Speaker 1: Bowl touchdown, Miami un What is up? Dolphans And welcome
Speaker 1: to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How the
Speaker 1: hell is it going? Everybody? I am your host, Travis Winkfield,
Speaker 1: and as always, each and every day, I am here
Speaker 1: to bring you your daily dose of Miami Dolphins football.
Speaker 1: On today's show, the Jets, the Pats, and the Bills
Speaker 1: all come up short in their openers and that means
Speaker 1: that's right, your Miami Dolphins are all alone in first
Speaker 1: place in the a f C East. We're gonna get
Speaker 1: to my takeaways from the game, the individual efforts that
Speaker 1: stood out to me, and if I have time at
Speaker 1: the end, we'll play a segment or two from the
Speaker 1: post game show with me F and O J. McDuffie.
Speaker 1: Did I miss anything else? I don't think we did.
Speaker 1: Win win, win, win win. Did you think we were
Speaker 1: going to play it? If you did? From the Baptist
Speaker 1: Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex, this is
Speaker 1: a Victory Monday edition of the Drive Time Podcast. What
Speaker 1: more do you want? A divisional road win to start
Speaker 1: the season. Every game is important, but when you can
Speaker 1: get one on the road in the division. That just
Speaker 1: the added elements in terms of tiebreakers, conference records, division records,
Speaker 1: head to head. How many folks out there had the
Speaker 1: New England Patriots or have the New England Patriots in
Speaker 1: the playoffs as far as their preseason predictions while going
Speaker 1: on the road and taking out a team like that,
Speaker 1: that's a big, big victory and a great way to
Speaker 1: start the season, especially when Buffalo lost to the Steelers
Speaker 1: and the Jets lost to the Panthers. So it's one
Speaker 1: and oh from Miami in the a f C East,
Speaker 1: everybody else, oh and one looking up at your Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 1: Some of the things I was impressed by with Dolphins
Speaker 1: in this game before we get to the five takeaways
Speaker 1: was their ability to overcome some of the more challenging
Speaker 1: moments that this game presented. If you're like me watching
Speaker 1: this game, I'm certain you had some white knuckle moments
Speaker 1: where maybe you never thought the game was seriously in
Speaker 1: jeopardy or in doubt, or the Dolphins would have a
Speaker 1: chance to lose the game. That's kind of the way
Speaker 1: I felt about it. Because of the nature of even
Speaker 1: though the Patriots held the football for so long and
Speaker 1: converted so many third downs. The lack of explosive plays
Speaker 1: and Miami interns ability to hit those explosive plays always
Speaker 1: made me feel like Miami was more of a threat
Speaker 1: to win the game than the Patriots were, especially when
Speaker 1: you take into account the red zone success, which you
Speaker 1: know as Coach Flores has mentioned this in the past,
Speaker 1: like I go back to the Denver game last year
Speaker 1: and reporters were asking questions to Coach Flow about what
Speaker 1: strength the Broncos have, and he was like, well, I
Speaker 1: think a lot of folks are overlooking this team because
Speaker 1: they are good in certain areas, and one of those
Speaker 1: areas was, in fact, the red zone. And Miami executed
Speaker 1: both offensively and defensively beautifully in the red zone today.
Speaker 1: So in the most critical elements of the game, who
Speaker 1: rose to the occasion, who made the plays, who made
Speaker 1: the plays to set up the plays that ultimately decided
Speaker 1: the game. Your Miami Dolphins did more times than not
Speaker 1: in this contest. But they had to do it by
Speaker 1: overcoming some difficult moments. And the first one I point
Speaker 1: to is a penalty that was accurately called like the
Speaker 1: letter of the law is that if you hit a
Speaker 1: quarterback low, you're gonna get flagged for it. And that's
Speaker 1: what happened on the land and Roberts third and short
Speaker 1: sack that eventually wound up turning into a touchdown where
Speaker 1: it would have been a field goal attempt otherwise, so
Speaker 1: technically a four point swing. But on that play, the
Speaker 1: Dolphins came back from that. They didn't sulk on that.
Speaker 1: They didn't look at the officials and say, well, that
Speaker 1: moment was taken from us, and it wasn't, because that
Speaker 1: was the right call. Even though Roberts with the lean,
Speaker 1: the direction, the fact that the fullback kind of blocked
Speaker 1: him into that position where he was going low, the
Speaker 1: Dolphins did not let that defeat them. And I think
Speaker 1: that is a defining characteristic trait of the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: underhead coach Brian Floors, and something to be very proud of,
Speaker 1: I think, is their resilience in tough moments like that.
Speaker 1: How about the fact that they didn't melt down or
Speaker 1: give up. In terms of the drives that were extended
Speaker 1: over and over and over again, the Patriots had three
Speaker 1: drives that were fourteen or more plays and only two
Speaker 1: only one of those rather resulted in a touchdown. The
Speaker 1: other two were field goals. So Miami did a fantastic
Speaker 1: job of staying true to the plan and they might
Speaker 1: have bent a little bit, but they never really broken
Speaker 1: those big moments. And if you go back to the penalty,
Speaker 1: if that doesn't get called that way, then it turns
Speaker 1: into three field goal drives and the Patriots only wind
Speaker 1: up with nine points in the game against the stout
Speaker 1: Miami defense, but also offensively, when the Patriot did have
Speaker 1: their moments with their own offense, the Dolphins offense rose
Speaker 1: to the occasion and answered right back. Right after New
Speaker 1: England goes down and takes that ten to seven lead
Speaker 1: in the second quarter, Miami responds and gets points, and
Speaker 1: then comes back on the other end of the second
Speaker 1: half and gets points on that drive to take a
Speaker 1: lead that they would never relinquish. So Miami's ability to
Speaker 1: react and respond the tough moments that the Patriots made
Speaker 1: plays or maybe the elements went against them, that to
Speaker 1: me was encouraging and a sign of this team's mental
Speaker 1: toughness and an ode to the type of people that
Speaker 1: Brian Flores and Chris Career on the staff bring into
Speaker 1: this facility, into this building. Guys that are gonna be tough,
Speaker 1: They're gonna rise the occasion and never let the moment
Speaker 1: get too big for them. I thought that was among
Speaker 1: the most encouraging things we saw today out there against
Speaker 1: the Patriots, especially for a team and again, as coach
Speaker 1: Flores has mentioned in the past, like, this is the team, right,
Speaker 1: This is the result of all those draft picks and
Speaker 1: all that free agent capital or cap space capital you
Speaker 1: had into one to remake this roster under the vision
Speaker 1: of Chris Career and Brian Flores, And this is the team.
Speaker 1: And it's a very young team, and they have shown
Speaker 1: that mental fortitude in big moments, and especially out there
Speaker 1: today in opener to overcome those things that really went
Speaker 1: against them in a few ways. So to me, this
Speaker 1: was a really impressive moment for those young guys to
Speaker 1: rise to the occasion and get a big win in
Speaker 1: a game that really this team. You know, over the
Speaker 1: last twenty or so years, it's a game that this
Speaker 1: team has found ways to lose that particular game, that
Speaker 1: particular outcome tends to go in the opposition's favor with
Speaker 1: regards to the Miami Dolphins, and I just I just
Speaker 1: think it's different when you can overcome all the things
Speaker 1: that went against you and all the challenges and not
Speaker 1: getting too down yourself in that building, in that tough
Speaker 1: place to play with a raucous crowd back for the
Speaker 1: first time since twenty nineteen. Just I can't be more
Speaker 1: impressed by their ability to overcome all the things that
Speaker 1: we're just working against them in that game. Also liked
Speaker 1: the ability to to start the game and open up
Speaker 1: the third quarter with touchdown drives. I mean, that's that's
Speaker 1: where the coaches really tend to make their hey in
Speaker 1: terms of you know, we're gonna do this to start
Speaker 1: and see how they adjust. And for their ability to
Speaker 1: go out there and put together a plan or a
Speaker 1: script both in the first half and coming out of
Speaker 1: the break in the second half that put not just
Speaker 1: points on the board, but touchdowns on the board. How
Speaker 1: big of a deal was that and really the difference
Speaker 1: in the game those two possessions and either one of
Speaker 1: those could be the difference in the game in a
Speaker 1: seventeen to sixteen Miami Dolphins victory. And then Brian Flores
Speaker 1: message after the game also liked this as well, talking
Speaker 1: about how it's good to get a win, but there
Speaker 1: are corrections to be made. And this goes back to
Speaker 1: the part of the team, the young team that loves
Speaker 1: to be here in football is important to them. How
Speaker 1: those guys will be excited to make the corrections they
Speaker 1: have to make and get ready for next week against
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills. But that's down the road. We are
Speaker 1: still within the twenty four hour window to really enjoy
Speaker 1: this victory. Enjoy your first season opening victory since season.
Speaker 1: It's good to be one and oh, it's good to
Speaker 1: be unbeaten. It's good to be at the top of
Speaker 1: the division. Let's go ahead and kick off our five
Speaker 1: takeaways from the game. Takeaway number one, there goes that
Speaker 1: man again, first and tent Patriots from the Dolphins eleven
Speaker 1: Miami seventeen Patriots sixteen with three thirty five left to play.
Speaker 1: They actually think, don't They gives the Patriot Harris and
Speaker 1: he is who's got it? Alanda Roberts hit him. Dolphins
Speaker 1: say they do, but let's see who. Well, somebody's the
Speaker 1: bomb pile with the blue jersey on Jolephins. Who's got it? Yeah? Well,
Speaker 1: but don't write wow wow is right. The Dolphins come
Speaker 1: up with a huge takeaway that eventually puts them in
Speaker 1: the winner circle. Xaviing Howard forces the fumble, recovers the fumble.
Speaker 1: Big time players in big time games. And X had
Speaker 1: a great quote that Seth Levitt told us about on
Speaker 1: the postgame show, saying that they try to lull me
Speaker 1: to sleep, I try to find the football, and boy
Speaker 1: does he He sure finds the football tent X last year.
Speaker 1: You might recall in the Week fifteen game last year
Speaker 1: against the Patriots, on one of the few catches he
Speaker 1: gave up, he forced to fumble on Jacoby Myers that
Speaker 1: gave possession back to the Miami Dolphins. He also had
Speaker 1: a chance of all the recovery for a touchdown in
Speaker 1: that game that, of course, as we know, did not
Speaker 1: go uh. It came off the board because somebody was
Speaker 1: out of bounce when the ball touched them. But in
Speaker 1: this game, Xaviing Howard, once again you never hear from
Speaker 1: him because they just didn't throw the football in his direction.
Speaker 1: And you have to imagine that was one of the
Speaker 1: plans for the Patriots, like, hey is pretty good, let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and stay away from that guy. And he
Speaker 1: found a way to make a big play in the
Speaker 1: biggest moment of the game as it looks like the
Speaker 1: Patriots are gonna at least, at the very least put
Speaker 1: three on the board and forced the Dolphins offense to
Speaker 1: have to execute a two minute drive against that defense
Speaker 1: in that building with that crowd noise. But none of
Speaker 1: that had to happen because of Xaviing Howard punching the
Speaker 1: ball out and the Dolphins you heard their Landon Roberts
Speaker 1: on the scene as well a couple of other Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins on the scene for that big play. But Xaviing
Speaker 1: Howard and again credit here to you know, Chris Year
Speaker 1: in his front office and Brian Flowers and his coaching
Speaker 1: staff are finding a way to get Exaviing Howard back
Speaker 1: in here and make sure that he was happy and
Speaker 1: ready to be on the field week one to make
Speaker 1: a big play that changed the game. So Exaviing Howard
Speaker 1: finding a way to make a big play despite the
Speaker 1: fact that he just was not that involved with how
Speaker 1: the Patriots attacked this defense all game. But when it
Speaker 1: came down to it, the big time player, the big
Speaker 1: time play in the big time game. Takeaway number two.
Speaker 1: And I wrote this early on, but I think it's
Speaker 1: still is worth talking about because we talked about this
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the off season with some of
Speaker 1: the additions Miami made, and we saw Jalen Phillips and
Speaker 1: Javon Holland get some action out there today on this
Speaker 1: Miami Dolphins defense. But the ability to be multiple and
Speaker 1: get different looks and create pressure in different ways. Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: Matt Jones didn't take a lot of sacks today, but
Speaker 1: he was under pressure a lot, and he made some
Speaker 1: good throws to space against receivers kind of running free
Speaker 1: in that short I was gonna say short to intermediate,
Speaker 1: but it was largely short throws. I mean, average depth
Speaker 1: of target was very thin for mac Jones. At one
Speaker 1: point deep into the first half, it was barely over
Speaker 1: two yards. I'll have to go back and check on
Speaker 1: that on the Tuesday podcast on the Omissions podcast. But
Speaker 1: they were throwing a lot of stuff short and really
Speaker 1: just taking nickel and dime options and going up and
Speaker 1: down the field that way. And the Miami Dolphins would
Speaker 1: clamp on that offense in the crucial moments on the
Speaker 1: third downs in the red zone and get off the
Speaker 1: field that way. But philosophy wise and performance wise, especially
Speaker 1: early on their ability to create pressure and put Jones
Speaker 1: under some of that dress in multiple ways. And the
Speaker 1: one I'm looking at here is the initial play where
Speaker 1: mac Jones through the football backwards like he got hit
Speaker 1: and turned and tried to throw it to a running
Speaker 1: back next to him because he got hit, the ball
Speaker 1: went backwards and was a huge fumble and a huge loss.
Speaker 1: That pretty much, no, not pretty much. It did end
Speaker 1: that first drive for the Miami Dolphins to get that
Speaker 1: victory in that game. A big reason for that was
Speaker 1: that first drive and pushing them out of field goal
Speaker 1: range and getting pressure with whether you're in a four
Speaker 1: man or four down look, getting sending just four guy,
Speaker 1: sometimes sending three men on pressure, mixing it up with
Speaker 1: blitz and stunts and twist and having backers come up
Speaker 1: into the a gaps and rush that way, rushing off
Speaker 1: the edge and something blitz is that way cat blitz is.
Speaker 1: I mean, the big play that caused the backwards pass
Speaker 1: from Mac Jones was a cat blitz Cat means cornerback
Speaker 1: where Byron Jones comes in and I thought maybe he
Speaker 1: would get the credit for the sack on that because
Speaker 1: he was the last one to really hit Jones before
Speaker 1: he went down, but Christian Wilkins was the closest one
Speaker 1: in the neighborhood on a you know, a backwards past
Speaker 1: fumble that goes towards the player who's closest on that.
Speaker 1: So Wilkins winds up getting the sack on that play.
Speaker 1: But you saw Byron Jones come clear on that. We
Speaker 1: saw Nick need Him come on some blitzes. We saw
Speaker 1: some defensive backs come, some linebackers come. Some guys drop
Speaker 1: out and play that way too. So their ability to
Speaker 1: really get multiple that way, I think speaks well for
Speaker 1: the defense long term and the ability to attack teams
Speaker 1: down the stretch on your schedule. I also liked on
Speaker 1: that particular play that was looking like one of those bootlegs,
Speaker 1: and I go back a lot to the Jared Goff
Speaker 1: game last year against the Rams where he would try
Speaker 1: to get some boot action and because of the boot
Speaker 1: action of the outside stretch zone coming back against the
Speaker 1: other side of the formation, you then have the quarterback
Speaker 1: comfortable because the play action in the wide zone fake
Speaker 1: has created false steps for the defense, are giving them
Speaker 1: Ie candy that gives him a clean pocket. But when
Speaker 1: you just blitz off that weak side edge, that's not
Speaker 1: there anymore. It speeds everything up the quarterback on the
Speaker 1: offense wants to do. And I thought they did a
Speaker 1: good job on that, on that particular play and just
Speaker 1: in general to create different looks to get enough defensive
Speaker 1: wins to ultimately win the football game. Take Away number
Speaker 1: three ten early third quarter play acting fake rolling, it's
Speaker 1: watt touchdown breaks. Me just got outside and got in guys,
Speaker 1: catching knew exactly where that goal line was. He dove
Speaker 1: for the flag and got it. Joe. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: his first NFL Miami Dolphin touchdown and that play. I mean,
Speaker 1: first of all, I love when I can tell you,
Speaker 1: guys things that I've seen firsthand here at practice and
Speaker 1: training camp that then translate into the game and you
Speaker 1: can say, oh, yeah, yeah, Travis told us about that. Well,
Speaker 1: that touchdown catch I thought was indicative of Jalen Waddle's
Speaker 1: competitive toughness and running through an arm tackle or running
Speaker 1: through contact. They're right at the goal line and the
Speaker 1: pylon to find pay dirt, to find the end zone.
Speaker 1: And you heard his reaction there. His voice was picked
Speaker 1: up pretty well on that radio call there from Jimmy
Speaker 1: Jimmy Cephalo and Jason Taylor and as well as Joe Rose,
Speaker 1: and that was a fantastic call as well as a
Speaker 1: play by Jillian Waddle on that play. But just how
Speaker 1: tough he is and how much grit there is to
Speaker 1: his game For a guy that you know incorrectly gets
Speaker 1: billed as a pound receiver, I mean he is that,
Speaker 1: but a guy that can't make physical, tough plays because
Speaker 1: of that, which is such a misnomer or a misconception
Speaker 1: with how certain guys play the game. Waddle is as
Speaker 1: tough as they come and making those tough, physical catches.
Speaker 1: And you also have a chance to see him really
Speaker 1: in his element as far as how they wanted to
Speaker 1: attack this defense and what his speed and the way
Speaker 1: he moves and the ability to get to him quick
Speaker 1: on the screen game, the ability to go deep over
Speaker 1: the top, which we also saw the crossing routes the
Speaker 1: very first play of the game, I mean the very
Speaker 1: first play of the game the Dolphins start. How are
Speaker 1: you feeling about this play when you saw it out
Speaker 1: the gate Miles casket, I'm running back to Au out
Speaker 1: of the shotgun. Quick pass pulls it back up there,
Speaker 1: He's got Waddle, Waddle on the run, breaking tackles along
Speaker 1: the way for five. I probably dumped at the thirties
Speaker 1: six yard line by Devin mccordy. Welcome to the National
Speaker 1: Football League, kid, Right there, Taylor Waddle sixteen yards right
Speaker 1: out of the shoot to a to Waddle big focal
Speaker 1: point of the offense. And this one winds up with
Speaker 1: four catches, sixty one yards and the game winning touchdown.
Speaker 1: How about that for your first game, number six pick
Speaker 1: in the draft, a game winning touchdown. He did have
Speaker 1: the one drop. Me and Seth and o J had
Speaker 1: a great segment on the postgame show talking about this,
Speaker 1: and o J said the ball was a little bit
Speaker 1: outside of his frame, so he's not going to frame
Speaker 1: it as a drop, and Seth was on the other
Speaker 1: side where he said, yeah, that ball probably should be caught,
Speaker 1: and o J eventually came around and said, I think
Speaker 1: he probably should have caught it, but let's not say
Speaker 1: it was an out and out drop because it was
Speaker 1: a tough ball to catch. So that's the ball I
Speaker 1: think you'd like to get back for both To as
Speaker 1: well as Waddle. But all things told, you know, Jalen
Speaker 1: Waddle first NFL game, four catches, sixty one yards and
Speaker 1: that game winning touchdown. I just like how you guys
Speaker 1: got a chance to see what I've been seeing here
Speaker 1: in practice and really see how this kid gets it
Speaker 1: done over and over again and make so many plays.
Speaker 1: Let's play one more sound clip for you here on Waddle,
Speaker 1: the play that started that big drive for the Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins at the end of the first half. Alex Gasker.
Speaker 1: They're running back to him shotgunt trips to the left
Speaker 1: to throw a looking left throw without Wayne Ryland. Wanda
Speaker 1: went up like he was six three to catch that
Speaker 1: football running down the side, and he's got so much speed.
Speaker 1: If your cover him, you don't have time to be
Speaker 1: looking back for the ball. What a catch. I mean,
Speaker 1: how many times we talked about those down the middle
Speaker 1: shots where he made a tough catch away from his frame,
Speaker 1: diving laying out in traffic, coming back for this football
Speaker 1: in this instance on a nice ball from two to
Speaker 1: kind of take advantage of the fact that defensive back
Speaker 1: was there in good shape but underneath and didn't have
Speaker 1: a chance to really get his head around. Good play
Speaker 1: there by two ah to Waddle for thirty six yards
Speaker 1: to jump start a drive that wound up in points
Speaker 1: from Miami at the end of the first half takeaway
Speaker 1: number four, And it's the offensive mixing and sequencing and
Speaker 1: hurry up and just the general call and plan here
Speaker 1: for the Miami Dolphins offense opening up the game with
Speaker 1: an ad R touchdown to start. I mean, what's better
Speaker 1: than that. You can't top you know, that type of
Speaker 1: a drive, that type of production to start a game off.
Speaker 1: But I just thought there was a good of personnel.
Speaker 1: We saw plenty of receivers in the game, tight ends
Speaker 1: in the game, different running backs in the game. They
Speaker 1: went some tempo and kept the Patriots. You know, you
Speaker 1: get into a certain look, you like that look, go tempo,
Speaker 1: keep them on the field. And they only had one
Speaker 1: third down on that opening march where two it was
Speaker 1: four for four with forty nine yards and the touchdown
Speaker 1: rush to cap off that drive. I just thought there
Speaker 1: was plenty of mix and versatility offensively, just as there
Speaker 1: was defensively. And I cannot wait to see where they
Speaker 1: go and really sequence off of those looks, because that's
Speaker 1: what football is, a catalog of plays each and every year,
Speaker 1: where you can then build off of that, grow off
Speaker 1: that and give teams different looks based upon what you've
Speaker 1: already shown on tape, and I thought Miami did a
Speaker 1: good job of putting enough on tape this week to
Speaker 1: say to make teams really say, hey, we have to
Speaker 1: be careful for this and and really check off A,
Speaker 1: B and C and D on this particular look, and
Speaker 1: then they could do this look and build another E
Speaker 1: F G H. I don't know the alphabet, but you
Speaker 1: get what I'm saying. Plenty of different options off each play.
Speaker 1: I thought Miami showed well in that area. And my
Speaker 1: favorite sequence, and this is really the main part of
Speaker 1: the takeaway. That opening drive for sure, but the sequence
Speaker 1: to close out the game when you touched down to
Speaker 1: waddle the Dolphins pushed the ball down the field and
Speaker 1: gained a bunch of yards and and really are chewing
Speaker 1: up chewing up yardage and the clock as well. But
Speaker 1: the sequence on the doorstep of the red zoner once
Speaker 1: they got into the red zone to go wildcap to
Speaker 1: savan Akhmed a nice little tendency breaker based upon what
Speaker 1: you've seen. I mean, there's lots of quick game, there's
Speaker 1: lots of shotgun and r p O and zone read
Speaker 1: and that kind of stuff to then put them a
Speaker 1: formation in the game where most likely going to be
Speaker 1: a run. We've been to load up and get some
Speaker 1: some meat in the box and really close down and
Speaker 1: fill gaps and shoot, shoot those gaps and play the run.
Speaker 1: But they pick up eight yards from Savan Akhmed on
Speaker 1: the first Wildcat play. Then you go back to Wildcat
Speaker 1: and it's Malcolm Brown this time, and it's three yards
Speaker 1: in a first down inside the five yard line, down
Speaker 1: to the three. And I'm watching the game with with
Speaker 1: Juice and Seth and I tell them, you know, this
Speaker 1: is a perfect time to run play action. This is
Speaker 1: you ran the ball, You've had success with it. They're
Speaker 1: kind of on their heels getting backed up to the
Speaker 1: red zone or to the end zone, I should say
Speaker 1: it to the goal line. Great time to fake a run,
Speaker 1: get those bodies coming up, and then you flick it
Speaker 1: out over in the flat to Jillan Waddle for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Great sequence of play call there to find the end
Speaker 1: zone to get that touchdown. And that was the second touchdown,
Speaker 1: the final touchdown of the game from Miami. But our
Speaker 1: fifth takeaway here on the Sunday night recap edition of
Speaker 1: the Drivetime podcast is going to be the conclusion of
Speaker 1: the first drive for your Miami Dolphins, and the takeaway
Speaker 1: goes to two a tonge by Lowa. The asking remains.
Speaker 1: The running back takes the hand out to keep touch.
Speaker 1: He held on to a great faith, told you outside
Speaker 1: these wide open he walks in for a touchdown, and
Speaker 1: the takeaway here from me, I just put to a
Speaker 1: time because again, you know, the numbers might not have
Speaker 1: looked great, but I thought it was a winning performance
Speaker 1: from two a tonge by Loa. And I continue to
Speaker 1: point back to this like we did last season, the
Speaker 1: moments where you gotta have it for two of is
Speaker 1: when he seems to really really rise to the occasion. Now,
Speaker 1: the opening drive, yeah, that was great in theory because
Speaker 1: it kind of let at least the fans relax a
Speaker 1: little bit, certainly not the players and the team, but
Speaker 1: just to kind of take the pressure off and give
Speaker 1: the defense a chance to do what they do and
Speaker 1: play that style of the game where you're not so
Speaker 1: concerned about, you know, these lengthy drives. You can continue
Speaker 1: to play don't let the ball over your head type
Speaker 1: of football and hold a team to just three scoring drives,
Speaker 1: two of those being field goals, six team points like
Speaker 1: in today's NFL. If you hold team of sixteen points,
Speaker 1: you're probably gonna win most of your games, if not
Speaker 1: all of them. So that's a good game plan and
Speaker 1: it was able to be executed because Miami's opening script
Speaker 1: on offense took them down the field for a touchdown
Speaker 1: and seven points on the board and an early deficit
Speaker 1: for that Patriots offense. Then the Patriots take their lead
Speaker 1: after ten straight points after the initial touchdown and two
Speaker 1: drives the offense down the field and dang Near gets
Speaker 1: another touchdown drive out of it. They wind up kicking
Speaker 1: a field goal on that drive, but they were close
Speaker 1: to getting six on that drive with a nice pass
Speaker 1: to Albert Wilson in the end zone, barely broken up
Speaker 1: on a great play by the defensive back, but driving
Speaker 1: that thing deep into Patriots territory after a big Patriots
Speaker 1: offensive touchdown to take the lead. You love to see that.
Speaker 1: And then to do the two for the double dip.
Speaker 1: You you give the ball to the Patriots to start
Speaker 1: the game, so you can get it to start the
Speaker 1: second half, to go down and get a field goal
Speaker 1: to end a half and then come back with a
Speaker 1: touchdown out of the break ten straight points before mac
Speaker 1: Jones really even sees the ball now. He got it
Speaker 1: late I believe maybe he didn't get it late at
Speaker 1: the end of the first half, but ten straight points
Speaker 1: before they get the ball back to the offense to
Speaker 1: regain the lead. I thought that was incredible and just
Speaker 1: shows you what two is all about. And then finally
Speaker 1: that final drive, it was one pass after one run
Speaker 1: that was called back on a hold, but the pass
Speaker 1: DeVante Parker on that quick slant for a big gainer
Speaker 1: to move the chains, or not not to move the chains,
Speaker 1: but to get Miami out of a big hole offensively
Speaker 1: out of a first and fourteen to gain like thirteen
Speaker 1: yards on that play was really perfect because then you
Speaker 1: can kind of kill the clock and get that first
Speaker 1: down on your second down run and then the Patriots
Speaker 1: have to use all the time outs, which they did,
Speaker 1: and Miami still found a way to move the chains
Speaker 1: and push the push the ball uh to go into
Speaker 1: victory formation there at the very end of the game.
Speaker 1: So to his ability to really rise to the moment
Speaker 1: I thought was special. I thought he threw with zip.
Speaker 1: There was some good slants, like on one particular Davante
Speaker 1: Parker slant where Parker had not yet cleared the defender.
Speaker 1: Working inside the numbers. You know, he starts outside and
Speaker 1: runs the incut route in behind the defensive back, and
Speaker 1: he had not yet cleared this defender. So he's on
Speaker 1: the left and two wants to throw the ball to
Speaker 1: the right of the defender, but he lets the thing
Speaker 1: fly before he clears the defender and then he comes across.
Speaker 1: Ball meets him there on time. Good zip, good pace.
Speaker 1: He pushed the ball down the field. I mean twenty
Speaker 1: seven passes for two two yards I believe was the
Speaker 1: final tally. So that's up around seven and a half
Speaker 1: yards per attempt, which is a good number for a
Speaker 1: quarterback this in this day and age, you know, throwing
Speaker 1: the ball inside outside. I thought there was some talk
Speaker 1: about how, you know, teams might make two of throw
Speaker 1: the ball to the outside because he has had so
Speaker 1: much success throwing the ball inside the numbers. Well, the
Speaker 1: ball was going all over the field today. It was
Speaker 1: going vertical, it was going quick, and you know, we
Speaker 1: mentioned a couple of drops. I don't want to call
Speaker 1: them drops, they were just good plays by the defense.
Speaker 1: And then the Wattle play we talked about already, But
Speaker 1: the play before that Davante Parker down the middle. That
Speaker 1: was a great throw in tight coverage and the ball
Speaker 1: hits Parker's hands first, but then the Patriots defensive back
Speaker 1: is there to put his hands on it. I guess
Speaker 1: could have been caught. I don't I don't know. It's
Speaker 1: a tough play. I'm not gonna get on anybody for
Speaker 1: you know, not making a very difficult play. But I
Speaker 1: thought the takeaway from that play was just how good
Speaker 1: the throw was from two to put it in that
Speaker 1: position with that coverage, with that zip on his guy,
Speaker 1: and then to waddle after that, Like at those two
Speaker 1: throws from to uh, he was dealing. He was really
Speaker 1: feeling it, and I thought that kind of made the
Speaker 1: offense take a step back a little bit and just
Speaker 1: kind of go into a bit of a slump before
Speaker 1: they got it back together and put those two drives together.
Speaker 1: So all at all, I thought a good performance from
Speaker 1: tah Again, the numb burs don't look great. Had a
Speaker 1: rushing touchdown, a passing touchdown, could have had probably two
Speaker 1: passing touchdowns if he wanted to just flip that thing
Speaker 1: in there too. I think it was Durham Smith, but
Speaker 1: he took the run because it was wide open, so
Speaker 1: why wouldn't you, But numbers not like fantastic. Obviously finishes
Speaker 1: the game sixteen two yards, a touchdown, and a pick,
Speaker 1: and the pick was that was not a great decision.
Speaker 1: I mean he said after the game he wanted to
Speaker 1: try to throw that football away, just didn't get it
Speaker 1: out there wide enough and he got absolutely blasted on
Speaker 1: that play. And just that's gonna be the play that
Speaker 1: you look at that you really wish you had back.
Speaker 1: But all in all, I thought he mitigated pressure pretty well,
Speaker 1: kind of danced around back there, just didn't always have
Speaker 1: guys open. Based upon what I saw, we'll see more
Speaker 1: for the Tuesday podcast on the omissions and the All
Speaker 1: twenty two. But I thought that what he had to
Speaker 1: work with, he did a good job of working with
Speaker 1: what he had to work with. So some of the
Speaker 1: big plays in this game we talked about to Ah
Speaker 1: to start the game, to Jylan Waddle on that sixteen
Speaker 1: yard rip, I mean, how great is that? Just kind
Speaker 1: of a check with me, stand out, throw that thing
Speaker 1: out there, get a nice chunk game to start a drive.
Speaker 1: How about the eight yard quick ript us off on Akmed,
Speaker 1: who I think looks fantastic with a speed and the
Speaker 1: explosiveness the Miles Gascon hurdle before that first touchdown. What
Speaker 1: a run that was. And by the way, on Miami's
Speaker 1: two touchdown drives, Miles Gascon had nine touches for fifty
Speaker 1: nine yards on those two drives, so kind of a
Speaker 1: catalyst in both the running game in the passing game.
Speaker 1: The to a touchdown run obviously a big play. Two
Speaker 1: A two waddle for thirty six. How about two a
Speaker 1: to Parker to get that first drive of the second
Speaker 1: half jump started where it's third and long. The Dolphins
Speaker 1: looked like it might be kind of another one of
Speaker 1: these three and ounce or quick drives that gets him
Speaker 1: off the field. But to a dials up to Vante
Speaker 1: Parker on a ball that they just did not really
Speaker 1: connect on a whole lot last year. I mean, they
Speaker 1: made connections on short, intermediate throws, but the long ball
Speaker 1: from two to Parker just wasn't really there. The ball
Speaker 1: wasn't always there, but today it certainly Brown the running
Speaker 1: back on third down and eight to the Dolphins from
Speaker 1: their own twenty seven yard line tied it ten the
Speaker 1: beginning of the third quarterback to all there's too up
Speaker 1: throws a deep down the field Parker catch. Did he
Speaker 1: get his feet in barns? Yes, they're saying yes at
Speaker 1: the forty three yards Lord, New England will look at
Speaker 1: this one, though, Dolphin's quickly running to the staff. They
Speaker 1: don't want to get to look at this one on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: New England up there waiting to see if they can
Speaker 1: see it. Meanwhile, Miami wants to hurry. I think he's so.
Speaker 1: This is a quarterback who has completed deep balls traditionally
Speaker 1: throughout his football career on timing and precision and guys
Speaker 1: running underneath it and accelerating through the catch to continue on.
Speaker 1: But to be able to throw this ball to Parker,
Speaker 1: to throw the ball through the wattle where he came
Speaker 1: back and got it. That's a nice little, you know,
Speaker 1: throwing into coverage, throwing guys open type of nod there
Speaker 1: for Toungo by Loa And what a hell of a
Speaker 1: catch for Devanta Parker for thirty yards to go up
Speaker 1: and get that thing. That's what Devanta does. Four catches
Speaker 1: eighty one yards for Devantae Parker in this game. A
Speaker 1: couple of big plays for Emmanuel Ogball, a big third
Speaker 1: down pass breakup, got the hands up, swatch that thing down,
Speaker 1: gets the Dolphins defense off the field. And then I
Speaker 1: thought the biggest play for aug Ball was one that
Speaker 1: didn't even count. It was a holding call on the
Speaker 1: offense because he had a devastating cross shop move his
Speaker 1: that go to cross shop move man. He gets those
Speaker 1: that shoulder kind of dipped inside and works both those
Speaker 1: hands across and fights off the hand placement of the
Speaker 1: offensive line, and he cornered and had Matt Jones dead
Speaker 1: two rights and mac Jones didn't even see him. He
Speaker 1: was looking up the field. It was gonna be a
Speaker 1: kill shot, good chance to maybe get the ball out
Speaker 1: on that play. But the right tackle reaches around and
Speaker 1: grabs og ball and prevents him just before Jones throws
Speaker 1: the ball from getting to the quarterback. But it's a
Speaker 1: holding call. Pushing back ten yards wipes out that drive.
Speaker 1: How about the Dolphins defensive backs and nod of the
Speaker 1: cap here to Joe Alexander and Charles Burke's for the
Speaker 1: work they do to find the friggrant football man twenty
Speaker 1: three straight games. Now with a takeaway for your Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins that goes back to last season, actually into twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: the longest streak in the National Football League, and all
Speaker 1: three today were forced fumbles. Only two of them got
Speaker 1: taken away by the Miami Dolphins, but all three possible
Speaker 1: takeaways forced fumbles by Eric Roe, Javon Holland, and Xavian Howard.
Speaker 1: In that defensive secondary tip of the cap to g
Speaker 1: A and Coach Burke's forgetting those guys to really have
Speaker 1: that focus and emphasis on the football the last couple
Speaker 1: of years. And then of course to a on that
Speaker 1: final drive the quarterback keeper off the edge where he
Speaker 1: had the kind of awkward slide that was a big
Speaker 1: time play in a big moment where the Dolphins are
Speaker 1: backed up. If you go three and out right there,
Speaker 1: I mean you're putting the ball basically at midfield with
Speaker 1: a good punt no return, it's gonna be tough to
Speaker 1: hold that Patriots offense from getting ten fifteen yards and
Speaker 1: possibly kicking a game winning field goal. So I first
Speaker 1: down there was paramount, looked like they had it set
Speaker 1: up a second and one comes back on a holding call.
Speaker 1: Had to kind of reshuffle from there, and then they
Speaker 1: come right back and hit it again on that slant
Speaker 1: to DeVante Parker, which was the biggest play of the
Speaker 1: game from my money, to really put that thing on
Speaker 1: ice and get this offense really kind of going in
Speaker 1: the right direction on that drive to close this game
Speaker 1: out and wind up in victory formation. That's where you
Speaker 1: want to be. A couple more individual notes here. I
Speaker 1: talked about Miles Gaskin. Savan Akhmed I just love that
Speaker 1: one to punch. And then you factor in Malcolm Brown
Speaker 1: some of the work he did in the wildcat game today,
Speaker 1: the short yard stuff he converted on as a running back,
Speaker 1: but Gaskins three down ability and pass protection to catch
Speaker 1: the football matchup based. I mean, he had a quick,
Speaker 1: a quick hitter from tow on the field goal drive,
Speaker 1: matched up on Dante high tower, which of course you
Speaker 1: want to get high tower out there and coverage, and
Speaker 1: Miles Gaskin was able to do that because he leaked
Speaker 1: out and you have to go cover that guy. You
Speaker 1: can't just let him run free. So his ability to
Speaker 1: create matchups on linebackers and savan Akhmed I thought we're
Speaker 1: both apparent today in this game had a nice catching
Speaker 1: run where he got hit at the line, picked up
Speaker 1: six yards after initial contact. Just little stuff like that
Speaker 1: that you know, it's with these guys where they tend
Speaker 1: to make more yards than what's given to them based
Speaker 1: upon the blocking or what should be given to them
Speaker 1: based upon what you have in the look. Talked about
Speaker 1: Davante Parker, for one, thought the body control was great,
Speaker 1: that the hands were great in this game, looking like
Speaker 1: vintage DVP. I thought Solomon Kiley had a nice game
Speaker 1: on a couple of the big Miles Gaskin runs, pinning
Speaker 1: guys and sealing off some gaps and getting some push
Speaker 1: and he just plays kind of nasty through the whistle. Thought.
Speaker 1: Liam Eikenberg had some good moments in his first NFL start.
Speaker 1: He had some welcome to the NFL moments as well,
Speaker 1: but good to see him out there at left tackle
Speaker 1: in place of Austin Jackson, who of course was elevated
Speaker 1: to questionable on Saturday and then today removed from the
Speaker 1: injury port altogether, but he did not wind up playing
Speaker 1: without any practice reps. Tough to get out there on
Speaker 1: the field for game day. So Ikenbrook starts at left tackle,
Speaker 1: with Kiley at left guard, Michael Dieter at center, Rob
Speaker 1: Hunt at right guard, and then Jesse Davis at right tackle.
Speaker 1: I think the offensive line could have had a better day,
Speaker 1: but all things told, Hey, the quarterback was upright for
Speaker 1: most of the game, and they did a good job
Speaker 1: of of getting enough points to win this game. Defensively,
Speaker 1: I thought Adam Butler had a big day and he
Speaker 1: had a He caused a hold just on the get
Speaker 1: off alone. He shot a gap and forced a guy
Speaker 1: to reach back there and grab him because if he didn't,
Speaker 1: he was gonna blow it up for a TfL. That
Speaker 1: ended up causing the Patriots I think, a chance to
Speaker 1: get a touchdown on that drive because they were marching
Speaker 1: and they wind up getting behind the chain and could
Speaker 1: not invert after that. So Adam Butler nice work there.
Speaker 1: Christian Wilkins had some nice work against the run as
Speaker 1: well as the pass rush had the obvious sack there.
Speaker 1: Talked about Emmanuel Augma against the run too, man getting
Speaker 1: outside of the edge there on some of those run plays.
Speaker 1: Thought he did a fantastic job in that regard. We
Speaker 1: talked about xaviing Howard probably not gonna have any stats
Speaker 1: on Pro Football Focus on the Tuesday podcast because he
Speaker 1: was just never really thrown at, but he will have
Speaker 1: the biggest play of the game there and the force
Speaker 1: fumble at the end. Uh Byron Jones, I thought I
Speaker 1: had himself a good game as well. You know, he
Speaker 1: gave up a few catches underneath, but we'll take that,
Speaker 1: will live with that every single day of the week.
Speaker 1: I just love the way those two guys complement each
Speaker 1: other's games because Byron Jones can play that sticky man
Speaker 1: coverage where he just basically says, I'm not gonna worry
Speaker 1: about the ball so much. He will play the ball,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna make sure this guy doesn't make any
Speaker 1: catches and that in turn can force targets back to
Speaker 1: Xaviing Howard, who we know what he can do with
Speaker 1: the ball skills as well. So I thought both those
Speaker 1: guys played well together. And how you envision it when
Speaker 1: you go out and sign a Byron Jones and you
Speaker 1: have an Xaviing Howard in your back pocket. Eric Rowe,
Speaker 1: the tight end e racer, we call him all the time.
Speaker 1: Five catches forty two yards for John Hi Smith. I
Speaker 1: think it was three for thirty for Hunter Henry. So
Speaker 1: to hold those guys to that like, to me, those
Speaker 1: are the focal points of the offense, and I don't
Speaker 1: know what Eric rose coverage numbers were. We'll have that
Speaker 1: for you on Tuesday. But I thought he played really well,
Speaker 1: came back from an injury, forced to fumble. Just a
Speaker 1: really solid player every single time he suits it up
Speaker 1: for your Miami Dolphins. And then Jason mccordy had a
Speaker 1: big pbut in the middle of the field on a
Speaker 1: ball that looked like it was gonna be a big
Speaker 1: completion for the Patriots offense, he would not allow it
Speaker 1: a big time completion or in completion there based on
Speaker 1: Jason mccordy. And he was just over the top all
Speaker 1: day today making plays and and capping things off. Good
Speaker 1: work from him. Brandon Jones made two plays that I
Speaker 1: really loved. One on defense where he shot up the
Speaker 1: field with the instinct and kind of read the snap
Speaker 1: and got his keys and got in there and forced
Speaker 1: the running back on an outside run to bubble back
Speaker 1: inside to help for a a very like a one
Speaker 1: yard game, maybe a no game. And then on a
Speaker 1: kickoff he shoots in there and gets a stop where
Speaker 1: the Patriots wind up holding as well, so it's a
Speaker 1: ten yard penalty. Pushed him back to the nine yard
Speaker 1: line to really give them fourteen yards of hit and yardage.
Speaker 1: Brandon Jones made some good plays in that way. And
Speaker 1: then Jason Sanders, you make a field goal in a
Speaker 1: game where you win by one, we have to give
Speaker 1: you a nod on that. And the distance on that
Speaker 1: field goal, I'm gonna find it for you here in
Speaker 1: just one second from Jason Sanders forty eight yards. I
Speaker 1: knew it was deep from deep, forty eight yard field goal.
Speaker 1: This guy continues to connect from distance for this Dolphins
Speaker 1: team and again, and at one point Victory had to
Speaker 1: have that forty eight yard kick and Jason Sanders stepped
Speaker 1: up and nailed it. And so plenty of good to
Speaker 1: talk about here, plenty of corrections to make as well,
Speaker 1: and we'll have more for you on the Tuesday podcast
Speaker 1: to go ahead and get a better look at the
Speaker 1: All twenty two and break this thing down and come
Speaker 1: back with some numbers and some film evaluation for all
Speaker 1: you guys here on the Drive Time podcast. But some
Speaker 1: of the guys who I don't think you know on
Speaker 1: the initial watch that had their best days. Some of
Speaker 1: those guys were guys that I just have no worries
Speaker 1: about long term. So for me, when they get it corrected,
Speaker 1: man to get a win like that, I just don't
Speaker 1: know how you can care about anything else. Before we
Speaker 1: get out of here, let's give you the final stats
Speaker 1: for the game. The Dolphins have sixteen first downs of
Speaker 1: the Patriots twenty four, just four for eleven on third
Speaker 1: down compared to eleven for sixteen from the Patriots. The
Speaker 1: Patriots out gained Miami by quite a bit three two
Speaker 1: fifty nine the passing game to one eight five, rushing
Speaker 1: one to seventy four. They did run eighteen more plays
Speaker 1: seventy compared to fifty two in the game. The Patriots
Speaker 1: had the two turnovers, Miami had the one. The Dolphins
Speaker 1: were sacked twice by the Patriots pass rush. Dolphins got
Speaker 1: to Mac Jones once, and the penalties. How about this
Speaker 1: one eight for eighty four for New England, five eight
Speaker 1: for Miami and time of possession goes in the Patriots
Speaker 1: favorite thirty sixty three seventeen. Sounds like a buck score
Speaker 1: that would go towards one team. It did not. It
Speaker 1: went towards your Miami Dolphins. If you have not listened
Speaker 1: to the post game show yet on five sixt w
Speaker 1: q AM and Kiss Country nine nine point nine, we
Speaker 1: should have that available for you on my timeline. I'll
Speaker 1: go ahead and tweak that out a two hour show
Speaker 1: with me, Seth and o J giving you more Miami
Speaker 1: Dolphins coverage. But as for my time, that's gonna be
Speaker 1: my time. It is eleven o seven pm on Sunday night.
Speaker 1: Caroline Daddy is coming home. You all please be sure
Speaker 1: to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast. Leave us
Speaker 1: a rating, leave us a review. You can follow me
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. You can follow the Dolphins
Speaker 1: at Miami Dolphins tough Enough. Check out the YouTube channel
Speaker 1: as well. All the postgame press conferences will be up
Speaker 1: there for you guys to go ahead and digest. Take
Speaker 1: a look at and get all your Miami Dolphins information
Speaker 1: as well as needs, and of course, the fish Tank
Speaker 1: Podcast with Seth and o J and Miami Dolphins dot
Speaker 1: Com Until next time sends up Dolphins at first place
Speaker 1: one and no baby, Let's go