Speaker 1: Looking down fail touchdown, Miami quarter? What is up? Dolphans
Speaker 1: And welcome to the Drivetime Podcast, part of the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's
Speaker 1: it going? Everybody? Is Wednesday. I am your host, Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: and as always I am here to bring you your
Speaker 1: daily dose of Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show,
Speaker 1: we're previewing the game on Sunday, one day early before Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: We'll look at the matchups position by position. We'll give
Speaker 1: you the three keys to this game, how Miami can
Speaker 1: win the game, and an intro into the Panthers. Will
Speaker 1: also pick the week twelve games. Here on this Wednesday
Speaker 1: edition of the Drivetime Podcast from the Baptist Health Studios
Speaker 1: inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drivetime
Speaker 1: Podcast Miami Dolphins. So it's a preview day and another
Speaker 1: quick reminder that this is the last episode of the week.
Speaker 1: We're gonna take the next two days off for the holiday,
Speaker 1: and I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving ahead
Speaker 1: of a big game on Sunday, A big one that
Speaker 1: basically is an elimination game between Miami and Carolina. In
Speaker 1: many ways will recap the game on Sunday night, but
Speaker 1: today we're previewing Dolphins versus Panthers. His Miami kicks off
Speaker 1: a three game homestand here with a week in between
Speaker 1: for the bye week, so a nice month long stretch
Speaker 1: here at the beautiful hard Rock Stadium. It's year two
Speaker 1: of the Matt Rule era in Carolina. He signed a
Speaker 1: seven year contract two years ago to leave the college game,
Speaker 1: where he turned around two programs that were not having
Speaker 1: a bunch of success before his arrival, both in Temple
Speaker 1: and Baylor, and in both of his first two years
Speaker 1: in Carolina, they started out strong, then hit some bumps
Speaker 1: in the road last year never recovered. But this year
Speaker 1: they got some new life with a mid season signing
Speaker 1: of a familiar face and the former and now new
Speaker 1: starting quarterback came Am Newton. And that's kind of the
Speaker 1: crux of this rebuild, right the quarterback position. We obviously
Speaker 1: won't see how it shakes out with Justin Fields or
Speaker 1: even Mac Jones for another few years, but Carolina chose
Speaker 1: to send some high picks for Sam Donald in lieu
Speaker 1: of selecting one of those two key quarterbacks in favor
Speaker 1: of cornerback j c. Horne, who was the best cornerback
Speaker 1: in the draft. So not arguing that fact, but the
Speaker 1: quarterback position pretty important, and they ultimately wind up bringing
Speaker 1: back the same QB they had when Rule took over
Speaker 1: and Cam Newton. To me, that is fascinating and really
Speaker 1: their last playoff appearance was the last time Cam had
Speaker 1: one of his big seasons. In His passing numbers didn't
Speaker 1: pop that year, it was just an eighty point seven
Speaker 1: passer rating, but his rushing numbers seven hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: four yards and six touchdowns on the ground that eighteen season,
Speaker 1: you might recall he fought through some injuries and had
Speaker 1: a better passing rater, better passer rating easy for me
Speaker 1: to say, and better passing numbers all around, but he
Speaker 1: did rush for two fewer, two t tds and three
Speaker 1: hundred a few yards. Get through it, Travis. As the
Speaker 1: Panthers regress from eleven and five to seven and nine,
Speaker 1: Cam then misses all but two games in twenty nineteen
Speaker 1: and the trapdoor falls out to five and eleven and
Speaker 1: that's the end of the Ron Rivera era. And in
Speaker 1: year one of Matt Rule, they go five and eleven
Speaker 1: and I think they were even three and three at
Speaker 1: one point last year, so the back end of the
Speaker 1: season kind of fell away got away from them there
Speaker 1: in year one under Matt Rule, and the philosophy for
Speaker 1: that team was to load up on the defense. Every
Speaker 1: draft pick they made in that first campaign was on defense,
Speaker 1: all of them, and boy did it work. They feature
Speaker 1: one of the league's best defenses. And they would be
Speaker 1: even stronger if they had their first round pick on
Speaker 1: the field and J. C. Horne because he looked awesome
Speaker 1: in limited action. But they also made some solid picks
Speaker 1: on offense this year, so that roster is beginning to
Speaker 1: round out for them, and I think this will be
Speaker 1: a team to contend with in a year or two,
Speaker 1: provided they do find that long term answer at quarterback,
Speaker 1: which obviously is the toughest thing to do in the league.
Speaker 1: But they have their guy for right now in thirty
Speaker 1: two year old Cam Newton, and who knows, that's not
Speaker 1: that old. Maybe he is the long term answer there. Hell,
Speaker 1: he's still obviously an effective runner, which they have always
Speaker 1: been a true has always been a true differentiator in
Speaker 1: his m v P type of career, where he's posted
Speaker 1: up some gaudy numbers year in and year out, going
Speaker 1: back to his time with the Panthers the first time around,
Speaker 1: and that's where he kicked this thing off here the
Speaker 1: Carolina quarterback versus the Miami safeties as we do every
Speaker 1: week on the Preview podcast here, So the Dolphin's got
Speaker 1: a chance to see Cam twice last year, which I
Speaker 1: believe is somewhat beneficial this year, even if it is
Speaker 1: in a different system with a different jersey on Josh
Speaker 1: Bowyer talked about this in his Tuesday presser about how
Speaker 1: with a quarterback like Lamar, there are some similarities in
Speaker 1: that quarterback run game, but I think we can all
Speaker 1: acknowledge they are different styles of runners, like Lamar is
Speaker 1: gonna run by you, where Cam could drop that shoulder
Speaker 1: and run right through you. And in a game where
Speaker 1: I think most games are decided by red zone success
Speaker 1: and those four point swings aside from turnovers and takeaways
Speaker 1: and all that fun stuff, the quarterback run game in
Speaker 1: that area is such a challenge to contend with. This
Speaker 1: guy has seventy two rushing touchdowns, sixty of those with
Speaker 1: the Carolina Panthers, twelve last year for the Patriots. Not bad,
Speaker 1: and we saw what that backfield was able to accomplish
Speaker 1: in those real special years, whether it was Stewart and
Speaker 1: Williams with Jonathan Stewart, D'Angelo Williams, or even today with
Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey. On Sunday, Cam rushed ten times for forty
Speaker 1: six yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for a
Speaker 1: goal to go touchdown the week prior and through for
Speaker 1: one in that area of the field in a game
Speaker 1: where he scored two touchdowns as a special package option
Speaker 1: behind starter P. J. Walker. Now, I think the game's
Speaker 1: last year show you how Miami was able to adjust
Speaker 1: to what Cam does so well because the Patriots had
Speaker 1: a lot of success on the ground end Game one
Speaker 1: with that quarterback lead quarterback power tough to stop. And
Speaker 1: he goes fifteen for nineteen in that game for one
Speaker 1: fifty five and uh freshes for seventy five yards on
Speaker 1: fifteen carries on the ground and two touchdowns in that game.
Speaker 1: Then in game number two down here in Miami, seventeen
Speaker 1: for twenty seven for two oh nine and just nine
Speaker 1: for thirty eight and no touchdowns on the ground. So
Speaker 1: extra hats in the box, a man in every single
Speaker 1: gap and bringing the gang tackling to the party, those
Speaker 1: are your keys. Cam was one for one on twenty
Speaker 1: plus yard throws last week for twenty seven yards, went
Speaker 1: right down the middle. It was a Christian McCaffrey touchdown
Speaker 1: reception actually, And he also completed five of six in
Speaker 1: that ten to nineteen yard range for sixty seven yards.
Speaker 1: So he had plenty of success attacking the second and
Speaker 1: third levels of that Washington defense. But against the blitz
Speaker 1: he was six for nine for forty five yards with
Speaker 1: no touchdowns and no picks. Fifteen for eighteen with one
Speaker 1: forty four and two touchdowns when he was not blitz.
Speaker 1: So Miami blitz is a lot. Maybe that's the answer
Speaker 1: here for Cam Newton, he was just three for six
Speaker 1: with nineteen yards when he was under pressure from that
Speaker 1: undermanned Washington defense. And when you blitz, you have to
Speaker 1: stay gap sound and also clog up his escape routes
Speaker 1: because we don't get him in the first wave. You know,
Speaker 1: he's gonna find different lanes to get through. Continue to
Speaker 1: bring that pressure through multiple gaps and where the safety's
Speaker 1: coming to play here. I mean, that's kind of been
Speaker 1: the script the last few weeks, right, A fun script
Speaker 1: to follow as these two guys in Javon Holland and
Speaker 1: Brandon Jones continue to provide pressure and contribute as pass
Speaker 1: rushers in the run game and in coverage as well.
Speaker 1: And that translates to the running back position too, because
Speaker 1: we'll go to that next year. The Dolphins linebackers versus
Speaker 1: the Panthers running backs and Christian McCaffrey. I mean, this
Speaker 1: guy does it all. He motioned out on Sunday and
Speaker 1: caught that touchdown pass on a steam route, which is
Speaker 1: basically like a tight end or a big slot receiver
Speaker 1: type of play where he gets over the top of
Speaker 1: the linebacker and makes a nice catch off the top
Speaker 1: of the helmet. It was a great throw from Cam,
Speaker 1: but I think it speaks to McCaffrey's abilities to really
Speaker 1: play any position on the offense. You have to locate
Speaker 1: number twenty two every single snap. The only thing that
Speaker 1: was basically holding him back from m v P type
Speaker 1: of production every single year has been his availability. Forty
Speaker 1: seven touchdowns in fifty one career games. He average is
Speaker 1: a buck fifteen of yards per from scrimmage per game.
Speaker 1: In those fifty one games. He played just three games
Speaker 1: last year. He's played six this year, so he's missed
Speaker 1: some more. But when he's played sixteen games in nineteen
Speaker 1: nineteen hundred sixty five yards from scrimmage and thirteen touchdowns,
Speaker 1: then twenty nine two yards from scrimmage and nineteen total touchdowns,
Speaker 1: he is a problem. He's elusive, he's decisive, he's got
Speaker 1: tremendous hands, he can hit home runs. He's tough enough
Speaker 1: to grind out yards inside. I don't know how many
Speaker 1: other ways I can say it. You've gotta find number
Speaker 1: twenty two and you have to tackle. He's averaging three
Speaker 1: point oh four yards after initial contact. He was at
Speaker 1: four point seven three on Sunday against Washington. And that's
Speaker 1: just as a rusher, which is twelve in the NFL
Speaker 1: among backs who have played over one hundred snaps of
Speaker 1: this season. His fourteen runs of ten plus yards are
Speaker 1: fifteenth most in the NFL. With just ninety rush attempts,
Speaker 1: Nobody else is in the top sixteen. Nobody else that's
Speaker 1: in the top six team rather has fewer than one
Speaker 1: and twelve rush attempts. So he hits big plays at
Speaker 1: a high frequency. You have to find a way to
Speaker 1: limit that. And the Patriots actually had the most success
Speaker 1: against him this year just three point seven yards per
Speaker 1: rush and no touchdowns. And they did it by crowding
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage and challenging the Panthers to beat
Speaker 1: them through the air with that strong secondary. And again
Speaker 1: that was Sam Donald, not Cam Newton, so a different
Speaker 1: story there, but that is still the idea. In the
Speaker 1: passing game. He caught four for fifty four in that
Speaker 1: game and it was against linebackers and safety. So you
Speaker 1: look at some of the speed Miami has between Holland
Speaker 1: and Jones and Baker at those positions and the idea
Speaker 1: of double teams, that's what I would do. That's what
Speaker 1: New England did when he flexed out, double him, bracket him.
Speaker 1: I'll be curious to find out if Miami does the same.
Speaker 1: And also, don't forget about a Mere Abdullah or Cuba Hubbard.
Speaker 1: Both those guys have home run hitting ability to so
Speaker 1: do not let those guys hit you for big plays
Speaker 1: because if they do, that's when you're in some real trouble.
Speaker 1: And if you can do that, then you need to
Speaker 1: win the one on one matchups. At our next position,
Speaker 1: preview Caroline receivers and tight ends versus the Miami cornerbacks.
Speaker 1: And again there's plenty more speed here to go around,
Speaker 1: and it largely funnels through two guys aside from the tailbacks.
Speaker 1: At least. D J. Moore has ninety nine targets this season,
Speaker 1: Robbie Anderson has sixty one, and the third highest targeted
Speaker 1: receiver is Terrence Marshall Jr. At And then the highest
Speaker 1: targeted tight end is Ian Thomas with nineteen targets. So
Speaker 1: Dj Moore, Robbie Anderson, Christian McCaffrey all your top three
Speaker 1: guys by a long shot there, and Moore and Anderson
Speaker 1: are both speed merchants, but More is just a pure, polished,
Speaker 1: clean route runner across the board. He does it all
Speaker 1: sure handed, seven hundred and fifty one yards and four
Speaker 1: touchdowns this season with a sixty two point six percent
Speaker 1: catch ray and ten point seven a dot. So he
Speaker 1: gets vertical and he catches a lot of balls, and
Speaker 1: that sounds like a good draw for me. For xaviing
Speaker 1: Howard because of the physical nature of his game, the
Speaker 1: reaction ability, and again the high volume of targets creates
Speaker 1: more interception opportunities for x Right. We talked about that
Speaker 1: earlier this pod. Earlier this season. If they want to
Speaker 1: throw to a guy regardless of who you put on him,
Speaker 1: put X over there. If you get ten targets, you
Speaker 1: have a good chance to get in a pick. So
Speaker 1: do that, but also disrupt his timing, and if you
Speaker 1: can really match up on more one on one, that
Speaker 1: could change the entire game from Miami. If they can
Speaker 1: wipe him out with Xavien Howard, and especially to disrupt
Speaker 1: that timing with a new quarterback at the position, that
Speaker 1: could cause some some chemistry issues when they probably don't
Speaker 1: have that down just yet. Robbie Anderson leads the team
Speaker 1: with twelve eleven point two yards of average depth of target.
Speaker 1: That's typically been the type of guy that Byron has
Speaker 1: matched up on. But again, if guys don't travel in
Speaker 1: the defense, and as those receivers move about the formation,
Speaker 1: then you're gonna see everybody at one point or another.
Speaker 1: But I think that Anderson on Jones is a good
Speaker 1: matchup because Jones has a great recovery speed and he
Speaker 1: can gamble a little bit on the short stuff and
Speaker 1: then get back into phase and recover deep if you
Speaker 1: have to. And the Panthers, you know, don't really have
Speaker 1: a primary slot guy. That's where McCaffrey and Ian Thomas
Speaker 1: or even Tommy Tremble operate a lot of the time.
Speaker 1: So I think that you can get some jams and
Speaker 1: chips with brackets on McCaffrey when he does go out
Speaker 1: into those condensed splits or those nasty splits in tight
Speaker 1: but the rest of that interior portion of the field,
Speaker 1: if you can lock up those guys with brackets and
Speaker 1: doubles and zone and you get your two best corners
Speaker 1: on their receivers out wide, I think that's maybe the
Speaker 1: formula here, or at least one of the possible options.
Speaker 1: But I'll be curious to see what Javon Holland's role
Speaker 1: is this week because there's a lot of areas they
Speaker 1: could use him in, and since McCaffrey doubles as a receiver,
Speaker 1: maybe it's more of a three safety game where you
Speaker 1: get Eric Rowe more of a full time workload in
Speaker 1: addition to Jones and Holland playing full time, and what
Speaker 1: he does best is matchup on the tight end. We're
Speaker 1: providing a sure tackling safety inside against the Panthers run games.
Speaker 1: So I'll take a look at Eric road this week
Speaker 1: and think maybe he plays some more snaps. But Carolina
Speaker 1: has deployment on offense this year also makes them challenging.
Speaker 1: Eleven personnel of the time, that's one receiver or rather
Speaker 1: one running back, one tight end and three receivers. Twelve
Speaker 1: personnel is nineteen one back, two tight ends, and then
Speaker 1: twenty one person snell is nine percent primarily McCaffrey and Hubbard,
Speaker 1: and then two personnel which is two backs, two tight
Speaker 1: ends for seven percent with McCaffrey, Hubbard, Thomas and Tremble.
Speaker 1: And I'll invite that package that means only d J.
Speaker 1: Morris stays on the field. But it's a good package still.
Speaker 1: But the Dolphins will have to keep their substitutions on
Speaker 1: point because they love to make those changes. But they
Speaker 1: can also get to those different types of formations and
Speaker 1: looks because of the flexibility of so many players they have,
Speaker 1: so like, really, if McCaffrey and Hubbard are both in
Speaker 1: the game at the same time, you might think, well,
Speaker 1: we have to get linebackers out there, because two running
Speaker 1: backs means a running play and you take your defensive
Speaker 1: backs off the field. Then all of a sudden, they
Speaker 1: flex McCaffrey out and he's one of the most dangerous
Speaker 1: slot receivers in the game, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you're against eleven personnel in your based defense, which means
Speaker 1: linebacker on McCaffrey, and you can't have that. So it's
Speaker 1: a challenge. Robbie Anderson's catching just forty five point nine
Speaker 1: percent of his passes this season. We know he wants
Speaker 1: to go deep and get the ball in the perimeter,
Speaker 1: up wide or up up top for those deep balls,
Speaker 1: and that and the sidelines are the two primary options
Speaker 1: you want to look for against cover zero, and the
Speaker 1: out routes are okay, we'll take those. He's got three
Speaker 1: touchdowns this year, usually they come from deep. He has
Speaker 1: a fifty seven yard but also a seventeen yard and
Speaker 1: a seven yard of the season. But I think he's
Speaker 1: the guy on this offense you can go one on
Speaker 1: one against. Also, the best way to slow down all
Speaker 1: that speed is to get after it in the pass
Speaker 1: rush game. Which brings us to our final matchup on
Speaker 1: this side of the football, the Carolina offensive line versus
Speaker 1: the Miami defensive line, and Carolina has allowed the second
Speaker 1: most pressures in the National Football League this year with
Speaker 1: one d and forty four, and Cameron Irving is usually
Speaker 1: one of the starring tacklers, but he's on I R.
Speaker 1: He's accounted for twenty one pressures and at right tackle,
Speaker 1: Taylor Moten has allowed twenty one pressures but no sacks
Speaker 1: and just two QB hits. John Miller is a guy
Speaker 1: you might remember from the Buffalo days. He is also
Speaker 1: on the starting lineup. He has twenty pressures allowed in
Speaker 1: four sacks. On the interior center Matt Parrotis is also
Speaker 1: down on I R. He had allowed six team pressures
Speaker 1: this year, but his replacement, Pat l Line has allowed
Speaker 1: just five pressures this season, so he's been solid. And
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan has four team pressures allowed. Not that Michael
Speaker 1: Jordan's three sacks and three hits, while Dennis Daily four
Speaker 1: team pressures, two sacks and four hits. This offensive line
Speaker 1: is banged up. Deontay Brown, their big rookie, also on
Speaker 1: I R designated for return. We'll see if he comes
Speaker 1: back this week or if not. But he's a massive,
Speaker 1: massive man at three and fifty pounds. So whoever the
Speaker 1: quarterback is, they've been under drest this season. That's where
Speaker 1: Miami really needs to win on defense here. If you
Speaker 1: can take out Anderson and Thomas with one on one
Speaker 1: and you can commit more attention to more McCaffrey and
Speaker 1: get after their quarterback than you should have some success.
Speaker 1: But how do those numbers translate to what Miami does
Speaker 1: well well? Molten pitch day shut out last week going
Speaker 1: against Chase Young's back up in Washington. The best game
Speaker 1: from an opponent against Molten was Charles Amena, who from
Speaker 1: the Texans, and he's one of those long, heavy handed
Speaker 1: guys like the two guys we have here in Phillips
Speaker 1: and Agba, and something to note, he's their best lineman
Speaker 1: at right tackle. He'll see plenty of Agba. Hopefully a
Speaker 1: Manuel can have the same success Amena who did in
Speaker 1: that game. Dennis Daily is the left tackle, so maybe
Speaker 1: some Phillips and Van Ginkle over there. But he was
Speaker 1: hit for four pressures against the Patriots three weeks ago.
Speaker 1: He's played three different positions this season and actually was
Speaker 1: injured in the game last week against Washington, So maybe
Speaker 1: they have to go even deeper into their tackle depth
Speaker 1: and go to rookie Brady Christensen from b y U
Speaker 1: and some Panthers fans on Twitter that I follow have not.
Speaker 1: He's been struggling so far this season in his rookie
Speaker 1: year when he does get a chance. He did play
Speaker 1: forty one snaps in that game and did not allow
Speaker 1: a pressure on twenty six pass blocking snaps, but he
Speaker 1: was removed from the lineup earlier in the season when
Speaker 1: he was hit for twelve pressures and back to back
Speaker 1: games against the Eagles and Giants. That's an area of
Speaker 1: Miami needs to exploit here to help the defensive backs
Speaker 1: on the back end and limit the Panthers from being
Speaker 1: two dimensional on offense. If we can find a way
Speaker 1: to take out the passing game, I would feel really
Speaker 1: good about this matchup for Miami. Michael Jordan was called
Speaker 1: up again, Not that Michael Jordan, guys, it's a different guy,
Speaker 1: even though the same Carolina Blue he was called upon
Speaker 1: in Week six. He allowed no pressures against Arizona, but
Speaker 1: it's been three, three to two and four pressures allowed
Speaker 1: in the other games, the four last week against Jonathan
Speaker 1: Allen and the boys up in d C. I'm looking
Speaker 1: for similar success there from Seeler becaus I think he
Speaker 1: kind of mimics what Alan does well and ray Kwon
Speaker 1: Davis with the size and strength and power, but then
Speaker 1: also obviously Wilkins and Butler and all the strengths they have.
Speaker 1: Elf Line has not a lot of pressure in his
Speaker 1: last three games, which includes eighty one pass protection reps.
Speaker 1: So the tackle positions I think for on both sides
Speaker 1: of the football here are going to be key in
Speaker 1: this game for the Dolphins and Panthers. And we now
Speaker 1: turn the page over to the Dolphins offense and start
Speaker 1: with the Dolphins quarterback versus the Carolina safeties. And these
Speaker 1: Panthers safeties, well, they're legit, much like much of their defense,
Speaker 1: especially Jeremy Chin. He's kind of your Christian McCaffrey on
Speaker 1: the other side, and that you've got to figure out
Speaker 1: where the heck he is every single snap. He's basically
Speaker 1: Derwin James. Guys, He's really really good. He plays all
Speaker 1: over the formation and that helps the Panthers create the
Speaker 1: one on one matchups with their rush game the way
Speaker 1: Holland and Jones can do that here and do what
Speaker 1: does have the worth lowest sack per drop back rate
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and think about that with the way
Speaker 1: things have gone this year, what an upshot that is
Speaker 1: for him. And he will have to be active in
Speaker 1: that area again in this game because they bring the pressure.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about that here. More than just one second
Speaker 1: they bring the extra rusher on blitz is thirty two
Speaker 1: point one percent of their defensive snaps. That's the sixth
Speaker 1: highest rate in the National Football League. Too has played
Speaker 1: two of the other top ten blitz rate teams in
Speaker 1: the NFL, and he had two of his best games
Speaker 1: against Jacksonville and Baltimore earlier this season. He's starting games
Speaker 1: really sound. He's taken Miami down for opening drive touchdowns
Speaker 1: and four of six starts this season, and in the
Speaker 1: fifth game against Buffalo took him down for a field goal.
Speaker 1: So you want to see that continue. But hopefully this
Speaker 1: offense can keep that momentum going into the second quarter
Speaker 1: where the offense has struggled before they pick it back
Speaker 1: up in that second half. The splits between quarters one, three,
Speaker 1: and four and even overtime for twa compared to his
Speaker 1: second quarter splits this year, they're completely different. I want
Speaker 1: to see that change this week, hopefully. And Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: had the best day against them with three hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy three passing yards, but the next highest was Zack
Speaker 1: Wilson for the Jets on opening day, and it was
Speaker 1: mostly garbage time where he threw for just two oh
Speaker 1: seven and that's it as far as teams that have
Speaker 1: thrown for over two hundred yards on this Panthers defense,
Speaker 1: it is tough, tough, sled and second defense against the
Speaker 1: past our Carolina. What a weird sentence that was, Yoda.
Speaker 1: Jeremy Chin has thirty five pass rush reps this season,
Speaker 1: and Justin Burrst, their other full time safety, has just five.
Speaker 1: So again it's Chin down around the la of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: You gotta pick him up. A big week for the
Speaker 1: backs and pass protection Miles Gascon a big week for him.
Speaker 1: Chin has eight pressures on those thirty five pass rush attempts.
Speaker 1: He also has twenty eight run stops, which are second
Speaker 1: most on the team, number twenty one. You gotta find
Speaker 1: that guy. Dolphins receivers and tight ends versus the Carolina
Speaker 1: cornerbacks out wide, no j C. Horn, but they did
Speaker 1: add an all Pro and Steffon Gilmour, and he already
Speaker 1: has two picks on just fifty coverage snaps this season.
Speaker 1: That's kind of what he do. He was brought along slowly,
Speaker 1: play the season high nineteen coverage snaps last week and
Speaker 1: thirty seven total reps, doubled his previous high for Carolina,
Speaker 1: so you'll probably see plenty of him. I'll be curious
Speaker 1: to see if he travels. You have to imagine they'd
Speaker 1: want him on Wattle best on best there. But we'll
Speaker 1: see Dante Jackson plays a lot on this defense and
Speaker 1: has had a really good year on the outside. He
Speaker 1: has a pair of I and T s, and teams
Speaker 1: will test him a lot because of the other pieces
Speaker 1: they have in that secondary, and he's held up well
Speaker 1: for the most part. Allowed only one catching back to
Speaker 1: back games two and three weeks ago against the Patriots
Speaker 1: and Cardinals. Then Washington went after him five catches on
Speaker 1: eight targets for eighty six yards and Terry McLarin got
Speaker 1: him deep on a fifty fifty back shoulder ball in
Speaker 1: that game. So maybe you look at Hollins or Williams,
Speaker 1: maybe even Big Mike to see if you can try
Speaker 1: to body him up there with some size of the
Speaker 1: position inside. A J. Boyer is a guy that could
Speaker 1: see plenty of Wattle in that slot position, or Albert Wilson,
Speaker 1: even as well he plays strictly inside. The Dolphins might
Speaker 1: think about operating a lot of those stacks and bunches
Speaker 1: and short motions to help create those matchups and get
Speaker 1: your best a guy inside there. They are really really
Speaker 1: deep here with those guys who mentioned, but they've also
Speaker 1: got C. J. Henderson and Keith Taylor, who has kind
Speaker 1: of been supplanted by the return of Gilmore. But they
Speaker 1: have plenty of guys out wide that can play for them.
Speaker 1: On the interior. This is where things get pretty tough
Speaker 1: for this Panther's defense. Like we talked about on the
Speaker 1: other side of the football, this is a huge matchup.
Speaker 1: Brian Burns has thirty three pressures this year. He has
Speaker 1: a freaky athletic bend and ability to get around the corner,
Speaker 1: active hands, a NonStop motor. He's one of the very
Speaker 1: best in the game. You have to stay out of
Speaker 1: long down and distances and do not let this guy
Speaker 1: get one on one matchups too frequently. The Patriots played
Speaker 1: the Browns two weeks ago and they NonStop ran the
Speaker 1: football at through screens at and ran end arounds in
Speaker 1: the direction of Myles Garrett. That's the kind of impact
Speaker 1: Burns can have, and I think you might have to
Speaker 1: go with something similar. He's the kind of guy that
Speaker 1: makes you change your plan to account for him because
Speaker 1: he can wreck any game he plays in. But if
Speaker 1: you put too much focus on him, Hassan Reddick has
Speaker 1: been just as good. Thirty one pressures, ten and a
Speaker 1: half sacks, Burns has seven. They've combined for twenty QB
Speaker 1: hits and twenty two TFLs, sixty four pressures, seventeen and
Speaker 1: a half sacks, absolute game records. That's the biggest challenge
Speaker 1: for my money, I mean, the tackle position has been
Speaker 1: a challenge this year from Miami. That's where they're gonna
Speaker 1: line up at So trying to find a way to
Speaker 1: help those guys will be key, and that means some
Speaker 1: one on one matchups inside for a guy like Derek Brown,
Speaker 1: who is pure power. So Miami's gonna need Jackson and
Speaker 1: Hunt to be those big, powerful, nasty dudes. They typically are.
Speaker 1: Austin Ryder as well. They're gonna have to be able
Speaker 1: to withstand the power and bulrush moves that heat provides,
Speaker 1: and don't let him get you out leverage because he
Speaker 1: can also win with the explosive first step. This defense
Speaker 1: is tough. Telling you the very very tough Morgan Fox
Speaker 1: is a good change of pace guy. He has six
Speaker 1: team pressures this year. De Kuan Jones has fifteen from
Speaker 1: an interior position. Then there's a bit of a drop off,
Speaker 1: but with the way those outside rushers play in Miami,
Speaker 1: needs to be nearly perfect inside to hope to limit
Speaker 1: the damage those guys do off the edge. Finally, Dolphins
Speaker 1: running backs versus Panthers linebackers. We end up here with
Speaker 1: yet another strong unit for the Panthers and has led
Speaker 1: by former you dub Husky shack Thomp's in so maybe
Speaker 1: he'll be distraught comes Sunday from the Huskies first loss
Speaker 1: in the Apple Cup since he turned pro. I can
Speaker 1: dream right. Thompson is a superb and coverage so if
Speaker 1: you want to throw screens to the back or flex
Speaker 1: them out, they're going to count on Thompson to take
Speaker 1: that away. But he also gives them so much flexibility
Speaker 1: in terms of zone or man rotation. He can get
Speaker 1: depth and key the quarterback and kind of take away
Speaker 1: some of those layers and crossers. He's also got a
Speaker 1: tie for the team lead with two picks, so he's
Speaker 1: a playmaker as a team. PFF has them with ninety
Speaker 1: four miss tackles. PFR has it with eighty nine. Both
Speaker 1: metrics are most in the league and a big reason
Speaker 1: why they are twenty four against the run in terms
Speaker 1: of total yards allowed. The Dolphins need to have that
Speaker 1: balance to keep that pass rush at bay and run
Speaker 1: the football. Last week was a good look at what
Speaker 1: I thought was Miles Miles Gaskin's best game of the year.
Speaker 1: We need more of that, and hopefully Duke can grow
Speaker 1: into his role because I thought he was good in
Speaker 1: limited action as well as far as special teams, they
Speaker 1: are twenty in d v o A. Miami's Zane Gonzalez
Speaker 1: is nineteen for twenty one this year. His only two
Speaker 1: misses are fifty plus yard kicks. He also has a
Speaker 1: fifty seven yarder they've hit. They've had three different punters
Speaker 1: this season, but right now it's Lachlan Edwards, who averages
Speaker 1: forty seven point nine yards per punt return. So maybe
Speaker 1: some chances for Waddle and Holland this week. And as
Speaker 1: a punt returner, Alex Rickson averages eight point three yards
Speaker 1: per punt return on twenty returns this season. The Dolphins
Speaker 1: will win this game if they win the turnover battle.
Speaker 1: I think it's a big area of emphasis for this game.
Speaker 1: The Panthers are two and four when they have just
Speaker 1: one or fewer turnovers and one in five when they
Speaker 1: are negative in the turnover battle. So that's a big
Speaker 1: key from Miami here. The Panthers will win if McCaffrey
Speaker 1: can impact the game as both a runner and a receiver.
Speaker 1: If he goes off, you have a small chance to
Speaker 1: find success on defense, and if that happens, I don't
Speaker 1: like Miami's chances. Three keys, keep an eye on Christian
Speaker 1: McCaffrey every single snap. There are twenty seven and thirty
Speaker 1: with McCaffrey in the lineup six and twelve without him.
Speaker 1: Key Number two keep everything in front and prevent explosive plays.
Speaker 1: On defense, they have speed all over the offense. And
Speaker 1: number three protect the football again. Panthers two for are
Speaker 1: two and four rather with one or fewer turn ours
Speaker 1: this season and one in five when they are negative
Speaker 1: in the takeaway battle. My week twelve picks since we
Speaker 1: are not doing any more shows this week, last week
Speaker 1: twelve and three. Love to see it one oh eight
Speaker 1: fifty five and one on the season and Turkey Day
Speaker 1: coming up the very best day of the year. Give
Speaker 1: me the Bears over the Lions, the Cowboys over the Raiders,
Speaker 1: and I'm hoping the Saints can pull it out. But
Speaker 1: Buffalo over the Saints on Thanksgiving Night. Give me Miami
Speaker 1: over Carolina, Pittsburgh over Cincinnati, getting some revenge there and
Speaker 1: coming off that tough loss in Los Angeles. I'll take
Speaker 1: the Bucks over the Colts, as the Colts are one
Speaker 1: of the hottest teams in the league right now. That's
Speaker 1: a dominant run game against the dominant run defense. But
Speaker 1: no Vitave makes that interesting. I still take the Bucks.
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna hit a run here pretty soon.
Speaker 1: Titans and Patriots is the toughest one of the week
Speaker 1: because I think the Patriots can really apply pressure on
Speaker 1: what's been a bad Titans line this just this season.
Speaker 1: But give me the Titans to win that one and
Speaker 1: bounce back after a tough loss last week. Give me
Speaker 1: Philadelphia over the Giants. I'll take Atlanta over the Jaguars.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take the Jets over the Texans, and den
Speaker 1: Are over the Chargers. I think Vic Fangio's cover two
Speaker 1: can maybe give Justin Herbert some problems there. Give me
Speaker 1: Green Bay over the Rams. That's a tough one. To
Speaker 1: pick there, but I'll take the home team. Give me
Speaker 1: Minnesota over San Francisco. Hey, Niners, can you stop winning
Speaker 1: games and help that draft pick out for us? Give
Speaker 1: me the Ravens over the Browns and the Seahawks over
Speaker 1: the football team on Monday Night football. What are you
Speaker 1: guys having for Thanksgiving? Here's my power rankings of best
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving foods. Stuffing or dressing, whatever you call it is
Speaker 1: number one. I love that stuff. Mashed potatoes number two.
Speaker 1: The turkey itself is number three. But it all goes together,
Speaker 1: you kind of mixed into a pile like a KFC
Speaker 1: Famous Bowl almost and eat like the slobs we all are.
Speaker 1: And then green being casserole. And if you don't slather
Speaker 1: it all in gravy, then it's all for not that's it.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the holiday. Everybody will see you back here Sunday
Speaker 1: night to recap Dolphins and Panthers. I hope you all
Speaker 1: have a fantastic Thanksgiving uh and we'll be back on
Speaker 1: Sunday for you guys. In the meantime, you all please
Speaker 1: be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcast.
Speaker 1: Leave us the rating, leave us a review. You can
Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at wingfold NFL. Follow the team
Speaker 1: at Miami Dolphins on all social accounts. Check out the
Speaker 1: Fish Tank Podcast with Bernie Cosar on Tuesday. You don't
Speaker 1: want to miss that. One YouTube channel foll of our
Speaker 1: Media availabilities and Dolphins Today with Joanna Torres, Rachel Smith
Speaker 1: and Yours Truly, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com.
Speaker 1: Until next time, fins up, Caroline, Daddy, He's coming up.