Speaker 1: You were listening to the Miami Dolphins podcast Network. This
Speaker 1: is Drive Time with Travis Wingfield. Back to throw to
Speaker 1: a looking gipsla wide open cutchtop clinic call. Un believable,
Speaker 1: just blow bire for a second time. Don't know where
Speaker 1: he was going right away the hit of that there, man,
Speaker 1: I want to help you soon up on his bay
Speaker 1: wattle waddle to a shotgun, back to throw looking steps
Speaker 1: up fires too. It's waddle. It's six touchdown past day.
Speaker 1: Drive Time with Travis Winfield begins. Now let me check
Speaker 1: your pulse if what is up? Dolphins And welcome to
Speaker 1: the Drivetime podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast Network
Speaker 1: covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going? Everybody?
Speaker 1: I am your host, Travis Wingfield, and on today's show
Speaker 1: will plug into Mike McDaniel's Wednesday media availability and hear
Speaker 1: all the pertinent information heading into this week seventeen critical
Speaker 1: game in Foxborough. And we'll also get to the five
Speaker 1: things I think heading in to week number seventeen from
Speaker 1: the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
Speaker 1: This is the Drive Time, so we heard from head
Speaker 1: coach Mike McDaniel, just moments ago. And of course we'll
Speaker 1: talk a lot about quarterback to a tongue of voloa.
Speaker 1: He was first asked as to in the building will
Speaker 1: he be ruled out for Sunday. Here's head coach Mike
Speaker 1: McDaniel in regards to to it's very UM. I've been
Speaker 1: advised by UM medical professionals that it's critical that that
Speaker 1: uh to a worries only about um the day that
Speaker 1: he's currently in and nothing else. Um. He he is
Speaker 1: in the building, UM, but beyond that, UM, it's uh,
Speaker 1: as medical profession will tell you UM. And he added
Speaker 1: UH pressure and he added UM sort of h anything
Speaker 1: beyond that day does not behoove UM the process at all.
Speaker 1: So I'll take that very serious and and UM worry
Speaker 1: about his um health forced and foremost and take the
Speaker 1: advice of UH the medical professionals. Coach did confirm Forest
Speaker 1: that too, did in fact suffer a concussion in the
Speaker 1: game against the Packers. He next was asked will Teddy
Speaker 1: Bridgewater to be the starter for the game on Sunday.
Speaker 1: A couple of times pressing coach of this question. Here's
Speaker 1: his answer about Sunday starter. UM, you know, the the
Speaker 1: the whole idea of taking day to day is kind
Speaker 1: of rough on coaches who have to plan for you know,
Speaker 1: a bunch of people. So, UM, the the approach that
Speaker 1: I'm unequivocally taken UM today. You know, I was on
Speaker 1: the phone, I met with him yesterday. I met with
Speaker 1: Teddy yesterday. I was UM, you know, exchanging ideas and
Speaker 1: and talking through some stuff all the way until like
Speaker 1: ten fifteen last night. UM there was his bedtime, UM,
Speaker 1: and so UM moving forward today and you know the
Speaker 1: whole team's approaches. UH, Teddy Bridgewater is the starter. UM.
Speaker 1: This is why you know we uh, I thought it
Speaker 1: so vital to to go um uh after him in
Speaker 1: free agency. This is why he's done such a diligent
Speaker 1: job during the course of the season, UM with his
Speaker 1: own uh injuries and and such, to be prepared for
Speaker 1: this opportunity. And I know the team's UM very excited,
Speaker 1: feel very fortunate to have him and UM him to
Speaker 1: get his opportunity that he's totally prepared for. Coach next
Speaker 1: was asked if he can see if four see a
Speaker 1: scenario where he would add an extra layer of caution
Speaker 1: once to clear the concussion protocol. Here's which on that
Speaker 1: you know again, I think for me to speak totally
Speaker 1: outside the lines of you know stuff that's for medical
Speaker 1: professionals and to himself, I think that's in the layer
Speaker 1: of pressure either way. UM, I don't pretend to know,
Speaker 1: um what that feels like. Uh too adhere to somebody
Speaker 1: else's expectations in some way, shape or form. I'm just
Speaker 1: worried about his health on a day to day basis,
Speaker 1: and that we'll take that step, whatever step that is next,
Speaker 1: whenever that next step is. But beyond that, I would
Speaker 1: feel responsible to go go even think about if or
Speaker 1: what or whatever that's that's a that's taking a lot
Speaker 1: of non expertise in my own hands. This next response
Speaker 1: is my favorite response from coach in this press conference,
Speaker 1: maybe since he got here, because I feel the same
Speaker 1: way he felt in the beginning about the way the
Speaker 1: question was posed. Do you need to hear there's no
Speaker 1: long term risk before you put him back out there again? Yeah? UM,
Speaker 1: this is a human being that I'm very very much
Speaker 1: like all all players. UM. I I'll do what the
Speaker 1: um the medical experts advised me to do, and I'm
Speaker 1: quite certain they're not going to advise me UM in
Speaker 1: the wrong direction. What it has to do with his
Speaker 1: his health and in regards to that, but that's again
Speaker 1: something that I'm not even going to I'm not I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna go and direct conflict with what the doctors
Speaker 1: have told me to do, which is just to worry
Speaker 1: about one day at a time and not project any
Speaker 1: sort of absolute to you know, have him get get
Speaker 1: information second hand of whatever thing that this is just
Speaker 1: a day at to time process that his health is
Speaker 1: the first, foremost and only priority. Next, coach is asked,
Speaker 1: were you able to pinpoint when the cussion? Concussion occurred
Speaker 1: the day after the game some Monday, there was some
Speaker 1: you know, upon reviewing the film, we we had some questions. UM,
Speaker 1: kind of feel like, you know, we had an idea,
Speaker 1: um that there's hey, did something happen to this portion
Speaker 1: of the game. Question him. Um, once we got really uh,
Speaker 1: you know, we continue to question him, and once we
Speaker 1: got some information back, we're like, you need to go
Speaker 1: see the see the doctor, so to say, with that
Speaker 1: absolute certain t um the you know that it was
Speaker 1: this that or otherwise. It was just there was some things,
Speaker 1: um that caused us to really proud and um, as
Speaker 1: a result, we felt like he needed to see UM
Speaker 1: medical professionals. Yeah, I think those uh that fourth quarter
Speaker 1: performance makes a lot more sense now. Next, coach was
Speaker 1: asked what caused you to prod after that tape review
Speaker 1: with two or before two? I got here? I should
Speaker 1: say Coach did later clarify that it was on the tape,
Speaker 1: not with two. A reviewing to his game tape was
Speaker 1: when he realized there were some inconsistencies there. What caused
Speaker 1: you to prod? Here's Coach on that this specifically had
Speaker 1: to do with consistencies of things that I studied daily,
Speaker 1: that UM on tape UM, which which UM provokes some
Speaker 1: uh you know, direct questioning UM with a high degree
Speaker 1: of concern. If the earlier one wasn't my favorite answer
Speaker 1: from Coach McDaniel, this one was what's it like for
Speaker 1: you personally someone you're so close with to see him
Speaker 1: go through this terrible Yeah? I wanted to leave that
Speaker 1: pregnant pause and there for you guys, because we never
Speaker 1: heard coach give a one word answer before. I think
Speaker 1: people expected him to give you more, but that's what
Speaker 1: else do you need? Next, he was asked about Teddy Bridgewater.
Speaker 1: Here's Coach on Teddy and moving forward, the you know
Speaker 1: the the season, as the journey has gone for the
Speaker 1: team has given us some definitely UM moments of adversity
Speaker 1: and turmoil. One of the you know, our our whole
Speaker 1: team was very excited UM for Teddy. The Jets weak
Speaker 1: and you know, first play the game, we all know
Speaker 1: what happened. So I think with regard to UM, in
Speaker 1: professional football at the quarterback position, UM, you know, there's
Speaker 1: two ways you can go with it as a starter
Speaker 1: for UM a game when you have the entire week
Speaker 1: to prepare. UH. One way, the pressure gets to you
Speaker 1: and UM, you know sometimes it makes you worse. UM.
Speaker 1: That's not Teddy. Teddy UH thrives on on those moments
Speaker 1: and and really was UM. You know, I don't think
Speaker 1: we've I know the team is seen exactly you know
Speaker 1: what what he was prepared to do that particular game
Speaker 1: when when given the entire week to to UM prep
Speaker 1: And I think that it is a UM big deal
Speaker 1: for UH. You know guys that that enjoy the moment,
Speaker 1: enjoy the camaraderie, enjoy the leadership, enjoy everything about UM
Speaker 1: being a starting UM quarterback. And and he's UM. I'm
Speaker 1: happy for him to get the opportunity to fully prepare
Speaker 1: um uh for for a game that the team, the
Speaker 1: team needs, that needs him for. So UM, we're very
Speaker 1: fortunate to have him and excited for his opportunity. Let's
Speaker 1: finish up here. When coach was asked, how does the
Speaker 1: team stay focused when something like this was going on?
Speaker 1: Obviously one of your brothers is down in an injury
Speaker 1: that is nothing to be you know, scoffed at or
Speaker 1: even you know, as as coaches mentioned, just advising to
Speaker 1: listen to the medical professionals. How the team stay focused
Speaker 1: with an injury that you know is not your run
Speaker 1: of the mill typical injury. It's hard to you're talking
Speaker 1: about the opinions of you know, and it's higher locker
Speaker 1: room is a lot of people. I think overall, UM,
Speaker 1: there's so much investment within this this season. We've you
Speaker 1: know that they chose to have the ambition, UM, the drive,
Speaker 1: and they they it was because of them all their
Speaker 1: collective work that we were able to um be in
Speaker 1: a fortunate situation of uh, you know, having seven wins
Speaker 1: at the bye. UM it's there's way too much investment
Speaker 1: for UH. And then you know, going through a month
Speaker 1: of December where you know, the only silver lining is there.
Speaker 1: There was no no short change of investment by that
Speaker 1: the whole team. UM. And if if you're going to
Speaker 1: lose for straight you wanted to be in uh in
Speaker 1: in those type of terms that you're going all in
Speaker 1: and then UM trying to learn from each and every game,
Speaker 1: UM without blinking. Much much easier said than done. UM.
Speaker 1: So one of the reasons, UM, you know that it
Speaker 1: it's so difficult as the the emotional investment. I think
Speaker 1: these guys um because of that, UM have a team
Speaker 1: that's playing against them. Uh. Everything that we've set out
Speaker 1: to do is right in front of us. And I
Speaker 1: can tell you one thing, the New England Patriots don't
Speaker 1: care about our feelings. They're very aware about that. So
Speaker 1: UM they I see a very focused and determined group
Speaker 1: that recognizes the opportunity within the adversity. Well, there you go,
Speaker 1: different press conference that we're used to. I think for
Speaker 1: Dolphins fans, how do you how do you? Seasons tend
Speaker 1: to always invent new ways to to head in this direction.
Speaker 1: But there's a couple of games left, so hopefully Miami
Speaker 1: can put this behind them and move forward and find
Speaker 1: a way to find a victory on Sunday, because the
Speaker 1: lead doesn't stop. The games don't stop. You still play
Speaker 1: the games, even though you know, we feel terrible for
Speaker 1: for the guy. And as you heard head coach Mike
Speaker 1: mcdealosy there, if you want to watch this press conference
Speaker 1: this entirety, go ahead and check out the team YouTube channel.
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and take our first break and come
Speaker 1: back on the other side, And wanna get to the
Speaker 1: five things I think heading into week seventeen. That's next
Speaker 1: Drive Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you
Speaker 1: by Auto Nation, segment number two here on a Wednesday
Speaker 1: edition of the Drive Time Podcast. So we're gonna kick
Speaker 1: this thing off here with the five things that I think.
Speaker 1: I just thought McDaniels press conference on this day was
Speaker 1: more important to put in the front of the show.
Speaker 1: So there you have it. But the first thing I
Speaker 1: want to talk about is the value of two a
Speaker 1: tongue of Byloa and Teddy for the hometown. There was
Speaker 1: this whole debate last week, and it was a dumb one,
Speaker 1: as football debates on social media tend to be. That
Speaker 1: the drop off from Jalen Hurts to Gardner Minshew was
Speaker 1: minuscule and I'm a huge menshoe guy, obviously go Coog's baby,
Speaker 1: but I'm also not dumb, well not when it comes
Speaker 1: to football. I think most other stuff, sure, like math
Speaker 1: nine times five is flaven d five. But the value
Speaker 1: that hurts adds in a loaded offense isn't really tangible,
Speaker 1: or is it? Because the Eagles did score thirty four
Speaker 1: points and I lost the Cowboys, and that will empower
Speaker 1: the take that hurts. His weapons are carrying him great
Speaker 1: offensive line, blah blah blah blah. If you can't see
Speaker 1: it for yourself on the tape, and I don't know
Speaker 1: what to tell you. I guess I'm just exhausted by
Speaker 1: the discourse. I think I'm just exhausted by social media.
Speaker 1: I saw the other night someone tweeted that they had
Speaker 1: just wanted to go back to enjoying the sport, opposed
Speaker 1: to argue with strangers about Tua and Justin Herbert on Twitter.
Speaker 1: That's kind of how I feel. Did anyone else avoid
Speaker 1: social media all weeks so far? I just couldn't do it.
Speaker 1: But I do find coming here on the podcast, where
Speaker 1: you know, I guess it's just myself. So an echo
Speaker 1: chamber is a little cathartic by having, you know, a
Speaker 1: more in my opinion, level headed discussion that's not based
Speaker 1: on firing everybody and replacing everybody after one performance you
Speaker 1: didn't like, or for performances for that matter. And I
Speaker 1: guess I get the type of fandom at a certain age.
Speaker 1: I was that way as a teen in my early
Speaker 1: twenties as well. Now, well, I think that having a
Speaker 1: mortgage and daycare bills makes your perspective a little more realistic.
Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe that's just me, but anyway, what
Speaker 1: I came here to say was this, three passes have
Speaker 1: turned some people's opinion on the quarterback, and man, I
Speaker 1: just can't like I'm laughing while writing this. What I
Speaker 1: think is really funny is it's the same like faction
Speaker 1: of people, right, the people that gobble up social media
Speaker 1: engagement for hanging on the kid like cool, you are
Speaker 1: literally re enacting the plot of Children of the Corn.
Speaker 1: Hope that's fulfilling and not to mention, like, what is
Speaker 1: it for for a non assume created account? What do
Speaker 1: you Twitter likes get you? I get from Cowherd's perspective
Speaker 1: because it generates buzz around his show and it will
Speaker 1: make his producers happy he has an agenda, and that's
Speaker 1: totally fine. Otherwise why but again, in any way, it's
Speaker 1: my go to phrase here. All of those takes are
Speaker 1: from the same company, right, the people that were convinced
Speaker 1: and tried to convince you that to A could not
Speaker 1: play in this league, that he was going to look
Speaker 1: like what Zach Wilson looked like this season. That is
Speaker 1: what you built up to it to be the entire summer,
Speaker 1: the next Tim Tebow in terms of his NFL production
Speaker 1: and longevity. But then he went on a run where
Speaker 1: he played some of the best football in the entire
Speaker 1: NFL this year, regardless of position, and guess what, he's
Speaker 1: still the league's top rated passer. So you can pound
Speaker 1: your chest and say that one quarter of football or
Speaker 1: a bad month justifies your take, but we all know
Speaker 1: it's not. He's already outperformed what you said his limitations were,
Speaker 1: so with all sincerity, like, get all the way the
Speaker 1: f out of here with that noise. I'm tired of it.
Speaker 1: He's still a highly highly guild pastor who sees things
Speaker 1: others don't. He still has tremendous accuracy. Go back and
Speaker 1: watch the long Waddle touchdown again. Go watch the third
Speaker 1: and fourteen conversion to Sherfield. Those things just happened three
Speaker 1: days ago. He's still again the league leader in passer rating.
Speaker 1: You wanted a list of quarterbacks who have led the
Speaker 1: NFL in passer rating going back to two thousand one,
Speaker 1: last twenty years, Rogers, Rogers, Tannehill, and I don't want
Speaker 1: to hear about Tannehill not being a good quarterback. He's
Speaker 1: been a very good quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. That's it.
Speaker 1: End of story. Breeze, Alex Smith, Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson,
Speaker 1: Tony Romo. Here's our one outlier, the only outlier. Nick Foles, Rogers, Rogers,
Speaker 1: Brady Brees, Rivers, Brady Manning, Manning, Manning, mc near, Pennington Warner. Also,
Speaker 1: if to maintains the league leading passer rating at age,
Speaker 1: he'll be the youngest quarterback to lead the NFL in
Speaker 1: passer rating. Do I need to tell you who? That
Speaker 1: was the same guy that lost five games in a
Speaker 1: ru and real quick to put a bow on the
Speaker 1: US when the Eagles went from Hurts to Minshew. The
Speaker 1: line changed by four points. When the Jets announced that
Speaker 1: Mike White was returning. The line against the Seahawks changed
Speaker 1: by four points. And that's not as much of a
Speaker 1: White Mike White thing as it is a Zach Wilson
Speaker 1: literally cannot do it at this level thing. Guess how
Speaker 1: much it's changed since the news about to entering concussion
Speaker 1: protocol for Dolphins and pads. Five points. So I think
Speaker 1: that should tell you all you need to know. And frankly,
Speaker 1: I thought we learned that back in weeks four through six.
Speaker 1: What life without two? It looked like maybe that didn't happen,
Speaker 1: and I just dreamt it. I don't know, Don't get
Speaker 1: me wrong. I'm just I'm as angry at the Dolphins
Speaker 1: as you are. And we'll get to that later and
Speaker 1: a later thing, I think. But man, this victual is
Speaker 1: pointed at the wrong dude. He's a great player who's
Speaker 1: played great this year, and I'm just tired of it. Now.
Speaker 1: We have to go win a football game, regardless of
Speaker 1: who plays quarterback on Sunday. Stop the bleeding. Man. We're
Speaker 1: gonna finish this with a message to the fans who
Speaker 1: were just absolutely grieving this team right now, you know,
Speaker 1: ahead of a huge game. But man, go gonna win
Speaker 1: and we can start to heal and maybe even end
Speaker 1: the season with the positive note. And how cool would
Speaker 1: it be for Teddy if it is Teddy on Sunday
Speaker 1: for his one win as a Dolphins quarterback to be
Speaker 1: the one that propels his hometown team back into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I'm here for that thing. Number two running game Europe. Look,
Speaker 1: as long as we have Tyreek and Jalen, I'm always
Speaker 1: for throwing the football. I think excusing those guys from
Speaker 1: the game plan entirely is a terrible idea. Just look
Speaker 1: at how they can change a game in a blink,
Speaker 1: for instance. And now both are well on track. Tyrek
Speaker 1: has already done it. To surpass Mark Clayton's total waddle
Speaker 1: needs just one d and twenty nine yards and two games.
Speaker 1: That's sixty four and a half yards per game, and
Speaker 1: he's averaging eighty four per game heading into the week.
Speaker 1: So as long as he's just close to his average production,
Speaker 1: he'll approach fourteen hundred yards now. And we'll do this
Speaker 1: more in depth tomorrow on the Preview podcast. But the
Speaker 1: Dolphins and Patriots have played the same game the last
Speaker 1: five times out. Average NFL games feature ten and a
Speaker 1: half possessions per game ten to eleven in that range.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you get a lot more, sometimes you get a
Speaker 1: handful less. And if we're talking Dolphins and Patriots this decade,
Speaker 1: you always get a handful less. Total possessions by game,
Speaker 1: removing kneel down possessions at the end of the game
Speaker 1: Opener sixteen possessions, rematch sixteen possessions, Opener sixteen possessions one
Speaker 1: in Miami seventeen possessions two, Opener fifteen possessions, and that
Speaker 1: includes a to play fumble touchdown drive. So literally sixteen
Speaker 1: possessions per game, eight possessions per team, two and a
Speaker 1: half less than the average, and that means we've gotta
Speaker 1: be efficient, got to score in the red zone, and
Speaker 1: you gotta win the turnover battle, and we gotta run
Speaker 1: the football. And those last five games because the Patriots,
Speaker 1: these are the rushing totals eighty seven yards back in
Speaker 1: two thousand twenty season opener. That was a loss, just
Speaker 1: three point two yards per carry. Not a good rushing day.
Speaker 1: Game two hundred and fifty yards six yards per carry.
Speaker 1: Obviously a win one the first game seventy four yards
Speaker 1: three point two yards per average. They won that game,
Speaker 1: but it basically was saved by a miracle defensive stop
Speaker 1: and a forced fumble at the end of the game.
Speaker 1: The rematch that year a hundred and ninety five yards
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins the ground, averaging four point five a rip,
Speaker 1: and that's a victory. Earlier this year just three point
Speaker 1: six yards per rush, but seventy eight on the ground
Speaker 1: in a victory. When your quarterback is not part of
Speaker 1: the equation, which he might not be in this one
Speaker 1: is going to be more important. So that's why you
Speaker 1: got a round the football number three. Playing coverage over blitzing.
Speaker 1: I think we might be discovering a pretty effective defensive approach.
Speaker 1: At minimum. It's another way to really keep your variety,
Speaker 1: keep offenses guessing and constantly changing looks. That's what you
Speaker 1: have to do at this level, right The quarterbacks are
Speaker 1: just too good to run the same thing over and
Speaker 1: over again. But there's one area that has really yielded
Speaker 1: some nice results recently, particularly on Sunday. It's obviously a
Speaker 1: team effort, but it's also a nice knowledge of some
Speaker 1: of the guys up front that are constantly creating pressures
Speaker 1: from this situation that's rushing for or fewer against the Packers.
Speaker 1: Rogers had a passer rating over a hundred and eleven
Speaker 1: against blitzes, but against non blitzes for fewer rushers seven
Speaker 1: for fift team with fifty eight yards three point nine
Speaker 1: yards per pass and a pick, that's a twenty nine
Speaker 1: point three passer rating. Is also a sack in there
Speaker 1: by the way, and the interception came on a pressure
Speaker 1: from a non blitz situation. In total, four man rushes
Speaker 1: produced pressure seven times, and on those seven Rogers didn't
Speaker 1: complete a pass and he did have a scrambled first down,
Speaker 1: but he was over three with the pick. Now, Mac
Speaker 1: Jones will not be mistaken for you know, Josh Allen
Speaker 1: or Aaron Rodgers from a mobility standpoint, But I think
Speaker 1: his very best trade is his pocket management, stepping around
Speaker 1: pressure and finding a new lane to operate from and
Speaker 1: delivering the ball accurately. So a good mix helps, for sure.
Speaker 1: But when Mac was when Matt has a quick answer,
Speaker 1: that's when he's as best. And we're getting into the
Speaker 1: preview here a little bit. All dial it back. In fact,
Speaker 1: we'll go ahead and just use that for a teaser
Speaker 1: for the three the Thursday show. But to put a
Speaker 1: bow on it, I think we really need both on Sunday,
Speaker 1: our best blitz package and our best effort on non
Speaker 1: blitz is we might need the defense to go on
Speaker 1: the road and win us a game. Here. This Pat's
Speaker 1: offense has not been good this year. That quarterback has
Speaker 1: not played well. Please guys step it up for us.
Speaker 1: We need you. Let's go ahead and take break number
Speaker 1: two and come back on the other side and finish
Speaker 1: up real quickly with things I think number four and five.
Speaker 1: That's next Draftime podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to
Speaker 1: you by Auto Nation. Wednesday, the weird bridge between Christmas
Speaker 1: and New Year's Day is here. We're talking all things
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins. Five Big picture items number four. Here are
Speaker 1: the scenarios, and I keep thinking a lot about this.
Speaker 1: The different ways for us to still make it in.
Speaker 1: Currently the favorite for the seven seed given our one
Speaker 1: game advantage and then playing the two teams that could
Speaker 1: threaten to get in has its pros, but it also
Speaker 1: has its cons because they can beat you and double
Speaker 1: dip with wins and giving you a loss. But here
Speaker 1: are the routes in you win both games you're in
Speaker 1: and that's it. Nothing else matters. Beat New England, Jets,
Speaker 1: lose to Seahawks, You're in Week eight team doesn't even matter.
Speaker 1: You can't even improve your standing at that point. Most
Speaker 1: likely lose to New England and the Jets Seahawks game
Speaker 1: becomes irrelevant. But then beat the Jets in Week eighteen
Speaker 1: and get the Bills a win over New England. That's
Speaker 1: been a tough game for the Patriots in recent years,
Speaker 1: but that's the position you put yourself in if you
Speaker 1: lost five straight games. That's how it goes. We'll see.
Speaker 1: I think the Chiefs will beat the Broncos handily, which
Speaker 1: keeps that race for the one seed alive, which is
Speaker 1: what we need if we don't win on Sunday. My
Speaker 1: honest expectation, and I'm sorry to dropped his hammer on you.
Speaker 1: This team has made me wrong a lot in the
Speaker 1: last month, so maybe that trend will continue, but I
Speaker 1: think this is gonna happen this way. Patriots went on Sunday,
Speaker 1: Jets and Seahawk doesn't matter. We beat the Judgs in
Speaker 1: Week eighteen, and then the Bills demonstrate some showmanship by
Speaker 1: letting the Pats win that finale so they can get
Speaker 1: in over us. Because I got Buffalo beatting Cincinnati, and
Speaker 1: that would put Buffalo one win away from clinching the
Speaker 1: top seed, and maybe the Chiefs will back it down
Speaker 1: and their week eat Week eight teen game once they
Speaker 1: see Buffalo with the lead or the fact that they
Speaker 1: can't overtake them. So you could get some showmanship and
Speaker 1: some gamemanship by letting the Patriots win that finale so
Speaker 1: that when the Bills get the two seed, if that happens,
Speaker 1: that they would then play the Patriots in the wild
Speaker 1: card round of the playoffs. And I hope that doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: We just can't have Buffalo locked into the two seeds,
Speaker 1: So you kind of want to see them win against
Speaker 1: the Bengals and then just see what happens from there.
Speaker 1: And the Chiefs have to win as well, because I
Speaker 1: think if you go into Week eight teen knowing they're
Speaker 1: the two seed and knowing that their performance impacts their
Speaker 1: wild card opponent, well I think they'd rather play They'd
Speaker 1: rather play the Patriots than us man. I sure. It
Speaker 1: sure feels like the only way the off season is
Speaker 1: going to be at all bearable is if we get
Speaker 1: in two. It comes back plays well in a wild
Speaker 1: card round upset. That's kind of what I'm clinging to here. Man,
Speaker 1: it's sad, but again, I'm prepared for the absolute worst
Speaker 1: and an entire off season of fraud talk and we
Speaker 1: told you so, and we The thing I think number
Speaker 1: five is that it's different but the same. And if
Speaker 1: that happens, we've missed the playoffs and the freaking Patriots
Speaker 1: getting or even the Jets man time to walk out
Speaker 1: under the ocean. And with that, I wanted to address
Speaker 1: the fan base here for a moment. I want non
Speaker 1: Dolphins fans to turn the volume down so we can
Speaker 1: have a private moment here. And if you're new to
Speaker 1: the fan base, maybe you're Obama supporter who joined up
Speaker 1: with two and waddle. Maybe you're twelve years old and
Speaker 1: you don't really know the real pain yet. Well, I
Speaker 1: guess if you're twelve, you probably have just a vague
Speaker 1: recollection of a playoff appearance. Frankly, I recall that twenty
Speaker 1: six team game in Pittsburgh very well. I remember the
Speaker 1: twenty two eight game against the Ravens very well. I
Speaker 1: convinced myself and both of those if we just punching
Speaker 1: that touchdown before the half in Pittsburgh, make it a
Speaker 1: one score game opposed to Matt Morris fumble. Maybe we
Speaker 1: come back in that game. I convinced myself, Hey, if
Speaker 1: ted Gain clearly handles the end around against the Ravens,
Speaker 1: we probably win that game two in two thousand eight,
Speaker 1: two thousand nine, but two thou eight season. But man,
Speaker 1: when you tether yourself to something as closely as I have,
Speaker 1: as we have collectively, right, gosh, it hurts when it
Speaker 1: goes against you, and when it's something you don't have
Speaker 1: any control over either. We're all a little bit insane
Speaker 1: for putting that much emotional stock into something out of
Speaker 1: our control entirely right, because I think about my monologue
Speaker 1: last year where I said, every time this team is
Speaker 1: about to bring you some joy and some hope, they
Speaker 1: seem to find a way to twist the knife even harder.
Speaker 1: It's almost comical how predictable it's been the last twenty years,
Speaker 1: and we're not there yet in two But sure fills
Speaker 1: Graham at this moment, especially giving the quarterback news earlier
Speaker 1: in the week. Monday, I blazed through twelve stages of grief,
Speaker 1: probably about eight of those. After McDaniel informas on to
Speaker 1: a acceptance, I mentioned my expectation. What's gonna happen the
Speaker 1: final two weeks and anything more will be a nice surprise.
Speaker 1: I know we all say we won't get this invested again,
Speaker 1: we won't put ourselves in a position to be let
Speaker 1: down again. But then I think back to the clock
Speaker 1: hitting triple zeros against Buffalo in Week three, or I
Speaker 1: think about two two waddle in Baltimore to win it.
Speaker 1: I think about going nanners in the first half against
Speaker 1: the Packers, or the first play against the Niners, or
Speaker 1: the touchdown to Tyreek that puts a head in Buffalo
Speaker 1: better than sex, like better than that. And the converse
Speaker 1: of that is the despair that we all feel right now.
Speaker 1: Is the ride worth it right now? It's not. No,
Speaker 1: Will it ever be? I don't know, But man, this
Speaker 1: one hurts on a different level if it plays out
Speaker 1: the way it has the last few weeks. And I'm
Speaker 1: sorry to end the show on such a downer, but
Speaker 1: that's about the long and the short. But man, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's tough. Play with your kids. Man. That's the
Speaker 1: top advice I can give you. All Right, our shortest
Speaker 1: show of the week, as we turn the page completely
Speaker 1: in preview the game tomorrow on the Drift Time podcast,
Speaker 1: and we'll have Taylor Kyle's on the Friday show to
Speaker 1: break this game down further, a very big one up
Speaker 1: in Gillette Stadium. Until then, there's gonna be my time.
Speaker 1: You all, please be sure to subscribe to the podcast
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcast. Leave us a rating, leave us a review.
Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. Follow
Speaker 1: the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank
Speaker 1: podcast with Seth and Juice are weekly Twitter spaces show
Speaker 1: tonight at eight o'clock every Wednesday at eight o'clock. Also
Speaker 1: the international podcast on the network and the YouTube channel
Speaker 1: for media availabilities, Dolphins Today, Drive Time and fish Tank
Speaker 1: content as well. Last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com.
Speaker 1: Until next time finds up Caroline Cameron Daddy It's coming home.