaker 2: just giving you a look at some of the options here.
Speaker 2: So the Dolphins went out that Colts Broncos game kind
Speaker 2: of gives you information about how to root the rest
Speaker 2: of the way.
Speaker 3: That Chargers Bucks game becomes massive.
Speaker 2: If they can find a way to take down the
Speaker 2: Chargers in that one, the Dolphins would have a great
Speaker 2: shot to be able to basically just went out and
Speaker 2: not worry about anything else because it'll take care of itself.
Speaker 2: If the Charger would have lost that damn Falcons game
Speaker 2: that they should have lost sixteen times over again, we
Speaker 2: would be like, literally win and in situation.
Speaker 3: But it's not going to be that way.
Speaker 2: So this weekend Chargers and Broncos is the rather Broncos
Speaker 2: and Colts is the big one. I think you want
Speaker 2: the Colts to win that game, and then if you
Speaker 2: get the Bucks over the Chargers, that is a massive,
Speaker 2: massive boon and there's not really any point doing the
Speaker 2: rest of this. So basically, if the Dolphins can beat Houston,
Speaker 2: you get those two matchups, two results the same week.
Speaker 2: Sixteen becomes a playground of games to watch. And the
Speaker 2: cool part about it is it would be Broncos and
Speaker 2: Chargers on Thursday, Texans and Chiefs on Saturday, with Ravens
Speaker 2: and Steelers Saturday as well, and then you have the
Speaker 2: one o'clock window for the Titans for the Colts to
Speaker 2: play against the Titans, and we don't play until four
Speaker 2: to twenty five, so you would get all these games
Speaker 2: you get to watch and enjoy with implications for the
Speaker 2: Dolphins playoff hopes before that for twenty five games. So
Speaker 2: what I'm saying is, hey, Dolphins, please win this game
Speaker 2: so I can enjoy like multiple more NFL slates to
Speaker 2: root for or against, impacting Dolphins playoff hope. So that
Speaker 2: segment didn't go exactly how I planned it, but I
Speaker 2: like it basically telling you again, ten and seven will
Speaker 2: get the job done.
Speaker 3: Can Miami do it?
Speaker 2: I don't think so, but hopefully they can prove me
Speaker 2: wrong after my prediction previously, I've already said it's wrong,
Speaker 2: even though it's not wrong yet as they are four
Speaker 2: and one since I said they have finished the year
Speaker 2: eight and one.
Speaker 3: All right, let's get out of here.
Speaker 2: Tomorrow game preview, gonna go deep into the film and
Speaker 2: check check out who's gonna win that game? And I'm
Speaker 2: lenolm Texans right now. I'm probably gonna pick the Texans,
Speaker 2: but we'll see the film and see how that goes. Friday,
Speaker 2: Zach Szeiler joins me here on the podcast, as well
Speaker 2: as Kyle Krabs.
Speaker 3: You don't want to miss any of that.
Speaker 2: In the meantime, you all please be sure to subscribe
Speaker 2: to the podcast, leave us a ready and leave us
Speaker 2: a review. Follow me on social at Wingfield NFL and
Speaker 2: the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank
Speaker 2: Podcast with my guys Sethan Juice Jamie Nails on the
Speaker 2: show this week. One of the foremost pieces of that
Speaker 2: eighteen hundred rushing yards Heason Ricky Williams had back in
Speaker 2: two thousand and two.
Speaker 3: Don't miss that.
Speaker 2: Check out the YouTube channel brand new HQ Come Your
Speaker 2: Way Tomorrow Night Fun episode Zach Steeler Djbenemy on that
Speaker 2: once You've kind of seen that. I also broke down
Speaker 2: Chop Robinson's past, Rush Arsenal, and last but not least,
Speaker 2: Miami Dolphins dot Com Until next time.
Speaker 3: Ben's up, Alan Cameron Daddy, He's coming home.