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