Episode Transcript
Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.
Use Ctrl + F to search
0:02
Looking down Field, clutchdown,
0:04
Miami
0:08
Run. What's
0:13
up, doll fans and welcome to
0:15
the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami
0:18
Dolphins podcast network, covering your
0:20
team, your Miami
0:22
Dolphins. How's it going, everybody? I am
0:25
your host, Travis Wingfield, and
0:27
I'm here to bring you your daily dose of
0:30
Miami Dolphins football. And on today's show,
0:32
it's a preview. Thursday edition of the Drivetime
0:35
Podcast will examine Sunday's matchup
0:37
with the Houston Texans, position by position,
0:40
tell you about some tendencies and key to the
0:42
game. The Dolphins will win if the
0:44
Houston Texans will win, if we'll show you
0:46
the Three Keys, will pick Thursday night's game
0:48
and go in depth on Miami versus
0:50
Houston on Sunday from hard
0:53
Rock Stadium. All of that and more from
0:55
the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist
0:57
Health Training Complex. This is the
1:01
Drive Time Podcast. Before
1:06
we dive in off the top here with the
1:08
preview, I just want to let you guys know I'm not going
1:10
to cover the career and Flora's pressers
1:12
from Wednesday outside of some of the football
1:14
commentary here maybe the coach made, but you
1:16
can find those in their entirety
1:18
on the team's YouTube channel, Busy
1:21
morning on Wednesday at Baptist Health
1:23
Training Complex and Sunday across
1:26
the street there's a football game. I don't know
1:28
about you, guys, but I can't wait. I always
1:31
Sundays the sanctuary away from all the other
1:33
drama and media attention that goes
1:35
around the stuff outside of the actual game
1:37
of football. And I like to keep the main thing
1:40
the main thing in anytime there's a game, that's
1:42
the main thing for me, and this podcast it's
1:44
all about football. So let's dive into the Houston Texans
1:47
here. We start these pods with a little
1:49
bit of recent history on the opposition, and
1:51
most of you are probably pretty well
1:53
versed with the Texans in the way they
1:55
have gone the last few years, the way you would be a divisional
1:58
opponent, because well, we've been tracking
2:00
those draft picks for a couple of years, haven't we, And it
2:02
was ups and downs at time, no more
2:04
fun than in kind of tracking
2:07
their weekly progress and in that draft
2:10
or I guess the season for one
2:12
draft which helped produce a draft pick that
2:14
Miami turned into an addition additional
2:17
first rounder three and
2:19
Jalen Waddle onto their current roster.
2:21
So with Houston, I mean they
2:24
were recently an annual
2:26
division champion, winners of
2:28
the a f C South four out
2:30
of five times under the Bill O'Brien
2:32
era, and that stretched as far
2:34
as a twenty four point lead in the twenty nineteen
2:36
divisional playoffs before Patrick Mahomes
2:39
went Patrick Mahomes on them. But that
2:41
was the peak of that run
2:43
among four division championships and a couple
2:45
of playoff wins here and they're including one with brock ost
2:47
Wilder at the Helm that later resulted in a loss
2:50
to Tom Brady in the New England Patriots.
2:52
But they've not had a lot
2:54
of draft picks to restock their cupboards
2:56
after really a handful of those
2:58
prominent Houston texts is that were parts
3:00
of those division championships departed
3:03
the franchise and that was a roster for a long time
3:05
that was really loaded up top. But when they
3:07
started getting injuries to guys like J. J. Watt
3:09
or Whitney Merciless or but Nardrick
3:11
McKinney or whatever the case may have been, that
3:14
was difficult from the rebound from that. And
3:16
then of course now Deshaun Watson, the recent quarterback
3:18
there in Houston, not so much this year as
3:20
he has not played a game, but J. J. Watt,
3:22
DeAndre Hopkins, but Ardrick McKinney, a
3:24
significant portion of that core that really
3:27
led them to those division titles are
3:29
no longer there as they looked to rebuild the roster
3:31
now as they kind of start to get their draft picks
3:34
back right there. That last year was the last year as
3:36
far as their picks coming this way, and they
3:38
spent some picks otherwise on like a David
3:40
Johnson trade for instance, so starting to
3:42
get a chance to get back into the draft here in the future.
3:45
They've got an interesting constructed football
3:47
team because of a very crazy offseason
3:49
where they signed something like twenty seven free
3:51
agents I think it was, and the majority of those
3:54
were one year deals to veterans. That stop
3:58
gap is probably the wrong word, but is that you
4:00
just didn't expect to have a long term
4:04
outlook with the club, especially not all twenty
4:06
seven of the guys. That's never how it works. But they had
4:08
to throw out that roster right they they didn't have the draft
4:10
picks, they didn't have the means to fill the roster oute that way,
4:12
so they had to get someone in there to play football.
4:14
So as they transition in a year where
4:18
their previous starting quarterback has been an active
4:20
all season and the number two quarterback has been
4:22
injured since Week two, it's been the Davis
4:24
Mills show, who was their first draft pick back in
4:26
April in the third round, And that's
4:28
where we start here, the Houston quarterback
4:31
versus the Miami Dolphins safeties. And
4:33
admittedly my
4:35
exposure to Mills in the pre
4:37
draft run up was pretty limited. I really
4:39
only did work ups on those top five guys. But so
4:42
far through seven games and six starts as of
4:44
pro seven touchdowns, eight picks,
4:47
completion rate, six point five yards per attempt,
4:49
twenty sacks taken for a hundred and thirty
4:52
yards of lost yardage, and a net five
4:54
three five net yard passing attempt
4:57
figure, along with an eighty point two pass
4:59
a rating and a twenty nine point two quarterback
5:01
rating. And going back over the tape, the
5:04
New England game was his best so far,
5:06
and in that contest, I thought he did a good job of taking
5:08
what was offered to him. As far as the defensive
5:11
structure, it was a lot of coverage
5:13
and clamping in the red zone for the Patriots. But he
5:15
did throw three touchdowns and three hundred
5:17
and twelve yards in that game, and he was blitzed
5:19
only seven times and completed four
5:22
of six passes for twenty
5:24
nine yards against the Blitz, but he was under
5:26
pressure on seven dropbacks, only
5:29
completing one of four passes, taking
5:31
three sacks for three yards of positive
5:33
yards in the past completion. He was kept
5:35
clean in that game with
5:38
three hundred nine yards and three touchdown passes
5:40
on non pressure dropbacks,
5:42
but he did take advantage of the opportunities he
5:45
had in the vertical game, hitting three of
5:47
five passes in the twenty plus yard
5:49
air yard range for a hundred forty four
5:51
yards and two scores. Now, that was
5:53
the one game I pointed to because we know the Patriots
5:55
and Dolphins have somewhat similar defensive
5:57
styles as far as man coverage some of the
6:00
games up front and playing more of a bend
6:02
but don't break style, which has become more commonplace
6:05
across the National Football League. But
6:07
that was that game I wanted to focus on because
6:10
on the season he's had some ups and
6:12
downs against the Blitz, which is expected for
6:14
any rookie quarterback. Complation
6:16
is great six point two yards per attempt
6:18
is not terrible against the blitz because
6:20
the ball comes out of your hands quickly right, and then it's
6:22
kind of incumbent on the receivers to make blaze at that
6:25
point after the catch. No touchdowns
6:27
and two picks. However, when not blitzed,
6:29
six interceptions, So maybe that was the idea
6:31
where to play that kind of seven man
6:33
coverage and don't send extra bodies and
6:36
sacrifice from the back end to get pressure on the
6:38
front end, because you can make plays when
6:40
there is just no pressure on the quarterback.
6:42
And one thing I think the Dolphins need to get back to defensively
6:45
is those big plays sacks and takeaways.
6:47
It's been a bit of a departure from what
6:49
it was last year, and with Mills in
6:51
the lineup, twelve of their
6:54
plays have resulted in a sack
6:56
or a pick. So they need to keep that trend rolling
6:58
here from Miami, and it starts in some
7:00
ways with the content we focused on yesterday,
7:03
right those Dolphins safeties Javon Holland
7:05
and Brandon Jones, and Miami's
7:07
ability to get flexible with those two young safeties
7:09
I think could come into play here. We've seen them
7:11
down around the line of scrimmage, either one of them.
7:14
I'll be really curious to see the plane for the Dolphins
7:16
here. Do you want to force the issue and attack
7:18
Mills? And I keep kind of thinking about that Rams
7:20
game last year war They would pressure him with with
7:22
you know, the boot action, shutting that thing down,
7:25
bringing blitz up the middle, forcing those quick throws
7:27
in the zero coverage, and it would cause some tipball,
7:29
some batted getting his arm hit when he went
7:31
to throw the football, which caused to pick against
7:33
U or the Eric rohe picked off in that game.
7:36
Do you do that or do you sit back and stay
7:38
patient and let those opportunities come to you.
7:40
With regards to the Patriots and the limited blitzing
7:42
action, they're actually below the league median
7:44
and blitz rate point one percent,
7:47
while Miami is third most at thirty three
7:49
point six percent. When interesting dichotomy there,
7:51
and I think maybe maybe
7:53
that was more indicative of
7:55
the Patriots plan this year on defense opposed
7:58
to that specific game plan. That's where you want the
8:00
games though, right We're gonna find out about how Miami wants
8:02
to approach this thing and Davis Mills,
8:04
and this is why I tend to favor
8:07
the blitzing action a little more. He's just not gonna
8:09
scramble a whole lot. In fact, he has only
8:11
two scramble runs all season long. He's played
8:13
seven games to scramble runs two
8:16
does that pretty much every single week. It's you know, not
8:18
to say one is better than the other, but it's just
8:20
an interesting comparison. So if you can
8:22
get him off the spot, that's
8:25
where some of those forced errors
8:27
or big play creation can come from, I think.
8:29
And if you can do it with winning with four man pressure,
8:31
fantastic. But if you have to bring extra guys
8:33
and play that blanket coverage in the back end, I'm good
8:35
with that too. But how about his options in the
8:38
passing game. Before we get to that, first, let's
8:40
go ahead and talk about the fact that Tyrod Taylor
8:42
has a chance to return this week,
8:44
and if he does well, he's
8:46
a completely different quarterback than what Davis Mills
8:48
is. He's one of the best creators there is
8:51
out there in the game right now and would certainly
8:53
change the entire dynamic of that game. Taylor
8:56
scares me a little bit. But back to the weapons. Houston
8:58
receivers and tied ends versus Dolphins cornerbacks.
9:00
We touched on the potential presence of safeties
9:03
in the box or up on the line, and
9:05
check out these splits for a second. Jordan Aikins
9:08
was a tied end from UCF a couple of years back. No,
9:11
you know you're gonna like that. He has the
9:13
second most past targets on the team
9:15
with twenty four past targets. That's one
9:17
better than David Johnson, five more than
9:20
Nico Collins, the rookie out of Michigan, and
9:22
that trend continues on down to Pharaoh
9:24
Brown, fellow tight end Danny Amondola.
9:26
We remember him, Chris Conley, Chris Moore,
9:28
Anthony Miller. But who's the top
9:30
that list? There's we're going in a direction
9:32
with this. Brandon Cooks has sixty
9:35
nine nice, has the
9:37
go to guy without a doubt in the offense. So what's their focus
9:39
going to be, Which means it's
9:42
probably gonna be Brandon Cooks right, and that means
9:44
that has to be the defense is focused to right.
9:46
That's kind of how the math works there. But real quick,
9:49
back to the tight end position. Aikins is a big
9:51
body, post up type of tied down with some athletic
9:53
ability who can flex out. So it's Eric
9:55
Rose matchup maybe or is there some more
9:57
Holland and Jones on him, maybe some more
9:59
backer cut Ridge. I'll be keeping an eye on that
10:01
because you can't let him go off either. But back
10:03
to Cooks. That's the start and
10:06
finished really with US Houston Texans offense as
10:08
far as where the football goes to. We saw Miami
10:10
kind of alternate their double teams last week between
10:13
digs and Sanders and sometimes even inside
10:15
with Cole Beasley, and he talked about how the times
10:17
that he was left one on one he made both
10:19
the most of it. It might be a
10:21
little more clear here with regards to the guy you cap and funnel,
10:23
because the targets tell you Brandon Cooks is
10:26
where the football goes and he's one of the best route runners
10:28
in the entire game. His career
10:30
is kind of an enigma to me. I mean, he's
10:33
incredibly quick and decisive. He knows how to set
10:35
defensive backs up and attack blind spots with
10:37
leverage advantages. I was a huge
10:39
fan of his game coming out of Oregon State,
10:41
and he really blew me away at the Senior Bowl as well.
10:44
But he can run by you and make
10:46
tough catches, just a combination of
10:48
everything that you want from the position. He really encompasses
10:51
all of it. And the reason his career is an
10:53
enigma is because he's always been
10:55
that good to me and he's played for so many
10:57
teams like it's just one of those unusual
10:59
situation is where a guy, despite high
11:01
level production, has found his way out
11:03
of a couple of cities with different teams. But
11:06
he's a seventent
11:08
split as far as outside and slot goes.
11:11
So three force and about a quarter of the time
11:13
in the slot, I should say three force out wide,
11:15
one quarter in the slot, and that gives you obviously
11:17
eight percent left over, but zero of that
11:20
is in line and those nasty splits. So where
11:22
does it come from? Well the backfield, So keep
11:24
your eye on Brandon Cooks. They're gonna manufacture
11:26
receptions for him behind the line on the
11:28
screen game. So it's imperative to tackle
11:31
well on the perimeter and continue to show the
11:33
exemplary effort we've had on screens
11:35
with not just the cornerbacks fighting through blocks,
11:37
but the defensive line retracing those things
11:40
and making big plays for you out wide.
11:42
When the cornerbacks can force the receiver to
11:44
bubble on those screens. I thought
11:46
Miami really handled it well last week
11:48
in that regard, so doing it again and tackling
11:51
well could be a big key in this game. And
11:53
you see that manufactured reception idea
11:55
on display with his catch rate. Dudes got
11:57
fifty one grabs this year for a seventy catch
12:00
rate. Those are good numbers. Eight point
12:02
four yards per targets, a good number eleven
12:04
point five yards per catch. Not like
12:07
blowing you away, but it's still a decent number.
12:09
On twenty plus yard throws of of
12:11
intended air yards, he's caught four
12:13
of nine, so that's that's a pretty efficient
12:15
downfield striking there with Brandon Cooks
12:18
in the intermediate range though, thirteen
12:20
of seventeen, so very efficient. He
12:22
makes the most of that high number of targets.
12:25
Six catches behind the line on six targets
12:27
and twenty seven of thirty three in
12:29
the zero to nine range. Two of the passes
12:31
for Cooks this year have been picked off. So it
12:34
kind of goes back to my thought there about Xavier Howard
12:36
and putting him on the most targeted player
12:38
because it gives you more chances interceptions.
12:41
But I kind of feel a different way about this this week,
12:43
and I'll tell you why here in just one second. Something
12:45
else. Houston does a good job with us getting him
12:48
matchups on non cornerbacks. He had three
12:50
receptions last week against safeties and linebackers,
12:52
and that's kind of a weekly thing for him. So Miami
12:55
will have to make the choice between zoning
12:57
it up, which can create those matchups, and
12:59
playing more man, which basically,
13:01
you know, just check him with one of your best corners, or do
13:03
you double him with other players? Options
13:05
exist here when you have a kind of one
13:08
player heavy oriented offense, but I would
13:10
think you want to focus on the guy that has tripled
13:12
the targets of the number two passing
13:14
option. So for me, I
13:17
like the idea of, you know, need
13:19
Um or Coleman with
13:22
with a cap on top like a safety maybe
13:24
you're in big Nickel there or a linebacker
13:26
just finding a way to force him to have to beat
13:28
two guys to beat you. Because the other
13:30
guys in the receiving corps, it's they kind
13:32
of spread it all over the place. And the situation is the same
13:34
at running back and tight end too. It's it's a
13:37
very unique, interesting offense as far as the distribution
13:39
goes. Chris Conley is one of the guys that gets
13:41
targets, but he's one of these more kind of athletic
13:44
and fast guys. We heard a bunch of the defenders
13:46
on Wednesday's media availability talk about
13:48
the speed this Texans offense has, which has really
13:50
increased this year compared to last season.
13:52
But Chris Conley is one of those guys. And you guys know,
13:54
I typically feel like with with a player like Conley's
13:57
physical makeup that Byron Jones is
13:59
to well, I mean it's not to
14:02
me. It's just a fact athletically, testing,
14:04
wise, change the direction, all that fun stuff
14:06
that's really his bread and butter. So I kind of like that
14:08
matchup. I like the idea of that matchup
14:10
Nico Collins with Xavier Howard just kind
14:12
of takeaway because Collins is the next highest
14:15
receiver in terms of targets, Just take him out of
14:17
the game with one player. I think x can do that.
14:19
And then at this in the slot position against Brandon Cooks,
14:22
double it, double look heck out of it, Conley
14:24
on Jones, X on Collins.
14:27
And then with Chris Moore Amondla Anthony
14:29
Miller. There's so many guys that have
14:31
so many snaps here, but we'll figure that out as we go along. Those
14:34
are the three matchups I'm most concerned about. And then
14:36
also with Jordan Nakins, just I'm
14:38
not really sure on that one. Maybe it's a safety
14:40
matchup and you just try to reroute him early and live
14:42
with underneath stuff. But I really do
14:44
like those matchups there for Miami. Now,
14:46
before the ball gets into the air, it's always important
14:48
to win the matchup up front, right, So the
14:51
Texans offensive line the Dolphins defensive
14:53
line, and they're down some dude. You're not gonna see
14:55
Linony Tunzel, he's on injury reserve. No Justin
14:57
Brett, they're starting center, and no Marcus
14:59
Canon, who has played spot duty there for them
15:01
a little bit. But the pressures allowed
15:03
by the projected stars on Sunday are As
15:05
follows. Charlie
15:07
Heck eight pressures on a hundred and sixty
15:10
seven pass blocking reps, Max Sharping
15:12
fifteen pressures on two four,
15:15
Justin McCray six on one seventeen,
15:18
Jaron Christian Senior four
15:20
on one seventy, and Tias Howard
15:22
sixteen on three hundred and seven,
15:24
but fourteen of those for Howard are hurries.
15:27
He's by far the best healthy alignment on that offensive
15:29
lineman right now, eighty one pressures
15:32
allowed in total banged up group. Can
15:34
Miami capitalize on that? They need
15:36
to pressure this quarterback, and Howard's
15:38
the most proven, most accomplished this season.
15:41
He's been really solid since really weeks two, where
15:43
he allowed four pressures in the first two
15:45
games each eight total, but since that time
15:47
in six games, just eight pressures allowed,
15:50
and that's odd bas matchup, and you go back
15:52
to some of the matchups where he did get beat a little bit
15:54
Jacksonville with Dwayne Smoot or Josh Allen
15:56
and those guys. His ability to kind of convert those speed
15:59
to hour moves and the heavy handed ends,
16:02
I really think that's something to keep an eye on here. If Oga
16:04
can kind of get similar production he's been
16:06
doing it all He's along so far with pressure
16:08
production, batting the ball down the line, run
16:10
defense. Keeping a big eye on that matchup,
16:13
and if they can't handle that, that's gonna open
16:15
up so much other stuff for this Dolphins front. Because
16:17
inside, with all the games that Miami
16:19
runs, all the depth they have in the ability to
16:21
rotate bodies up front could help keep them fresh
16:23
while dialing up that pressure look. But it's
16:26
another new offensive line combination for
16:28
Houston had a rookie quarterback, and
16:30
it would seem to me you want to kind of test that communication.
16:33
And with Christian and adams quickness off the snap
16:35
and Ray Kwant and Zack's pure strength
16:37
and power at the point, I like that
16:40
matchup a lot. And this also incorporates the
16:42
linebackers, which brings us to our final
16:44
matchup on this side of the football. Houston
16:46
running backs and Dolphins linebackers. First,
16:49
Houston's averaging just three point three yards per carry
16:51
and no gap has a better average than three
16:53
point nine yards per carry, which is off right
16:56
tackle Tyas Howard again, so
16:58
Miami needs to needs
17:00
their linebackers to really fit the run this
17:02
week and do the same job, do
17:05
the job in the same way the defensive line doesn't
17:07
set up those third and long plays and get those
17:09
big play opportunities. I think this is a great
17:11
chance for Miami's defense to get healthy in that regard
17:14
with some of the sacks and the pressures that lead to turnovers.
17:16
It's such a focus for me this week and the
17:18
Texans use a bevy of running backs. Mark
17:21
Ingram no longer. They're back in New Orleans, which,
17:23
by the way, thank science for that fact,
17:25
because the fact that he is back there gives us the pairing
17:27
of Alvin Kamara and mark Ingram
17:30
at joint press conferences, which is the best
17:32
thing ever. But David Johnson and Rex Burkehead
17:34
and Philip Lindsay all get work. This is what I'm talking
17:36
about. This the construction of this team is just so
17:39
unique in terms of the different
17:41
Like these guys are not the same player
17:44
obviously, but they're they're somewhat interchangeable.
17:46
And there's not like a young guy and a veteran. It is just three
17:49
guys you know, from the last five or six years
17:51
of the National Football League that all found their way
17:53
to Houston. Johnson will flects out and
17:55
run receiver routes. We know that about him from his
17:57
days in Arizona. Not the same player he
18:00
as then, but he can still be productive that way. It's
18:02
so imperative that whether it's Baker,
18:04
Baker or Riley, and Baker talked about
18:06
being day to day in his press conference on Wednesday.
18:08
It's so imperative that they can handle
18:11
those receiver routes from David Johnson, because
18:13
you can't double that route and still have success elsewhere.
18:15
In my opinion, so important that those guys
18:17
can handle that one on one matchup. And if it's
18:19
blitzing more like like I talked about
18:21
earlier, does Sam aguav And get an increased
18:23
role? I think he would In that instance. Rex
18:26
Burke has a past receiver that's kind of his game.
18:28
Continue to find a way to cover him without committing,
18:31
you know, really integral parts of
18:33
the perimeter coverage, of the safety coverage on
18:35
that back. And then Philip Lindsay My note
18:37
on him was just you have to slice him.
18:39
You have to cut him down before he can get that one
18:42
cut slashing style that he does, because once
18:44
he gets that second level, he becomes very difficult
18:46
to tackle at that point. So don't let him open
18:48
it up. As far as this Texans offense deployment
18:51
goes, uh pretty standard.
18:54
Out of eleven personnel out
18:57
of twelve personnel, it's one back, two tight ends,
19:00
so they will use that Farrell Brown Jordan
19:02
Aikin's tight end package and then they do run eight
19:04
percent out of thirteen personnel, which
19:06
of course is one back, three tight ends on
19:08
the other side of the football, Dolphins quarterback versus
19:10
Texans safeties. First off, Lovey Smith
19:13
as a defensive coordinator, you know what that means.
19:15
Tampa two coverage all day. Do you know what Tampa two means.
19:17
It means you have two high safeties who basically play
19:19
cover two where they both take a half a deep
19:21
half, and then you have a middle linebacker that runs
19:23
the pipe down the middle of the scheme of the field
19:25
and the scheme and that's been really his
19:27
scheme since I was in junior high good
19:29
thinking back to those early Bears days and
19:31
that's what the Texans run. So for Twah,
19:34
he needs to be very sharp identifying the
19:36
times that they come out of it. They roll the coverage,
19:38
maybe they invert the two. Inverted two is where
19:40
your safeties come up and play the short stuff and the cornerbacks
19:42
get depth to play the deep half. All of that stuff
19:45
they can do out of that package. Too. Needs
19:47
to focus on the safeties because those guys will tell you
19:49
where the coverage is gonna go, and it
19:51
also typically means that there are opportunities
19:53
in the middle of the field. More on that in the next
19:55
segment here. Justin Reid is one of the
19:57
best Texans players from my money, maybe even
20:00
the best. He's limited completions
20:02
to just eleven for seven team, which sounds like a lot,
20:04
but look at other safetys numbers, it's not. It's a good number.
20:07
He's rangey, very smart player who
20:09
can come down play on the line of scrimmage as well. I kind
20:11
of nose for the football two picks this year. You
20:13
must account for him in those robber
20:15
roles if if they disguise their two and play
20:18
one and he comes down and robs those crossers.
20:20
You have to watch for that to be very
20:22
aware. Number twenty and then also
20:26
the ability to go over the top of rounds like think about the
20:28
Derham Smith pick a couple of weeks ago back in the
20:30
Atlanta game. He can make those kind of places
20:32
too, So just keep an eye on Number twenty
20:34
pre snap and from tape. It looks to me
20:36
like he's kind of the key to the disguise
20:38
of their defense. So again, just keep your eye on that guy.
20:41
Lonnie Johnson might remember that name from the draft
20:43
a couple of years ago, is a converted corner
20:45
who plays some safety with Justin Reid as
20:47
well. He's got three picks himself. Now
20:49
the duo combined has allowed seven total
20:51
touchdowns. So it's big plays like big
20:54
risk, big reward for those guys right who can
20:56
make more big plays. But back to our point
20:58
about Tampa two, that's a tight ends
21:00
scheme and you at least
21:02
need to have a seam buster who can take advantage of
21:04
that. So with the Dolphins receivers and tight ends
21:06
versus the Houston Texans cornerbacks, slash
21:09
linebackers and safeties and coverage, who will
21:11
match up with Mike Kisiki. Mike
21:13
has been making big plays really for
21:16
a solid five weeks stretch now, He's
21:19
been catching tons of balls. That's got to be their
21:21
focus in this game. And I think it'll be interesting if
21:23
they asked their linebacker to run
21:25
the pipe with them. Do you want to do that? You sure
21:27
about? That's why those to me are
21:29
some of two's best throws, those over the
21:31
top, quick pops down the middle. So I'm really
21:33
in tried to see how that plays out in this matchup.
21:36
For instance, Cambu gruge Hill, we know who
21:38
he is, was in coverage on eight targets
21:40
last week, and five of those came against Robert
21:42
Woods or Cooper Cup. If you get Jalen
21:44
Waddle on a linebacker, for instance,
21:48
it's probably where the ball should go. Those guys caught
21:50
four or five targets for a hundred and seven yards
21:52
and a touchdown when gruge Hill was in coverage
21:54
might be something to look at. So as I look at that with
21:56
the scheme, it makes me think about some of those
21:59
in breaking routes. My aim. He's had success on square
22:01
and his digs slants, some of the
22:03
crossers that get hit early in that first window,
22:06
that might be an area to go after. Now, as far as the
22:08
cornerbacks go, Desmond King was kind of the main dude
22:10
on the outside for them, but he was a healthy scratch last
22:12
week for disciplinary actions. A couple
22:14
of weeks ago, DeAndre Hopkins was his primary
22:17
target, and he caught all four of his targets
22:19
on Desmond King a couple of weeks ago. King's
22:22
a zone cornerback in the zone schemes. You can
22:24
see why that makes sense. And in that game, zach
22:27
Ertz matched up on Justin Reid,
22:29
Comu, gruge Hill, and Christian Kirk and
22:32
he on four targets. He caught three balls for sixty
22:34
six yards and a touchdown. So again, if
22:36
that's what Mike sees, if that's what Mike Kasiki gets,
22:38
I have to believe the ball goes towards number
22:41
eighty eight quite a bit. And then Vernon Hargraves
22:44
was a nineties seven percent
22:46
snaptaker a week ago just got released. Interesting
22:49
dynamic there. Terrence Mitchell plays about
22:51
the same number there, snaps the hard Graves did, and
22:53
so does Tavier Thomas who played roughly
22:55
the same workload there. But will King be back out
22:57
there? I have to imagine he is in place
23:00
of Vernon Hargraves, but it's hard to say.
23:02
I mean, on the perimeter, for these guys, it's more
23:04
size and strength and length and kind of disrupted
23:06
at the blind scrimmage and then turn them free
23:08
and get your eyes back on the quarterback. So from Miami
23:11
kind of working on that cover two or two man
23:13
type of defense, they typically played
23:15
the disrupt and then get depth. And it sounds
23:17
like King will be back, but in his own based defense,
23:20
it's kind of hard to paint the matchups here. So for
23:22
to be on time, being rhythm, be
23:24
sharper the decisions and locating number
23:26
twenty. Those are my suggestions. Now up front
23:28
Miami's offensive line versus Houston's
23:31
defensive line. They just traded Charles Amna,
23:33
who who I loved coming out of the draft. A couple
23:35
years back out of Texas, he led the team
23:37
with sixteen quarterback pressures. He's now gone.
23:39
Malik Collins on the interior defensive
23:41
line leads the team now with fifteen quarterback pressures.
23:44
Jacob Martin four team Jonathan Grennar.
23:47
Grenard and DeMarcus Walker
23:49
both have thirteen apiece as well. Up front,
23:51
they don't bring a ton of pressure, so Collins
23:54
will test you inside. He's kind of a squatty body,
23:56
load to the ground, six ft two pounds,
23:59
plays with a great pad level, so it's imperative
24:01
to try to be the low man and kind of dig him out.
24:03
Always make sure you get your hands inside. Don't
24:06
get him outside. Get him inside on that guy, otherwise
24:08
he will control the rep and get a flag on you. No
24:10
pressures against the Rams, Pats or Browns, but
24:13
he had three or more against the Cardinals, Bills, Panthers,
24:15
and Jaguars. So can you find a way to contain
24:18
maliek Collins would go a long way towards keeping
24:20
the pocket cleaning for your quarterback and maybe give
24:22
us a chance to attack vertically in this football
24:25
game. Jacob Martin opposite deal.
24:27
He's long, he's he's a little more thin
24:29
and can get at you with some speed. Uh
24:31
and he has that really good bend off the edge
24:33
that you love to see as far as far as
24:35
four man pressures go. But something to keep an
24:38
eye on here. The Dolphins line had really
24:40
good week two weeks stretched there
24:42
with Atlanta and Jacksonville. In a tougher game last
24:44
week against the Buffalo Bills. Keep an eye on this match
24:46
up to see if they can get back to it. Being
24:48
at home I think certainly helps no more crowd noise
24:51
to deal with and obviously not as complex as
24:53
the system that Sean McDermott has put
24:55
together over the course of four or five years there in Buffalo.
24:57
New defense there in Houston's the kind of rebuild that
25:00
thing under Lovey Smith. Dolphins
25:02
running backs versus Texans linebackers. Christian
25:04
Kirksey is a fantastic tackler. If
25:06
you don't get him a race in the running game with blockers
25:08
and chips and climbs, it's tough for the back
25:11
to do it. But again, one of Miami's strong
25:13
points in the running game, I think this year has been some
25:15
of those doubles, some duo action
25:17
and climbing up to that second level. So
25:19
hopefully we can see some of that from Jackson
25:22
Ryder and Robert Hunt inside.
25:24
Zach Cunningham's the speed merchant of the group.
25:27
He doesn't rush. Actually, none of these guys ever rush.
25:29
We'll talk about that here in just one second. He'll play
25:31
some coverage. I'll be curious to find out if
25:33
they can get some backs matched up and flexed out
25:35
wide, because that can kind of stress their defense
25:37
by displacing that middle linebacker out
25:39
wide, and that can create some of that space inside
25:41
against that cover too, for some free releases and
25:43
some quick pops on your interior receivers.
25:46
And it doesn't hurt to just to try it, see how they
25:48
react. Maybe you get a bit of discommunity
25:50
or discombobulation and miscommunication out
25:53
of it when you try that. Miles Gascon can certainly
25:55
run routes from the number one receiver position
25:57
all the way out wide, and again, they just don't
25:59
use these backers to rush the quarterback. Just
26:01
sixteen pass rush reps for Kirksey,
26:04
only ten for Cunningham and twelve for Commo,
26:06
who we saw do it with some success last year here
26:08
in Miami. So coverage and run fits
26:11
their sound tacklers again, can
26:13
we find a way to get them out of the box. That's
26:15
the challenge. That's the matchup you want. In my opinion,
26:19
as far as special teams go, Houston
26:23
v o A Miami's twenty nine. They're punter
26:25
Cameron Johnson forty six point eight yards
26:27
per punt, Kyami fairbarons three for
26:29
five this year with a miss from fifty plus as
26:31
well as one in the forty to forty
26:33
nine range. Not much of return game there,
26:36
So Mike Michael Pollardi, the punt team here can
26:38
maybe get some flipped fields for you. Here is John
26:40
Conjimmas to tell us about getting long fields.
26:42
But Desmond King had a twenty yard or
26:45
this year in average just twelve point eight yards per
26:47
per return on four returns the season. Andrew
26:49
Roberts has thirty three yards on eight returns
26:52
with a long of eleven. So those
26:54
are your position by position matchups.
26:56
I have The Dolphins will win if they exploit
26:58
the middle of the field. On off fence and if they can
27:01
heat up Davis Mills and create
27:03
some splash plays on defense, and the Texans
27:05
will win. If Miami beats
27:07
themselves and puts themselves behind the chains,
27:10
gets some bad fouls on defense, misses some tackles
27:12
on third down, just don't beat yourself. Miami,
27:14
play your best football game of the season, and you
27:16
should be able to come away of this with the victory.
27:19
We've gotta get the best game of the season here here soon,
27:21
hopefully it's this week. My three keys
27:23
splash plays on defense, interception
27:25
slash stack rate that's more than six
27:27
such plays a game, forced the issue and
27:29
capitalized. Number two locate Brandon Cooks
27:32
every single snap sixty nine targets. The
27:34
next closest has twenty four. Take it. Look
27:36
at Brandon Cooks and try and take him out of the football
27:38
game. Number three feed Mike Kisiki the
27:40
scheme, ask for it. They're gonna put backers on
27:43
him. Go after your big play tight end my
27:45
Thursday night football pick this week. And just
27:47
so you know, I'm not even gonna talk about my record last
27:49
week. It was atrocious. We'll come back
27:51
to it tomorrow. But Colts over the Jets.
27:54
That's the pick. That's the podcast you
27:56
all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast
27:58
on Apple Podcast, Leave us a rating,
28:01
leave us a review. You can follow me on
28:03
Twitter at Wingfield NFL, follow
28:05
the Dolphins at Miami Dolphins. Check out
28:07
the Fish Tank Podcast with Seth and o J Sean
28:09
Smith on this week, the YouTube channel
28:11
for our media availabilities and Dolphins Today,
28:14
and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Until
28:16
next time, fins up Caroline,
28:19
Daddy's Coming Home.
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More