Dolphins Bills Wildcard Playoff Round Preview

your pulse if none of what is up? Dolphins and welcome to the Drift Time Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast networks covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host at Travis Wingfield and on today's show, it's time to preview week number nineteen. Why off. We'll go position by position and look at each matchup through the lens of the tape and the stats, plus the three keys and twenty three NFL playoff picks.

All of that and more from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drive Time Podcast. Three weeks three division rivals on the other sideline another week where I don't think an introduction into our opponent is necessary. I recall doing this for the season finale, and I like doing it again, you know, the first time we play each team each year. But honestly, the script hasn't really changed that much from Buffalo in

that game. They were aggressive this offseason and pursuing and rounding out a championship level roster, but the biggest piece of that, Von Miller is out for the year. But still, you know, Da Kuan Jones has been awesome for them, James Cook and added element to their offense. But really, for the most part, it's just been inherent growth from their previous off seasons of good drafting and you know, acquiring veteran players that have been big boons for them

offensively and defensively. They entered the season as Super Bowl favorites, and I would imagine they're the postseason favorites as well heading into the playoffs. Here, I'm not sure if they actually are, but they remain my Super Bowl pick. They just have way too many ways to win even if they don't play well in you know, significant areas of the game. They can strike in a second and flip the game, just like we saw on Sunday against the Patriots. But they are also a good lesson in the journey

of an NFL season. I've been trying to get this point across from my entire life. It feels like now, but they started off as favorites, enter the third season as favorites. But recall those dips in the middle of the season, the losses to the Vikings and Jets, the Lions damn near knocking them off on Thanksgiving. Every team every year faces adversity, but the truth is nobody remembers it. When you take care of business late. We know they'll be motivated it. We know that place will be a madhouse.

And just real quick on that point. You know the The rock Pile Report podcast. Couple of guys that I used to do their show all the time before I worked for the team, and I remember last year one of the co host was upset about the loss to Jacksonville say like they might not make the playoffs. Now it's like, dude, calm down, You're gonna win the division. You'll be just fine. You guys are gonna win your division. They're getting to the playoffs, you'll be a force to

be reckoned with. And sure enough they had the most epic playoff game really ever And what did it do besides everyone kind of crowned Josh Allen as a new great quarterback in the NFL and it put them in this position this year where again, why are to wire favorites to win the whole damn thing? So perspective understanding, the standard that you hold your own team too is usually higher than what you hold the rest of the league too, because everybody, every team, every player has dips

and valleys and adversity you have to overcome. These Buffalo Bills, who again are a stacked team, have experienced exactly that as recently as six weeks ago, and for US third playoff games since twent two thousand and one, the last two did not go well and uh, you know, a home loss after the two thousand eight division title and a road loss after winning ten games and earned the wild card spot back in. Now it sounds like it's gonna be Skyler Thompson will find out later this week

who for sure is going to be under center. In two thousand eight, we had our quarterback and m VP runner up in Chad Pennington, but he played his worst game of the season against a loaded Ravens defense. Four turnovers in that one. But also remember two thousand sixteen, no Ryan Tannehill and playing with Matt Moore in a game where you're one snap away from the third stream quarterback.

And my question to Dolphins Nation right now, but does anybody remember the quarterback who was going to replace him if he couldn't get back in the game and we saw him warming up on the sidelines. If you guessed t J. Yates, you would be correct. So for Dolphins fans, playoff appearances seemed to come with injury riddled quarterback rooms. And it's about the most frustrating and just torturous thank you can imagine as a football fan, you only get

so many of these games every year. You get seven team for sure, and for Dolphins fans you get bonus games really every two presidential campaigns, and the last two times you didn't have your starting quarterbacks. So it's I can understand the frustration. Um, it is what it is, but it definitely sucks. But going back even further in the playoff animals with the Miami Dolphins, who recalls the

nineteen nineties. My first ever podcast appearance was with Sam Markup and the guys at perfect Ville, and he would always tell me the Bills ruined the nineties for him, and that's the case for doll fans of a certain age, right, all of all the Dolphins and that kind of you know, I guess coming up on I'm a man, I'm forty. Admittedly, I don't remember those early nineties seasons very well because I am not yet a man. I am not yet

forty and thirty five. My first real memory was the San Diego loss in nine four I was held when I've been there six years old. My most vivid one was the ninety nine playoffs and the win in Seattle followed by the game we don't speak of that came after that. But against the Bills. Man, this is a I've always had the reason that Dan Marino didn't get a Super Bowl ring. It's because of these freaking Bills.

Divisional round thirty four loss in Buffalo, a f C championship here in Miami to ten loss to the Bills that would have been such a killer if I remembered it. I was only, you know, four years old. Thirty seven, twenty two lost in Buffalo and the wild card round, and the seventeen win over Buffalo and the wild card round before getting stomped by Denver thirty eight three in

the divisional round. So again, Kelly Marino was the matchup, and it still pains me we did not get at least one of those wins because the biggest obstacle between Marino and his ring was these freaking Buffalo Bills, and those were the only ones man. The Bills, you know, weren't a regular playoff team during the Dolphins peak in the seventies and eighties. So it's three to one in favor of Buffalo in the all time playoff series O and two in games up in that little town in

western New York. Enough history, lesson, Let's go ahead and get into it. Dolphins offense first, Bill's defense and the quarterback in Miami offense versus the defense and safety position of the Buffalo Bills. And this we've been over this. This is one of the most unique defenses in the NFL in terms of their usage, and it's really built around one player that allows them to do this, and that's te Ron Johnson. It's one of the best players in the on the field and calling him a nickel

or slot cornerback. Would you know it would be entirely disingenuous to do that, And we'll cover his game more in the cornerback section, but his name is required here because of this. They run nickel of the time, less than two percent. They run three four or four three or dime packages. It's the same defense every time, and so that allows you to dictate matchups based upon their personnel.

And it's why I was confident, if you know, if we have all of our parts back, because I think the running game, you go twenty one personnel against the nickel defense that refuses to get at nickel defense. You can still run the ball on that look even without you know, Raheem most or even without even without two of probably um, but you're gonna have to do it well every single play to have a chance in this game.

They run high safeties like the cover zero three percent one high safety too high fifty pc of the time. It's a good mix of man and zone. It is primarily a zone based defense, but they have up to their man coverage after the loss of von miller Um. They've also been kind of on and off with rookie cornerback Kayer Elam, and I think you know, ideally when they have White and him go full speed together, they

become a better man coverage team. But I don't know if you can expect that in a game like this, but as always, you do want to be prepared for both because you know, White, Dane Jackson, Toron Johnson, Kayer Elam, They've all got man in zone skills. It's part of that very versatile defense they can run as far as what they do postnap, pre snap no versatility nickel defense every time, but post snap there's a lot of versatility there.

They do blitz nine team point four percent of the time, which is the tenth lowest rate in the league, but their pressure rate is twenty two point four percent, which is thirteenth best in the league. And again those numbers have fluctuated with the loss of von Miller back in November, but they're blitzing more and haven't generated as much pressure from their fore man fronts without Vaughn, but it's still

a key piece of their defense. With Rousseau Epanessa at all over all being so dang good, they need to pressure with four to really maximize their system for man pressure, complex zones, and guys that have played together for a long time with really smooth pattern matching and communicating. They blitzed us just eight times combined in the two games,

and that's obviously with a different quarterback back there. But if that's the plan again, Skylert Thompson is going to have to be super sharp finding openings and attacking the opportunities against man coverage when they are in fact there. We saw them dial up man a couple of times and Tyreek got him on the deep ball and Waddle ran across their zone one time, so you know, you gotta find your spots. They are uber athletic at the

linebacker position. They know what they have to contend with and Waddle and Hill that paired with their almost never changes defense, means again Miami has to successfully run the football to win this game. We saw him do it last time. Even more important now as you go into this game with a rookie quarterback in the lineup, let's go ahead and cover this quarterback and safety matchup. It's different without Micah Hide all the He did return to

practice with his twenty one day window opening up. No word on if he plays this week. Just guessing here, I would imagine Buffalo kind of holds off until next week with him, But Jordan Poyer is still They're doing great things weekly. He makes plays man Ex Skyler has to be sharp, has to identify where number twenty one is lined up, not lock onto his target and hold him on each each and every single play. It's got four more picks this year, another handful of pass breakups.

He gets four or five picks every single season. Now he's playing in that deep center field more often this year without Hyde, and I think that limits the true strength of their defense with them both in there, and they're virtually interchangeable because in Hyde's place was to mar Hamlin, who was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, some more great news with him, but replacing him last Sunday. I mean they're onto their fourth safety there. It's Dean Marlow.

Uh you know, Michael Hyde and Hamlin would come in on the pass rush quite often, but Hart Marlow has just one pass brush rep to point your seventeen this year. That's just sixty nine snaps. Nice for Marlow, but um yeah, it kind of takes away from their interchangeability there a little bit. Where Miami really needs to get after this

team is wide receiver and tight end versus cornerback. The Bills are good in the secondary, but you know, Waddle and Tyreek or both top five receivers, and they're gonna have to go out and play like it and help their quarterback out. We mentioned to Ron Johnson in the open, you know, there's only so much you can do to get open, and if the ball's not there, it's not there. And we saw a Waddle open all game longest the Jets. But one of the true Jenga pieces in the NFL

is to Ron Johnson. He's just so important. I thought we saw him match up with Tyreek and Jalen a lot, but back in you know, week three, we only saw two targets against the two of them, and two more targets against the two of them in week fifteen, so both Tyreek and Jalan aligning the slot less than twent the time. So that's kind of your answer right there, that you can dictate the matchup and not put you know,

your best players on their best corner. But then again, Trey White's back too, so it's all kind of you know, compounding variables there. But Johnson really helps them kind of key their disguises because he switches his roles to the line. He'll rush, he'll insert against the run, he'll blow up the screen. He's a great player in a second day that's been banged up all year. He's leading them in

coverage snaps by a mile. He's got six hundred fifteen and has allowed just six hundred twenty three yards with thirty five run stops. Again, he's a very, very good player. Dane Jackson has been the third starter when he's been healthy. Five hundred and fifty three yards on him on five hundred and fifty two coverage snaps. That's like ideal two picks nine p b U s than of course, Trey White was one of the most competitive players you'll find.

He wants to play physical, he wants to challenge you, and he's so dang adept at falling off his man and winding up in a place he's not supposed to be, so you have to keep an eye out for him. Twenty seven. I'm really curious see how they aligned pre snap, because this Dolphins offense just gives you so many different issues that most teams can't. But on the season, they play press just thirty nine percent of the time and

they're off sixty one percent at the time. The biggest thing to me is how do they defend Tyreek Hill. They gave him all the attention back in Week three and we saw a waddle rice to the occasion and that one. Then we saw both guys make a bunch of players back in the week fifteen game. But I think that had more to do with the Dolphins running game getting owing and then taking advantage of their chances

when they got them in the passing game. And like we say, every single week starts up front right offensive line, verse defensive line. Greg Russo has taken a giant step forward and with Miller, man like they were tough to stop, but they still are. But it's obviously impossible to replace a talent like von Miller. But don't get it twisted. You still need your best, you know, effort against these guys, because listen to these numbers for pressures and run stops.

Russo forte, Epanessa and twelve lost in twenty and thirteen, bash them eighteen and eight. So really it's Rousseau who gets the most production. But you know, these are big, heavy handed long powerful players that can play through you. And Miami whooped their butt in the running game last time around, they're gonna have to do it again in this game to have a you know, fighter's chance. Um, But that's how they play their style. They want to play through you on the way to the quarterback and

helps them play the run as well. But you know, if they're gonna play light fronts with that nickel package, like shoot man, do you do? You just stay in twenty two personnel the entire damn game and run the football in every single snap like I don't know? I there? Well, so I'm curious to what the plan looks like because you're not gonna match points with this team, as you heard Mike mcdown talk about in the Wednesday press conference.

On the interior very good as well, even though Miami kicked the crap out of at all over last time around. He does lead that group with thirty one pressures and nineteen run stops. Day Kwan Jones is right behind him with thirty pressures but more run stops with twenty. He's been very, very good for them. We know about Jordan Phillips. He didn't practice on Wednesday, but nine team pressures and

thirteen run stops. Then Tim settle eleven and twelve for him, those four names and the four off the edge, even without Miller, it's as good as it gets. Man inside, you know, our power and ability to stay on blocks will be tested Oliver's and just an absolute specimen. And you know, typically he's one on one and he's a tough matchup. But last time Connor Williams and Rob Hunt took him to task. His length and get off and countermoves.

He challenges in every single way. And I thought, you know, Oliver didn't play in the Week three game, and I wrote in the podcast back then, this is his biggest test of the year. Well he matched that with Flying Colors Man, so I gotta do that again. We know Phillips, he plays his hair on fire, and it's just always fired to play against us, the team that drafted him. He does like to anticipate the snap count, so hard counts always an option against him, but that's sometimes really

tough in that environment. He will come clean seemingly a couple of times a game, so you have to mitigate his interior pressure and then settles a great space eater. De Kwon Jones one of the most underrated players in the league. To me, he's there. Zack Steeler, consistent, tough to move, makes a splash player to every single game, and then off the edge. They certainly have that type right, heavy handed long pass rushers who can collapse the pocket.

Our quarterback Skyler are gonna have to be able to move within the pocket because they tend to not really offer up escape hatches with how infrequently blitz and how athletic the linebackers are, and they're good safeties as well, so suddenly being mobile in the pocket but still winning from the pocket are going to be big keys for Sky Thompson in this game. Running backs and linebackers. Matt

Milano legit defensive Player of the Year candidate. The way he's played, he just kind of keys everything, and uh is your disguise buster as it were. He's a critical piece of that defense, especially against an offense that wants to create hesitation through you know, multiple conflict defenders. Tremaine Edmonds lengthy, fast, explosive like the linebackers that gave us issues earlier in the season. Second most rushing yards of bills allowed this year, though, was that Week fifteen game.

Miami needs more of that. The backs. I think we need a big game both in the passing game and as ball carriers. We mentioned the minimal blitz, is you know see that and get out into the pattern or if they come help us, you know, Skyler, get that extra half second to find holes left in the coverage from the blitz. Big, big game, and I can't wait

to see either side's playing here offensively and defensively. And speaking of that, let's go ahead and take our first break and come back on the other side and do Dolphins defense versus Bill's offense. That's next Drivetime Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. Back here on a Thursday edition of the Drivetime Podcast. Matt sucks without Monday Night and Thursday Night football, And we're getting close to the end here man to the worst

part of the calendar. Go Mariners, though, coming up, go Heat on the stretch run. That was a fun game against Okay se either the not uh Dolphins defense Bills offense. Let's go ahead and start with their personnel, which has changed a lot from the last couple of years. UH they run eleven personnel. The bread and butter of the NFL one back, one tight end, three receivers sixty percent of the time, nice four percent out of twelve personnel,

fourteen percent out of twenty one personnel. And then they run two backs, two tights. That's twenty two personnel three percent of the time, and they have some work out of ten one Do you guys know what that means? Ten personnel, one back, no tight ends, four receivers. It's always running back, tight end and then the leftover number is your eligible receivers. Just interesting adaptation going from Brian Dabal to Ken Dorsey and he's up for some potential

interviews for head coaching jobs as well this year. Um, but just the complete absence of ten personnel this year, that's a grouping that almost nobody eclipses one percent in annually, but the last couple of years it was always that way for all but two teams Cliff Kingsbury's Cardinals and Barfe Larber. But they're incorporating a fullback and going into the complete opposite direction of that with Reggie Gilliam Dawson

Knox also a big part of that. To counter how teams have played the Bills is a big part of that, as well, and it helps them get digs into one on one situations and create more space for him, or you double him and then you get Mitch Matches on explosive backs and Dawson Knox, So it's kind of pick your poison. Offense are loaded. Josh Allen has the longest time to throw in the NFL among quarterbacks that played the majority of the year, two point eight eight seconds

and gosh, fifty seven scrambles this year. Uh, and he's been their best runner. He's the entire offense goes to this guy, and it's I mean, can you make him have a bad game? It's tough to do. Even when he has bad games, he still finds a way to put points on the board because he's so explosive. His blitz splits. That's a fun phrasing to say. Blitz splits

are fascinating to me. This year. When he's blitz which is twenty eight and a half percent of his dropbacks this year, he's only fifty six percent for six point one yards, nine touchdowns and four picks. When he's not blitzed, which is seventy one point five percent of his dbs sixties six point three percent completion so a ten percent increase um. I put the yardage total, not the y

PA in here, three thousand, two hundred and seventy seven yards. Pretty, let's let's go ahead and pose it and get that number four you real quick, and we're back. It's eight point two yards per attempts, so a two point one average yards per attempt increase when he's not blitzed. Twenty six touchdowns and ten picks, so it's like he turns it over a lot when you don't blitz him, because a lot of those picks come from him kind of like standing back there and scanning and surveying and then

just missing somebody. And again talking about holding your own team to the same standards everybody else, Like this quarterback misses a lot of throws. All quarterbacks missed throws, but he misses his plenty. And again, where he makes up is the fact that he's so special otherwise all those physical traits, but he's you know, he's not ineffective against pressure whatsoever. In the only quarterback that was a higher rated passer against pressure than two of this year was

Josh Allen. You can win on first and second down, he can miss both those throws even but then on third down hill absorb you know, a squared up pass, rush shot from a rusher, stay on his feet, break the pocket, spin hurdle, have a guy hanging off his shoulder pads, and the rip one forty yards down the field of Stefon digs right on the face mask because he's falling to the turf. It's just insane what he's capable of doing. He's the best playmaker the sport has

and that's the book from his time. You know at Wyoming right, he was always a fun, fun watch just carrying that offense despite some drops and breakdowns and no run game, he's just wills his way to big plays

and gets points on the board. And now as a pro, same situation, he's dialed it in and this year he's taking his game to another level where teams are, you know, playing kind of that Josh Bolier Week three game plan, like making be patient they can play the position because again he puts the ball in harm's way, but you have to capitalize on those. So I don't know, man, it's it's tricky. I don't know how you want to

play this. Dude. To me, you have to find a way to create big plays and just gamble with it because of your situation on offense, the quarterback situation, you have to find a way. I turned this game on its head multiple times, and so maybe that's blitzing. Maybe I don't know. It's gonna be a tough, tough, tall order, and I'm glad it's not my job to come up

with that decision. His deep throws this year fourteen point six percent of his throws or twenty plus yards downfield, averaging fourteen point two yards per attempt, with eleven touchdowns and five picks, So not his usual downfield prowess. My key here is this. He's tied for the second most interceptions in the NFL, and he has more turnover worthy plays, which is a PF stat than any other quarterback, which

means teams aren't capitalizing on his takeaway opportunities. And again it's most of the time doesn't matter because he can give you one quarter of football and just put you away. But it seems like every time we play this damn dude, we have opportunities that we just don't take advantage of. Going back toy, like how many missed picks in that game?

Because I talked about it yesterday. Beca Aban Howard and Kyle Van Noi both had picks in their hands that could have changed that game entirely and just didn't make the catch. So you must intercept the ball when you get the chance to do so. Good offenses plus more opportunities equals disaster. Simple formula we discussed here a few times. Don't give the New York Yankees four outs on offense

or I should say Houston Astros right. Javon Holland, as often as he is, is the catalyst to me here, does a great job of limiting opposing teams deep passing. He inserts off the edge as a rusher against the run. We saw him spy up on Alan for a huge open field tackle short of the sticks on that third

down playback in Buffalo a couple of weeks ago. The ability of the Bills to get to you know, anything from any personnel, deep shots from twenty two, run game from ten, and everything in between some modern style offense that Javon Hollands built to defend. So in the current NFL, blitzing the top blind quarterbacks usually equals instant death. Right, they'll find it and they'll carve you up. Before you can even you know, get pressure by finding the vacancy

and coverage. And we saw that back in week three, and we talked about the numbers in the podcast yesterday, but since week nine, here's some interesting numbers for you. Forty sixty eight versus the Blitz, it's fifty eight percent, five point four yards per passing, three touchdowns, and that includes a game against Miami where he was better against the Blitz than not. So it's sort of like, again, I don't know what you do here. I really don't, uh.

I laugh while saying this, because it's like you put the pros and cons up there, and there are plenty of both. I just think it's a tough, tough decision. And again, why you pay these coaches the big bucks to come up with a plan against a guy like this. If they can, you know, find a hero plan that beats this Buffalo Bills team, then you know, build damn statues with these guys. Because it's a Toller. This week

mentioned Javon Hallen in the passing game Plann. Let's go ahead and move on to the next portion of the Buffalo offense, that is the receivers and tight ends. First, the Miami corners, and this is probably the toughest match up against this Bill's offense. Their top heavy, but they're also deep. There are diverse, and they match and play style of their quarterback as well as anybody in the

NFL maybe besides Miami. It's super intriguing because Alan holds the ball in big play hunts more than any other quarterback. But Miami has been getting home with pressure, among the best teams in the NFL just having to finish those pressures, and this guy is the toughest one to finish off in the entire league. So does Alan take up the quick hitters and just eat up short complations with the ocasional deep shot built in, or does he play that true you know, his true style and just bank on

making rushers missed like he wants to do. I don't know. Stefon Diggs is one of the best receivers in the NFL. There aren't many quarterbacks who can match up better one on one and remove him from the game than Xavian Howard, and he did that pretty well back in Week three. You know, Diggs had seven for seventy four, which she says, that's a pretty good game. Travis well, yeah, just ten

point six yards per catch eleven targets. That's that's a good number yards per target wise less than seven per target. I guess the guy who averages around ten this season. And there was you know that one long play to open the game twenty eight yards back for that just six forty six It's really dang good, especially if it gets that picked before the end of the first half and takes it back. Now, he did get routes on six players, but X only saw only X on more

than one target. I should say they were three for five for forty seven yards going elsewhere. That feels with the play here, and the script was pretty similar in week fifteen. Like in a game like this, you needs your best to beat their best. But again, matchups like this are never gonna be one pcent in the game. But if you want to have a chance, you've got you have to have Tyreek, you know, beating Trey White. You have to have ex beating Stefon Diggs. You have

to have Christian Wilkins beating Mitch Morrise. These have to be consistent things you went across the board to mitigate from what you you're losing from injuries, Buffalo again, they're deep though, so you need your answer for Gabe Davis, who is one of the best downfield threats you know, in in a sizeable body, tremendous feel, an excellent route runner in terms of setting guys up on double moves, precise movements to get action on that first move and

then springing to the second level. And when Alan breaks the pocket, he loves to find these two dudes getting vertical down the field. John Brown's back in the fold catching long touchdowns. So you know, for Gabe Davis, I think kator Co who is the best one on him, because he's the most physical corner we have right now, and those seem to be like the right man matchups. But again it varies plenty of zone and match so

we'll see. But plastering again when when Alan scrambles huge key this week, Isaiah mackenzie does all kinds of creative stuff with jet sweeps and screens and catches the football, you know, running downhill on mesh. He's kind of a glue piece and that nobody does what he can do. Then you've got Dawson Knox and to me as an Eric Row game to come dust off that tight end e racer label. He didn't play last time around. It

was a big issue for us. You know, He's done so much both in coverage and against the run from that position. And Knox is a tough task man, tall order, but you're gonna have to, you know, give up plays these guys. But I cannot emphasize enough the importance of capitalizing on the plays that are there. And the Bills losses this season, that's been the difference for them. They turned the ball over as teams capitalize on those opportunities.

Offensive line, defensive line. The Dolphin's pass rush continues to heat up opposing quarterbacks, uh really quickly. But again, those quarterbacks are mitigating that by getting the ball out to the open guy early, and they've been open early too often. But the past rush has been relentless all year. Man Phillip has been tremendous. Wilkins has been as good as anybody in football at his position. You know, Melvin Ingram

has been efficient. Bradley Chubb, you know, got back onto the field a limited role last week and he's been effective. And then Andrew van Ginkl just solid his entire career. It's hard to get press rush production guys for the balls out in less than two and a half seconds. It is very, very difficult. They did have Alan under constant arrest that Week three game and just forced the ball out all game long, and at the end of it it was too much for the Bills to muster

up more than seventeen points offensively. In Week fifteen, he made a splash plays early, the one at the end of the half that was like, Oh, they're gonna get a field goal. Oh no, now they're not gonna get anything. Always a touchdown there you go. And then the fourth quarter he did what he does usually and put on the Josh Allen cape. But Miami did well to stifle him in the Bill's offense for long periods in both games. Can you extend that for four quarters? You have to.

This week comes down to that. Uh. Their offensive line pressures allowed and pass blocking snaps. Dion Dawkins left tackle thirty at six six, Roger Staffold thirty six pressures allowed at six snaps play. That is a big number for a guard, so go get him. Mitch Moore's seventeen on four three. Uh, Ryan Bates excuse me, twenty eight pressures six and fifteen snaps the pretty big number there for a guard too, and then Spencer Brown forty two at

five fifty one. The offensive lines vulnerable and we saw the Dolphins again put pressure on Allen that Week fifteen game. You have you have to win every other matchup in this game. It's how it's gonna go like, It's how you're gonna be a team that I think it's like thirteen and a half, you know, uh advantage right now. Dawkins one of the best left tackles in the NFL. He missed one game and some change and it was a noticeable difference when they didn't have him out there.

Any wins you get on him or a bonus. That's why you pay Bradley Chubb the big bucks, Like, you know, go go beat that dude on the other side. Phillips, I just think is one of the best player in league. Keeps getting better every single week. Um made some plays back in week three and had that massive force fumble back in week fifteen, and then Wilkins just wins regardless of who's across from him. So hopefully you know you can pair pass rush wins on the same snap frequently.

You know, with all the guys, running backs and linebackers. Finally, another position where the bills are just extremely multiple. James Coke explosive, is all get out. Devin Singletary love his game. They're both right around three yards average after initial contact. Thirty three miss tackles force for Singletary, nineteen for Cook. They're both dynamic passing game options and good outlets when

Alan gets that multiple rusher pressure. When they play patient, get the ball to the acts in the passing game, and play a run the ball effectively, they are impossible to stop. So if you have to mitigate that somehow, I've been so impressed with how Jerome Baker plays in situations like these because he has multiple roles. You have to have him do that again. You have to have Duke Riley have a big game because speed's key against

this offense. Ken Dorsey's offense is so creative, has false keys and can bump the ball to any of the eligible So you need all the linebackers here to be really pumping on all cylinders. Let's go ahead and take our last break and come back on the other side and do special teams and the three keys and what's at stake. Even though you already know will also pick

the playoff bracket. That's next Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation, coming to a conclusion on potentially the final preview podcast of the season. That was the case last week. We're glad that it is not. We have at least one more here to get to Special Teams d v o A ranks this year in Miami's twenty Buffaloes first, whoops, yikes, that could be rough. Tyler Bass is seven for thirty one this year.

He's missed two of his fifty p e T s. I was updating the numbers from the last podcast and like he's only kicked like five more field goals since that game, but has booted like four s And then in the interim, Sam Martin averages forty two point one gross with an inside the twenty yard line rate of

thirty and a touchback rate of eleven percent. Jason Sanders coming off a playoff clinching field goal, he has for thirty two this year, and Thomas moore Stead's gross is forty point five with an inside that twenty yard line rate of forty percent and a touchback rate of just three point three percent. What's at stake? You might ask, that seems pointless this week, doesn't it. We all know exactly what's his take the entire damn season. Man three

keys in the game capitalize on takeaway opportunities. The Bills have put the ball on the turf six times in the two games. We recovered one of those fumbles. If they fumble the ball three times, we recover it three times. Maybe you have a fighter's chance. Number two, ride the running backs, same game, running game. Jeff Wilson, Savannakhmed if for him can go raheem, just it's time for those guys to, you know, carry the load. And there was

a game Chiefs and Titaness this year. Malik Willow started the game and they couldn't do anything through the air, and they damned near beat the Chiefs. That's to me, that's the only way you're gonna have a chance in this game is to muddy it up like that. And so the running game is going to be paramount if that's the case. Number three, keep Alan in the pocket. If he gets outside the pocket and runs the ball, you can go for forty yards at a clip. He

runs the guys over. Just don't let him do that, because he'll kill you that way. As for picks twelve and four last week means I got to the goal. I think that goal change like three times, though, so I don't know if it's actually achievement. One nine, eight and two two seventy one games in the books, Buffalo and Cincinnati obviously number two seventy two. They did not get played good for a seven oh three win percentage. Next year, we'll go to seventy will be the goal

next year. That would have been nice in the fiftieth anniversary, But I digress. So here's what we'll do for the playoffs. I'm gonna give you my entire bracket, but we'll also still pick the game aimes each week after the fact, and I'm gonna give you almost all chalk here. I know upsets happened every single year, but man, I'm having a hard time finding them this time around, especially with the quarterbacks that are out in the wild card round.

It's weird because in the middle of the year it felt like it was going to be as wide open as it ever was. Remember the round the NFL podcast kept doing like is anybody good in the NFL? Who's good? It's like, yeah, now you kind of have it figured out, because pretty consensus, casey, Buffalo and Cincinnati are the teams to beat in the a f C Philly and Frisco. In the NFC. Maybe Dallas, but you know, after losing to Washington that certainly losing some of it shine there.

Wild Card round picks, I have one upset near. I did have Baltimore over the Bengals, but I changed it because Lamar Jackson is probably not gonna play. The hell's going on there by the way, I don't know. I don't know. Wild Card round Niners over Seahawks seems pretty pretty expected. Jacksonville over the Charges. This almost tough because

I don't really think either team is that great. Ah, but someone's gotta win, and I like the home team against a quarterback that I think doesn't necessarily raise his game in these types of situations. Buffalo over Miami. Yeah, Minnesota over the Giants a stinker of a game that feels like Bengals over Ravens and Cowboys over bucks Man. This is a bad slate. If if we had two and Lamar it would be good, but we don't, so

it's not. Uh. And then from their divisional round Niners over the Vikings, Eagles over the Cowboys, Bills over the Bungles, and the Chiefs over the Jags. Chalk Man, Buffalo over Casey, and the championship round Philly over San Francisco. And this is my super Bowl pick back in August, so Zero sent in changing it now, Buffalo over the Eagles. I hope not man. I hope they keep on losing super bowls. We're not getting to the super Bowl. That's that's what

I would like to see. But we'll see, We'll see what happens. That's your Thursday preview podcast tomorrow. Joe Marino locked on Bills a legend around these parts, one of the best billsh coverage guys there is. I just love everything that he does with football, and we'll have him back on for the draft season as well. But he's gonna break down Dolphins and Bills for us tomorrow. In the meantime, it's gonna be my time you all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast.

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media availabilities. Dolphins Today. UH, some drag time and fish tank content is in there as well, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com until next time finds up Caroline and Cameron Daddy's coming over