Dolphins Jets Week 5 Preview

Now let me check your pulse. What is up? Dolph fans and welcome to the Drivetime Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast Network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield, And on today's show, Thursday means a pre you and you know your boy is fired up for Jets week. Will go to the tape, to the numbers and break this thing down position by position, will tell you what's at stake and give you the three keys to victory.

From the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drive Time Podcast. It is that time again, the time for that trip up the coastline from nearly the deepest points south in the continental United States up to New Jersey's northernmost point on that same eastern coastline. A battle of two teams whose colors registers somewhere within the realm of green, though on either end of that spectrum, a rivalry that has spawned streaks and runs through over

fifty years of competition. And yet just two wins separate these two sides. Fifty seven fifty five and one all time. Are your Miami Dolphins, thinks in large part to a four game winning streak and eight of the last nine, and the Dolphins have looked the art of a team on the rise through the first four games. And the Jets are doing something of the same with two wins in their first four games for the first time in a long time for that team. And you know by

now about Miami's build to this point. Let's look at how the Jets collected a pair of wins and sit at five hundred in the month of October for the first time since and are going to have a fired up home crowd Sunday with the possibility of getting over five hundred in the month of October for the first

time since seen against their most hated rival. It's year two of Robert Salo coaching a roster put together by GM Joe Douglas, who arrived in twenty nineteen and went to work right away accumulating draft capital for this Jets roster, most notably with the Jamal Adams trade, getting a pair of first rounders back for that and that's where the bulk of this roster has been built through the draft.

He and his staff have been put together this roster after that season where they won just two games and very late in the year or threat in there for a winless season and obviously playing at a deficit. On that roster, it was one of the more i would say talent poor rosters we've seen in the National Football League in some time, but they have built upon that. They drafted a quarterback with the second overall pick one.

We'll see if that works out for him. They went to work on the offensive line by trading up for Elijah Vera Tucker who absolutely looks the part so far. They made a splash on draft night this year getting Sauce Gardner, who looks like an absolute hit Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson, and Breece Hall, who are all contributing as rookies so far, not to mention some solid free agent pickups along the way, Allah Corey Davis, George Fant, Carl Lawson,

D J. Reid, and Jordan Whitehead. Dolphinsive one four straight over the Jets, but those weren't the same Jets teams you'll see on Sunday. They are improved. And we start our preview as we do weekly, with the Miami offense and the quarterback position. A changed this week obviously, with Teddy Bridgewater getting his first start for his hometown Dolphins, and if you haven't had a chance to see his Wednesday press conference, go check it out. What an easy guy to root for. I sure hope he lights it

up on Sunday. He talked about the support he feels from the organization, not just this week as the starter, but since he signed here. He talked about the genuine vibes and how they're contagious throughout the entire building, and he just gives you this real calming presence and knowledge

and experience. I think it's going to be invaluable, not just for the team, but it has been so far for the quarterbacks room to start the year, and coach McDaniel said as much, referring to Teddy's openness and the ability to share insights and be a sounding board for younger guys to come to, saying that not all veterans are like that, you know some sometimes they don't want to give those secrets out. And now he gets to start a big road game with a chance to get

to three no in the division. I wrote a breakdown slash evaluation of Teddy back in shoot what was that had to have been twenty nineteen, right after Tannehill was gone, when he was visiting with the Dolphins and it was looking like he might sign here to be the potential starter before Ryan Fitzpatrick signed, and so I got to work on the podcast and the film breaking Down a written piece on Lockdown Dolphins dot com, and I remember loving how he grew from his time in Minnesota as

a young player to an experience veteran with his anticipation, timing, and feel those things that improve and get better into your mid to late twenties and into your thirties, and obviously that was a tough situation. Thursday, night, coming off the you know, the bench, and coming off you know, a loss in a wild week, coming off that stuff. I think that Teddy is exactly what this team needs right now. I think he's gonna play poised. I think

he's gonna play smart. I think he's gonna take advantage of the matchups that he determines to be most beneficial to the offense, which, if you heard the presser, he said, this is the most offensive firepower he's had in his career. And it's tough to argue that when you have the number one receiver in the league and the number six leading receiver in the national football with Tyreek Hill and

Jalen Waddle. And here's the point that I think it's also worth mentioning Teddy has been pretty even in his career, wins and losses and and you know, good performances and not so great performances, some big moments, some losing streaks, a little bit of everything in between. But if you look at his body of work, and really last year for the Broncos, game by game and you know, not going back to the Vikings, but Broncos and Saints and Panthers, it's kind of come down to this for him, how

good is the opponent? Because last year with Denver seven and six as a starter, the seven wins were versus non playoff teams, six of them picked in the top ten in the draft last year in fact, and in those games he never turned it over. He threw for seven touchdowns and had a one passer rating in all of them. In the losses never a rating over one hundred seven picks against six playoff teams and a seventh against Cleveland that was decent as well last year. This

is why I think Teddy is so damn valuable. You need him to win a game that you are, by the numbers, supposed to win, right, I think he probably will. So the question then becomes, well, what do you think of the Jets team? I have my answer well to that for the rest of the podcast. How about one of the keys we look at weekly, throwing versus pressure

and versus the blitz. The Jets blitz at the fourth lowest clip in the league sixteen point eight percent of the time, and they pressure at a higher rate, which is a sign of a team with a good four man rush. That's a twenty three point four percent pressure rate. That's eighteenth best in the NFL so twenty uh numbers, most frequent blitzing team, eighteenth best pressure team so far. And we'll use Teddy's numbers from last year since it's a greater sample size than just the one and some

change games he played this year. I guess it's less than one game in totality versus the blitz last year. Seventy three point nine percent completion, eight point nine yards per tempt, nine touchdowns and just two picks. Now you have to imagine this means the Jets go to what they do best and get pressure with four man rushes. But you never know against pressure, Teddy fifty eight point four percent, five point nine yards per attempt, seven touchdowns

and one pick. I mean the poise right there. The numbers like the ball comes out fast, lower percentage, lower yards per tempt, but seven touchdowns, one pick. The poison. Not turn it over against pressure. You know you're always gonna get dips in the completion percentage in y p A. But man, that touchdown interception ratio, it's good. It's really good against pressure. And Teddy will get you know, a lot of the same looks on down by down basis.

They just don't mix up their personnel very often. To the New York Jets, uh, their three four they run that eighteen percent of the time. It's a base package for three seven percent of the time, so they really are in base. Oh boy, some more math to come here. That looks like forty to me. And then your nickel is the other half of the time, So you know that's gonna be matchup base for them there and dine, by the way, four point five percent making up the remainder.

But if they're not gonna substitute match personnel, that could be an area that Dolphins say, Hey, let's go ahead and take advantage of this matchup, this, that or the other. They're in uh fifty fifty split between single high and two high safeties. They've run eleven plays this year with zero safeties that you know cover zero look and one

play this year with three high safety. See, you typically get nickel half the time based the other or half the time, and even split between single and two high safety looks. There's a difficulty here for me trying to figure out the best route to win because I'm looking at a potential game plan where maybe you do try to spread them out and get them into mismatches where they don't match our receivers. Like if you get a safety or you know, a lineback around receiver, go after it.

But also I think the running game and attacking these linebackers and coverage out of you know, twelve personnel looks twenty one personnel personnel and force the linebackers to play coverage on alec Ingold, Mike Ka sick E, Durham Smith, Hunter Long potentially back this week, or you know, the one receiver on the field, Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle, whatever the case may be. Because other teams have had a

lot of success, and we'll get to this. Running the football and throwing behind that second level of the Jets defense. They only play two safeties barely at all. Ashton Davis essentially is your dime back. That four point five percent usage. That's basically his playing time. Jordan Whitehead and LaMarcus Joiner are the full time players. They have their white Heads just tremendously heavy. He tends to be around the football.

He's kind of like our safeties in terms of the fact that he uses instincts and knowledge and preparation to put himself in advantageous situations, plays all over the field. A hundred and seventeen snaps in the post, down in the box, twenty nine in the slot, So find Jordan Whitehead every snap, and the LaMarcus Joiner is pretty similar, although he's in the post more often. He's a ball hawk,

though already has two picks. He pulled down a fifty fifty ball out of the hands of Chase Claypool last week. He's been in the post for a hundred and sixty eight snaps with forty seven in the box, so they're pretty interchangeable in terms of their alignment, although Whitehead does spend more time down in the muck and the meyer.

I'm curious to see if they play too high a little more, you know, fifty fifty on the year, just because if you're gonna play single high and you're gonna have waddle and hill on the field, you're playing with fire. So I'm curious to see what they do with regards

to that. And combined those guys, those two stafies have been targeted sixteen times, twelve catches, a hundred and seventy six yards, three touchdowns, three picks or kind of feast or famine there in the touchdown interception world, and then receivers and tight ends versus corners, and of course that coverage is also dictated with those safeties by the underneath corners. The Jets had a home room with Sauce Gardner in the draft. He looks the absolute part so far. He

has excellent press and mirror skills. He competes up the stem and at the catchpoint. Really good looking player for them. It looked like he gambled some in the preseason and training camp based upon the videos we saw, but I think he's kind of dialed that back and playing more true to their zone coverages. His individual matchups this year have been impressive. The Steelers completed just two of seven

on him for nine yards. Tee Higgins caught two of three for fifty one him, but Jamar Chase didn't catch a pass on just one target against him. Marii Cooper caught all four of his targets in the Browns game for thirty three yards. Donovan Peoples Jones got the only other target, did not catch that pass, and then the Ravens completed one of three targets against Gardner for just eight yards. In his first career games, so he's seen targets against speedsters, size guys, tight ends, and lot so

I ding number one is a good idea. He's kind of a straw that stirs a drink already as a rookie in that defensive backfield, he did not register a r A S workout number because he didn't work out. But the other two primary corners are DJ Reid and

Michael Carter. Read never leaves the field. Carter plays sixties six percent of the time in the slot you know all the time, and their coverage numbers are eight of eighteen seventy three yards, no touchdowns, one pick for Read, eleven of thirteen one one touchdown, one pick against Michael Carter, and frankly, I think those contexts needs some numbers because remember the discussion we had about defensive metrics are largely

a result of who you've played well. Last week Trabisky and Pickett wasn't their best game in Jacoby Brissette the week prior to that was not lighting the scoreboard up either, So those numbers I think a little bit inflated. We'll see about with him facing Josh Allen. You know, I wish I wish it was two of but that's down the line hopefully. Um guys, you know who else we're

playing this freaking schedule. Let me look real quick, justin Herbert, Um, Aaron Rodgers, those guys, you know, we'll see about that. So those are the individuals. But as we know, this tends to be, you know, a team operation, especially since the Jets play zone at the sixth highest rate in the NFL and they just don't have corners travel, so you can dictate and create matchups that you want that way, and playing man against the speed this Dolphins team has

typically is not the best idea. So the design is a critical element for creating space and then Teddy processing it quickly. And as we know, Tyreek and Jalen can take a ten yard throw and turn them into explosive plays.

But I'm looking at the potential of ball control, sustaining drives to function off the running game and setting down some guys like Cedric Wilson, Trent Scherfield, Mike Siki into the soft spots of the zone, because as we'll get to, those areas have been exploited by the first four teams that Jets have played so far. And then of course it always starts in the trenches. Right, We'll come back on the other side of the uh the break here easy for me to say, and preview Dolphins offensive line

versus Jets defensive line. Plenty more to come here on this edition of the Drivetime Podcast. Our preview of the Jets game you our host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. Segment number two here on a preview Thursday edition of the Drive Time Podcast. I always try to get the entire Dolphins offense segment done in the first segment, but it never works out because these podcasts go a little bit long. But I don't think anyone's

complaining about ten extra ments of podcast per day. But we do pick it back up here Dolphins o line versus the Jets defensive line, and really few teams use rotation as much as the Jets. Here their top defensive tackles and defensive ends in terms of snap counts and their pressure numbers to follow. Quentin Williams, a sixty one percent player, leads defensive tackles, also has the most pressures with eleven, then a big drop off in terms of pressure.

Sheldon Rankin's fifty percent player four pressures Solomon Thomas and Nathan Shepherd both at thirty and both have one pressure each. So Quentnin Williams kind of like Sauce Gardner is your straw that stirs a drink. He is. We'll talk about him in a second. Off the edge. Carl Lawson fifty three percent snaptakers, that's our top guy. He's playing barely half the snaps eleven pressures, also tied for the team lead.

And then again a big drop off Franklin myerscent snaptaker five pressures, Jacob Martin thirty eight percent snaptaker eight pressures, and then Michael Clemens the rookie plays a quarter of the snaps and has four pressures to show for. So Williams inside absolute force, commands a ton of attention, lots of doubles, and can win with both power and speed. He's kind of the man, like we said with Sauce

that stirs the drink for them. There and off of that, they are just a big, big physical group with heavy ends. These teams have a decent amount of mirrored prototypes. That way. Carl Lawson's terrific the way he plays the run and gets after the quarterback, and that two d and seventy pound type of build guy not far off from what we do here. Franklin Myers is the same way. He's like Wilkins and that he can play up and down the line. Rankins is a space eater inside. Jacob Martin.

We told you thirty eight percent player, but eight pressures this year. He's a terrific nickel rusher type, a guy that comes in third long and just goes after the quarterback and can take advantage of the one on ones that he gets created by the aforementioned players, and he wins them with regularity. It's a game like this, and I'm very happy we've got Tehron Armstead and Connor Williams. The play of the line this year has been really good, and those two guys have certainly brought a big time

level of production with them. Frankly, I like to Ron against anybody in the NFL. He's proven that through four games. I mean, nobody's gotten him yet, and that includes Von Miller and Trey Hendricks in the last two weeks, and then Connor Williams, you know whoever. He kind of gets to double Quentin and Williams inside with and I like Rob Hunting that matchup as well. Uh, you know, maybe

to the right you let Quinnin go free. Maybe to the left you double them up there a little bit um, but he's definitely someone you have to contend with and then hopefully you can just win your one on ones across the board the rest of the way. But focus on Carl Lawson and Quinn and Williams. And then this part really bleeds into our next section as this is

want to do. But kind of here's my thought. You know, big ends a defensive line that utilizes rotation and can get worn down as the game goes long as far as the you know, the conditioning goes, so running the ball wide, stretching them out and attacking those bigger edges directly, like run the ball right at them and utilize play pass against linebackers who this year in coverage have really struggled.

I keep thinking about how a dept we are at throwing the football behind that second level of the defense With two in the game, man, we need Teddy to be right on that same level right or two a left off because other teams have had so much success in that area. It's why I love this matchup pre injuries so here's the last three quarterbacks they've faced. Right, Jacoby Brissette was six of eight in the ten to

nineteen yard range for eighty yards. Joe Burrow was six of seven for nine one in the touchdown, Trabinsky and Pickett four or five for seventy one yards. So there you go. I mean, suck those guys up with the running game, throw behind them and get those matchups on the linebackers. We'll talk about here. It's a big key for me this week. They utilize to linebackers is a running back linebacker matchup now that never leave the field.

Mosley is the primary backer who plays a hundred percent of the snaps, and then Quincy Williams when he's healthy, it's him, but last week it was Kwan Alexander who played of the snaps. Mosley is a force against the run, twelve run stop to lead the team this year on just a hundred and nine rundown snaps. Alexander has been in their first seventies six and has seven of his own. So you know, right around ten percent for both of

those guys is a good number. But if they can get single coverage on anybody inside a situation where you have a backer taking on either a back, tight end or best case, wide receiver man. That's where it's got to go and it can happen. And also in the slot position as well. We talked about the numbers against their slot corners, like those inside formations where you can kind of dictate it that way, or I should say the in the interior of any formation attacking in that direction.

It could be a game where you need to get the backs going to set that stuff up though, right because, like coach said on his Wednesday press conference, he could see some instances in the Bengals game where he thought that guys maybe doing a little bit too much trying to make a play. But the truth is it is a team effort and when one guy goes down, you need others to step up. That obviously means Teddy, But

how about taking some of the pressure off. What if this is the game where the running game gets going, that would certainly do it, wouldn't it. I'm excited to see what Chas and Raheem can do. I think their speed against the front that doesn't really feature speed is their primary calling card, is a valuable asset. I think in this game, I think we can get the run game going. Let's go ahead and finish up here with the Jets coverage numbers at this position and round it out.

Moseley twelve of eighteen for a hundred and thirty one yards, no touchdowns or picks. It's pretty efficient going after him. Alexander eight of eight, seventy four yards efficient, Williams Quincy Williams fifteen of sixteen for a buck twenty one and a touchdown against him. So you know, again between the actual slot corner, you know Michael Carter the second who is three cone time and shut time where we talked about that every week. It's not on the upper echelon

linebackers and safeties and coverage. This is the route that I think is best forward. And we know how this offense can create matchups inside and get favorable looks based upon personnel and varying looks off of said personnel to create that matchup. You know the look where you get a gold Ingold as the split out wide receiver, the one with wattle and closes the three. I think you could see some stuff like that on Sunday. And then Mike McDaniel's ability of sequence and design place to attack

the vulnerabilities with ten days off to prepare. To me, that's a big difference here. I don't think the passing game will drop off a whole lot as a result, So I expect the Dolphins to be able to move the ball offensively, and then defensively is where they have to relate it after. As we pick it up here with the Dolphins defense versus the Jets offense, quarterback versus safety. Here's the Jets personnel groupings. It's a lot like last week.

Eleven personnel seventy four percent of the time, twelve personnel, the two tight ends on the field seventeen percent of the time, and then two backsets twenty one personnel is five point two percent. Nothing else is over one and a half percent. So three quarters of the time they'll be one back, one tight end, three receivers, and then seventeen percent at the time one back, two tight ends, two receivers, and then a couple of two back sets

there as well. And you heard coach McDaniel talk about being closest with the Jet staff over any besides his previous stop with the Niners. He came up with Robert Sala. He worked a ton with their offensive coordinator Mike Lafleur. So there's obviously some scheme carry over. The Jets love the same modern principles you're seeing around the league. A lot of condensed formations with deep drops off of play action.

They typically pair that with an over route and some type of layer throw where you have a deep middle and short opportunity cut the field in half. We'll see if Miami can kind of, you know, play into that a little bit. Of course, that pairs with the wide runs, the stretches, the outside zones, the toss plays. But where I think Miami has the advantage here is the Jets are really thin at the tackle position, and if they have to pull Vera Tucker to play tackle, that just

thins out their guard position. More So, I think Miami can really kind of win this game by dominating the edges, both in the run game and the passing game. More on that in a moment. Remember the last last game or last year in the game when they had like four or five rick plays in that first half and they scored seventeen first half points and they gained like

fifty yards the entire second half. Be ready for that, because they did that against the Steelers again to some success and then didn't have success in their traditional, you know, real type of NFL offenses. He's Zack Wilson scored on Philly Special last week and they also ran a double pass successfully in the game. So keeping your head on the spable for the Tom foolery is a big one. Speaking as Zack Wilson, how did his debut go last week?

Eighteen of thirty six. That's seven yards per pass, one touchdown, two picks. He averaged three point three one seconds time to throw, And that lends credence to what I think his game is, which is big play hunting, trying to show off the multiple armed talent or multiple arm angle talents that he features. He wants to create and keep

plays alive. So tackling is a huge key against him, and you know, thinking about a potential doomsday scenario from their perspective, I could see playing out is the shorthanded nature of that tackle position making it difficult to run wide way. You know, they couldn't really block the edges in that Pittsburgh game. That paired with Wilson, who has never really seen a pocket that he wants to step up into. He put the ball in harm's way several times in that game. He was lucky he wasn't picked

off more than just two times. It should have been four or five in that game. The other area that he must be better in to beat Miami, he missed a lot of layups in that game. That's who he's been so far through however many starts, it's been the ten or eleven for him in his career. Screens, swings, checkdowns, the accuracy kind of fluctuates. You do that one time in a drive and suddenly you get behind the chains.

And I don't think they can survive being behind the chains against this Dolphins defense, especially with their offensive line situation, and uh, you know the turnover nature, the turnover potential nature of the offense. His advanced stats in that first start here you go man like against the blitz three of eleven forty one yards and a pick. It's not good. Pressured three of thirteen forty six yards and two picks. Worse.

In the Dolphins game last year, he was thirteen of twenty three for a buck, seven d and no touchdowns and no picks when they blitzed him. Six of eleven eighty one when he was pressured three of six for fifty six. So getting pressure on this guy that's how you beat him. It's the case for most guys, but for a young quarterback, especially three point one eight time to throw in that game and watch just tape. When he gets that pressure, he wants to retreat, not step up.

He wants to retreat and then attack the line of scrimmage and try to make those off script big plays that make the highlight reels. So it's important to stick to your man in coverage on the back end for safeties and corners alike. His career versus the blitz forty four point seven percent, four point eight yards per attempt, no touchdowns, and two picks. It's what Dolphins do best, right,

They blitz the quarterback. His career versus pressure point three percent with five yards per pass, four touchdowns, and three picks. Getting pressure on this guy. Four man rushes, five man, six man, whatever you gotta do. Put pressure on Zach Wilson. As for our guys, it's the same story as our first four games. Javon holland Brandon Jones. They're so quick, they're so instinctive. They disguise what they do so very well.

They've been fantastic, but staying on your man and extending the play along with Wilson, that's my key for those guys. I cannot wait to see what we have cooked up with our mini buy for our first not rookie quarterback. But I mean as far as games played, he is a rookie because he has less than sixteen games. I don't put mac Jones in that category after playing the entire year last year for a week one this season, but you know if you want to do that. I

mean three sacks of pick and two fumbles there. So just not a sharp day all for the Pat's offense against the Dolphins defense. I think that's what this defense will do all year against teams that don't have that. I think Miami will look really, really good and against the really good offenses like everybody else in the league might not look as good. Let's go ahead and take our last break right there and come back on the other side and preview the rest of this Jets offense

versus the Dolphins defense. That's next on the Drivetime podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. We are through the quarterback versus safety position of Jets offense Dolphins defense. We pick it up with the weapons at Zack Wilson's disposal versus this Dolphins cornerback group, and those weapons have gotten better each year. I mean, we saw Elijah Moore when he was capable of last year. Rookie Garrett Wilson looks like a stud and Corey Davis

has been solid now for a long time. We know Miami can mix up their coverages as well as anybody, and we even saw in the two games last year. Elijah Moore had the big game in New York and then we kind of did our part to limit their entire passing game in the second go around, largely through pressure. More on that in a moment, but here are the

snap counts from last week. Elijah More played, here is the number one receiver, Garrett Wilson played seventy seven percent, Corey Davis played seventy percent, and Braxton Barrios played ten percent. So they play more Wilson and Davis and then a tight end. Tyler Conklin, c j Uzama. More and Wilson are crafty route unners who can separate against man coverage.

We'll see if Dolphins play a lot of man coverage in this game, and then Davis is kind of a bull in the china shop who can just out physical you. It's hard to peg this matchup when you're not entirely sure who's going to be out there. We know Ex's day today, we know Byron will not be activated this week. Kator Co who has played really well, and obviously Nick Needum has played a ton against this Jets team and has shut down some of the good receivers in the past,

Allah Jamison Crowder, although he's no longer a Jet. But I think the key here and this plays to the past rush, as we mentioned, is to disrupt timing and just make getting from point A to point B for these receivers as difficult as possible. And that can be a challenge because do you play man where your backs get turned on a quarterback who wants to extend and create or even run the football, or do you stay primarily zone and forced Wilson to beat you pre snap

with his anticipation and processing. Mixing is always a good way to go, but my pick is for the latter because of those pressure numbers against this quarterback. Make the windows tight, give yourself plenty of opportunities for batted and tip balls and capitalize on the opportunities that you will definitely get in this game to make those splash plays. I've been saying this for a while. I think it's coming. The cavalcade of negative plays for defense, sacks, tackles, for losses,

and takeaways. I think it's coming. I think it's this game. I guess we'll find out. But either way, it starts here in our next group on the offensive line versus defensive line. And again, you know the tackle situation with Wilson's proclivity to go backwards, it's a bad combination. The Dolphins have to find a way to capitalize on that because this Jets offensive line has been a war of attrition. Mackay Beckton lost for the season back in August, so

they signed Dwayne Brown. He's been on i R, but he returned to practice this week, opening up his twenty one day window to return. We'll see if we get him on Sunday. Uh Robert Salasa. They'd have to go up until game time to see if he's ready to rock for a game time decision. George Fant, who was a big hit for them in free agency at right tackle. He's down. They lost rookie Max Mitchell in the game Sunday,

so he's down. They've shuffled ali Ja. Vera Tucker kicked out to play tackle for the first time in his career and all he did was pitch a shutout in that position, So he's a dang good player. Again. We'll see about Dwayne Brown. But this is the line up they finished last week with and the pressure numbers to go off of. This is among two seventeen pass blocking snaps, which only Vera Tucker and or left guard Lincoln Tomlinson

have played the entire season. Vera Tucker four team pressures, Tomlinson fifteen allowed, So the two best guys, that's a pretty high number. Still for those guys. Connor McGovern on fifty three pass blocking snaps, five pressures, Nate her Big forty forty four pass blocking snaps, three pressures, and then Connor McDermott came off the bench to play right tackle fifty three pass blocking snaps, seven pressures. So really, let's pick your poison. When the Dolphins get one on ones,

they have to win him. That's that's kind of how it goes here. We'll find out about Dwayne Brown. He could be a big get if he comes back for the Jets to get Vera Tucker back to guard. But even inside, Wilkins pass rush win rates twenty nine point four percent via ESPN and next Gen, which is third among defensive tackles pretty damn good. His ability to continuously do that could be a big factor this week. I think injuries and player absences can be a little bit

overblown sometimes. Obviously, being down certain players your quarterback is always gonna pretend a big challenge to overcome. But all of these guys are pros, and you know there's a reason that It's never as simple as saying player X is out, therefore they can't overcome situation. Why, Like teams find ways to scheme around losses and things of that nature. So it's more about coaching and using that depth to

your advantage. But the reason I bring up Wilkins is importance in size because it could be that second wave, which admittedly is one of Zack Wilson's strengths, the ability to make the first guy missed and extend beyond that. But as I mentioned in the quarterback segment, he tends to drift from pressure and that the way this defense plays so gap sound, with both interior and exterior pressure. Excuse me, my expectation is to turn the ball over

several times. I think this has been sort of bubbling for a while now. I think this is the game where it happens. The first quarterback where we will see with fewer than sixteen starts, if Miami can generate the pressure you'd expect against a banged up offensive line, I think some decisions can get made where the ball will be there for Miami to take it away. Another nice start to the year for Manuel Ogba. I think he could have a big game. Melvin Ingram was a defensive

player of the Month and September. I think he could be in line for a big game. Andrevanning getting back. Jalen Phillips has been so close so many times. He did get home last week. I think Phillips have another kind of breakout game here this week. And then inside Wilkins that pass wash, pass wash, pass rush, win rate, Seiler doing his thing. It's so cliche to say this, but if the Dolphins can control the trenches, I think they'll do really well with with the result on Sunday. Finally,

running backs and linebackers. We finish up with their backs, which has been a two man show this year. They even operate in some two back personnel without a fullback on the roster, which tells you what they bring. Both Breese Hall and Michael Carter onto the field at the same time. Their splits are kind of funny. It's almost I mean it's a ten percent, but it tells you how much they use these guys. Breese Hall sixty Michael Carter.

Carter is a shifty, big play threat, had that big run of the game last year's at their first touchdown, but brue Hall has three times as many ten plus yard runs six to two. He's averaged three point three seven yards after contact. Anything over two is good. Carters at two point seven, So again, tackling very important here

in this one. Again, I think the style of this at you up benefits Miami because Breece Hall is patient to a fault sometimes and I think that our flow can cut him down before he can make his decisions. And then Jerome Baker's played so well the last couple of games. I like the way his speed pairs up with Carter and Duke Riley's as well. Then when they get in the rundowns versus or short yard situations where it looks like it's going to be a run and

they want to hammer the rock. That's where I think a landing can kind of show off what he's done so well the last couple of years. Good matchup there on paper, and we finish up. Just took a sweatshirt off mid podcast. What do you think about that? Pretty good finish up here with these specialists. D v o A Jets Franks second in special teams, the Dolphins thirty one. Gotta get that number up. Jason Sanders has one missed

this year, a fifty plush yard last week. Also missed his first extra point and forever, but he's kicking at eighty three point three percent clip, including one on field goals forty nine yards and in Greg's rline. A little bit accuracy issues the last couple of years, but you know he's got the big leg. Just one missed this year and it came between the forty nine yard range. Also has one missed extra point, but he's three for

three from fifty plus. He's always been known for that big leg, and so this is one of those games where as soon as they cross midfield, they can start thinking about potential three point opportunities. And then Thomas Morstead averaging forty five point to per punt but has been nothing short of brilliant and flipping the field. And then Brandon Mann their punter forty five point seven yards per punt.

What's at stake in this game? I've been one to use cliches both as evidence and in something of a mocking tone, and frankly, I'm not sure where I come down on this one. That you gotta go five hundred on the road and when all your home games you do that, you'll get the twelve and four. Obviously, you can tell that's an outdated mantra because we don't play sixteen games anymore, so twelve and four is not possible.

And while I do fully agree that when it comes to divisional road games, any win is a massive one because you hold serve at home in your division, and you still wantn't you on the road get to five one in the division, You're going to be right in the mix there at the end of the year. So that's a stake, A chance to get to three and o in the division, a win over all of our biggest rivals and out to a four and one start for the first time since two thousand three. And also

all those would be in conference. How big would that be? However, some more notes here. Interestingly enough, did you know that for the first four weeks this year, home teams are actually under five hundred? Home teams are thirty one and thirty three this season, and that is a trend that

began to develop in the pandemic impacted season. Naturally, you could assume that limited fans or no fans at all in some places would lessen the impact of home field advantage, but this number includes one as well, including post season games in road teams were one thirty two and one thirty six, almost five hundred. Last year. That trend stayed similar.

You add sixteen more games obviously the extra week one thirty six and one forty eight for road teams, so the home and road splits are not that drastic anymore. But in the case of a divisional game, which coach said himself is like the moneyball at the end of the rack in a three point contest. Again, Ford one with three divisional wins foreign conference, that is about as good as you can start a season. Let's make it happen. The three keys of the game. Don't let Zach Wilson

get comfortable. Pressure and blitz him for man pressure looks. Whatever the case, maybe keep him uncomfortable and you'll do just fine. On Sunday. Number two, continued success attacking the intermediate part of the field, talking about the linebackers, sucking those guys up, throwing the ball to their biggest vulnerabilities on the defense in terms of coverage. Go after that intermediate portion of the field. Number three, Finish plays. They're

gonna give you opportunities for takeaways. Finish them, Finish your big play opportunities, break tackles in the open field, Finish on special teams, cover kicks, make your kicks. All the above finished plays. That's it. That's the previous podcast. Friday, Antoine Staley is going to join us, you guys know who he is, to help give us the Jets perspective.

We'll talk to some college football, will open up the Twitter mail bag, and then it's onto the weekend for Jets Week and then Mariners playoffs in college football this weekend, big big sports weekend this weekend. In the meantime, that's gonna be my time you all, please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Leave us a rating, leave us a review. You can follow me on Twitter

at Wingfold NFL, follow its eam at Miami Dolphins. Check out the fish Tank podcast with my guy Seth and Juice, our postgame show on w q A M five sixty. Also the weekly Twitter Spaces show every Wednesday at eight o'clock. We did take this week. I'll back you guys next Wednesday. Check out the YouTube channel for Dolphins Today, Media availabilities, and of course, last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, finds up Caroline Daddy, He's coming home.