Speaker 1: You were listening to the Miami Dolphins podcast Network. This
Speaker 1: is Drive Time with Travis Wheatfield. Back to throw to
Speaker 1: a looking gips wade open touchtop ton Rick Hill doing
Speaker 1: to where he was going right away? Man, I want
Speaker 1: to help you soon up on his manway wattle waddle
Speaker 1: to a shotgun, back to throw looking ups up fires Touchpa,
Speaker 1: It's waddle, It's six touchdown parade helps the day. Drive
Speaker 1: Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now let me check your
Speaker 1: pulse if number? What is up? Dolph fans and welcome
Speaker 1: back to the Drivetime Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins
Speaker 1: podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it
Speaker 1: going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield, because you
Speaker 1: all have a fun bye week, I sure as heck did,
Speaker 1: especially watching some of the game in our own division.
Speaker 1: On today's show though, we're back for an early preview
Speaker 1: edition here of the Draft Time Podcast. Wanted to get
Speaker 1: the position by position, matchup by matchup, film study and
Speaker 1: stat analysis podcast your way ahead of the holiday. We're
Speaker 1: breaking down all things Dolphins Texans with the matchups, the
Speaker 1: three keys, and what's at stake from the Baptist Health
Speaker 1: studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the
Speaker 1: drivetimes the Houston Texans. And I heard this stat after
Speaker 1: I wrote up my script. I'm gonna go ahead and
Speaker 1: put it in here real quick. This is the Dolphins
Speaker 1: largest point spread since hosting the Texans in two thousand
Speaker 1: and three, the season opener that of course went the
Speaker 1: wrong way, and that part is in the script. And
Speaker 1: we talk about life cycles on this podcast all the time,
Speaker 1: particularly in the team building portion of the calendar, with
Speaker 1: all the great draft guests we have on the show annually,
Speaker 1: and this Texans organization has had some of the most
Speaker 1: of fine cycles really of any team since there are
Speaker 1: two thousand two inception into the NFL, they struggled out
Speaker 1: of the gate like any expansion franchise would. They finished
Speaker 1: last in the newly aligned a f C South in
Speaker 1: five of their first six seasons and never finished better
Speaker 1: than third until their eighth year in existence, which coincided
Speaker 1: with the arrival of quarterback Matt Shop, then a step
Speaker 1: back to third, and then the arrival of J. J.
Speaker 1: Swat J J. Watt in two thousand and eleven. They
Speaker 1: put together back to back division tiles before bottoming out
Speaker 1: at two and fourteen, and they turned that around to
Speaker 1: nine and seven and fourteen, then officially shed the expansion
Speaker 1: tag with a dominant run inside their own division. They
Speaker 1: win the a f C South four out of five years,
Speaker 1: with a fourth place sandwiched directly in the middle of
Speaker 1: that seventeen season, and more recently, back to back four
Speaker 1: win seasons the last two years. And coming into this
Speaker 1: game one eight and one, how fascinating is that it is?
Speaker 1: To me at least they've been playing football for twenty
Speaker 1: one years and they have finished first or fourth in
Speaker 1: fourteen of those years. Two of those third place finishes
Speaker 1: were four win seasons. So if not for the frigging
Speaker 1: Jacksonville Jaguars these last two years, we're looking at sixteen
Speaker 1: of their twenty one years either at the top of
Speaker 1: the podium or in the cellar. And of course, as
Speaker 1: every single Dolphins fan knows, despite those ups and downs,
Speaker 1: they've always provided a challenge to the good guys. The
Speaker 1: afore mentioned OH three season opener was one of the
Speaker 1: biggest shockers of the century. It was Miami's first opening
Speaker 1: they had lost in twelve years, and the biggest favorite
Speaker 1: of that opening weekend, a game where Miami were fourteen
Speaker 1: point favorites. That was unheard of in two thousand two.
Speaker 1: This game on Sunday, they're only I think eleven and
Speaker 1: a half. It's in the NFL even today. Fourteen points
Speaker 1: is a lot Back then, forget about it, and that
Speaker 1: torment against the Texans would continue for more than a decade.
Speaker 1: The two six loss was bad. The two since seven
Speaker 1: lost was expected in a nightmare season. But and I
Speaker 1: know I've referenced this a million times, no loss made
Speaker 1: me more upset as a Dolphins fan than that two
Speaker 1: thousand eight game in Houston. Watched the quarterback drop, Matt
Speaker 1: Shop is gonna run it, coming off massive wins over
Speaker 1: New England and San Diego to rescue the O and
Speaker 1: to start with the Wildcat offense that year and get
Speaker 1: out to a big lead on the Texans, but then
Speaker 1: to lose it after Andre Johnson plux an impossible fourth
Speaker 1: and twenty reception off the helmet of was it Andre Goodman?
Speaker 1: I don't remember. I do remember what happened after that, though,
Speaker 1: Matt freaking Shop on the draw on fourth and goal.
Speaker 1: Remember having Channing Crowder on the podcast when we first
Speaker 1: launched and talked about that play and he agreed with
Speaker 1: the frustration of it all. Luckily that team did bounce
Speaker 1: back and win the a f C East. I do
Speaker 1: not remember the two thousand nine game that well at all.
Speaker 1: I remember the two thousand eleven and two thousand thirteen
Speaker 1: losses or two thousand twelve, I should say. And then
Speaker 1: we get to two thousand, fifteen oh and seven and
Speaker 1: all time, and the Demons were exercised with a forty
Speaker 1: two nothing first half, six touchdowns in the opening half,
Speaker 1: and the team split the last two with the serious
Speaker 1: sitting right now at two to eight. Back to the Texans, Now,
Speaker 1: how do they get here? Well, Bill O'Brien was let
Speaker 1: go mid season. They then hired David Coley as a
Speaker 1: sacrificial layman two thousand one, replaced him with Levey Smith
Speaker 1: this year after they won. They exceeded expectations last year
Speaker 1: with four victories. They were supposed to win any games
Speaker 1: last year. They plucked the very talented Nick Cassario from
Speaker 1: New England last year and he has been as busy
Speaker 1: as any GM in the NFL. From a volume of
Speaker 1: move standpoint, they have made so many veteran acquisitions on
Speaker 1: that team. They did relieve Jack Easterby earlier this year,
Speaker 1: one of the weirder hirings ever after, you know, a
Speaker 1: firing that was greeted by a social media post from
Speaker 1: players advocating for his dismissal. But that's kind of been
Speaker 1: the last three years for the Texans, who made a
Speaker 1: big move to deal their franchise quarterback after years of
Speaker 1: nefarious behavior was concealed there as well. Those winning years
Speaker 1: under O'Brien came at a cost. They dealt premium pick
Speaker 1: after premium pick in pursuit of maximizing the life cycle
Speaker 1: under the then star quarterback, who of course was on
Speaker 1: a rookie contract, and it never materialized beyond a trip
Speaker 1: to the a f C Divisional round and that devastating
Speaker 1: loss to the Chiefs after a twenty four nothing lead
Speaker 1: to open the game. How do you bounce back from that?
Speaker 1: As a fan? I would love to know, haven't experienced
Speaker 1: it myself. Then season happened, and that's kind of the
Speaker 1: genesis of the bottom dropping out on this team. Without
Speaker 1: the first and second round picks, they finished third to
Speaker 1: last in the NFL. And you can't replying to your
Speaker 1: roster with mean, I don't know, Galen Waddle Javon holland
Speaker 1: Galen Phillips without those picks, uh, without the high picks,
Speaker 1: I should say, and then sign more than twenty free
Speaker 1: agents two deals in that one the two year range.
Speaker 1: Truly a unique offseason and it wasn't the same this year,
Speaker 1: but it wasn't that different. They're playing with a different
Speaker 1: quarterback on a rookie court, a rookie contract now is
Speaker 1: Davis Mills is playing his butt off trying to secure
Speaker 1: the long term job security. There hasn't gone that way
Speaker 1: so far. They have a stud rookie running back and
Speaker 1: Damian Pierce plopped into a running back room with just
Speaker 1: guys that have been kind of cast off from other clubs.
Speaker 1: And that's kind of how the roster as a whole looks.
Speaker 1: Brandon Cooks is a big name in the young receiver's room,
Speaker 1: not a lot of name power in the tight end
Speaker 1: room either, And it's just this incredibly puzzling roster to
Speaker 1: makes sense of. Like Rex birkehead Philip dor said O J.
Speaker 1: Howard are all key cogs on the offense. The strength
Speaker 1: of the team might be the line. And while they
Speaker 1: sure could have used all those picks, not for nothing,
Speaker 1: Larry mt. Tunsill is one of the best left tackles
Speaker 1: in football. So do you want a great left tackle
Speaker 1: or three premium players. I choose the ladder, and that's
Speaker 1: why he commands such a steep price, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: and they nailed their other book and player at that
Speaker 1: position with Titus Howard. The right tackles are great. I
Speaker 1: loved offensive guard Kenyan Green coming out. In fact, I
Speaker 1: love their entire two class as a step in the
Speaker 1: right direction to rebuilding the roster. Derek Stingley is an
Speaker 1: awesome looking rookie cornerback, same with safety. Rookie safety Jalen Petra.
Speaker 1: Christian Harris is the outside linebacker that can play. Jerry
Speaker 1: Hughes having a resurgence after a brilliant career in Buffalo,
Speaker 1: and their book and there the very talent of Jonathan
Speaker 1: Grenard is on the injured reserve, so they do have
Speaker 1: some talent upfront, so there's some nice young pieces. They
Speaker 1: compete most weeks and have played some tight games despite
Speaker 1: their record. They played the Eagles tight into the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: They took a six and two Giants team right down
Speaker 1: to the end and lost by just one score. Of
Speaker 1: the week prior to the Titans. Granted, context tells you
Speaker 1: none of those games were ever really in danger for
Speaker 1: the opposition. But we're trying here, and with that, let's
Speaker 1: go ahead and get into a Dolphins offense versus Texans defense.
Speaker 1: We start, as we do weekly, with the quarterback and
Speaker 1: the Dolphins offense versus the opposing defense and their safety position.
Speaker 1: I mentioned the promotion of Lovey Smith from DC to
Speaker 1: head coach and he maintained the play calling this year.
Speaker 1: And what does that mean Tampa two. Nobody loves some
Speaker 1: Tampa two more than Lovey Smith. What that is is
Speaker 1: cover two, which you all know what that means. Too
Speaker 1: high safety's cloud corners underneath garden, the curl flat area,
Speaker 1: and then a middle linebacker who once he recognizes as
Speaker 1: a pass gets on his horse and gets down the
Speaker 1: middle of the pipe to take away the middle of
Speaker 1: the field that those safeties open up. It stresses your
Speaker 1: mike backer to be ultra instinctive and fast, and it
Speaker 1: means a lot of even fronts. Do the Texans have that?
Speaker 1: I don't think. So. They run four three percent of
Speaker 1: the time, they run Nickels sixty five percent time. They
Speaker 1: don't really match the personnel those are the only two
Speaker 1: packages they deployed the entire season, even when teams go
Speaker 1: heavy or spread it out. If you're heavy, you'll see
Speaker 1: four three. If you've got three receivers or more on
Speaker 1: the field, you'll get nickel. So it's a good way
Speaker 1: simply put it's it's it's one of the craziest schemes
Speaker 1: I've seen this year, or for any year for that matter.
Speaker 1: It invites linebackers to cover in the slot. It puts
Speaker 1: two and sixty five pound players out in space, one
Speaker 1: on one against wide receivers when teams call upon their
Speaker 1: four wide looks. It offers free access across the entire field,
Speaker 1: and that middle linebacker has to be able to flow,
Speaker 1: not just sideline to sideline over the top of outside
Speaker 1: zone and get get wide on place. He has to
Speaker 1: also be able to get twenty five yards of depth
Speaker 1: down the pipe and coverage. They'll also ask him to
Speaker 1: run the pipe and match with the three to the
Speaker 1: field from a mugged up pre snap alignment. That means
Speaker 1: on the line of scrimmage, and then you have to
Speaker 1: chase receiver you're outflanked against who's faster than you. Tough
Speaker 1: ask they are in a single high look. Most of
Speaker 1: the times pre snap uh cover one two high. They've
Speaker 1: played nineteen snaps in zero or three snaps with three high,
Speaker 1: so it's basically one high or two high, and they
Speaker 1: usually rotate into a two high coverage too high shell.
Speaker 1: But that's why we pair film with numbers, because that's
Speaker 1: more often than not rotated with that too high look
Speaker 1: with the middle of the field open and that Tampa
Speaker 1: two back or running on the pipe. As for how
Speaker 1: they play in terms of their aggressiveness outside, it's eight
Speaker 1: percent with five yards or more cushion, and then with
Speaker 1: three yards or fewer of cushion with two of We've
Speaker 1: seen him attack those types of looks effectively because of
Speaker 1: his ability to move players with his eyes and anticipate
Speaker 1: soft spots and zones before they open up. The defense
Speaker 1: will keep eyes in the quarterback, and ideally the cloud
Speaker 1: corners underneath can play the eyes of the quarterback and
Speaker 1: let them make some splash play. So for TWA, keep
Speaker 1: playing at the same level and he'll have some opportunity
Speaker 1: used to pick up some more chunk yardage. However, if
Speaker 1: that's not the same performance we get, then this secondary
Speaker 1: can turn you over and we know the turnover margin
Speaker 1: can be the great equalizer in a game like this. Incidentally,
Speaker 1: Derek Stingley I think was the best cornerback in that draft,
Speaker 1: but he only played thirty six cover two snaps in
Speaker 1: his college career. But I think you are seeing him
Speaker 1: get more and more comfortable each week. But it is
Speaker 1: a situation where you're playing a guy outside of what
Speaker 1: he does best, which yeah, I don't know. How about
Speaker 1: their blitzing and pressure packages blitz and production eighteen point
Speaker 1: nine percent blitz rate is the tenth lowest, the pressure
Speaker 1: rates the eighteenth most. So there are pretty effective at
Speaker 1: four man rushing quarterbacks, and that was even better with
Speaker 1: a healthy Jonathan Grenard. But Jerry Hughes and Marasheem Green
Speaker 1: have had really nice seasons so far. But here is
Speaker 1: where Miami has a massive opportunity. It's the best middle
Speaker 1: of the field passing team in football. Right we all
Speaker 1: agree on that the Texans have struggled there because opponents
Speaker 1: down the middle, UH, down the middle in ten plush
Speaker 1: yards over the last four games, UH, not counting the
Speaker 1: Washington game last week. Daniel Jones two for three forty
Speaker 1: one yards. Jalen Hurts three for four seventy one yards.
Speaker 1: Malik Willis tried one pass and it was picked in
Speaker 1: that Titans game, but they literally had him throw ten
Speaker 1: passes all game. I'm gonna throw that one out and
Speaker 1: then Derek Carr four for four with seventy four yards.
Speaker 1: We know the Dolphins have been most effective passing offense
Speaker 1: on throws between the numbers ten plush yards downfield the
Speaker 1: Texans since the bye week, and removing that Malik Willis
Speaker 1: game nine for eleven for a buck eighty six on
Speaker 1: such throws, two on play action league leading one thousand
Speaker 1: and five passing yards off play action Texans versus play
Speaker 1: actions since Week four forty four fifty eight, five hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty four yards, three touchdowns and a pick. Again,
Speaker 1: I removed the Malik Willis game. Dolphins strengths match up
Speaker 1: with the Texans weaknesses very well across the board. Here.
Speaker 1: Let's look at their safeties and it starts with one
Speaker 1: of my favorite players, rookie from Baylor, Jalen Peatray. He's
Speaker 1: got some serious Jesse bates to him the Star up
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati to his game and that he recognized his
Speaker 1: concepts developed and he can anticipate them on top of
Speaker 1: being one of the twitchiest athletes on the field. It's
Speaker 1: a great combination to have at that position. It's a
Speaker 1: fun matchup with he too, who has been one of,
Speaker 1: if not the best in the league when it comes
Speaker 1: to moving defenders with his eyes and that post snap manipulation.
Speaker 1: I don't think these numbers are reflection of Peatre's game
Speaker 1: this season, and we like like we mentioned with single Stingley,
Speaker 1: he's learning a different style of defense. But Petre is
Speaker 1: a sixteen of nineteen in coverage this year for two
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty yards, three touchdowns and two picks on
Speaker 1: two hundred nineties seven coverage naps. PFF has him with
Speaker 1: twenty one missed tackles on a Houston defense that has
Speaker 1: the most miss tackles in the NFL. They've also allowed
Speaker 1: the most yards after initial contact, so contact balance eating
Speaker 1: up some yak could be a big focus this week.
Speaker 1: Petre does have twenty one run stop, so he's making
Speaker 1: his share of plays as well. Like most really talented rookies,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of good but some ups and downs
Speaker 1: that come with the NFL season. And then Jonathan Owens
Speaker 1: is the next safety. I'm not familiar with his game
Speaker 1: outside of the games I've watched for this prep. This
Speaker 1: is his first year as a full time starter after
Speaker 1: going undrafted and catching all with the Texans ten snaps
Speaker 1: that year, one sixty eight last year, and now five
Speaker 1: fifty four this year is a full time starter. His
Speaker 1: numbers ten of sixteen, two forty five yards, three touchdowns,
Speaker 1: no picks. It's got just five run stops. And that's
Speaker 1: how the defense goes with him playing inside less than
Speaker 1: fifteen percent of the snaps and Petre a little more
Speaker 1: than half of it. Snaps down there, but still he'll
Speaker 1: bell out and play Cover two high or too high.
Speaker 1: Look with Cover two, but fine number five on the defense,
Speaker 1: he's the Jenga piece back there. It's like this, they're
Speaker 1: so far off the football. The linebackers are too far
Speaker 1: up on the football, and these intermediate shots get attributed
Speaker 1: to them with all kinds of space. That's why the
Speaker 1: yards per reception and the in the yak are absolutely
Speaker 1: insane against these safeties. They also get called upon to
Speaker 1: cover receivers deep when the cloud corners pass off. One
Speaker 1: of the crazier parts of this defense is how infrequently
Speaker 1: they insert a safety in the running game. And then
Speaker 1: they missed more tackles than anybody else on tape. There
Speaker 1: are a lot of runs that get to the second
Speaker 1: level untouched, and then it's a bunch of space for
Speaker 1: these safeties to operate within. Again, it's a tough defense
Speaker 1: to master that really needs at Brian or Lacker type
Speaker 1: to make it click. And the expectations should Jip be
Speaker 1: in this game to score every single time you touch
Speaker 1: the football. Let's go ahead and take our first break
Speaker 1: and come back on the other side. We'll get to
Speaker 1: the receivers and tight ends versus the cornerbacks. We are
Speaker 1: deep into it. Plenty more to come here on the
Speaker 1: preview edition of the Drivetime Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Auto Nation. Back here on a
Speaker 1: special Tuesday preview edition of the Drivetime Podcast. No podcast
Speaker 1: for you guys on Thursday and Friday, enjoy your holidays.
Speaker 1: Will have the great Mark Vandermere from the Houston Texans
Speaker 1: radio broadcast on the show tomorrow. We picked this back
Speaker 1: up here taking a look at the Dolphins receivers and
Speaker 1: tight ends versus the Texans corners. I just like, look,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of holes in most zone coverages
Speaker 1: and I think this one has the potential to see
Speaker 1: some of those Baltimore openings we saw. It's soft with
Speaker 1: the roof on top and corners playing big, big cushions.
Speaker 1: As we reference the stat earlier, you know eighty percent
Speaker 1: of the time they're playing off coverage. Then the linebackers
Speaker 1: are easily influenced because they don't have the speed to
Speaker 1: both get to the perimeter and to the hook zone.
Speaker 1: You can boot to space with the flats too. Like
Speaker 1: the team, speed is going to be an issue, and
Speaker 1: against this offense, that's always an issue even if you
Speaker 1: do have a fast defense. They do do do a
Speaker 1: fantastic job of limiting the deep passing play no completions
Speaker 1: on balls over twenty eight yards in the last three games.
Speaker 1: Derek Carr had a two for two fifty three yard
Speaker 1: day back in Week six, and Herbert went four for
Speaker 1: five with nine two throwing the ball deep in Week four.
Speaker 1: But by and large, they've kept the ball in front
Speaker 1: of them. They protect the roof and play aggressive down front,
Speaker 1: so teams have really gone after the intermediate area, which
Speaker 1: again is where the Dolphins offense tends to eat, and
Speaker 1: you'll get plenty of linebacker and safety on wide receiver matchups. Again,
Speaker 1: one of the most zone centric defenses in the NFL,
Speaker 1: so the individual coverage numbers don't always tell the full story.
Speaker 1: The amount of off coverage they play out there, however,
Speaker 1: opens up that space in the flats in the screen
Speaker 1: game and with some runs around the edge, so our
Speaker 1: receivers need to block the screens well, blocked the runs well,
Speaker 1: and make some people missed to turn short throws into
Speaker 1: chunk gains. We know Tyreek, Jalen Trent Sheriff have all
Speaker 1: excelled in that area all year. So while it's always
Speaker 1: enticing to attack vertically and if you get a chance
Speaker 1: to absolutely do it, why not, But it's the more
Speaker 1: enticing part of this matchup is that where Miami's had
Speaker 1: its most consistent success, that area has consistently given the
Speaker 1: Texans the most issues every single week. It's a lot
Speaker 1: of completions and the short areas outside the numbers almost
Speaker 1: nothing by way of perimeter shots ten or more yards
Speaker 1: down the field, but a bunch of throws in the middle,
Speaker 1: which is how the Tampa two defense kind of funnels things.
Speaker 1: Primary corners on the field of the Texans. Derek Stingley
Speaker 1: three nine coverage snaps. This is before last game. By
Speaker 1: the way, I didn't update my stats. Three nine coverage
Speaker 1: snaps thirty three forty four fourteen yards, no touchdowns in
Speaker 1: a pick. Steven Nelson three coverage snaps twenty of thirty
Speaker 1: three touchdown in a pick that in the nickel, Desmond
Speaker 1: King two teen snaps sixteen twenty three one A two
Speaker 1: no touchdowns and the pick. So teams are getting a
Speaker 1: lot of yards when they put the ball up in
Speaker 1: the air. The corner with the next most coverage snaps
Speaker 1: is tavierre Thomas. I think I said that right just seventeen,
Speaker 1: but those are recent. He's playing well for them recently.
Speaker 1: Curious to see if he gets a shot at more
Speaker 1: time this week. I'd love to give you a more
Speaker 1: detailed look, but I think it comes down to just
Speaker 1: continuing to do what you do well and challenge them
Speaker 1: to stop it if they play with that secured roof
Speaker 1: up top. We saw the Browns do that all game
Speaker 1: long in Miami through those inbreakers, comebacks and then operated
Speaker 1: in space to surefield Gosicki and backs when Tyreeke and
Speaker 1: Jalen stretch the defense out that style pair with how
Speaker 1: I think the running game can do. I'm just not
Speaker 1: sure what they can do to stop it. To be
Speaker 1: completely frank with you, one of my favorite things to
Speaker 1: track each week is the athletic ability of the secondary
Speaker 1: versus Miami, primarily in the slot, when Tyreek and Jalan
Speaker 1: can condense inside for a few snaps and just change
Speaker 1: the game from that area. Desmond Kings the primary slot guy.
Speaker 1: He's a four six guy with gray change of direction
Speaker 1: six six seven con three cone time, but he's a
Speaker 1: slower build, a speed guy with just a nine o
Speaker 1: nine broad a thirty four inch verse, so he's not
Speaker 1: very explosive. I like Waddle and his route running in
Speaker 1: quickness here in this position. Steven Nelson is a four
Speaker 1: five guy, nearly the exact same broad invert as we
Speaker 1: talked about King, a decent three cone just under seven.
Speaker 1: Tyreek was six point five for what it's worth, so
Speaker 1: when you think about how to compare those, a six
Speaker 1: five three cone versus a seven three cone is a
Speaker 1: big change of direction mismatch. And then Derek Stanley was
Speaker 1: four four five. We did see two and get him
Speaker 1: deep on a deep ball against the L s U
Speaker 1: Tigers with Bama a few years back, better explosion, but
Speaker 1: his three comb was dead seven. Oh. So like the
Speaker 1: matchups just aren't really there. You can see why they
Speaker 1: play so much off coverage, not a lot of shiftiness
Speaker 1: to deal with guys like Tyreke and Jalen at the line.
Speaker 1: On the offensive line verse defensive line. Jerry Hughes can
Speaker 1: still do it man. He leaves their defense and pressures
Speaker 1: and sacks. He rushes almost exclusively off the offense's left side.
Speaker 1: But we also saw what to run Armstead did to
Speaker 1: keep Myles Garrett to just one pressure on twenty two
Speaker 1: pass rush snaps. Jerry Hughes is a technician with a
Speaker 1: great first step, so it's a fun matchup of good
Speaker 1: on good because Armstad's technique is as good as it gets.
Speaker 1: The Texans come in with the worst ranked run defense
Speaker 1: in football. Again, there's no reason to think this can't
Speaker 1: look like the Cleveland game. They are super thin on
Speaker 1: the interior Jeff Wilson. Again, it's an area they've had
Speaker 1: some bad luck with from an injury standpoint. Four of
Speaker 1: their eight players on the various reserve list this season.
Speaker 1: Our front seven guys Malik Collins carries the most proven
Speaker 1: resume inside he's got a quick first step off the
Speaker 1: ball that allows him to get their one gap penetrating
Speaker 1: defense started inside. But just thirteen quarterback pressures eight run stops.
Speaker 1: I always enjoy watching the Dolphins go after these one
Speaker 1: gap defenses that want to beat you to the gap
Speaker 1: because that's a lot of what Miami's offensive line does well.
Speaker 1: And it always fascinates me how fast and precise are
Speaker 1: guys are upfront against a like minded defensive line. Connor
Speaker 1: Williams has been such a glue piece this year in
Speaker 1: that regard, whether he's got a one man sponsibility or
Speaker 1: he's attacking with one of the guards on a catch climb,
Speaker 1: double team situation, he's just been everything you could ask for.
Speaker 1: So for Collins and Ray Lopez a second, you know,
Speaker 1: second year player draft in the sixth round two years ago,
Speaker 1: also third team pressures and seven run stops. Or for
Speaker 1: Kurt Hennish and undrafted rookie this year, who's got seven
Speaker 1: pressures and five run stops. I mean, those are your
Speaker 1: top three snaptakers on the interior. They all fall six
Speaker 1: to three fifteen pound rage. So winning off the snap
Speaker 1: is gonna be a key with both Rob's hunt and
Speaker 1: Jones going three and three thirty four against those undersized guys.
Speaker 1: If they get to the spot first, they're not gonna
Speaker 1: get off those blocks. So play the way you have been.
Speaker 1: If you thought the line caught some bodies against the Browns,
Speaker 1: this could be a clinic this time around. The Texans
Speaker 1: roster is not that far off from the Dolphins nineteen roster.
Speaker 1: Quite frankly and outside we mentioned Hugh was his thirty
Speaker 1: pressures are more than double the number two guy. That's
Speaker 1: exactly double the number two guy. With Rashem Green having fifteen,
Speaker 1: they are your tops naptakers among your down linemen. That's
Speaker 1: a great pressure rate and gives you a sense of
Speaker 1: how they're getting pressure at a rate better than their
Speaker 1: blitz rate. Forty five pressures on three seventy five pass
Speaker 1: rush snaps from those two edge defenders is a total
Speaker 1: of twelve percent pressure rate. It's a good combination. It's
Speaker 1: big matchups for Toront, Armstead and Brandon Shell provided that's
Speaker 1: the tackle combination going into the game. Style Wise, Hues
Speaker 1: again that physical technician. The latter aspect always makes for
Speaker 1: a fun matchup against Toron because he typically handles it,
Speaker 1: and then Green and Shell would be a fun matchup
Speaker 1: two because Shell at six ft five checks in against
Speaker 1: a big, heavy handed green at sight. Fun matchups there,
Speaker 1: Albanio Aqua Ronco, I know I butchered that, not gonna
Speaker 1: try to gain. Kept showing up on the tape against
Speaker 1: the Giants. He's their top sub rusher off the bench.
Speaker 1: Nine pressures on a hundred and five pass rush snaps.
Speaker 1: Keep an eye on him. He's a pretty good player.
Speaker 1: Their numbers defending the run off the edge are really good,
Speaker 1: top ten the league in fact, but their average yards
Speaker 1: per rush between the tackles are dead last. Again. Jeff
Speaker 1: Wilson running backs and linebackers. That takes us to our
Speaker 1: final position group here on this side of the ball.
Speaker 1: Just want to start by saying, I love the way
Speaker 1: Christian Harris plays. He's the Jalen Peatre at the front seven.
Speaker 1: He knows where he's going and he gets there fast.
Speaker 1: He missed the first five games, but man, he's popping
Speaker 1: up against the Giants on that tape, cutting down the runs, screens,
Speaker 1: playing well in coverage. He was a workout beast with
Speaker 1: elite scores and all the explosive and time metrics, and
Speaker 1: he plays like it. However, there are countless situations with
Speaker 1: a play action look and the linebacker has to honor
Speaker 1: the outside run and then try to turn and run
Speaker 1: with anybody who is condensed into the formation. And we
Speaker 1: do this with receivers, with backs with tight ends. I
Speaker 1: just don't know how it's gonna work. And then the
Speaker 1: fact that they mug up and bail out with a
Speaker 1: ten yard landmark drop. It puts so much stress in
Speaker 1: the linebackers in the defense. And that's a rough pairing
Speaker 1: with their r a s because Harris is a stud
Speaker 1: with eleven foot broad four four forty time blazing ten
Speaker 1: and twenty splits. But from there it gets pretty rough
Speaker 1: because Christian Kirksey, uh Blake Cashman, it's not it's not
Speaker 1: their bread and butter. Christian Kirksy has twenty three run
Speaker 1: stops this year, but teams are twenty five of thirty five,
Speaker 1: with two sixty two throwing a ball against him. He's
Speaker 1: the only one that has significant pass rush snaps thirty
Speaker 1: five snaps, nine pressures. But teams, these guys coverage numbers
Speaker 1: are terrible because of the way they're putting these positions.
Speaker 1: Blake Cashman five run stops just fourteen coverage snaps. H
Speaker 1: Harris has nine run stops eleven for fourteen one six
Speaker 1: yards throwing at him. All of these guys allow ten
Speaker 1: point five yards per catch or butter. That's a lot
Speaker 1: for linebackers. It's a lighter, faster linebacker crew. Two thirty
Speaker 1: five pounds for the two primaries and Kirksey and Cashman
Speaker 1: too for Harris. So again it's I think they're they're there.
Speaker 1: Their play styles are not going to benefit them against
Speaker 1: either the run or the past. The combination to and
Speaker 1: of the inability to hold the point of attack. At
Speaker 1: the point of attack paired with linebackers, they get stuck
Speaker 1: on blocks. Hopefully the Dolphins can execute on a similar
Speaker 1: level of the Cleveland game, because no trio of linebackers
Speaker 1: has fewer run stops and a worse run stop efficiency.
Speaker 1: So that's your look at the Dolphins offense for the
Speaker 1: Texas defense, Let's go ahead and take our last break
Speaker 1: and come back here and do the other side of
Speaker 1: the football. Dolphins and Texans coming up here in week
Speaker 1: number twelve. That's Next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Auto Nation, Segment number three. Here
Speaker 1: on a week twelve preview edition of the Draft Time podcast.
Speaker 1: We pick it back up. We're gonna do the entire
Speaker 1: Dolphins defense versus Texans offense in this segment, and we
Speaker 1: start with the quarterback position and the offensive structure versus
Speaker 1: the Dolphins defense and their safety position and their offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1: Pep Hamilton's has coached in a lot of successful quarterback
Speaker 1: rooms around. I've been around a lot of polished quarterbacks
Speaker 1: in this league. He's had stints as an OC across
Speaker 1: pro and college football, which is where he is now
Speaker 1: with the Houston Texans. They run an offensive the lines
Speaker 1: as follows. Eleven personnel fifty twelve personnel seventeen per sent
Speaker 1: thirteen personnel's nine percent. They run out twenty one two backs,
Speaker 1: one tight end twelve percent of the time and two backs,
Speaker 1: two tight ends, two personnel that's nine percent of the time.
Speaker 1: That's more variety than most offenses. And it's an offense
Speaker 1: that lends itself to a lot of power running and
Speaker 1: a successful run game at that. The key here is
Speaker 1: I don't think it's all that dissimilar to the Browns
Speaker 1: game last week that they want to run it, and
Speaker 1: the best way to defeat that plan is early down
Speaker 1: success in scoring points on offense to eventually flip them
Speaker 1: into a one dimensional attack. Most teams have been able
Speaker 1: to do that this year. They'll still commit to the
Speaker 1: run and get their yards, but by the time they
Speaker 1: do it's usually over. They add gaps in the running game,
Speaker 1: which you can see with all the additional tight end
Speaker 1: fullback action they have in their personnel usage. What I
Speaker 1: think is interesting about all this is two fold. Number one.
Speaker 1: It's one of the most conservative offenses in the NFL.
Speaker 1: They subscribe to the established the run, where the defense
Speaker 1: down two to three yard runs can become twenty to
Speaker 1: thirty yard runs later. They run the ball on early downs.
Speaker 1: If they throw in complete on our first down, they'll
Speaker 1: run the ball in second and ten. It's a tough
Speaker 1: offense for a young quarterback like Davis Mills because the
Speaker 1: majority of his past attempts come in obvious passing situations,
Speaker 1: which is the toughest time to throw. And then too,
Speaker 1: I don't think he has a lot of autonomy at
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage because the Giants game featured an
Speaker 1: awful lot of running into bad box counts and then
Speaker 1: off that they can you know their ability to move
Speaker 1: Mills in the running game allows him to boot and
Speaker 1: build speed where he can be effective as a runner
Speaker 1: or thrower on the move. I mentioned this about Mac
Speaker 1: Jones and Jared Goff, and I think the you know,
Speaker 1: the style is relatively similar. If you can hem those
Speaker 1: guys in off the edge and forcing the play inside,
Speaker 1: you could potentially get some big plays by way of sacks,
Speaker 1: tipped balls, bad timing. It is a traditional style run
Speaker 1: game with an immobile quarterback. Again, this should be Cleveland
Speaker 1: Part two but better. The Giants came after Mills when
Speaker 1: they got behind the chains, and they were effective with it.
Speaker 1: They blissed him on twenty four of his forty one dropbacks,
Speaker 1: but he plays really poised for a second year quarterback.
Speaker 1: And we'll cover the Texans line here in a moment,
Speaker 1: but it's a strength of the team. Mills was one
Speaker 1: with one and sixty six yards against the Blitz. That's
Speaker 1: really dang good. In fact, on the year sixt on
Speaker 1: nineties seven throws for seven point eight yards per past,
Speaker 1: five touchdowns and no picks. That's really good for a
Speaker 1: second year QB. Especially last game we saw Miami dial
Speaker 1: back there. Blitz this to a season low, but they
Speaker 1: registered their best pressure rate. That's the thinking behind Bradley
Speaker 1: chub Right. He pairs so well with Jalen Phillips, and
Speaker 1: either one of those guys one on one is a mismatch,
Speaker 1: then that creates one on one chances for guys like
Speaker 1: Christian Wilkins and Zach Seeler. Inside, I'm curious to see
Speaker 1: the plan here. And yet again, just like Cleveland, this
Speaker 1: is a four man rush game all day long. That,
Speaker 1: of course, is always the case with Javon Holland. Where
Speaker 1: does Javon Holland find himself on a snap by snap basis.
Speaker 1: He's been a massive part of one of the best
Speaker 1: defenses in terms of defending the intermediate and deep portions.
Speaker 1: The Browns were just four for ten throwing the ball
Speaker 1: ten plus yards in that game against Miami. Mills downfield
Speaker 1: has been very effective, can pleation four yards and three touchdowns,
Speaker 1: but also four picks, and a lot of that is
Speaker 1: taking the chances with these high arching deep balls. So
Speaker 1: with Javon's range, maybe he can prevent them from taking
Speaker 1: those shots or even get his hands on one or two.
Speaker 1: Mills does tend to put a ton of air under
Speaker 1: these throws. And it does take three point one two
Speaker 1: seconds on average to get it off, so I think
Speaker 1: Holland would be able to kind of contend just reading
Speaker 1: his eyes, but also the pressure up front. Again, it's
Speaker 1: a good recipe or from Miami, Mills is time to
Speaker 1: throw this here is two point six three when not blitzed.
Speaker 1: Miami's average four man rush time to hit the quarterback
Speaker 1: was under two point five last game, so something has
Speaker 1: to give in that stat. I think Miami's finding their
Speaker 1: groove with their four man rush. And then with regards
Speaker 1: to Eric rowe expect him to have a busy day
Speaker 1: sticking his face and the fan against the running game
Speaker 1: of the Texans. They want to get pierced downhill, and
Speaker 1: I'm always impressed by the way twenty one takes on
Speaker 1: his one on one chances at the point of attack
Speaker 1: against big backs in the running game, receivers and tight
Speaker 1: ends versus cornerbacks. It starts with Brandon Cooks and kind
Speaker 1: of ends there too. Going back to Oregon State, He's
Speaker 1: one of my favorite route runners I've ever seen. Explosive,
Speaker 1: twitchy and small spaces, excellent hands and feel. He's their
Speaker 1: guy with Miami's four man rush, looks last game. They're
Speaker 1: able to vary coverages even more, and that's a big
Speaker 1: reason with how you wind up with everyone getting targets
Speaker 1: on everybody across the board. There's a slight trend with
Speaker 1: this team where X is performing well, particularly against bigger
Speaker 1: body wide receivers, and Cater matching up nicely with the
Speaker 1: more shifty guys, and he plays really damn competitive in
Speaker 1: the slot, but Cooks only goes in there twenty percent
Speaker 1: at the time. You think it'd be more than that.
Speaker 1: But it'll be interesting to see how those matchups play out.
Speaker 1: To me. X gets Cooks when he's wide and Cater
Speaker 1: takes him when he goes inside. But also more to
Speaker 1: that in a second, Nico Collins is next and targets
Speaker 1: he has. Cooks has twenty more targets than Collins does.
Speaker 1: He's the complete opposite of Cooks. He's six fifteen pounds
Speaker 1: and wants to play above the rim. How about this
Speaker 1: stat nine for eleven on contested catches. That'll be fun
Speaker 1: to see if they go after him when he draws.
Speaker 1: Number twenty five Xavian Howard and coverage physical on physical.
Speaker 1: The Texans throw short of the sticks on third down
Speaker 1: at the third highest rate in the NFL, So it's
Speaker 1: very important to come up and tackle. They have over
Speaker 1: one thousand yak yards on the season, So tackle, tackle, tackle.
Speaker 1: Chris Moore, Philip Dorset get the next most targets. And
Speaker 1: they're kind of like Cooks and Colins and that you
Speaker 1: have a bigger body and more and a smaller shift
Speaker 1: your type in door set. But this is a group
Speaker 1: Miami should be able to match up well with. Only
Speaker 1: Cooks gets consistent separation. I would probably double him and
Speaker 1: let the Texans take their you know, their basic stuff,
Speaker 1: you know outside the deep shot back shul or hitge conversions.
Speaker 1: Let them try it. You can play a lot of
Speaker 1: man coverage because in an immobile quarterback with not great
Speaker 1: separation downfield, he's not gonna drive throws to the field
Speaker 1: side of the formation either, so you don't have to
Speaker 1: have a safety over there. Can you put Holland closer
Speaker 1: to the line of scrimmage that or double the boundary?
Speaker 1: To me, this is a game where you turn Javon
Speaker 1: loose a little bit in terms of play that man
Speaker 1: free coverage. You know, single highest safety man coverage rush
Speaker 1: for and see if eight can't hunt a couple of
Speaker 1: picks back there. I think he can in this game
Speaker 1: on the offensive line verse defensive line. Really good old
Speaker 1: line here for the Texans, And of course that plays
Speaker 1: into mills his ability to hitch up, scan the field
Speaker 1: and throw it from clean pockets, but also pick up
Speaker 1: those blitzes and afford him more time to get the
Speaker 1: ball to his hot Larry matuns is one of the best,
Speaker 1: has some of the best feet I've ever seen at
Speaker 1: any position, much less left tackle. You're not gonna cross
Speaker 1: him up. You're probably not gonna beat him with speed either,
Speaker 1: So I wonder how often you might see Chub go
Speaker 1: with that bull rush and try to push through him.
Speaker 1: One thing I love that he did against Cleveland was
Speaker 1: rushed the inside post and stress the rest of the
Speaker 1: offensive line when they slide protection away from him. The
Speaker 1: Texans will slide away from Tunsil because he's such a
Speaker 1: good one on one on an island matchup guy that
Speaker 1: you can potentially push that inside post and get more
Speaker 1: pressure coming around the outside. Fun one to watch their
Speaker 1: Chub on Tounsil. I'm a huge fan of Kenyan Green.
Speaker 1: Even though his rookie year has been a very slow start,
Speaker 1: he leads the team so far with thirty three pressures allowed.
Speaker 1: In fact on three and seventy eight pass blocking snaps,
Speaker 1: Tunzel has just seven pressures allowed and he's played every snap.
Speaker 1: At the other tackle position, Titus Howard has played every
Speaker 1: snap as well, and he has just twenty one pressures
Speaker 1: allowed to the tackle position on balance is pretty good,
Speaker 1: but you kick inside and all three of their guys
Speaker 1: have played like the snaps between Green, Quest, keston Berry
Speaker 1: and a j can thirty three pressures, twenty six pressures
Speaker 1: and fifth team pressures. So that's where you can kind
Speaker 1: of get some heat on this team up the middle.
Speaker 1: The first thing you noticed there is how much continu
Speaker 1: do they have. They've been largely healthy on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: They do utilize a lot of heavy personnel as well,
Speaker 1: so in addition to the extra tight end or fullback,
Speaker 1: they'll bring Justin McCrae or Casey McDermott on the field
Speaker 1: for some six and seven man offensive line formations. And
Speaker 1: with those past rush numbers, remember this team passes a
Speaker 1: lot against teams that know the run games out of
Speaker 1: the equation, but when the scoreboard are still within reason,
Speaker 1: both Green and keston Berry can blow guys off the ball,
Speaker 1: blow hats off the ball. I should say, this is
Speaker 1: where Miami size comes into play. Need a strong showing
Speaker 1: from Wilkins, Davis and Seiler, and then from the backers
Speaker 1: off the edge. That's where I think a lot of
Speaker 1: this defense drives and or drives from, I should say,
Speaker 1: and then the interior guys can get off blocks and
Speaker 1: make plays of their own. Finishing up at running back
Speaker 1: in linebacker for this position or for this side of
Speaker 1: the football. One of the most productive backs in football
Speaker 1: and Damian Pierce, and I think his style is similar
Speaker 1: to Chubbs from last game, and that you better get
Speaker 1: him behind the line and don't let him build the speed.
Speaker 1: I thought Baker's Baker and Roberts played as well as
Speaker 1: they have all year, and really as Dolphins frankly and
Speaker 1: almost took the challenge of Chubb. Personally, would love to
Speaker 1: see a copy and paste performance there. They are such
Speaker 1: a unique offense in the sense that they are more
Speaker 1: than happy to eliminate eligibles to get extra gaps, So
Speaker 1: it's a big game for the linebackers to provide some
Speaker 1: context to that. Houston is fifth in the NFL running
Speaker 1: from twenty one personnel with six point six yards per
Speaker 1: Cary So defending a fullback in the running game big
Speaker 1: piece of challenge this week from Miami. Pierce has twenty
Speaker 1: runs of ten plush yards. He's averaging three point six
Speaker 1: yards after initial contact and has forced fifty three miss tackles.
Speaker 1: They have a fifty fifty man zone split. It's a
Speaker 1: really good, diverse running game. That's how they get their points,
Speaker 1: that's how they get their yards. And offense stop him,
Speaker 1: you'll stop their offense on special teams. Really good d
Speaker 1: v O A number four in the NFL. Miami's dead
Speaker 1: last in that category. Kyami Fairbaron is one of the
Speaker 1: best kickers in football. He has just two misses this
Speaker 1: year out of nineteen field goals. He's seven for eight
Speaker 1: from the nine range, five of six for thirty to
Speaker 1: thirty nine range, and it's hit all three of his
Speaker 1: kicks from fifty plus yards. They've punted forty four times
Speaker 1: with Cameron Johnson for an average of forty eight points
Speaker 1: having per punt. Granted, this was before the Washington game.
Speaker 1: I recorded this late Sunday, so I didn't get that
Speaker 1: updated to some time. Jason Sanders is thirteen for seventeen
Speaker 1: three of those misses from fifty plus and of course
Speaker 1: twenty nine yard kick in Chicago. Thomas Moore said, thirty
Speaker 1: one points forty five point seven per kick. What's at
Speaker 1: stake here from my MBA four game winning streak, a
Speaker 1: chance to pick up a win in conference, which is
Speaker 1: always valuable in future tie breaking scenarios. We are officially
Speaker 1: to Thanksgiving, so you can start taking a look at
Speaker 1: the standings in the Dolphins position in that competitive a
Speaker 1: f C East, jockeying for a position with Buffalo and
Speaker 1: the Jets, and depending on what happens with Thanksgiving, the
Speaker 1: lines and bills, it could either be trying to keep
Speaker 1: pace with them or stay out in front of them
Speaker 1: atop the a f C East, which is something we
Speaker 1: know all Dolphins fans want a home and playoff games.
Speaker 1: Sounds lovely. Getting a win here keeps you in line
Speaker 1: to do that, but also, hey, like, don't lose to
Speaker 1: a one win team. You want to undo all the
Speaker 1: positive momentum you've captured. Lose to this team, and that
Speaker 1: will accomplish that. The three Keys start fast, get out
Speaker 1: to an early lead, put the Texans behind the scoreboard.
Speaker 1: That's going to change the way they play offense one dimensionally,
Speaker 1: big way first offense team to get going. Number two
Speaker 1: run the ball and utilize play action. We talked about
Speaker 1: the spaces in the middle intermediate part of the field,
Speaker 1: throwing the ball off play action and putting those linebackers
Speaker 1: in a bind. Keep those conflict defenders and conflict and
Speaker 1: Number three get hats to the ball on defense. Don't
Speaker 1: let Pierce build up to speed and let him run
Speaker 1: through tackles. If you get behind the line, he can't
Speaker 1: do his stuff, just like we did with Nick Chubb
Speaker 1: two weeks ago. Those are your three keys. That's your matchup.
Speaker 1: Preview edition of the Draft Time Podcast Mark Vandermere on
Speaker 1: the show tomorrow. Do not do not, do not miss
Speaker 1: him on the podcast. In the meantime, you all please
Speaker 1: be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast.
Speaker 1: Leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can
Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at Wings NFL, follow the team
Speaker 1: at Miami Dolphins. Check out the Fish Tank podcast. The
Speaker 1: postgame show on five sixty right after the game ends
Speaker 1: down here in local radio in South Florida are Wednesday
Speaker 1: night Twitter Spaces show No show this week. Back with
Speaker 1: you guys next week. Previewing the Niners game in a
Speaker 1: big trip out west to the two California teams. Also
Speaker 1: the international podcast I Believe I'm doing the Brazilian podcast
Speaker 1: this coming week. Check that out as well. The YouTube
Speaker 1: channel for Media Availabilities and Dolphins Today Some Drive having
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