Dolphins Panthers Week 12 Preview

We'll look at the matchups position by position. We'll give you the three keys to this game, how Miami can win the game, and an intro into the Panthers. Will also pick the week twelve games. Here on this Wednesday edition of the Drivetime Podcast from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drivetime Podcast Miami Dolphins. So it's a preview day and another quick reminder that this is the last episode of the week.

We're gonna take the next two days off for the holiday, and I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving ahead of a big game on Sunday, A big one that basically is an elimination game between Miami and Carolina. In many ways will recap the game on Sunday night, but today we're previewing Dolphins versus Panthers. His Miami kicks off a three game homestand here with a week in between for the bye week, so a nice month long stretch here at the beautiful hard Rock Stadium. It's year two

of the Matt Rule era in Carolina. He signed a seven year contract two years ago to leave the college game, where he turned around two programs that were not having a bunch of success before his arrival, both in Temple and Baylor, and in both of his first two years in Carolina, they started out strong, then hit some bumps in the road last year never recovered. But this year they got some new life with a mid season signing of a familiar face and the former and now new

starting quarterback came Am Newton. And that's kind of the crux of this rebuild, right the quarterback position. We obviously won't see how it shakes out with Justin Fields or even Mac Jones for another few years, but Carolina chose to send some high picks for Sam Donald in lieu of selecting one of those two key quarterbacks in favor of cornerback j c. Horne, who was the best cornerback

in the draft. So not arguing that fact, but the quarterback position pretty important, and they ultimately wind up bringing back the same QB they had when Rule took over and Cam Newton. To me, that is fascinating and really their last playoff appearance was the last time Cam had

one of his big seasons. In His passing numbers didn't pop that year, it was just an eighty point seven passer rating, but his rushing numbers seven hundred and fifty four yards and six touchdowns on the ground that eighteen season, you might recall he fought through some injuries and had a better passing rater, better passer rating easy for me to say, and better passing numbers all around, but he did rush for two fewer, two t tds and three

hundred a few yards. Get through it, Travis. As the Panthers regress from eleven and five to seven and nine, Cam then misses all but two games in twenty nineteen and the trapdoor falls out to five and eleven and that's the end of the Ron Rivera era. And in year one of Matt Rule, they go five and eleven and I think they were even three and three at one point last year, so the back end of the season kind of fell away got away from them there in year one under Matt Rule, and the philosophy for

that team was to load up on the defense. Every draft pick they made in that first campaign was on defense, all of them, and boy did it work. They feature one of the league's best defenses. And they would be even stronger if they had their first round pick on the field and J. C. Horne because he looked awesome

in limited action. But they also made some solid picks on offense this year, so that roster is beginning to round out for them, and I think this will be a team to contend with in a year or two, provided they do find that long term answer at quarterback, which obviously is the toughest thing to do in the league. But they have their guy for right now in thirty two year old Cam Newton, and who knows, that's not

that old. Maybe he is the long term answer there. Hell, he's still obviously an effective runner, which they have always been a true has always been a true differentiator in his m v P type of career, where he's posted up some gaudy numbers year in and year out, going back to his time with the Panthers the first time around, and that's where he kicked this thing off here the Carolina quarterback versus the Miami safeties as we do every week on the Preview podcast here, So the Dolphin's got

a chance to see Cam twice last year, which I believe is somewhat beneficial this year, even if it is in a different system with a different jersey on Josh Bowyer talked about this in his Tuesday presser about how with a quarterback like Lamar, there are some similarities in that quarterback run game, but I think we can all acknowledge they are different styles of runners, like Lamar is gonna run by you, where Cam could drop that shoulder

and run right through you. And in a game where I think most games are decided by red zone success and those four point swings aside from turnovers and takeaways and all that fun stuff, the quarterback run game in that area is such a challenge to contend with. This guy has seventy two rushing touchdowns, sixty of those with

the Carolina Panthers, twelve last year for the Patriots. Not bad, and we saw what that backfield was able to accomplish in those real special years, whether it was Stewart and Williams with Jonathan Stewart, D'Angelo Williams, or even today with Christian McCaffrey. On Sunday, Cam rushed ten times for forty

six yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for a goal to go touchdown the week prior and through for one in that area of the field in a game where he scored two touchdowns as a special package option behind starter P. J. Walker. Now, I think the game's last year show you how Miami was able to adjust to what Cam does so well because the Patriots had a lot of success on the ground end Game one

with that quarterback lead quarterback power tough to stop. And he goes fifteen for nineteen in that game for one fifty five and uh freshes for seventy five yards on fifteen carries on the ground and two touchdowns in that game. Then in game number two down here in Miami, seventeen for twenty seven for two oh nine and just nine for thirty eight and no touchdowns on the ground. So extra hats in the box, a man in every single gap and bringing the gang tackling to the party, those

are your keys. Cam was one for one on twenty plus yard throws last week for twenty seven yards, went right down the middle. It was a Christian McCaffrey touchdown reception actually, And he also completed five of six in that ten to nineteen yard range for sixty seven yards. So he had plenty of success attacking the second and third levels of that Washington defense. But against the blitz he was six for nine for forty five yards with

no touchdowns and no picks. Fifteen for eighteen with one forty four and two touchdowns when he was not blitz. So Miami blitz is a lot. Maybe that's the answer here for Cam Newton, he was just three for six with nineteen yards when he was under pressure from that undermanned Washington defense. And when you blitz, you have to stay gap sound and also clog up his escape routes because we don't get him in the first wave. You know,

he's gonna find different lanes to get through. Continue to bring that pressure through multiple gaps and where the safety's coming to play here. I mean, that's kind of been the script the last few weeks, right, A fun script to follow as these two guys in Javon Holland and Brandon Jones continue to provide pressure and contribute as pass rushers in the run game and in coverage as well. And that translates to the running back position too, because

we'll go to that next year. The Dolphins linebackers versus the Panthers running backs and Christian McCaffrey. I mean, this guy does it all. He motioned out on Sunday and caught that touchdown pass on a steam route, which is basically like a tight end or a big slot receiver type of play where he gets over the top of the linebacker and makes a nice catch off the top of the helmet. It was a great throw from Cam, but I think it speaks to McCaffrey's abilities to really

play any position on the offense. You have to locate number twenty two every single snap. The only thing that was basically holding him back from m v P type of production every single year has been his availability. Forty seven touchdowns in fifty one career games. He average is a buck fifteen of yards per from scrimmage per game. In those fifty one games. He played just three games last year. He's played six this year, so he's missed

some more. But when he's played sixteen games in nineteen nineteen hundred sixty five yards from scrimmage and thirteen touchdowns, then twenty nine two yards from scrimmage and nineteen total touchdowns, he is a problem. He's elusive, he's decisive, he's got tremendous hands, he can hit home runs. He's tough enough to grind out yards inside. I don't know how many other ways I can say it. You've gotta find number twenty two and you have to tackle. He's averaging three

point oh four yards after initial contact. He was at four point seven three on Sunday against Washington. And that's just as a rusher, which is twelve in the NFL among backs who have played over one hundred snaps of this season. His fourteen runs of ten plus yards are fifteenth most in the NFL. With just ninety rush attempts, Nobody else is in the top sixteen. Nobody else that's in the top six team rather has fewer than one and twelve rush attempts. So he hits big plays at

a high frequency. You have to find a way to limit that. And the Patriots actually had the most success against him this year just three point seven yards per rush and no touchdowns. And they did it by crowding the line of scrimmage and challenging the Panthers to beat them through the air with that strong secondary. And again that was Sam Donald, not Cam Newton, so a different story there, but that is still the idea. In the passing game. He caught four for fifty four in that

game and it was against linebackers and safety. So you look at some of the speed Miami has between Holland and Jones and Baker at those positions and the idea of double teams, that's what I would do. That's what New England did when he flexed out, double him, bracket him. I'll be curious to find out if Miami does the same. And also, don't forget about a Mere Abdullah or Cuba Hubbard.

Both those guys have home run hitting ability to so do not let those guys hit you for big plays because if they do, that's when you're in some real trouble. And if you can do that, then you need to win the one on one matchups. At our next position, preview Caroline receivers and tight ends versus the Miami cornerbacks. And again there's plenty more speed here to go around, and it largely funnels through two guys aside from the tailbacks.

At least. D J. Moore has ninety nine targets this season, Robbie Anderson has sixty one, and the third highest targeted receiver is Terrence Marshall Jr. At And then the highest targeted tight end is Ian Thomas with nineteen targets. So Dj Moore, Robbie Anderson, Christian McCaffrey all your top three guys by a long shot there, and Moore and Anderson are both speed merchants, but More is just a pure, polished,

clean route runner across the board. He does it all sure handed, seven hundred and fifty one yards and four touchdowns this season with a sixty two point six percent catch ray and ten point seven a dot. So he gets vertical and he catches a lot of balls, and that sounds like a good draw for me. For xaviing Howard because of the physical nature of his game, the reaction ability, and again the high volume of targets creates more interception opportunities for x Right. We talked about that

earlier this pod. Earlier this season. If they want to throw to a guy regardless of who you put on him, put X over there. If you get ten targets, you have a good chance to get in a pick. So do that, but also disrupt his timing, and if you can really match up on more one on one, that

could change the entire game from Miami. If they can wipe him out with Xavien Howard, and especially to disrupt that timing with a new quarterback at the position, that could cause some some chemistry issues when they probably don't have that down just yet. Robbie Anderson leads the team with twelve eleven point two yards of average depth of target. That's typically been the type of guy that Byron has

matched up on. But again, if guys don't travel in the defense, and as those receivers move about the formation, then you're gonna see everybody at one point or another. But I think that Anderson on Jones is a good matchup because Jones has a great recovery speed and he can gamble a little bit on the short stuff and then get back into phase and recover deep if you have to. And the Panthers, you know, don't really have

a primary slot guy. That's where McCaffrey and Ian Thomas or even Tommy Tremble operate a lot of the time.

So I think that you can get some jams and chips with brackets on McCaffrey when he does go out into those condensed splits or those nasty splits in tight but the rest of that interior portion of the field, if you can lock up those guys with brackets and doubles and zone and you get your two best corners on their receivers out wide, I think that's maybe the formula here, or at least one of the possible options.

But I'll be curious to see what Javon Holland's role is this week because there's a lot of areas they could use him in, and since McCaffrey doubles as a receiver, maybe it's more of a three safety game where you get Eric Rowe more of a full time workload in addition to Jones and Holland playing full time, and what he does best is matchup on the tight end. We're providing a sure tackling safety inside against the Panthers run games. So I'll take a look at Eric road this week

and think maybe he plays some more snaps. But Carolina has deployment on offense this year also makes them challenging. Eleven personnel of the time, that's one receiver or rather one running back, one tight end and three receivers. Twelve personnel is nineteen one back, two tight ends, and then twenty one person snell is nine percent primarily McCaffrey and Hubbard, and then two personnel which is two backs, two tight ends for seven percent with McCaffrey, Hubbard, Thomas and Tremble.

And I'll invite that package that means only d J. Morris stays on the field. But it's a good package still. But the Dolphins will have to keep their substitutions on

point because they love to make those changes. But they can also get to those different types of formations and looks because of the flexibility of so many players they have, so like, really, if McCaffrey and Hubbard are both in the game at the same time, you might think, well, we have to get linebackers out there, because two running backs means a running play and you take your defensive

backs off the field. Then all of a sudden, they flex McCaffrey out and he's one of the most dangerous slot receivers in the game, and all of a sudden, you're against eleven personnel in your based defense, which means linebacker on McCaffrey, and you can't have that. So it's a challenge. Robbie Anderson's catching just forty five point nine

percent of his passes this season. We know he wants to go deep and get the ball in the perimeter, up wide or up up top for those deep balls, and that and the sidelines are the two primary options you want to look for against cover zero, and the out routes are okay, we'll take those. He's got three touchdowns this year, usually they come from deep. He has a fifty seven yard but also a seventeen yard and a seven yard of the season. But I think he's the guy on this offense you can go one on

one against. Also, the best way to slow down all that speed is to get after it in the pass

rush game. Which brings us to our final matchup on this side of the football, the Carolina offensive line versus the Miami defensive line, and Carolina has allowed the second most pressures in the National Football League this year with one d and forty four, and Cameron Irving is usually one of the starring tacklers, but he's on I R. He's accounted for twenty one pressures and at right tackle, Taylor Moten has allowed twenty one pressures but no sacks and just two QB hits. John Miller is a guy

you might remember from the Buffalo days. He is also on the starting lineup. He has twenty pressures allowed in four sacks. On the interior center Matt Parrotis is also down on I R. He had allowed six team pressures this year, but his replacement, Pat l Line has allowed just five pressures this season, so he's been solid. And Michael Jordan has four team pressures allowed. Not that Michael Jordan's three sacks and three hits, while Dennis Daily four

team pressures, two sacks and four hits. This offensive line is banged up. Deontay Brown, their big rookie, also on I R designated for return. We'll see if he comes back this week or if not. But he's a massive, massive man at three and fifty pounds. So whoever the quarterback is, they've been under drest this season. That's where

Miami really needs to win on defense here. If you can take out Anderson and Thomas with one on one and you can commit more attention to more McCaffrey and get after their quarterback than you should have some success. But how do those numbers translate to what Miami does well well? Molten pitch day shut out last week going

against Chase Young's back up in Washington. The best game from an opponent against Molten was Charles Amena, who from the Texans, and he's one of those long, heavy handed guys like the two guys we have here in Phillips and Agba, and something to note, he's their best lineman at right tackle. He'll see plenty of Agba. Hopefully a Manuel can have the same success Amena who did in that game. Dennis Daily is the left tackle, so maybe

some Phillips and Van Ginkle over there. But he was hit for four pressures against the Patriots three weeks ago. He's played three different positions this season and actually was injured in the game last week against Washington, So maybe they have to go even deeper into their tackle depth and go to rookie Brady Christensen from b y U and some Panthers fans on Twitter that I follow have not. He's been struggling so far this season in his rookie

year when he does get a chance. He did play forty one snaps in that game and did not allow a pressure on twenty six pass blocking snaps, but he was removed from the lineup earlier in the season when he was hit for twelve pressures and back to back games against the Eagles and Giants. That's an area of Miami needs to exploit here to help the defensive backs on the back end and limit the Panthers from being

two dimensional on offense. If we can find a way to take out the passing game, I would feel really good about this matchup for Miami. Michael Jordan was called up again, Not that Michael Jordan, guys, it's a different guy, even though the same Carolina Blue he was called upon

in Week six. He allowed no pressures against Arizona, but it's been three, three to two and four pressures allowed in the other games, the four last week against Jonathan Allen and the boys up in d C. I'm looking for similar success there from Seeler becaus I think he kind of mimics what Alan does well and ray Kwon Davis with the size and strength and power, but then also obviously Wilkins and Butler and all the strengths they have.

Elf Line has not a lot of pressure in his last three games, which includes eighty one pass protection reps. So the tackle positions I think for on both sides of the football here are going to be key in this game for the Dolphins and Panthers. And we now turn the page over to the Dolphins offense and start with the Dolphins quarterback versus the Carolina safeties. And these Panthers safeties, well, they're legit, much like much of their defense,

especially Jeremy Chin. He's kind of your Christian McCaffrey on the other side, and that you've got to figure out where the heck he is every single snap. He's basically

Derwin James. Guys, He's really really good. He plays all over the formation and that helps the Panthers create the one on one matchups with their rush game the way Holland and Jones can do that here and do what does have the worth lowest sack per drop back rate in the NFL, and think about that with the way things have gone this year, what an upshot that is for him. And he will have to be active in that area again in this game because they bring the pressure.

We'll talk about that here. More than just one second they bring the extra rusher on blitz is thirty two point one percent of their defensive snaps. That's the sixth highest rate in the National Football League. Too has played two of the other top ten blitz rate teams in the NFL, and he had two of his best games against Jacksonville and Baltimore earlier this season. He's starting games

really sound. He's taken Miami down for opening drive touchdowns and four of six starts this season, and in the fifth game against Buffalo took him down for a field goal. So you want to see that continue. But hopefully this offense can keep that momentum going into the second quarter where the offense has struggled before they pick it back up in that second half. The splits between quarters one, three, and four and even overtime for twa compared to his

second quarter splits this year, they're completely different. I want to see that change this week, hopefully. And Kirk Cousins had the best day against them with three hundred and seventy three passing yards, but the next highest was Zack Wilson for the Jets on opening day, and it was mostly garbage time where he threw for just two oh seven and that's it as far as teams that have thrown for over two hundred yards on this Panthers defense, it is tough, tough, sled and second defense against the

past our Carolina. What a weird sentence that was, Yoda. Jeremy Chin has thirty five pass rush reps this season, and Justin Burrst, their other full time safety, has just five. So again it's Chin down around the la of scrimmage. You gotta pick him up. A big week for the backs and pass protection Miles Gascon a big week for him. Chin has eight pressures on those thirty five pass rush attempts. He also has twenty eight run stops, which are second most on the team, number twenty one. You gotta find

that guy. Dolphins receivers and tight ends versus the Carolina cornerbacks out wide, no j C. Horn, but they did add an all Pro and Steffon Gilmour, and he already has two picks on just fifty coverage snaps this season. That's kind of what he do. He was brought along slowly, play the season high nineteen coverage snaps last week and thirty seven total reps, doubled his previous high for Carolina, so you'll probably see plenty of him. I'll be curious

to see if he travels. You have to imagine they'd want him on Wattle best on best there. But we'll see Dante Jackson plays a lot on this defense and has had a really good year on the outside. He has a pair of I and T s, and teams will test him a lot because of the other pieces they have in that secondary, and he's held up well for the most part. Allowed only one catching back to back games two and three weeks ago against the Patriots

and Cardinals. Then Washington went after him five catches on eight targets for eighty six yards and Terry McLarin got him deep on a fifty fifty back shoulder ball in that game. So maybe you look at Hollins or Williams, maybe even Big Mike to see if you can try to body him up there with some size of the position inside. A J. Boyer is a guy that could see plenty of Wattle in that slot position, or Albert Wilson,

even as well he plays strictly inside. The Dolphins might think about operating a lot of those stacks and bunches and short motions to help create those matchups and get your best a guy inside there. They are really really deep here with those guys who mentioned, but they've also got C. J. Henderson and Keith Taylor, who has kind of been supplanted by the return of Gilmore. But they have plenty of guys out wide that can play for them. On the interior. This is where things get pretty tough

for this Panther's defense. Like we talked about on the other side of the football, this is a huge matchup. Brian Burns has thirty three pressures this year. He has a freaky athletic bend and ability to get around the corner, active hands, a NonStop motor. He's one of the very best in the game. You have to stay out of long down and distances and do not let this guy

get one on one matchups too frequently. The Patriots played the Browns two weeks ago and they NonStop ran the football at through screens at and ran end arounds in the direction of Myles Garrett. That's the kind of impact Burns can have, and I think you might have to go with something similar. He's the kind of guy that makes you change your plan to account for him because he can wreck any game he plays in. But if you put too much focus on him, Hassan Reddick has

been just as good. Thirty one pressures, ten and a half sacks, Burns has seven. They've combined for twenty QB hits and twenty two TFLs, sixty four pressures, seventeen and a half sacks, absolute game records. That's the biggest challenge for my money, I mean, the tackle position has been a challenge this year from Miami. That's where they're gonna line up at So trying to find a way to help those guys will be key, and that means some one on one matchups inside for a guy like Derek Brown,

who is pure power. So Miami's gonna need Jackson and Hunt to be those big, powerful, nasty dudes. They typically are. Austin Ryder as well. They're gonna have to be able to withstand the power and bulrush moves that heat provides, and don't let him get you out leverage because he can also win with the explosive first step. This defense is tough. Telling you the very very tough Morgan Fox is a good change of pace guy. He has six team pressures this year. De Kuan Jones has fifteen from

an interior position. Then there's a bit of a drop off, but with the way those outside rushers play in Miami, needs to be nearly perfect inside to hope to limit the damage those guys do off the edge. Finally, Dolphins running backs versus Panthers linebackers. We end up here with yet another strong unit for the Panthers and has led by former you dub Husky shack Thomp's in so maybe he'll be distraught comes Sunday from the Huskies first loss in the Apple Cup since he turned pro. I can

dream right. Thompson is a superb and coverage so if you want to throw screens to the back or flex them out, they're going to count on Thompson to take that away. But he also gives them so much flexibility in terms of zone or man rotation. He can get depth and key the quarterback and kind of take away some of those layers and crossers. He's also got a tie for the team lead with two picks, so he's a playmaker as a team. PFF has them with ninety

four miss tackles. PFR has it with eighty nine. Both metrics are most in the league and a big reason why they are twenty four against the run in terms of total yards allowed. The Dolphins need to have that balance to keep that pass rush at bay and run the football. Last week was a good look at what I thought was Miles Miles Gaskin's best game of the year.

We need more of that, and hopefully Duke can grow into his role because I thought he was good in limited action as well as far as special teams, they are twenty in d v o A. Miami's Zane Gonzalez is nineteen for twenty one this year. His only two misses are fifty plus yard kicks. He also has a fifty seven yarder they've hit. They've had three different punters this season, but right now it's Lachlan Edwards, who averages forty seven point nine yards per punt return. So maybe

some chances for Waddle and Holland this week. And as a punt returner, Alex Rickson averages eight point three yards per punt return on twenty returns this season. The Dolphins will win this game if they win the turnover battle. I think it's a big area of emphasis for this game. The Panthers are two and four when they have just one or fewer turnovers and one in five when they are negative in the turnover battle. So that's a big

key from Miami here. The Panthers will win if McCaffrey can impact the game as both a runner and a receiver. If he goes off, you have a small chance to find success on defense, and if that happens, I don't like Miami's chances. Three keys, keep an eye on Christian McCaffrey every single snap. There are twenty seven and thirty with McCaffrey in the lineup six and twelve without him. Key Number two keep everything in front and prevent explosive plays.

On defense, they have speed all over the offense. And number three protect the football again. Panthers two for are two and four rather with one or fewer turn ours this season and one in five when they are negative in the takeaway battle. My week twelve picks since we are not doing any more shows this week, last week twelve and three. Love to see it one oh eight fifty five and one on the season and Turkey Day

coming up the very best day of the year. Give me the Bears over the Lions, the Cowboys over the Raiders, and I'm hoping the Saints can pull it out. But Buffalo over the Saints on Thanksgiving Night. Give me Miami over Carolina, Pittsburgh over Cincinnati, getting some revenge there and coming off that tough loss in Los Angeles. I'll take the Bucks over the Colts, as the Colts are one of the hottest teams in the league right now. That's a dominant run game against the dominant run defense. But

no Vitave makes that interesting. I still take the Bucks. I think they're gonna hit a run here pretty soon. Titans and Patriots is the toughest one of the week because I think the Patriots can really apply pressure on what's been a bad Titans line this just this season. But give me the Titans to win that one and bounce back after a tough loss last week. Give me Philadelphia over the Giants. I'll take Atlanta over the Jaguars. I'm gonna take the Jets over the Texans, and den

Are over the Chargers. I think Vic Fangio's cover two can maybe give Justin Herbert some problems there. Give me Green Bay over the Rams. That's a tough one. To pick there, but I'll take the home team. Give me Minnesota over San Francisco. Hey, Niners, can you stop winning games and help that draft pick out for us? Give me the Ravens over the Browns and the Seahawks over the football team on Monday Night football. What are you guys having for Thanksgiving? Here's my power rankings of best

Thanksgiving foods. Stuffing or dressing, whatever you call it is number one. I love that stuff. Mashed potatoes number two. The turkey itself is number three. But it all goes together, you kind of mixed into a pile like a KFC Famous Bowl almost and eat like the slobs we all are. And then green being casserole. And if you don't slather it all in gravy, then it's all for not that's it. Enjoy the holiday. Everybody will see you back here Sunday

night to recap Dolphins and Panthers. I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving uh and we'll be back on Sunday for you guys. In the meantime, you all please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcast. Leave us the rating, leave us a review. You can follow me on Twitter at wingfold NFL. Follow the team at Miami Dolphins on all social accounts. Check out the Fish Tank Podcast with Bernie Cosar on Tuesday. You don't

want to miss that. One YouTube channel foll of our Media availabilities and Dolphins Today with Joanna Torres, Rachel Smith and Yours Truly, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, fins up, Caroline, Daddy, He's coming up.