WEBVTT - Drive Time: Dolphins Cowboys Week 16 Preview 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:05.040 Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now, let me check 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:10.600 your pulse if you're not far though. What is up? Dolphins? 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:13.800 And welcome to the Draft Time Podcast, part of the 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:18.799 Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:21.599 How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:24.520 And on today's show, yeah sick again. That's how having 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:27.600 kids works. But a big game comes to Miami Gardens 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:31.200 on Christmas weekend. Dolphins and Cowboys both ten and four. 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:34.919 A win puts us in a stranglehold position in the division. 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:37.600 A win for Dallas keeps them alive in their race 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.440 for the other conference's Eastern Division. We'll go ahead and 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:42.879 get to know Dallas, look at the big storylines, what 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.600 we learned from the film and numbers, the keys to victory. 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:47.920 All of that and more from the Baptist Health Studios 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:52.400 inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Draft 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:57.480 Time Podcast. Ye Daffy first here off the top. Congratulations 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.320 to Bradley Chubb, the AFC Defensive Player of the Week 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:02.680 for his performance against the New York Jets with three 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:05.600 sacks and two forced fumbles in that game. Go ahead 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.039 and get online right now. Go to Twitter, go to 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:10.920 NFL dot com and cast your Pro Bowl votes for 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.720 the Miami Dolphins. Each of our guys send those guys 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:16.280 to Orlando, so maybe they can skip the game. We 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:19.520 go to Las Vegas the following week. Anyway, win this game. First, 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:21.440 let's go ahead and meet the Dallas Cowboys, because are 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:23.800 we ready? Guys? Got a big football game coming up 0:01:23.800 --> 0:01:27.039 on Christmas Eve? Holidays coming down the pike here. It's 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:29.679 the best time of year football, like every day with 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:33.360 the bowl games and the NFL schedule stretching out to Saturdays. 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.720 And your Miami Dolphins have never been more in the 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:40.160 mix this century. Well, I suppose two thousand and two 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:42.240 thousand and one and they were in the mix, and 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:44.839 eight and twenty sixteen. But do you think those teams 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:47.600 had a chance. I don't a chance to win a 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:50.800 big game, a chance to build some confidence and put 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:54.559 yourself in position to win one of the final two games, 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:56.520 which would give you the division title. And you know what. 0:01:57.080 --> 0:01:59.400 We'll get to all that first, though, the weather Sunday 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.680 with Chili against the Jets. The last two games, Actually 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:06.560 walking to my car against the Titans after that miserable night, 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:10.040 I was freezing my ass off. My wife loves the weather. 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:12.799 She thinks sixty degrees is t shirt weather, because well, 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:15.080 we're from a cold area in the country. My blood 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:17.040 has already thinned out. I've already been always been a 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:19.400 cold guy, as it is pretty skinny guy. I had 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:22.000 the seat warmers on going home from that Titans game. 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:24.960 It's cold, man, I'm tired of this cold front. But 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:29.040 Christmas Eve, fifteen percent chance of some rain, partly cloudy, 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.480 a little bit of breeze, but seventy four degrees at kickoff, 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:33.560 and that sustains all the way until night time. But 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:36.560 it sounds like a great day for football. And how 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:39.280 about the drainage system at hard Rock Stadium. By the way, 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:41.120 I was convinced that was going to be a bad field, 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.120 but not the way that field works. I didn't realize 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:45.200 that it was so good. No tarp and it just 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:48.840 was a solid surface after rain all week long and 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.920 then summer type of downpours on Saturday. So the Cowboys 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:57.239 on that beautiful field with Dolphins throwback jerseys ten and four. 0:02:57.280 --> 0:02:59.640 How do the Cowboys get here? It began back in 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:01.840 twenty s sixteen when they became one of those fortunate 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:04.160 teams who found a star quarterback, and yes, Dak is 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:06.600 a star quarterback. Don't listen to Skip Bayless or who. 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:08.239 I don't know who. I don't know who's mad about it, 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:10.840 but someone's mad about it right on Fox Sports one 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.760 or ESPN one. A of the fortunate teams who found 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:16.160 their star quarterback late in a draft. It doesn't happen 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:18.880 very often, but what a boon it is when you 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.600 get your franchise quarterback in the fourth round, not to 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:23.760 mention a comp pick in the fourth rounds like pick 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.520 one thirty five I think it was. They've won seventy 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.280 one of his one hundred and eleven starts at quarterback 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:32.160 and the one time he missed the majority of the season. 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:35.120 Back in twenty twenty, they bottomed out right and they 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:37.040 wound up with a top draft pick, which brought in 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.600 their other nationwide superstar. I won't say global because football 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.360 players aren't really global, but Micah Parsons well, and then 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:44.960 I guess the year before that, in twenty twenty, they 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:47.440 got Ceedee Lamb too, so he's pretty damn good. But 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:49.840 what it all boils down to, it's one of the 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:52.440 best drafting teams in the entire NFL up there with 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.320 Greer and the Dolphins going back to twenty sixteen, and 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:56.800 the Ravens, I think the other team in there as well, 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:59.480 Saints too. Every year they get hits Dak in twenty 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:02.240 sixteen their slot corner Jordan Lewis. In twenty seventeen, also 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:05.560 got Noah Brown, Xavier Woods to Tobio Wozier in that season, 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:08.160 who all left and have had good careers since then. 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:10.720 In twenty eighteen, they got Layton Van Dersh and Michael 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:13.760 Gallup and three current Dolphins Connor Williams, Mike White, and 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:16.360 Cedric Wilson all on that same draft. They got Dalton 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:19.520 Schultz and Christian Covington that year as well. In twenty nineteen, 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:22.160 they got running back Tony Pollard in safety Donovan Wilson. 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:25.400 In twenty twenty they got Ceedee Lamb and Trayvon Diggs 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:28.120 and Tyler Biottish. I mean, that's three stalwarts of their 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:30.840 current roster. Diggs is hurt right now. In twenty twenty one, 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:32.640 they got Parsons, who's one of the best players in 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:35.560 the world and probably their other best defensive lineman in 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:37.920 Nodgie Zua. And we'll go ahead and call him ode 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:39.520 on the rest of the podcast, because might pounce in 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:41.960 that name more than once. Twenty twenty, they got Deron Bland, 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:44.479 Tyler Smith, Jake Ferguson, d Moone Clark. I think you 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:46.960 get it. Every year they round out a great draft 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:50.040 class and what's crazy, one of the best offensive lines 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:52.560 in the entire National Football League. We talked about Beottish 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:56.280 and Tyler Smith. Tyrone Smith and Zach Martin have been 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:59.400 there since twenty eleven and twenty fourteen, respectively, and both 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:01.719 of those guys are going to Canton one day. DeMarcus 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:03.839 Lawrence has been there for a minute. He's still a beast. 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:06.520 Another top draft pick. They traded for Brandon Cooks. They 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:10.440 hit on u DFA's Cavante Turpin, ric Odal, Terrence Steele. 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:12.760 They revived the career of Malie Hooker in free agency. 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:16.640 They signed Stefan Gilmour this offseason. They have utilized every 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:19.200 avenue to turn this into one of the best rosters 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:23.200 in football. And Mike McCarthy, who your Boy was kind 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:26.400 of hard on in terms of just not thinking that 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:28.599 he was gonna have the solution when he said that 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:31.040 I want to play good defense or good offense to 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.360 run the football and rest my defense. I did not 0:05:33.480 --> 0:05:35.920 expect a thirty point per game offense to come from 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:39.040 that mindset, But that's what he's gotten out of this group, 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:41.200 moving gone from Kellen Moore, and he gets the last 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:44.000 laugh because their scheme is awesome. It's rolling. It's the 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:46.479 top scoring offense in the NFL if you don't count 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:48.640 the Miami Dolphins, who are top thirty one and a 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:51.080 half points to thirty point eight points per game, and 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:53.719 their defensive coordinator Dan Quim probably going to be a 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:55.520 head coach next year. So this is an elite team 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:58.719 with an elite coaching staff who is probably a year 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:01.040 or two beyond where my Miami is in terms of 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:05.479 they're like the initial building part of this build, but 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.760 they're in a difficult place in terms of they can't 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:10.680 get over the hump. And what's funny about that hump 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:13.520 is that each of the last two years it's been 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:15.720 losses to a team who looks a lot like the 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:17.640 team they're going to face on Sunday, Divisional round to 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.560 the Niners last year, two years ago at home in 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:23.320 the wild card round for that same Mike McDaniel O 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:26.919 seed forty nine ers team, but an elite team which 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:29.480 makes for great storylines. And we start here for Miami. 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:32.920 Playoff spot can be clinched, win and you are in. 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:35.839 That's it. The other routes are a tie for Miami 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.159 and a bunch of other teams losing. So I'm not 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:41.880 going to cover that because dumb. You can reduce the 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:45.120 magic number in the AFC East to one, but it 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:48.520 could be won already by Saturday night. And if the 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:50.680 Bills lose to the Chargers, I'm not holding out hope. 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:53.920 Although maybe the interim head coach Bump could be in 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:56.640 action there, I'm still not holding out hope. They just 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:59.240 lost sixty three to twenty one. But if the Bills 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:01.400 lose on Saturday, then number is one going into the 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:03.839 game and you can clinch the division on Sunday. But 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:05.799 you can clinch the playoff spot regardless of what happens 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:07.839 to Buffalo, and it would be the first back to 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:11.120 back playoff appearances for this franchise since the two thousand 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:14.720 two thousand and one seasons. Let's make that happen. You're 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:17.720 facing another contender coming off a loss. It sort of 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.520 grinds my gears that every great team we've seen in 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:25.000 this year double digit win team right that the Chiefs 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:27.000 are They not double digit yet, but they'll get there. 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:30.680 The Eagles have won double digit games, and now the Cowboys. 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:33.200 They all faced us coming off of a tough loss. 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:35.920 And Dallas is the only team to not have back 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:38.640 to back losses in the National Football League since the 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:41.440 start of last season. Can we change that? On Sunday? 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:45.720 How about making the Titans loss purposeful? That's a storyline here, 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.680 so on Hard Knocks, McDaniel has alluded to making that 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:51.560 loss purposeful in terms of learning from that loss. Right, 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:53.920 Sometimes a loss can be a good thing in how 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.480 you respond to it. I thought the Jets game gave 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.400 you a glimpse into how this team is wired from 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:02.000 a psychology standpoint, why it's a special locker room, the 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:05.280 way they celebrated together. And not just Andrew van Ginkel 0:08:05.640 --> 0:08:07.960 breaking up a pass on a wheel route in the 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:09.880 first quarter, which is a big play in the game, right, 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:13.240 but Ethan Bonner in his first career game deep into 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.520 the fourth quarter of a thirty point blowout with the 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.240 pass breakup, and he celebrated like he just clinched a 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:20.560 trip to the Super Bowl. That told me a lot 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.040 about this team. Sunday can tell me even more about 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:25.240 this team. And then how about a winning team that 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:27.400 visits hard Rock Stadium for the first time this season? 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:30.960 Crazy stat, right, first team first time ever teams with 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:34.040 twenty combined wins but one or fewer wins against teams 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:36.920 above five hundred matchup. Kind Of silly though, right because, 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:40.400 like Denver was over five hundred just four days ago, 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:42.480 so that stat would go out the window if Denver 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.120 hadn't got blown out by Detroit and a fully healthy 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:46.840 Chargers team back in Week one, by the way, was 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:49.920 a good football team. But either way, I digress. The 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:52.560 narrative is still the narrative, and you can change it 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:54.920 on Sunday. All of those games have been on the road, 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:57.760 and that finally you get the big test here at home. 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:00.120 I think it's very important for this Dolphins team. And 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:02.160 the last storyline I have here are the home and 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:05.520 road splits for either side. Dolphins a dominant fixture at 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:08.040 home five yards per attempt and the passing game allowed 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:10.640 compared to six point three. That's a good pass defense 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.600 either way, but my goodness, five the passer rating against 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:16.960 seventy four point one at home compared to ninety seven 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:20.160 point two on the road. Twenty one touchdowns allowed on 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:22.480 the road compared to just nine at home. For the 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:25.199 Cowboys offensively, their yards per attempt and the passing game 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:27.680 goes from eight point eight to seven point six home 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.520 to road. The passer rating goes one fourteen point four 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:33.760 to ninety seven point five home to road. They average 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:36.040 five point four yards per rush at home, four point 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:38.679 seven on the road, and they scored thirty one touchdowns 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:42.320 at home compared to twenty one on the road. They're 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:44.400 three and four on the road, they average twenty one 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:46.920 point seven points per game and three hundred and six 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.320 yards per game, and they're minus one in the takeaway department, 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:52.760 or they turn over battle, I should say. But at 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:54.839 home they're seven to zero with forty points per game. 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.400 They double their production. They go four hundred and thirty 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:59.559 one yards per game. That's one hundred and thirty more 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:01.920 and the plus ten a post of minus one. So 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:04.280 they are not the same team on the road. Make 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:06.160 that be the case here, and you should be okay, 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:08.480 and we go ahead and start talking about this matchup 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:12.120 with the Dolphins offense versus the Cowboys defense. And their 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:14.960 safety position. It's gonna be a key in this podcast 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:17.959 because they use them a lot, and they use a 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:19.960 lot of those guys to play the linebacker position, So 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.440 Malie Cooker is their best safety. He missed the game 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.199 on Sunday, it sounds like he has a pretty good 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.280 chance to play in the game on Sunday. He plays 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.200 eighty percent of their snaps, jay Ron Kurse plays seventy 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:36.800 two percent, and Janya Thomas plays twenty percent of the reps. 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:39.319 At cornerback. They are thin right now because of the 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.199 Trayvon Diggs injury, but on the perimeter it's Stefan Gilmour 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:45.240 at ninety four and Deron Bland eighty nine. Without those 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:47.760 two guys, I'm not really sure who next man up is, 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:49.040 So keep an eye on that thro the course of 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:50.640 the game. There are a lot of positions for this 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:54.760 Cowboys team offensively and defensively where if one guy goes down, 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:57.079 kind of like you saw for the Dolphins, with multiple 0:10:57.080 --> 0:10:59.640 guys going down, it could drastically change the course of 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:02.960 this game. So in game injuries for Dallas here are critical. 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:05.280 If they lose any part at a couple of spots, 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.120 there's a snowball effect that could be had there, and 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:12.040 that's one of them. The cornerback position inside, Jordan Lewis 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.680 plays sixty three percent of the snaps. Then Donovan Wilson 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:18.120 is a third safety slot type and he plays sixty 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:20.880 four percent of the snaps. On the defensive line, Jonathan 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:22.960 Hankins plays thirty eight percent of the reps. And if 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:25.360 you ask a Cowboys fan what happened in Buffalo, they're 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:27.360 gonna tell you Jonathan Hankins did not play in the game, 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:29.880 which is not the entire case, but it is partially 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:32.560 the case. He has been a key run stopper and 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:34.160 he was out and it sounds like he could miss 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:35.360 this game as well, So don't think he might be 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:38.520 doubtful to play this game. Odigie Zuwa Odie fifty eight 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.480 percent snaptaker. He's really good, especially as a pass rusher. 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:43.800 They love to get him one on one chances when 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:46.240 you take all your attention towards Parsons or Lawrence, so 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.120 keeping on him. And then Mazzie Smith twenty eight percent 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:51.199 of the snaps and Golston twenty eight percent of the snaps. 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:53.920 Off the edge. Micah Parsons plays eighty percent we'll talk 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.320 more about him as we go along here. DeMarcus Lawrence 0:11:56.440 --> 0:11:58.160 is he kind of reminds me of Bradley Chubb his 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:01.520 game fifty five percent snap take. Doris Armstrong is forty 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.280 two percent, and then Dante Fowler twenty five percent, almost 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:08.680 exclusively a pass rusher. At linebacker, Damone Clark plays seventy 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.120 four percent, and then Marquis Bell is listed as a 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:13.200 linebacker here, but he's really a safety who goes two 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:16.559 hundred and fourteen pounds. He plays sixty percent of their snaps. 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:18.840 Let's go ahead and talk about why this defense is 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:22.439 constructed the way it is. It's it's confusing. Leyton vander Esch, 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:25.760 Damarian Overshown, and tray Von Diggs. All those guys are 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:28.400 on ir. That's our top cornerback, it's our top two 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.880 interior linebackers. Malie Cooker didn't play against Buffalo, nor did 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.080 Jonathan Hankins, but it seems like they could be back 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:35.959 this week, or at least Hooker could. I don't think 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:38.679 Hankins will be. We'll see. And the Marquise Bell changed 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:40.800 positions like he was a safety who is now a 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:45.800 linebacker two hundred and fourteen pounds. It's a tiny linebacker. 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:48.440 That's why you have so many safeties seeing time they're 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:51.200 short onlinebackers, and then without their middle of the field 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:54.559 safety eraser and hooker, that's really tough to overcome, and 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:56.480 they couldn't in Buffalo. They got ran up and down 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.480 the field on then you remove your best run stuffing 0:12:59.480 --> 0:13:02.040 defensive ten. I picked Buffalo to win that game last week, 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:05.160 but honestly, the score wasn't really a surprise. When you 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:07.160 realize all that going on and how Buffalo won with 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:09.000 the running game, It'll be a good week to have 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:12.080 a healthy Raheem Moster him on eight chan Jeff Wilson, 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:14.560 Chris Brooks. Their personnel usage, get a load of this, 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:17.480 Get a load of this. Three percent FORO to three. 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.240 That's it. No other base downs. They're a nickel twenty 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.000 seven percent of the time. That's the lowest in the 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:26.120 league because they play a league high sixty one percent 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:30.720 of the time in their dime package. Alec Ingole, durham 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:34.920 Smythe Chris Brooks, Julian Hill, you're up right, go ahead 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:36.480 and bring it in, guys, bring it in a little 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:38.520 bit closer. We're gonna end the first segment of the 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:42.439 podcast with a monologue on the Dolphins offense first the 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:45.240 Cowboys defense before we get more into the matchups. We're 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:47.240 gonna have a talk here, right, I'm a homer, right, 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:49.760 Travis the homer. I picked the Dolphins a lot, and 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.320 because I still think they are the best team in 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:54.800 the conference. I think this season has shown you the 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:57.679 Niners are the clear best team in football. But I 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:01.000 like Miami in the AFC. I always have. So when 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:03.520 I tell you this next part, just know it's derived 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:07.720 from two things. One that belief and two I'm watching 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:13.000 a Dallas defense that leaves swaths of grass vacant in 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:15.320 the middle of the football field. I'm watching a Dallas 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:18.120 defense that fits the run with two hundred and ten 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.440 pounds safeties that they've converted linebacker. What I'm telling you 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:23.760 is that there is one area of concern this week, 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:28.040 and if that's mitigated, it's not feasible that Dallas is 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:33.560 responsible for slowing Miami down even a fraction. That reason 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:36.560 is Micah Parsons in the pass rush. But with Tron Armstead, 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:39.200 you can slide that protection all day long, and our 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:42.320 motion and our backfield action with tuas details I think 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:44.880 will be okay in that regard. But then also this 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:49.160 is a potential trapdoor scenario, a potential issue where you 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:52.080 feel a loss of Connor Williams. Liam really needs to 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:54.320 be on top of his stuff against their pressure packages 0:14:54.320 --> 0:14:56.000 because they bring the heat and they can affect your 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:59.160 quarterback with that. Now, I also said, it's not feasible 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:02.960 that Dallas is responsible for slowing us down, but it 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:06.040 is feasible that we slow us down because we've done 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:07.920 it the majority of the games this year, so it's 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:11.200 not unconscionable. What I'm telling you is this, if if 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:16.840 if the Dolphins offensively are on their stuff, on their ish, 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.520 if we don't commit drive killing fouls, if we don't 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:24.280 turn the football over, we will score at will. I'm 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:28.840 talking six touchdowns, forty two points. Let me tell you why. 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:31.920 On the other side, Drive Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:37.000 brought to you by Auto Nation. What'd you guys make 0:15:37.040 --> 0:15:39.080 of that teaser on the other side there, let's go 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:41.320 ahead and tell you why I feel this way. So 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:44.080 their base defense is dime right, that's six defensive backs 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:46.440 on first down they run it sixty percent of the time. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:51.480 I mean, if you have sixty b's you only have 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:54.680 five guys in the front five offensive lineman. That's five 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:57.080 on five hat on a hat, add alec Ingold, add 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:00.320 Durham's Smith add to Julian like sixty f fo four 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.960 percent on second down, sixty two on third down. I 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:05.840 think the injuries at linebacker has dictated this because again 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:08.000 they line those safeties up down in the second level 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:10.920 of their defense, which bodes well for their ability to 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:13.320 get depth on their drops or matchup against backs and 0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:15.120 tight ends in the passing game. Right, But you've also 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:20.520 got again Marky Spell two fourteen, Wanna thomas Is two seventeen, 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.840 j Ron curse Is two to fifteen, Donovan Wilson's two 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:27.360 zho four. Two hundred and thirty pound linebackers are considered 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:29.720 slight in this league. It reminds me of the matchup 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:32.040 in Buffalo last year where alec Ingold, on the first 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:33.920 nap of the game, blue to Ron Johnson off the 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:35.520 football and said, it's gonna be a long night for 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.400 you boy. He wears down those light boxes in the 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:40.440 running game. It's a great game to have the best 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:43.800 fullback in the NFL. Their coverage, deployment cover one thirty 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:45.800 three percent of the time is second most in the NFL. 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:48.720 Cover three forty three percent of the time is eighth most, 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.200 and they run quarters ten percent of the time. But 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:53.520 it's a Cover one, Cover three defense. It's man free, 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:56.800 that's three deep, you get it. And it's mostly cornerbacks 0:16:56.800 --> 0:16:58.840 that play those deep covers too, So the safeties again 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:01.560 are playing in the hook and the curl flat for posterity. 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:04.399 They play more man coverage than anybody else forty eight 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:07.360 percent of the time, and they're also playing off seventy 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:10.200 five percent of the time, which if you're gonna play 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:12.639 man press twenty five percent of the time against us, 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:15.159 have fun, you know. And it's probably even more than 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:17.520 that because without digs, they've had more off coverage. But 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:19.840 that plays into my thought about the Titans game plan 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:23.160 that they could have, which is this, are they gonna 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:27.359 play this variation of middlefield, closed, single high, and three deep, 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:29.280 which is what you saw from the Titans, that three 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.119 deep coverage, three safeties, But they would always buzz in the 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.480 middle of the football field and they sort of abandon 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:36.399 that backside receiver r A the X to help support 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.040 in the running game, to play their light boxes with 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:41.080 those three high safeties with a cornerback playing a quasi 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:43.760 will linebacker role. I could see the Cowboys doing this, 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:45.560 especially after the way the Bills attack them in the 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:48.159 running game. It's a lot for any defense to handle, 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:50.239 but especially when you're having to dig deep into your 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.000 depth with all the injuries they have back there, it 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:55.240 is a concern. But they do make it up elsewhere, 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:57.760 which is we'll get to that, but just look at 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.720 their tape. They haven't. I think they could run that plan, 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:03.240 but it would be the first time they had because 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:05.520 they haven't done it before. I wrote that note before 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:07.200 watching the tape and coming back from the tape. There's 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:10.120 a lot of man coverage outside leverage and access access 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:13.720 to digs and slants and posts. Brother, that's where we live. 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:18.119 They run a lot of press man free, which is 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:22.119 Gilmour and Bland press coverage with Malie Cooker in the 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:24.560 center field, and you can get vertical routes off of this. 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:26.560 You're gonna get one side of that with a deep 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:29.760 access without safety help. So if Tyreek and Waddle every 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:31.560 damn week we hit a vertical pass. If they play 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:33.920 that coverage, you have to beat them deep. They also 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.800 run Tampa two, which coincides with our dagger concept. Dagger 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:39.920 a clear out route to clear out that safety, run 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:42.680 the hook or the deep dig in behind that. That's 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:44.760 what you get when you ask a middle linebacker to 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:47.040