Dolphins Defense Dominant in 28-17 Win Over Rams

win win for your Miami Dolphins. We are over five hundred. We have the number one scoring defense in the National Football League at eighteen point five points per game. We're gonna detail all of that in this Sunday Night slash Monday recap edition of the Drive Time podcast. The dolphins seventeen win over the Los Angeles Rams, game notes, stats, my five takeaways, individual notes, and as always John con Jemmy here all of that and more on this Sunday,

November the first recap edition of the Drivetime podcasts. Drive Time was brought to you by Auto Nation, where Dolphins fans can sell their vehicle for cash now visit auto nation dot com. And before we really get into recapping, this Miami Dolphins. I want to go ahead and start wars. Some pregame notes. We saw that Malcolm Perry was up and in action. Thought it was really cool to see him get his first playing time, his first reception as

an NFL player. We saw plenty of the pistol, plenty of the spread out concepts, plenty of that R p O action there with two a tongue of bloa. Some different looks on offense. We're gonna get to more of that here. In the takeaways portion. We saw the defense varying their pressure looks, playing that hook zone with different guys up front. Man, what a game plan from this Dolphins defensive staff and the Dolphins coaching staff in general as they get their third consecutive win to move to

four and three on the season. Buffalo did beat New England late in that game, so the Dolphins are still a game and a half out of the a f C East. The Colts also won, so we are still one game back of them chasing for that seventh spot in the a f C playoff picture as well. So Miami moving on up in terms of their win total, trying to pursue those teams ahead of them with the schedule coming up, Hopefully we can keep stacking some wins and get on top of those teams here in the

near future. Let's go ahead and talk about the game notes in this one. Some interesting factoys for you out there, as the Dolphins have now won three games in a row for the first time since team The Dolphins have won four of their past five and nine of the last sixteen games. Today was the first time since November

feet two thousand nine. Saw on the anniversary eleven years ago that the Dolphins scored a touchdown on offense, defense, and special teams in the same game, all three of those happening in the first half of this game, and according to that graphic on Fox I tweeted out, the Dolphins were the first team since the Colts in two thousand four to lead by eight team plus points at halftime and three consecutive games. Miami's got their fifth win

in their past eight home games. They are now twelve and three all time against the Rams and have twenty two wins in their past thirty six games at hard Rock Stadium since the final renovations there In At hard Rock Stadium, Jachem grants eighty eight yard punt return touchdown was the longest return in Miami Dolphins history. He now has his fifth career touchdown return, a Dolphins record that he extended. He also broke O J McDuffie's mark of

two thousand, one hundred and three kickoff return yards. Jakeem surpassed that to climb into sixth all time in Dolphins kickoff return yard So plenty of good stuff there from Jachem Grant. Eric Rowe had four pass breakups today, that was the most in a single game this year in the National Football League, and Jerome Baker hit his two

hundred and fiftieth tackle in the game. He is the first Dolphins player since Channing Crowder between two thousand five and two thousand seven to have two hundred and fifty tackles through his first three years as a pro. So good on all those guys. Plenty more to come here. Let's go ahead and jump into the stats for the day for your Miami Dolphins. We know the box score wasn't super pretty. Dolphins had a bunch of big plays on special teams in defense that kept the Dolphins defense

and Rams offense on the field. So as a result, Miami one forty five to yards to the Rams four seventy one. Miami had fifty five rushing yards, the Rams had one thirty one. Miami had ninety passing yards, the Rams three forty. But again, takeaways four first half takeaways for the Miami Dolphins, two in total for the Rams, a couple of fumbles they recovered there from the Dolphins. The Dolphins were three of twelve on third down, the

Rams were seven out of seventeen. The Dolphins had the number one third down defense coming into the day and really put the clamps on the Rams offense for those first three quarters. A couple of drives there at the end they piled up some yards and a couple of third down conversions to kind of help that number out. Miami had two sacks, the Rams had one. The Dolphins had the football for twenty three minutes thirty one seconds, the Rams for thirty six minutes and twenty nine seconds.

And penalties five against Miami for forty five yards and three against the Rams for thirty yards. And again you go back to the four drives that I think basic leave we're taken off the board for the Miami Dolphins offense in terms of even having a chance to produce yardage. We had a fumble on the second play of the drive, the opening drive of the game for the Dolphins, a fumble turnover, that drive goes by the wayside. You have Miles Gaston on the first play of a drive, he

fumbles the football. That drive goes away as well. And then you get back on the defensive side with the strip sack from Emmanuel og Ball and that really started the entire avalanche of points there for the Dolphins in that second quarter. But you score on that play, so that's an offensive drive by the wayside once again. Then you get another defensive stop on the following drive and Jachem Grant takes a eighty eight yards to the house, so the offense doesn't get a chance to see the field.

So take that into consideration, take the context into these stats as far as the offense goes. Obviously they have to play better to have mentioned it. Brian Floor has mentioned it, but he did also mentions a team win a team game. It's never one guy, it's all eleven guys on the field at once. But giving you some context for why the offense maybe he didn't play up to the standard of the expectation in the words of

two a toungo Byloa. Maybe some context behind that can help you with that, but all still remember that there is room to grow and room to improve this year for this offense, for this team in every phase, in

every area of the game. With that, let's go ahead and jump into our five takeaways here on the Drivetime Podcast, the recap edition of the Drivetime Podcast brought to you by Auto Nation, and we start here with takeaway number one from the Dolphins seen victory over the Los Angeles Rams at hard Rock Stadium once again, the third straight win.

And the first takeaway was the defensive plan and the calls and the way the game just played out defensively from how the Dolphins planned to heat up Jared Goffin executed it on the field on Sunday, going with those zero rush looks and cover zero just means you're not gonna put a safety back there. You're gonna go man up across the board and put pressure on the quarterback

and run that thing straight up Mono Imano. And they got pressure on the interior throughout the course of this game and pressure off the edge, and that mirrored up with those zero looks in the back end, or if they were in man, or if they were in zone, whatever it was, they found a way to play complimentary football on defense, and the calls just jelled well together with the game's up front, with the overload pressures, whatever

it might have been. Everything was clicking for that defense in this game called a great game, Emmanuel og Boss said, Josh Boyer was to earn the credit for that for calling that great game. They showed so much pressure in every single gap throughout the course of the game, with different guys backing out. Defensive line would fall out, blind backer would fallout, Safeties would go up there and fall

out or rush the quarterback. And that's disrupting all the crosses in the middle of the field that the Rams tried to run in this game, or that they do try to run in general, throwing the football over the middle in that short underneath area because you're not sure who to account for to throw the football in that spot. That's why you wind up with Christian Wilkins getting a pass thrown right into his chest and he squeezes that thing and holds on for the first pick of his career.

All the twisting and stunting up front to get those interior pressure looks, so that when Jared Goff hit the top of his drop, he had to think otherwise. And by the time he did think otherwise, he had a big old paw in his face with that contain rush throwing bodies back into the quarterback, messing up the area where he wants to kind of step and drive into

those throws. He's a big, tall pocket passer, and you crowd that area and make it uncomfortable, you're gonna wind up with several failed plays and incomplete passes and turnovers and sacks and plays that do not progress for the offense. And despite the high passing total, you had enough negative plays that it didn't matter at all by the time

the end of the game came around. And the way the Dolphins just consistently went after him and made him uncomfortable on and even when they try to go play action and bootleg him on the backside, they had nick need him or another person there to greet him right in his face and force him to set up and throw, because he's not gonna beat you with the speed or the quickness and and try to juke you and get around you that way he wants to throw the football

a more traditional pocket passing quarterback, and he just wasn't able to do it for the most part. And when you go with that zero pressure look and get all those bodies up front, like McCain and Row for instance, it creates multiple free runs at the quarterback because if you can confuse them by a half second on the defense, you've won. You're gonna get that free run from Jerome Baker up the middle, or Bobby McCain off the edge, or Emmanuel og Ball coming into three as a three

technique between the guard and tackle out there. They were going cover zero with a one point lead in the first half and just unrelenting, knowing exactly how to attack that quarterback in that offense, and they did it. They made him uncomfortable throughout the game. I want to go ahead and play Brian Flores take on this on the

on the ability to make golf uncomfortable. Here's a coach for about a minute and a half, and at the end of it, he tells you about the Rams forcing them to do some things that maybe they didn't want to do in this game. You know, I think every week we we you know, Josh and our defensive staff, they did a really good job this week, uh coming up with you know, different things that we think will give them some problems. Uh, look at in a week's time,

there's only so much we can give the players. Um. Of what we gave them, they executed, and we were able to put some pressure on the quarterback. And you know, I'm just looking at the stats here. You know, they didn't on the ball retty effectively and you know, you know we did give up some passing yards, but I thought we were able to you know, put pressure on the quarterback and uh, overall we played well. We kept the points down and got off the field and third

down um quite a bit. So well, yeah, you know, different looks trying to put pressure, trying to apply pressure. Sometimes it's not necessarily to sack total but I think you can, you know, you can watch a game and see, um that a quarterback it feels, you know, it feels us. I think that's essentially what you're looking for. I'm not sure how many sexs we had today, but UM, you know I know that we you know, we we applied some pressure, um and forced them to do some other

things offensively. Maybe they didn't want to do not just you know, keep it back and keep it tight end and things of that nature. So keeping the back and

the tight end in. One thing I noticed, and I pointed out to John con gem Me throughout the course of the game, and we'll hear from him here in just one second, was look at that running back they're bringing up to the line of scrimmage and having him just kind of pick out the A or B gap rusher that kind is in there to really help golf have that center central area of the pocket to operate in. They they change the way the Rams attacked them offensively

and manage made a big difference. And I think that's why these stats always always always require context, because you're gonna look at the box score and see over four hundred yards of offense for the Rams. And that's why, to me, the best defense is concerned themselves with the one stat that truly matters. Points, eighteen point five points per game, number one in the National Football League right now. The Dolphins adjusted to the Rams, adjustments to them in

a way that I thought helped preserve that lead. Because the Rams down by eight team points, how many of those quick outs did they take to Cooper Cup and too Robert Woods and the Dolphins kind of playing off just saying take those five yards because we have an

eight team point lead. You're giving yourself only two or three more possessions with needing three possessions to score, and to stop us on those three possessions like that really helps the Dolphins chances of winning that game if you want to shorten the game by taking those underneath things.

So that was kind of what they had to do to get the ball out of Goff's hands quickly because of all the pressure apply buy Miami and the good blanket coverage there on the back end, and it was it was fun to watch this team operate in unison on defense today with all the all the looks and all the different packages and the depth at each position. The guys that came in waves because this thing was swarming.

It was dominant. It's what we've been talking about really, you know, on drive time and going back to my time with lockdown Dolphins for a couple of years now, with how this defense wants to be with that rush contained big guys, big strong guys that can reset the line and force the quarterback to have to get off that original spot and force the interior pressure don't run around the quarterback, push the pressure into the quarter right

into the quarterback's lap. Then you get great man coverage on the back end from pretty much every defensive backs we know. This roster has three safeties who are playing the most right now, Bobby McCain, Eric Rowe, and Brandon Jones. They've all got cornerback experience. So the Dolphins identified what they wanted on defense, and I think through seven games the proof is in the pudding with the numbers right there. They know what they wanted, they went out and got it,

and right now, at this moment, it's reducing. Got to continue to build on that and stack on that. And let's go ahead and play my question and answer from Eric Row here in the postgame press conference. I want to put that question because it provides better context for kind of how I tried to ask him this question about the confidence level the Dolphins getting playing that cover zero.

Here's Eric Row on the confidence level of covers. Confidence level it gives you when the coach consistently goes back to that cover zero look and trust you guys kind of match up on the back end and not having any that help over the top. Oh Man it's it's just a mindset. Yeah. I mean we've been working on it since training camp. I mean it started out rough, but you know everyone sees, you know, the results that it puts. You know, the line, the coordinated the quarterback.

You know, puts pressure on all of them and it kind of results. I mean, you know, quick passes, tip balls, I mean we were getting turnovers or sacks and obviously when they were off the field. So every time we call it, but we have, you know, all of us have high confidence. It was just fun to see the confidence level in them up twenty one nothing running that zero look and having it be so active still at

that stage in the game. So I just go back to a few recent performances here from this defense, and I think they've proven they can really handle certain types of quarterbacks and really put the clamps on them. I mean it's been Jared Goff last week, Joe Flacco the week prior to that. They really got after Jimmy Garoppolo in the previous game to that. I'm curious to see

how they continue to attack those style of quarterbacks. But also next week Miami has a big challenge and the way Kyler Murray plays that guy is so quick to be able to get off of his spot. So it'll be interesting to see how the Dolphins can defend him and that Cardinals offense. But for now, this Dolphins defense really playing well. Takeaway number two. That first one was

a long one. New offensive looks in general. We saw the opening of the game Malcolm Perry and Jachem Grant and the opening opening play of the game, the opening package of the game. We're on the field together and you have the fake fly sweep there with Grant coming

across the formation. You're doing some of the R P O game as well as to kind of keys and reads that linebacker and that edge defender to decide if he wants to keep it to to keep the ball in the belly of Gascon or Breta, or pull that thing out and rip it and throw it the quick hitch and flip the flick of the risk that he

has back there. Saw that get utilized in this game and kind of utilizing some of the strengths of two we saw in college there at Alabama coming out that the quick feed, the quick set up, the ability to actively throw the football. I thought we saw plenty of that as well. But just this new style of offense and kind of the same vision as far as the defense goes, with Eric Rohod talking about how, yeah, the first couple of games we didn't get the results we wanted.

But now as kind of time develops and we have time to work on it and build on that, you see it grow and accumulate and have success halfway through the season. Now just about one more game until the halfway point. You have to kind of consider that offensively as well, that a new quarterback. Sure there are probably gonna be similar system things as well, but you do have different strengths you build on with those quarterbacks and

kind of developed that chemistry. So with to a tongue of volo and the game give that that new style, that new version of the offense with with his direction time to kind of develop. I think we saw the beginning stages of that in this game, and I think we'll continue to see more of that going forward. Obviously as he plays quarterback. Let's go ahead and get to a quote here from tah As. The first question posed to him was, how do you feel like you're performing

in this game tonight? Well, you know, I don't think I played to the standard of what this offense is capable of. Um, you know they were there were certain plays where you know, I could have stepped up and made the right throw, made the right decision. But I've heard heard it many times from the guys in the locker room. Um, you know, it's it's good that we still came out with the wind. Um And aside from that, no, thank god we got a good defense. I think that's

just the perfect quote right there. Thank God we've got a good defense, complete team. Complimentary football win for your Miami Dolphins. A couple of things I liked about too

is game was on the touchdown pass. We saw the Rams really bring the heat and really send the house as far as blitzers come after him, and he hung in there and threw that ball off the kind of awkward platform because of the quick setup you have to have with that much pressure, you just you can't block seven eight guys because you're not gonna have that many guys into blocks. You're gonna get pressure. So his ability to kind of adapt the arm angle and get the

feet right to make the throw accurate. Again, we saw that plenty of times when he was at Bama. To see it in the pros here to be able to rip that ball accurately to Davante Parker, who made one hell of a catch. That was great to see, and that really leads into my next point. And I said this to John kN Jimmy during the middle of the game.

I said, watch the way he has this this zip when he throws the football on those those plays where he's latterly with the lion scrimmage moving to his left and kind of has to tork his hips and really flick that thing out there. He has We know he has the large hands. He measured large hands, I guess that metric at the scouting combine. So to grip it and to drive that thing on those tough throws on the move, I thought that was cool to see. Talked about the quick feet in the r P O game.

I thought the deep shot to Mike Gasicki was an absolute dime, but the defender made a hell of a player to break that thing up, so that was looking good.

The Jachim Grant comebackground before the touchdown pass to Parker to set them up at first and goal down there to kind of went through the whole progression of the play and whipped his head back to that part of the field, and you you saw on the TV replay up there in the press box, you saw him kind of picked through his way across the field as his head kind of moved across the field there and his ability to kind of know the backside picture by looking

at the front side picture. We saw him talk about that on ESPN Detail with Nick Saban. I thought that was kind of cool and on display there, and there's again just there's something there I think can grow each and every game, each and every day, each and every rep with this offense. Takeaway number three Special teams remains on top of it. Man big blocks on that punt return Jachem Grant talks about it here a little bit. We'll go ahead and play his sound, but nobody really

even got near Jachem on that play. There was a possible back block in the back that I think it was. I think it was Igbo, but I'll have to check on that where he kind of comes in but puts his hands up and doesn't get the block in the back like he was aware that he was in position to do that, gets his hands up, doesn't commit the penalty, and Jachim from their breaking arm tackle and go off to the distance, off to the races. Just you're not You're not gonna catch that guy. That was fun to watch.

They were third in d v o A coming into the game. I have to imagine that improves with a good return game and the excellent coverage throughout the course of this game. One kickoff out of bounds. I leaned over to Congemi and said, that was the first mistake Jason Harris has made all years. So special teams remains on top of it. And let's go ahead and hear of the star of that unit for this game. On that one play, Jachem grant the eighty eight yard punt return.

Here he is on that play, um and we coach went into it. He told me that I was gonna get opportunity to fill one in. We know that he is a great bonner. So it was only the only one opportunity that I got a chance of and made the most of it. Like all credit to my you know, my teammates ness off, but that was on the union. I don't even think I got to it. So, like I said, man, it's all credit to them. I gotta love hearing that again. These guys have the same team.

First mindset. We heard Christian Wilkins also and his press conference availability talk about the mentality of this team and taking on the personality of the structure of how this team was was constructed as far as you know, having that relentless, tough minded mentality of these guys that kind of bounced back, and coach Flores talked about that as well, with the mental fortitude, the mental toughness to overcome a tough start. Right seven zero off the bat wound up

being seven there in the blink of an eye. So the mental toughness, I think that was that kind of resonates there and you hear jakeem Grant talk in that way on his postgame presser. So take away number three Special teams remains on top right now, a top five, if not three, if not number one or two in this NFL Takeaway number four this team's versatility and the

complimentary style of football. Christian Wilkins comes in a fullback and leads Miles Gaskon in for the touchdown run there, but also to peel back and play coverage as a defensive tackle, you know, at three plus pounds dropping into that hook zone, getting the interception in the middle of the field. Let's go ahead and hear from Christian Wilkins, who was more than happy to break down his pick and his postgame presser. You know, well it was it was so let me let me take out to the play.

Let me take it to the mind of of of of a defensive back. You know, it called me to drop it gets all in the hips. I just really had to open my hips and break on the ball, you know what I'm saying. I saw it. I saw the line of the quarterback. You know, I think where he wanted to go, so I just had to break follow his eyes. I was able to break and make a nice play for the team. Just happy to make

plays that help us win. Let's go ahead and keep the topic here on Christian for just one second, who also again lined up at fullback to lead Gasking into the end zone. He explains his interception on that play, kind of dropping into coverage and playing the quasi linebacker hooks own playing coverage in that area, but then talking about playing fullback and and maybe having a chance to do what he did last year and catch a touchdown

from that fullback position. Here's Christian Wilkins on playing offense. I mean, I've been saying it for for a couple of years now that I could play legit receiver in this league, or you know, be a legit offensive weapon. Um, And hopefully coaches and everybody else will start taking me a little more serious about that, because you know, i'd like to ultimately, Like I said, I just like the health the team. And Christian finishes up that answer with a big jolly laugh too, so he's always kind of

joking around after these winning press conferences. Always a fun time to talk to Christian there as well. Let's go ahead and hear from coach Flora's real quick on Christian Wilkins interception today. First the momentum and kind of how it swung the tide of the game, but also about him bugging coaches about using his hands on the offensive side. Yeah, I think it was. Um. You know, we got all to a slow start, so you know when I talk about the mental tupness of the team, I think you

know that was part of it. To a slow start, had to turnover, they score and we're down. I think they get the ball back and we just keep playing hard. And it was a big interception by Christian. Um, you know, He's always talking about how great he's hands he has, and I don't know, I gotta listen to that, um, you know, moving forward, and he's gonna ask for the ball and you know, go on situations and things of that nature. Um, but you know, and it's worth listening

to it, you know. I guess you know if he's gonna make good plays like that. So hey, how good of a quote is that you're gonna make plays? We'll go ahead and give you opportunities, big fellows, So big game for Christian Wilkins. Once again, I liked at one point the twenty nineteen first round draft picks sets up round draft pick or the first of the three draft picks for the interception to the touchdown who throws it to the first round draft picks. So Dolphins draft picks

making plays all over the field. But back to the original point, the team's versatility for Christian Wilkins to play those multiple roles and the complimentary style of football you get. The offense turns the football over, the defense gets from the football right back, and not only that, they scoop it up and take it back seventy eight yards for

a touchdown. There for Andrew van Ginkl. The defense gets a big time three and out, so you have to get that stop to force the punt on a long field so you're not pinning the punt deep into the ten twenty yard line, right. They get the long punt and Jachem Grant turns into eighty eight yards for a touchdown. Compliment every style of football out of the Wilkins pick the Dolphins score. One play is great, but you start stringing together three, four or five, hell a whole quarter

of explosive plays. That's how you create these massive, insurmountable leads that change the way the game has played from that point. For this game was completely different than it was at the opening gun, because you change the way you play when you go up by three scores. And we had Cameron Wake talk about this thing, this exact idea after the Miami miracle, about how there was plays made before the miracle occurred that allowed us to get to that moment, and we just continue to see that

from this Dolphins team. You Land and Roberts the big TfL before Emmanuel Ogbas fumble Byron Joe. It's a great coverage on third down before jakeem Jachee Grant's big punt return gask and getting it down to the three yard line on the second down run before to a touchdown pasta Davante Parker. So versatile players both that can play multiple positions and be versed on what you asked them to do. Complimentary style of football. The fourth takeaway, our

fifth takeaway is having the multiple ways to win. And I'm gonna go ahead and just let coach Flores take this one from here. But total team, offense, defense, special team. I thought it was a really good drive. But by the offense at the end picking up the first down, we really need it and we need that in the fourth quarter. So as far as the rest of the game, I mean, I was playing the fourth quarter critical and you know they showed up for us. You got us a big first down late. So a lot of things

we first improve on my throw our every week. But um, good, good team. And I think our guys showed a lot of mental toughness this week. Um a lot of a lot of a lot of quarterback change and a lot of a lot of I think I thought they showed a lot of mental toughness. But and there was a lot of other things going on basically aside from football, I would say, and you know, those guys kind of put that stuff to the background. I'm really you know,

focused and prepared and um, you play well. Yeah. Getting the team to be on the same page regardless of the outside noises something Coach Floor's definitely preaches and he

you know, they walked the walk today. So the ability to find multiple ways to win, not just the special teams making the big plays or the defense making big plays, but offense converting first downs on the defense absolutely had to have a breath or two on the in the late in the game, in the fourth quarter with the Rams trying to find ways to get those long sustained drives. So multiple ways to win. Mental toughness, the team taking on the personality, or head coach, all three of those.

Will go ahead and marry those up for our final takeaway here on the podcast. Before we get to John kN Jim, you want to go over ahead and go over some individual notes because there are some names we did not touch on yet that I think we'd be remissed if we did not do that. That receiver Isaiah Ford had a clutch catch on a third one that turned into ten yards before the after the Rams fourth quarter touchdown, So do not a on the field and get the defense right back onto the field after that

quick turn there. I thought that was super important. Along the offensive line, I had a couple of nice blocks from Solomon Kinley, had Jesse Davis with a good kind of closed down block to erase the edge on a bend back run from Miles Gaskin. But the offense didn't really get a whole lot done yardage wise today. So we'll go back and look at the AL twenty two and get you more notes on that. Defensively, I had

plenty of notes. I had Zach Seiler and here several times winning on the outside shoulder and working down the line of scrimmage with those long, strong arms, the ability to disengage and get off the block and make the tackle at that point. It's one thing to get there, which is impressive enough and tough enough to do, but

to get off the block and make the tackle. He's he's a disruptive force in their man, getting his hands up in the air, batting passes down at the line of scrimmage, working working wide, showing the hustle, the retrace ability on screenplays, this guy just really checks a lo out of the boxes. I think he's playing really really good football up front. What more can you say about

Amanual Ogba? Stack and shed for a tackle, pass break up in this game, nearly had a p BU they got almost got picked off, I should say, had the big sack that really just changed the entire course of

the game. Running free their kind of line up on the same side of Shack Lawson, free run at the quarterback, get the long arms that kind of come up and down and forced goff into that that tough spot, and it allows you to get to the ball quicker because you're faster and longer, an elite athlete off that edge. So Emmanuel Ogba another another big game for him for Miami, And I thought Shack Lawson was damn good in this game too. Obviously, the forced fumble that's a huge splash play.

It's a pass breakup, tipped a ball at the line on fourth down that really, in essence kind of clinched the game there in the fourth quarter. Up by three score still, that was big time. And had a couple of big plays against the run as well. Shack Lawson had a very very nice game off the edge. I thought. I thought Kyle van Noy was terrific. There were so many hard edges that had to be set in this game, and I thought both he and Andrew van Geikl did a bang up job of doing just that and finding

ways to create negative runs. It's not all about the total number of yards at the end of the game, it's how many running players do you win and forced the rams in the second and eight, second and seven, eventually third and six, and give yourself a chance to get off the field on third down on defense. Coach Flores talked about that a little bit post game as well. But the Dolphins entered today the first the first ranked third down defense in the NFL, and that might change.

I haven't looked around the scoreboard or anything yet, but I can't imagine it changes too much because once again they were under allowing third down conversions, and Van Noy and Van Gigl's ability of set hard edges, I thought, really played a big part of that, like it did with ag Ball and Lawson and Zack Seeler and all the guys that got involved up front up there as well.

I thought, you Landed Roberts had another good game, really shows his metal throwing flying through the middle there blitz in the kind of a gaps as a rum blitzer and getting back in the backfield. Had that super impressive player where he threw the fullback or the tight end coming across the formation I should say, right back into the running back for a big TfL Comu grug Hill had a couple of plays I liked where he was working off the edge beating blocks for tackles as well.

So this entire Dolphins front seven and the back seven, what more can you say? I thought Nick Needum had his best game of the year so far. He was everywhere in coverage, playing physical off the edge. Again, the RAMS test your corner acts physicality on the edge, and Byron Jones, Nick need him xaviing Howard, Eric Row and Bobby McCain, the two safeties as well, and Brandon Jones, all these guys were up for the test on that

regard and coverage. They were just as good as well, blanketing guys deep down the field, on those crossers, helping having that robber come down and help those crossers as well. Miami was communicating it well. They were covering well. I thought, Jones, Row, McCain need him x. All these guys in this game were so so good on defense and it complimented the

front seven so very well. That's how you wind up allowing just seven team points despite two short fields and scoring seven points of your own against an offense that has previously been high ranked in the NFL for the last four or five years there under Sean McVeigh. So the defensive backs all got the job done, and special teams as well as achem the big kickoff return Matt Hawk a bunch of punts down into the twenty yard line once again. So the individual compliments kind of turned

into a team compliment there once again. But that's just what this game was, a total team win. Good job

by the Miami Dolphins, three straight wins. And with that, let's go ahead and turn now to the three takeaway days from Miami Dolphins dot COM's own John kN Jemmy and joining me now on the Drivetime podcast as we do every Sunday night, and John, I feel like the last time we joked about the losses on the podcast, we have since won three straight now, so off the third consecutive win, John kN Jemmy Sunday Night Takeaways from Dolphins ram seventeen. John, how are you doing this this

Sunday night. I'm happy, I'm happy, I'm excited. I'm so glad that the defense and special teams was able to play at a level where, you know, when the offense wasn't having a great gay movie in the football, uh, they were able to protect the lead by the way they played, and it was fun to watch that flurry of of action, you know, first quarter, second quarter. It seemed like the defense and special teams really set the table for the entire rest of the game, and it

played out that way. The Dolphins had their first game in exactly eleven years back in two thousand nine at the Meadowlands there in New Jersey against the Jets. The Dolphins had an offensive, defensive, and special teams touch down all in the same game. We talked about complimentary football is one of the biggest buzz words there is, one of the biggest buzz phrases there is. I can't think of more complimentary ball than that. And with that, John, I want to go ahead and get to your first

takeaway from this Dolphins victory. Well, I think it's just getting points off of turnovers and it's easy scores and it's momentum changing plays that do it. You know, Christian Wilkins started off the fireworks with that interception. He just drops in zone coverage, shows off his athleticism and and Jared Goff throws one right in his lap. So that and the one with Eric rowe Um, you know, getting the interception. It really was momentum changing plays and being

able to get points off of those turnovers. And then you talk about the the agbas sack and force fumble with the Van Ginkle scoop and score and Shack Lawson doing the same thing and Van Noy getting the fumble recovery and almost getting into the end zone. But it leads to points. So plays that lead to points, getting points off for those turnovers always make winning that much easier. And I think the Dolphins they're a really good job

of that today. Yeah, quick strags got the defense onto the field often, and they made plenty of plays while

they were out there. That was one of the takeaways I had, John, was not just the big splash plays that happened, but plays to help set those up right, Because right before the big takeaway down there in the red zone, you have a land in Robert's stuff on it or and then when we're back up against our own ends, and I should say right before the uh interception or the fumble return of Andrew Van Ginkl, you have the land and Roberts closing that thing down making

a TfL in the backfield. So the setup plays the complimary plays that got the Dolphins on the board. John, your second takeaway for this game was what special teams were special? You know, they gave a boost to um an offense that was struggling to put plays together, positive

plays together. Anytime you can see Jackemp Grant, you know, over the recent couple of games, be one block away from maybe getting an explosive play, or finally happened today on the your punt return, Grant was able to, you know,

stretch it out with his speed. He really used his speed to get to the Dolphin sideline and then he waited for no Bonogady to make a key block and Cavan Fraser had one right at the end that got him to the opening in the wall and then he just broke through and and exploded into the end zone. You know the rest of the way, He's been one

block away pretty much the entire season. It seems like on some of these punt returns, and they also had a nice kickoff Returney had one one opportunity for forty five yards, And I thought Hack did a really good job. Hawk did a really good job of punning the football. Nine punts today, five of them inside the twenty yard line.

So you have a special teams, uh that that have been counted on with field goals, but now you get the punting and the return game, and it just leads to leads to points and it leads to field position, and I thought they did an excellent job. Yeah, a couple of guys on the team can um exactly what

you just said. With regards to Jachem Grant being the one block away, he said that coach kind of told him that pregame, and I wasn't sure if he was referring to Flores or Coach Crossman, but he said, you know, we're getting close. You're gonna get your opportunity today against Johnny Hecker and this RAMS punning unit. And then also just the picking guys up when certain elements maybe aren't there.

Not that Jason Sanders wasn't there, He just didn't have any field goals to kick but you have another part of special teams, kind of raising the bar and making them make plays once again for the third consecutive week. And that brings us to your third and final takeaway for the night, John. I really thought that the pressure, the defensive pressure on the line of scrimmage complimented the coverage that was behind it. So I'm gonna say pressure

and coverage defensively. We really saw Josh Bowyer turn up the heat against Jared Goff in this Rams offensive line, and I thought it really it married the coverage because Bobby McCain was in and around the line of scrimmage a lot during the football game, and that meant there was gonna be zero coverage, which means nobody in center field. It was gonna be just dead man coverage and everybody

you know chasing receivers that are very talented. And I thought Howard and Jones and Rowing and especially Nick need him he was one of those guys that McCain's out of the center. Needham was in coverage and he did a very good job of running around and being active, and I thought that that that allowed that the pressure at the line of scrimmage to get after Golf so he didn't have time to get comfortable, be able to sort out where he wanted to go with the football.

It led to a lot of battened balls at the line of scrimmage. It led to some throwaways and obviously led some turnovers. So I thought that that pressure, that equal pressure and coverage really married together well and it really really showed its face for the Miami Dolphins defense. Yeah, I can't wait to watch this game on the All

twenty two. I don't think I've been looking forward to one aspect, like one side of the ball for the Dolphins on an All twenty two tape, like this defensive performance that as I have been in a long time. It's it's gonna be a fun rewatch for us. John appreciate your time for the three takeaways. He is the co host of the audible here on the Miami Dolphins podcast Network. You can find that on Apple or Spotify or wherever you get your podcast from, So go ahead

and check that out. John, appreciate your time tonight, man, and we'll see you next Sunday. I guess two Sundays, right, Yeah, exactly, We'll see you in two Sundays. So youre for Los Angeles again, Part two, the charges this time John, thank you very much, you got it, Thanks Travis, and so away he goes, and away we go on another action packed Sunday Night Recap podcast. Another Sunday Night victory recap

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as well for you guys. So all your Dolphins content on Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, fins up.