0:00

Two fires touch stop

0:04

waddle stocked into the end zone

0:06

of Miami tight pro tip

0:09

window. They had to get that touchdown

0:11

on that play. They give it. What

0:15

is up, Dolph Fans and welcome

0:18

to the Drive Time Podcast, part

0:20

of the Miami Dolphins podcast network,

0:22

covering your team, your Miami

0:25

Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your

0:27

host, Travis Wingfield, and as always

0:30

I am here for one more

0:32

week to bring you your daily dose of

0:34

Miami Dolphins football. We cut this thing down

0:36

to three shows a week in the off season except

0:38

for in the busy peak times. But

0:40

on today's show, it's a deep dive Wednesday.

0:43

We're gonna compare the numbers between wins and

0:45

losses this year, and a couple of very

0:47

interesting data points between the two

0:50

that I was curious to find out about, plus

0:52

the thin margin for air in this game.

0:54

We heard from the whole gamut of assistant

0:56

coaches on Tuesday as well. We're gonna play

0:58

the highlights from those media availabilities

1:01

from somewhere in South Florida. This

1:04

is the Drive Time Podcast.

1:10

I'll go ahead and start the podcast here with the

1:12

assistant coaches media sessions from

1:14

Tuesday. It was a long one. Getting all these

1:16

guys on zoom takes longer than it does

1:18

on the in person meetings. We get through it, and

1:20

we talked to them one on one with these good questions,

1:23

and there was all kinds of good stuff today. If

1:25

you have not done so, all the coordinators

1:27

will be up on YouTube, not the assistant

1:29

coaches. They'll have sound for some of those guys

1:32

for you here on this podcast. Let's

1:34

go ahead and pick it up with coach George Godsey,

1:36

Dolphins co O C and tight ends coach, who

1:38

was asked about the

1:41

idea of being more aggressive in the downfield

1:43

passing game and if the Dolphins

1:45

had more experience on the offensive

1:47

line, if they could have done that more

1:49

throughout the course of the season. Here's coach Godsy

1:52

on just that. Yeah, I mean, that's that's where most

1:54

of them passing

1:56

game starts. As protection. So, um,

1:59

whether it's matt Hip that we can do better on or

2:02

you know, it's it's executing our

2:04

our job as a protector, whether it's back

2:06

alignment or tight end, that

2:08

group's gotta gotta give the quarterback

2:11

enough time for the receivers to get open too. And

2:13

and uh, if we're having to get the ball out

2:15

of our hands because we're getting pressured then

2:18

uh, you know, we can't get the ball downfield.

2:20

So a lot of that plays into how

2:22

the game is being played and how

2:24

the matchups end up being. You know, we had some

2:27

guys in there moving around a little bit. Liam's

2:30

learning and improving each game. Austin

2:32

is going inside. You know, We've had some

2:34

rotation going on at center right

2:37

side. Seemed to be pretty consistent as

2:39

far as health wise. So all those

2:41

variables take uh take place

2:43

into calling a play and

2:45

um, you know, I want to make sure we give our guys the

2:47

best opportunity to execute that play.

2:50

So uh protection,

2:52

depth of route, uh, pattern

2:56

options for the quarterback of all that goes into

2:59

any like all our play design as

3:01

thorough as he always is there with coach George

3:03

Gods, it's go ahead and go back to coach real quick.

3:05

I asked him a question about personnel usage

3:08

this season, because we talked all

3:10

offseason long, right about how this Dolphins

3:12

receiving corps was super deep, and obviously

3:15

you lose one of the top key guys you're banking

3:17

on, Will Fuller early in the season. Davante

3:19

Parker misses a few games. You're at without Jillian

3:22

Waddle for one game. Preston Williams up

3:24

and down throughout the course of the season, Isaiah

3:26

Ford comes back, Albert Wilson has a

3:28

kind of fluctuating role. All of a sudden,

3:31

the depth seems like it's not what we expected

3:33

back in training camp, and again, injuries

3:36

and attrition has a way of having that happen. But

3:38

here's coach Gotzi on the utilization of so

3:40

much twelve personnel, which led the league

3:42

by a substantial number this season. With

3:44

two tight ends on the field, you know, starting

3:47

the season and Alie Tennis. Is probably

3:49

a lot of variables that have come up, whether

3:51

it's injuries or UM,

3:54

especially in receiver position. UM,

3:57

you know, in and out of the lineup. Obviously would

4:00

have some some injuries there too that people

4:02

have played. So those guys, like I said, have been

4:05

a healthy group for

4:07

the most part, and they're able

4:09

to do multiple things. Are able to block, They're

4:11

able to block in line, they're able

4:13

to detached if

4:15

we need to UM, you

4:17

know, and it's pretty reliable group from an assignment

4:19

standpoint. So as much as we can

4:21

use those guys, would like to every

4:23

time we do these, I always learned something And so just

4:26

thinking about having these guys every single

4:28

week here to talk to you on the podcast is

4:30

so beneficial to the basically

4:32

what I want to do here, and that's to educate football

4:34

fans to be smarter football fans, especially when

4:36

it comes to this Miami Dolphins team. And

4:39

I'll miss not having those guys every week. There's they're so informative.

4:41

And here's coach Eric Studiensville Dolphins co

4:44

O C and running backs coach talking

4:46

about the pass or

4:48

rather the run blocking execution of the offensive

4:51

line if he felt it's been good enough in

4:53

recent weeks in this season, and coach, there's

4:55

more to it than just the offensive line that goes

4:57

into your running game. Again, I don't,

4:59

I don't. I don't necessarily think it's just it's

5:01

it's not one unit that that's responsible

5:04

for. There's different runs that runs hit in different

5:06

places, There's different schemes. So

5:08

you know, if we're running a toss play outside,

5:11

that may be a different emphasis on who's

5:13

the point of attack blocking then if you're running a

5:15

dive play inside. So to to

5:17

put the responsibility on

5:19

on five guys and say that they're the only

5:21

ones that affect you know, what happens in the run game.

5:23

I don't. I don't think that. That's not what we do and that's not

5:25

that's not the beauty of this game. The beauty of this game

5:28

is it takes eleven people to be coordinated

5:31

to have success on one play at

5:33

a time. That's that's why you play

5:35

this game. That's why you get involved in it because it's the

5:37

team concept that's important to

5:39

you. So it's all of us involved in that, coaches,

5:41

from the from the diagram and the creation of the

5:44

plays and the teaching of what we're doing to

5:46

all the way down to the players of the execution. But it's

5:48

not it doesn't rely strictly on

5:50

one person um for the

5:53

execution, the success or the production. It's

5:55

it's the group better. Very informative

5:57

there from Coach again love hearing what these guys have

5:59

to say and to us. Spoke about that and

6:01

his postgame presser on Sunday about how

6:04

when you have eleven guys doing a job, if one

6:06

person screws up, it can send the entire

6:08

play kind of put and you hear Coach does

6:10

feel echoing that message and that sentiment

6:12

there with the question about the

6:15

run blocking this season from the Dolphins offensive line,

6:17

how to get the run game going in general,

6:19

Let's go ahead and spend this thing forward and pick it up

6:21

here with quarterbacks coach Charlie Fry,

6:23

who was asked about the growth of to a tongue of Byloa

6:26

in his first or rather his second season here

6:28

as a Miami Dolphin, his first under the tutelage

6:31

of quarterbacks coach Charlie Fry.

6:33

Yeah, I think, you know, he's they're

6:36

showing that he's shown growth in

6:38

in you know, the way he's played this

6:40

year. I think as

6:42

a young quarterback, the more reps you get, the more experience

6:45

that you get, the more you're gonna

6:47

be able to take from that the learning

6:49

moments and the things that happened within that

6:51

game. You know, we go over those

6:53

corrections the next day and meetings,

6:56

and then you try to apply it to the for

6:58

the next week's game, and then you

7:00

get into the you know, the overall

7:02

picture of the growth

7:05

and development more in the off season, um

7:08

and then try and try and take some steps that

7:10

way. But right now, it's it's

7:12

the things that happened in the Tennessee game, the

7:15

corrections that we make in trying to apply those

7:17

going into this last week against New England.

7:19

And you heard coach talk there about how right now

7:22

it is about the Titans game. And so there was

7:24

a follow up question about ball security

7:26

and how to it can approve in that regard, and

7:28

just looking at some of the numbers here for two of the season,

7:31

the interception percentage has jumped by a full

7:33

percentage point from last season, from

7:35

one point seven up to two point seven per

7:37

cent. And then we've also seen a lot more fumbles.

7:39

Last year just one fumble for Toungo by

7:41

Loa in ten games played. But this year

7:44

in twelve games, nine fumbles,

7:46

nine times he's put the ball on the ground. That's just

7:48

a little bit too many turnover worthy plays or turnover

7:50

opportunities, I should say for the opposing

7:52

defense. So Coach Fry was asked about

7:54

ball security and how to it can get better in that

7:57

regard. I thought his answer here was really good about

7:59

the mental aspect of all security. I

8:01

think um obviously a

8:03

focus of you

8:05

know, when the pocket breaks down and and

8:08

and you you have to move, sometimes

8:10

the initial reaction is to separate your hands.

8:13

You know, obviously you're getting the ball into

8:15

a running position instead

8:17

of a passing position, and

8:19

usually that's that's where most of the fumbles

8:21

happen, is that initial break the hands

8:24

UM. So obviously

8:27

you drill that. But the problem is when you drill that,

8:29

there's there's you don't have that element of

8:32

life contact, you know, that lot the

8:34

element of man, this guy's coming to hurt me,

8:36

this guy is coming to tackle me. So a

8:39

lot of it is training your mind um

8:42

more so than than any any type

8:44

of drill of when there's contact, when when

8:46

you feel that coming of really

8:49

putting your body in

8:51

between the ball and the defender um

8:54

and and it's more of a mental

8:56

thing. And obviously you're gonna drill it.

8:58

You try and drill everything that's going to happen in the game.

9:01

But being able to take the drill to the practice

9:04

to the game is a lot of the

9:06

mental side. Interesting stuff

9:08

there from a guy who's played and inclement

9:10

weather, he came. He was with the Seahawks there for a little

9:12

bit, so he knows about bad what rainy

9:15

footballs and wind and and all the stuff. And

9:17

ball security of course, a big part of that

9:19

position let's go ahead and spend this thing forward to the

9:21

special teams and coordinator Danny Crossman,

9:23

who was asked about if the Dolphins lived up to

9:25

his standards so far this season on special

9:28

teams obviously not, you

9:30

know, and we be

9:33

quite honest, we've never met my standards.

9:35

But you know, obviously this

9:37

year even even a little bit more

9:39

so of not being where we need to be.

9:42

Well, the list is as

9:44

long as it as it always is. We need to

9:46

be better and everything we need to coach, I need to coach it better.

9:48

We need to executed better.

9:51

When we have opportunities, we need to be able to take

9:53

advantage of those opportunities. Um,

9:56

a lot, a lot to work on. That

9:58

second portion was a fall up question about what

10:01

specifically is on his list for things they have

10:03

to improve that you heard it. Let's go ahead

10:05

and go to the defensive side of the football here with DC

10:08

Josh Boyer, who was asked about the run defense

10:10

and how they had issues on Sunday

10:12

with the Titans who rolled up a hundred yards

10:15

on the ground. I mean, you know, some

10:17

of it, uh you know, I

10:19

mean it could be a little bit scheme related where

10:22

where we're trying to create negative

10:24

plays. Uh. Some of it is uh,

10:26

you know, them staying ahead of the change and

10:28

you know, staying on track and

10:31

um, you know, not being able to really get him

10:33

into situations where they need to throw

10:35

the ball and um, you know. And

10:37

then some of it, like I said, you know as

10:39

scheme issues. Uh, and then some of

10:41

it is you know, just fundamentals and techniques

10:44

and um you know. Um,

10:47

so those are the things like I said that

10:49

you know, when you review the film, you try to

10:51

correct all those and then you get ready to play.

10:54

Uh. Uh. You know New England

10:56

who's a very good run offense.

10:59

Um, And they can throw the ball. They do a lot of things.

11:01

They're very multiple, they're very well coached. They got very

11:03

good players. They've got a very good offensive line,

11:06

very similar to the team that we saw last week. Um.

11:09

Uh, their receivers all blocked well, they

11:11

all play hard, their physical, tough team.

11:13

They're gonna play for sixty minutes. So again,

11:16

I mean, we have a big challenge in front of us this week. So

11:18

um, that's kind of really where our focus is really

11:21

found. Coaches comment there about scheme

11:23

things and trying to create negative plays and the running

11:25

game was interesting. Obviously, we talked about

11:27

one of the keys of the game was getting the Titans into those

11:29

long down distances to get those free hitters, to

11:31

get those blitz opportunities. Just didn't happen

11:34

frequently enough in this game. We talked about

11:36

that in the All twoint to review about how Miami

11:39

the Titans game plan allowed

11:42

them, or the execution of their plan allowed

11:44

them to get to the part of the game plan where they could

11:46

really kind of minimize those rush options

11:48

and get into the different types of conflict like the bootlegs

11:51

and the rolls and the quarterback runs, all

11:53

that fun stuff that's fun for your offense,

11:55

not so much we have to defend it. Now. Let's go ahead

11:57

and pick us up here with Dolphins linebackers

11:59

coach Anthon Campinelli, and you know, I

12:01

think one of the things I might want to look at this summer

12:03

is Jerome Baker's just charting

12:05

his play because of how many different plays he made.

12:08

Spots are different spots he made plays from

12:10

kind of a switch from full time

12:12

MIC linebackers are more off the edge, and that

12:14

Baltimore game, which of course coincided

12:17

with Miami's defensive resurgence in the second

12:19

half of the season. Coach Camp was asked about

12:21

Jerome Baker's ability to play multiple spots

12:23

with selflessness to do that and what he does

12:26

or what it is about Jerome Baker that makes

12:28

him able to get better every game and

12:30

every season. I think he's

12:32

done a really good job. You know, He's

12:34

been called upon to do a bunch of different things and he's

12:37

uh, he's excelled in a lot of ways.

12:40

Um. I think he's continually improved over the

12:42

course of the season, whether it be in

12:44

the run game, UM, you

12:46

know, pass coverage and pass rush. Um.

12:49

So I think, uh, I

12:51

think people recognize that about him. I

12:53

certainly do. UM,

12:55

just in terms of just being around

12:57

somebody every day, incredibly

13:00

coachable, humble

13:02

personality, and I think

13:04

it's guys like that usually

13:07

continue to get better. That's a really

13:09

fun quote to end that on there, talking

13:11

about Jerome Baker. From the second level

13:14

of defense, we move up to the front portion and

13:16

you guys heard me raving about Christian

13:18

Wilkins game on Sunday

13:20

on the Tuesday Recap podcast, and I

13:23

just can't get enough of what this guy can do in terms

13:25

of the physicality, the quickness, stack

13:27

and shed the eyes, the eye discipline, the

13:29

ability to backdoor play on the front side,

13:31

just so many things he can do that really

13:34

increases Miami's versatility, which we know

13:36

is a key in this defense and on this team.

13:39

And I think it also allows him to do what he

13:41

did on Sunday and play over of

13:43

the snaps for this Dolphins defense. Here's

13:45

Coach Clark, Dolphins d line coach on

13:47

Christian Wilkins. Yeah. I think, you know, credit

13:50

credit to Christian. His versatility and

13:52

how he's developed there has definitely helped helped

13:54

us as a defense. And you know, he can't

13:57

feel multiple roles, and I would say his

13:59

willingness to do whatever role has asked

14:01

to him is what's awesome.

14:03

You know, it's it's not um

14:06

you know, he never second guesses anything we're asking

14:08

him to do. He goes full speed and he has

14:10

a real focus on the technique and fundamentals.

14:12

I think that's where he's made his biggest strides and uh,

14:15

you know, hopefully, uh you know, we can

14:17

have a good one with him on Sunday. Glad you mentioned

14:20

the technique and fundamentals because that one player where

14:22

I talked about how he locked out of the guard

14:24

and then tossed him back to the direction. You just saw everything

14:26

that you see on those bags all August

14:29

long in the training camp, and the sweat and the blood, sweat

14:31

and tears they put out there on that practice

14:33

field. You see that translate onto the game

14:35

day field. That's always a good feeling for a player

14:37

to have that kind of come to fruition without

14:40

the course of the season, especially now in your

14:42

number three for Christian Wilkins. Let's go ahead

14:44

and take our first break and come back and finish up

14:46

with two more coaches media and the quotes

14:48

from Gerald Alexander and Charles Burke's

14:50

then we'll have a deep dive after that as well. Drivetime

14:53

Podcast Wednesday edition. Keep it locked

14:55

right here. Let's

14:57

pick it back up with Gerald Alexander

15:00

on this coach's availability Wednesday

15:02

edition of the Drive Time Podcast. Who was asked?

15:05

I asked him actually about how you,

15:08

as a guy who's played in the league and also coached

15:10

in the league, on if this week, when

15:13

you're eliminated from posteas and contention, if

15:15

you can learn anything about your team and your roster

15:17

and the way guys prepare, and if the

15:19

way guys work in a

15:21

week that has an atmosphere

15:24

or disappointment from Sunday

15:26

that carries over if it reveals

15:29

anything about your team and the character those guys have wanted

15:31

to ask you. Because of his experience as a player

15:33

and coach, here's coach. Yeah,

15:35

I think in regardless of the circumstances,

15:38

when you look at just the opportunity

15:40

that it is to work and play in the NFL, you can

15:42

never take any of these weeks for granted. You know, there's

15:44

a lot of work that gets put in, you know for

15:46

the seventeen you know, guaranteed opportunities

15:49

that we have to go out there on the field together and incompete.

15:51

So, um, you know, whether

15:54

it reveals character about

15:56

an individual, um,

15:58

you know, how don't put that.

16:00

I don't put a lot of stock into that. I think that

16:02

every game, UM definitely,

16:05

Uh, you learn from it and exposes

16:07

you know, really anybody you know, strengths,

16:09

weaknesses and things like that. But um,

16:11

you know, it's just another opportunity for us to do this together.

16:14

Unfortunately we didn't do wanted to do this

16:16

season, um, but we have one more opportunity

16:18

to go out there together because we know at this point Uh,

16:21

you know, it's definite ality. I gotta

16:24

love that answer. That's why I asked him that questions.

16:26

I would get a good one there from g A

16:28

and that's yeah, I completely understand

16:30

that mentality. In that mindset, you can't preach the

16:32

one day of time mentality and then have a

16:35

different week carry more weight than

16:37

another week earlier or later in

16:39

the season. Let's go ahead and finish up here with Charles

16:42

Burks, who was asked about the

16:44

elements of Noah

16:47

egg banogenis game that makes him believe

16:49

he can transition at some point his career to a

16:51

full time player and have success in this

16:53

league. Here's Charles Burke's on noahgo,

16:56

Well, this is an athletic ability. You know,

17:00

think he he definitely

17:02

has tools to be successful in the league,

17:05

but there's a lot more to that. Not

17:08

saying that he doesn't have those other things, but it's

17:10

just not necessarily an athletic skill.

17:12

There's are a lot of athletic guys

17:14

that have came in the NFL at that particular position,

17:17

but there there's more that goes into it. So,

17:20

uh, it's not just necessarily being a really

17:22

good athlete, you know, it's the preparation.

17:25

Um, it's the instincts, it's

17:27

you know, the film, it's all of that

17:30

encompassing that can really change a

17:32

game and take it to a high level. So there you

17:34

go. That's the end of our assistant coaches media

17:36

availability. I believe we'll get the coordinators

17:38

next Tuesday, and then there will be a rap on talking

17:41

to those guys for quite some time once the season comes

17:43

to a conclusion. But I wanted to go back here

17:45

now to something Coach Gods

17:47

he said off the top about making plays

17:50

to move the football, which then can help

17:52

you produce points and ultimately score more

17:55

than the opposition does. And when he

17:57

said how we've done it half the time and the other

17:59

half the time we have not, it kind of

18:01

got me thinking about what

18:03

kind of deep dive I wanted to do.

18:06

And so I became curious about differences between

18:08

the eight wins and the eight losses. And

18:10

then I've got to thinking, what

18:13

were the things that I specifically remember

18:15

about those games, Things that I can look at

18:18

besides numbers that I can find on Pro

18:20

Football Reference or NFL True Media

18:22

or the Jesus site, g S I S

18:24

site, Pro Football Focus or

18:26

what have you. As far as what your

18:29

resources are next gen. I use that one a lot

18:31

too, something like how many made

18:33

in missfield goals do we have compared to our opponent

18:35

and the wins and losses? Then also

18:37

how did teams beat us and how did they fail

18:40

to do so? So I thought, let's look at

18:42

blitz rate for instance. That will be one I can chart

18:44

real quick, So this will be a short segment,

18:47

but I wanted to compare some things that stood out over

18:49

the eight game sample size of victories and

18:51

the sample size and defeats. And we can do this again

18:54

come the off season with much more time

18:56

put into it, much more data and charting. That

18:58

goes into that one of my fair things to do with football

19:01

is to chart things, and they always teach you something,

19:03

whether or not your hypothesis or the opposite

19:05

or something in between. You always learn something when you

19:08

do these deep dive projects. Let's go ahead and

19:10

jump right into that, but first, real quick, these

19:12

words back

19:15

here on the Drive Time podcast, and we are

19:17

taking a look at the difference and a few

19:20

statistical categories between Miami's

19:22

eight wins and eight losses and

19:24

trying to find out what worked and did not

19:26

work in the winds and the losses,

19:28

and we start here with four stats

19:30

I was curious to look at, and

19:33

we could pull up rushing and passing

19:35

and very basic

19:39

counting stats, which I did here also

19:41

for a few of these ones. But I wanted to look

19:43

at things that you have to kind of go back and peek

19:46

through the game books to find out exactly

19:49

what happened. And there's two stats in here that kind

19:51

of qualified for that, and too that don't, but one

19:53

of almost field goals, and I became very curious

19:56

about that, and that was the biggest find

19:58

for me as far as my hypoth us has

20:00

went in terms of difference in

20:03

how wins and losses were formulated

20:05

this year by this Dolphins team. And in victories,

20:08

the Dolphins were thirteen for fifteen on

20:10

field goals, which is eighty one point three

20:12

percent. Check that, thirteen for sixteen

20:14

for eighty one point three percent. The

20:17

opposing kickers were fifteen for nineteen

20:19

in the victories. That's seventy eight point

20:22

nine percent, so nearly a wash. But

20:24

when you get to the eight losses, Miami

20:28

was eight for fourteen this year on field goals

20:30

at fifty seven point one percent, and

20:32

the opposition was fifteen for sixteen

20:35

ninety three point eight percent, so eight

20:38

for fourteen compared to fifteen for sixteen.

20:40

And I think it's the craziest part

20:43

about that as far as the field goals go,

20:45

is that all three of the Dolphins

20:47

buzzer beating losses came on buzzer

20:50

beater field goals, and in each of those games,

20:52

Miami missed a field goal and the opposing

20:55

kickers went three for three, so nine

20:57

for nine in total. Those small

20:59

margins, and that's what it comes down to in

21:01

this league, and so that was the biggest one

21:03

for me. But from the victories,

21:06

the offense on third down was forty

21:08

six for one ten that's forty

21:10

one point eight percent. And

21:12

then in the losses the Dolphins

21:15

were forty two for one oh eight, so thirty

21:17

eight point nine percent. Just a

21:19

few percentage bumps point

21:21

bump there from the victories and the losses,

21:23

and of course different quarterbacks played in those games as

21:25

well, which obviously has an impact

21:27

on those numbers. And then in

21:29

the penalties per game for the Dolphins,

21:32

in the victories, there was forty six penalties

21:34

for three hundred and sixty yards. That was five

21:36

point seven five penalties per game for

21:38

forty five yards per game, and

21:41

then in the losses it was fifty four

21:43

penalties for four hundred and thirty two yards.

21:45

That's six point seven five penalties for

21:47

fifty four yards a game, so one more penalty

21:50

for nine yards in the losses than

21:52

in the victories. On

21:54

blitzes versus how many dropbacks

21:57

there were for the Dolphins offense, they were blitzed

21:59

eighty eight times compared to two

22:01

eight total dropbacks. That was thirty point

22:03

six percent of the time in their victories.

22:06

When the Dolphins lost, opposing teams

22:08

blitzed us eighty six times out

22:10

of three eight dropbacks. That's a twenty two

22:12

point six percent blitz right, and a lot

22:14

of the blitz number when Jacobe Brissette was in this

22:16

game, we're in the game, We're way way down.

22:18

So that was a huge fluctuation there as well.

22:20

But I found that to be a little

22:23

bit interesting as far as the Dolphins offense

22:25

goes. Now, as far as the defense goes, compared

22:27

to wins versus losses, the

22:29

biggest differentiator you

22:31

see here is obviously the third down defense,

22:34

and of course the third down defense got much better

22:36

over the course of that seven game winning streak. In

22:39

the Dolphins eight victories this season, thirty

22:41

nine third down conversions on a hundred

22:43

and fourteen attempts that's thirty three point three

22:46

percent. In the losses, fifty

22:48

three for one or seven that's forty nine point five

22:50

percent and a sixteen

22:53

point two percent increase in

22:55

third downs allowed. The blitzing numbers,

22:57

I'm sure a lot of you wanted to hear that. One one hundred

23:00

fifty six blitzes on three nineteen

23:02

dropbacks in the victories, that's a forty

23:04

eight point nine percent blitz rate. When

23:07

the opposing quarterback went back to pass. In

23:10

the losses, it was one thirty

23:12

four out of three eleven, so forty

23:14

one point eight percent, a seven point

23:16

one percent decrease and the losses

23:19

in blitzing the quarterback. But again, those numbers can

23:21

be skewed a little bit because of the

23:24

way the game unfolds in terms of, you

23:26

know, late game situations. It's all situational,

23:28

so I don't know that one really tells us all that much,

23:31

but I was curious to find out the difference there,

23:33

So that was really the key one that I looked

23:35

at, and the field goal numbers. I

23:37

mean that was the outrageous one to me was

23:41

how field goal successes

23:44

and failures, And I mean, I don't want to call

23:47

it luck. I think the opposing team missing field

23:49

goals a lot of times can come down to luck. But

23:51

last year the Dolphins were thirty for thirty three

23:53

and field goal percentage had the first team

23:55

All Pro this year actually had the lowest

23:57

field goal percentage of any team in the National Football

23:59

League. We talk about fine margins.

24:01

That's a good area to look at

24:04

for how the record swung

24:06

from ten wins to eight and possibly nine

24:08

wins if the Dolphins can find a victory on

24:10

Sunday against the Patriots. But again,

24:13

small margin's big difference. Some others

24:15

here with some miscellaneous stats and information. The

24:17

turnover differential and the victories was plus

24:19

four. They had two games they

24:22

won with more than one turnover, the Houston

24:25

game when they had four or rather five turnovers,

24:27

and the Jets game they had three turnovers.

24:29

There was two games without a turnover they

24:31

won, and they won four games with

24:34

one turnover exactly, but plus four in the victories

24:36

in the losses, negative seven in

24:39

the take in the turnover differential department sixteen

24:41

takeaways and the wins seven takeaways.

24:44

In the losses, the point differential

24:47

I thought was gonna go a different direction that I remembered

24:49

back to the Buccaneers game and the Bills game and

24:51

the Titans game, and that through this entire

24:53

equation out of whack. But

24:55

the Dolphins points for in their victories

24:58

one four. That's twenty three points

25:00

per game, and their wins as far as

25:02

points allowed just ninety eight points

25:04

twelve and a quarter points per game. In the

25:06

eight victories, that's a plus eighty

25:08

six differential. In the losses,

25:11

they scored a hundred and twenty four point sixty

25:13

points fewer. That's fifteen point five

25:15

points per game. And those losses in

25:18

the points allowed category two hundred

25:20

and fifty one. So what is

25:22

that a hundred and fifty three points

25:24

more allowed in the eight losses compared

25:26

to the eight wins. That's thirty one

25:28

point four points per game. That's say two

25:31

and a half times increase there if

25:33

my math is right, which probably isn't. In terms

25:35

of points allowed per game, that's a minus one seven

25:38

point differential in the losses, so plus eighty

25:40

six and the eight wins minus one seven

25:43

in the eight losses. Last thing I wanted

25:45

to explore here was the wins at

25:47

the buzzer at the hands of the Dolphins

25:50

and what exactly happened

25:52

in those games. My point here is again the

25:55

razor thin margins in this league, and

25:57

you could do this in a few of our wins as well,

25:59

where you find four five plays in those games

26:01

that could have gone the other way, really

26:03

only to me in the Patriots game. Otherwise the Dolphins

26:06

were pretty much clear winners

26:08

and a lot of those other contests. But we

26:10

start off here with there's three games Vegas, Jacksonville,

26:12

Atlanta, and we start here with Vegas. First off, Derek

26:15

Carr played so damn well in that game, and just

26:17

to that point, I you know, I wasn't a huge fan of

26:19

his game early on in his career, but he sure

26:21

as hell has won me over what a terrific player he

26:23

has become in his NFL career.

26:25

But in this game, he hit maybe

26:27

his best throw of the season on that thirty two

26:30

yard pass to Brian Edwards under pressure

26:32

in a tight window, and that was on second and

26:34

ten. If you don't get that all of a sudden,

26:36

Miami has a chance for one of their blitz packages

26:38

or creative calls on third and tend to get

26:40

off the field, but instead they convert and

26:43

kick a field goal. And then the Dolphins drive

26:45

back into field goal range and had a

26:47

shot play into the end zone on first

26:49

down to Will Fuller, and

26:51

we've seen that call made before, we've

26:53

seen it not made before. It doesn't get

26:55

called. The Dolphins cannot hit either of

26:57

the next two passes and then convert on fifty

26:59

yard field goal from Jason Sanders. And

27:01

then the Raiders again from car to Edwards

27:03

on a second and fifteen for thirty five yards,

27:06

and that time was backed up too, with under three

27:08

minutes to play. You get off the field there,

27:10

you get the football back with either a chance to win or

27:13

if you don't, succeed to tie the football game. But

27:15

because they hit that Peyton Barber, one more run

27:18

and they're back into field goal ranch and they hit

27:20

it at the buzzer and

27:22

again three for three for Daniel Carlson d that game,

27:24

and the Dolphins had a missed field goal at the end of the first half

27:27

in that game. For the Jacksonville game played

27:29

pretty good on defense, especially when you consider

27:31

the fact that Both xaviing Howard and Byron Jones

27:34

were down in that game, but Jacksonville

27:36

kicker Matthew Right went three for three in that game

27:38

and hit from fifty four and fifty three yards

27:40

in the fourth quarter. He's four for six

27:43

this year from fifty plus, so two for two in

27:45

the Dolphins game, two for four

27:48

Otherwise. He didn't hit

27:50

two fifty plus yards in any other game this year.

27:52

To his credit, he has seventeen for twenty

27:54

and it looks like he's gonna have a long term solution there

27:57

at the kicking possession in Jacksonville, but he

27:59

entered that game over one kicking in

28:01

his career and the Jags had gone

28:03

a full year without a made field goal.

28:06

Just a weird nugget from that game that the Jaguars

28:08

were able to hit big field goals late in

28:10

that football game, which was the difference ultimately

28:13

in the Atlanta Falcons game. That was the

28:15

second and the last time the Falcons

28:18

offense hit thirty points in a game this season,

28:20

their second highest yardage output and their

28:23

third highest passing output of the season

28:25

against this Dolphins defense. That really transformed

28:27

a week or two after this and the way

28:30

it ended with Miami having two touchdown drives

28:32

and offense, a defensive takeaway and

28:34

a forced punt in there. Then they

28:36

come back after all that in Miami

28:38

gets a lead with two twenty seven to play in the

28:40

game, and they complete an incredible catch

28:43

up the perimeter to rookie tight end Kyle

28:45

Pitch for twenty eight yards, a phenomenal

28:47

catch by a hell of a player, and that was after

28:50

he already hit for twenty three yards. So he

28:52

piles up in quick succession fifty

28:54

one yards of offense on two plays, and

28:56

the Falcons were able to run for a first

28:58

down on three plays, where if the Dolphins

29:00

gonna stop on any of those, they're gonna have

29:02

about a minute and some change to try

29:04

to navigate the field on the other side and get a game

29:07

winning field goal from two and the offense, which

29:09

in that fourth quarter they were moving the ball just

29:11

fine, but the Falcons run for a first down,

29:13

exhaust the time ouse and clock and any chance

29:16

of answering, and they kick it to go ahead and win

29:18

that football game. So all three of those games, Miami's

29:20

missing a field goal and the opposition goes

29:23

three for three nine for nine in

29:25

total. Those small margins there

29:27

they are. I just think those three games and clearly

29:30

evident by the buzzer beating ending, but

29:32

the way they played out, they

29:34

show you that the margin between wins and losses,

29:37

the margin between Week seventeen elimination

29:39

and fighting for division championships

29:41

and high seating in the postseason, can come

29:43

down to a play or a moment. And

29:46

that's kind of what you look back on each of the last

29:48

two seasons as you are just one or two win shy

29:50

of getting into the postseason tournament. Now

29:53

there are plenty more things, but that's a two

29:55

day project I did to look into,

29:57

you know what, where the difference is

29:59

in the victories and losses. You can look at personnel

30:02

groupings, ran route concepts, different

30:04

types of blitz packages and games and stunts and

30:06

things of that nature. That's all for the offseason.

30:08

I just wanted to give you guys a sample taste of that

30:10

on this edition of the Drive Time Podcast,

30:13

which has come to its conclusion.

30:15

You all please be sure to subscribe

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30:44

up Caroline. Daddy is

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coming home.