Dolphins Patriots Preview

And on today's show, it's preview Day. We'll take a look at the matchups, the stats, the personnel, the scheme and all you need to know before kickoff on Sunday. We'll take a look at some of the similarities between these two foes. And here from Coach Flores on defending fullbacks Exaving Howard and steffon Gilmour, a pair of the NFL's best cornerbacks, and wrap this thing up with some

player media availability. All of that and more on this Wednesday, December sixte edition of the Drive Time Podcasts a Dolphins fans,

The New Year starts now at Auto Nation. Let's skip the rest of and get two big New Year's savings on your favorite Auto Nation Chevy's, Fords, Toyotas, Hondas, and a whole lot more shops safely at the Auto Nation store near you or Auto Nation dot com and save now today, I want to take a good look at this Patriots team, in this Dolphins Patriots game in general, and talk about some of the similarities and the key to beating a familiar opponent that you've played twice a

year and you're so comfortable or not comfortable but familiar with. But first, some of the similarities. Both the Dolphins and Patriots are number one and number two in terms of man coverage deployment, calling it at the highest rates in the National Football League. That comes from Pro Football Focus. They both operate and cover one similarly high. That's the single high safety patrolling the middle of the field with man coverage across the board. Now that's not all these

two teams are, as we saw Sunday. A few teams can mix it up like the Dolphins do, like Brian Flores and Josh Bowyer do. But in a league of expanding multiplicity, every team has certain things that they do more so than other things and kind of their I guess identity or their principles, And you can see it with this team based upon how they're constructed. Both of

these teams. I want to first start here with the video I put in Top News earlier this week with Dan Orlovsky of ESPN talking about the Dolphins defense, how it's not really replicatable unless is that a word replicatable unless you make the roster building commitment in the offseason the way the Dolphins did going out and signing Byron

Jones to pair with xaviing Howard. The top three safeties on the roster all have cover experience, with McCann row being former NFL cornerbacks and Brandon Jones having more slot reps last year at Texas than anywhere else on the football field, signing multiple defender and I'm using air quotes

there as he likes to be called. And Kyle of van Ney because he doesn't really have a position, he places all over the defense to help mix up your fronts and your blitz packages and the two sturdy, powerful ends off either side and loss in an og ba. But it does start with those cornerbacks. As Orlowsky said here on kJ Z on ESPN, Miami's got two corners that are incredibly physical. You know, Howard and Jones are physical, long, violent corners. Three interceptions box score, I get it. Two

of them are on tips. Okay, one of them is a ridiculous play by Ben Ginkle to get down on the ground tip the ball up, and the other one is a ball off tailbacks hands. It's a little high and hot, but so you know that you've got to take into context. And then that Howard interception, the one hander is a great play. I don't think that there's a lot that teams are going to take that my that Miami did that you can kind of replicate. You

gotta have the corners to do it. They don't. You gotta have the exotic pressures that that Miami does, and a lot of teams don't. And so and then he begins to go on talking about the Chiefs from their perspective in that game. But what he said is something the Patriots have done for as long as I can remember.

They've almost always had top shelf cornerback play, even when you go back to when they had Troy Brown out there playing legitimate cornerback positions back in their early Super Bowl days, and when the league started tilt towards nicol as the base defense with the introduction of more eleven personnel in the NFL, one running back, one tight end,

three wide receivers. When that became the norm in the NFL, the Patriots have always found a way to get three deep at that position, and they are right now with Stefon Gilmore, j C. Jackson, and really it's four deep because Jason mccordy has played five hundred and thirty snaps and Jonathan Jones has played five hundred sixty four snaps. So four cornerbacks that can go out there and lock guys down one on one individual matchups and they give

you strength and those matchups across the board. We've seen them say goodbye over the years to Richard Seymour, William mc ginnis, most recently Trey Flowers as they round out that front seven with versatile players through the draft, guys like Chase Winovitch for instance, and put a strong emphasis into that secondary, like signing Gilmore to that big contract a few years back. And so that's where we go between exaviing Howard and Stefan Gilmore, and Brian Flores has

coached both these guys. So he was asked as Wednesday press conference about some similarities between these two very very high level cornerbacks. You know, they're both very competitive, obviously, very talented, both have very good ball skills. Both both excellent players, so yeah, and they're both team first. Guys will be the first to tell you that it's not about um. You know, they're no personal situation, but more about the team. So both both excellent players. So Exaviing

leads the NFL and both interceptions and passes defense. We know the nine interceptions seventeen pass defense for Exaving Howard, and the passer rating against him is second best in the NFL among qualifying cornerbacks per Pro Football Focus. Last year, for the first time in a debt, gade a cornerback and Steffon Gilmore one Defensive Player of the Year award, and he did it with six interceptions and twenty passes defense.

So a few less interceptions and Exavian on track to get that many past breakups now Gilmore allowed just forty completion rate. X is at forty nine point three this season, and the yardage allowed us pretty similar with X on pace to surrender just a little bit more than what Gilmore gave up last year. Another similarity between these two teams is the use of a fullback. We know Chandler Cox on the roster. He's played something this year, and Yakob Johnson for the Patriots has the second most snaps

played among fullbacks. And we'll jump into this here in the preview in just one second, but I want to first go ahead and let coach talk about the difficulties of facing a fullback and is it more challenging in since not as many teams operate with the fullback. Here's coach on that it can't be challenging. I mean, they had a fullback then when they had a gap they

had they basically had a gap. So defensively, it's something that you know, we've seen and we have a fullback as well as so we've seen the you know, those types of plays. But they do a good job in a run game, they really do, and they've been able to, uh pick up chunks of yardage and I want to say they're top five in league in the Russian UM, so they've done a good job from that standpoint. The full back too, a big part of that. So, UM, you know, we're gonna have our work cut out for

us UM as far as getting that defended. H those are things will be preparing for it all week, UM as well as the rest of the things they do. I mean, this isn't just a running football team. You got play action and got dropped back. They got you know, they leave the league screen yardage. Uh. And then you know they played well defensively in the kiding game also, so they talked tough test. I did not know that

about the screen yards. They're good, good factory. They're from coach about defending a screen pass, as the Patriots again have done for so so long. They've done that so well in the screen game. And so with that, let's go ahead and jump into the Miami Dolphins verse New England Patriots Week fifteen preview. If you guys want to see the written element of this up on Miami Dolphins dot com, we have it there with some more fact

toys and notes and nuggets on this game. And you know, I was always I'm always looking for a good way to begin a serious story. I think the lead is obviously what kind of hooks the reader? And I was I try to avoid cliches, but in this game, I think you have to go back to you have to throw out the record books when these two teams get together, especially when it comes to playing in this building at

hard Rock Stadium, in December. The Dolphins have five victories since two thousand third team against the Patriots in hard Rock Stadium, and that's a five and two record, with four of those wins coming in the final month of the calendar. Of course, this game will take place on Sunday, December twenty one o'clock Eastern hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida.

Seventy eight degrees, sixty six percent humidity, seven mile priur wins Dolphins eight and five, Patriots six and seven, and with that record, a Dolphins victory would continue that particular trend in December, but the wind would buck another. Beating the Patriots on Sunday would secure a superior record for Miami to that of the rival from the North for

the first time since two thousand and two. Standing in the way of that accomplishment is one of the league's most well coached teams that rarely beats itself and has a pensiont for capitalizing on the mistakes of their opponent. And we jump right into the matchup highlights here. Number one, you have to stop the row with this football team.

You heard coach Flores talk about it. They are more than just the running game but that's where it starts with this team, and the Week one meeting between Miami and New England probably feels like an eternity to go for me. It does on a football timeline. It kind of was Week one versus Week fifteen. It's it's different eras basically, I mean, the Patriots ran the ball for

two and seventeen yards on forty two rushing attempts. That's five point one seven yards per carry and giving the NFL their first real glimpse of what Josh McDaniels would do with this new quarterback and Cam Newton going from Tom Brady for so many years two decades there in New England to Cam Newton a big contrast and style, and Newton's one and thirteen carries this year our third most among all NFL quarterbacks. You can probably guess who else Kyler Murray and Lamar Jackson one and two in

that category. But since the Week one game, the Dolphins defense has tightened up significantly against the run, allowing nearly half of that season opening total at one twelve point two rushing yards allowed per game on average, and the Dolphins defensive tackle play has a lot to do with the production of the run defense. Ray Kwon Davis and Zack Seiler are tied for fifth with Davis and first respectively there for Zach Seiler among interior defensive lineman in

run stops since Week nine per Pro Football Focus. That kind of reminds me of one of those stats from Major League You know, Almani is batting to thirty eight in the month of September with left handers on the mound and the Moon and Sagittarius. But it does contribute back to how those guys have elevated their level of play to go along with Christian Wilkins, who missed two games over that period, but he's ranked seventh for the

entire season in that category. Withal was within two yards of the line of scrimmage, So those three guys up front. I talked about it on Twitter and Top News the other day, or no, it was inside the Numbers where I talked about how all three of these guys are under contract for the foreseeable future, with Davis obviously in his rookie season, Christian Wilkins in year two of that rookie contract, and Zack Seeler just got an extension through

three season. But I think these three guys have contributed big time to the improvements in the run defense, and both Wilkins, who is fifth, and Davis, who is ninth, they both ranked top ten and ESPNS run stop win rate up on ESPN, So good stats there for you, and only the forty Niners we talked about this utilize a fullback more than the Patriots. The Niners rushed for one and twenty eight yards in that Week five loss to the Dolphins, but thirty seven of those yards came

on one where he most dirt run. So Miami did pretty good throughout the course of the rest of the game to put the Niners in long yard situations and that led to what several takeaways in that game as the Dolphins thwarted that two back offense with Kyles Check and Raheem Mostard and and Jeff Wilson and all the backs they have there in San Francisco to create those third long opportunities, and on third and seven or longer, New England is converting only clip compared to fifty seven

percent conversions on third and six or shorter, So getting that run game stopped forcing third longs will be a big key in this game. Up next, special teams and ball security. We've we've heard coach Flora's talk about the kicking game relentlessly, and we know who else has a big, big affinity for special teams up there in New England with Bill Belichick. Both the Patriots and Dolphins, as a result, have top three special teams units according to pro To

Football Outsiders d v o A metric. The Patriots scored on a punt return and a blocked field goal return and their forty five to zip shut out of the Chargers back in week third team. But the Patriots have a history of putting clamps on a rookie quarterback. And here's where the ball security comes in. The over Belichick's career with the Patriots, first year signal callers are just five and twenty against the Patriots over those twenty one seasons.

Fortunately from Miami. All five of those victories came away from Gillette Stadium, where Belichick is unbeaten against rookie quarterbacks. He did put together a great road game scheme the other day or the other week that stumped Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert to the tune of his season low forty three point seven passer rating in that game. The Patriots have a plus seven turnover margin and their six victories this year, and in the seven losses that number

dips to negative six. So I mean the name of the game's takeaways, right, So a big key in this game protecting the football and winning on special teams and finally number three, taking what the defense gives you to a tongue. Valoa took ownership for some of the mistakes that he felt he made in the game on Sunday, just talking about how he didn't do enough to take with the defense gave him early on in the football game. And so I kind of wanted to look at the

passes thrown under ten yards through the air. And this season, Tongue Vloa is seventy six nine with six seventeen passing yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions on those throws ten yards and in he's also forty two of seventy four against the Blitz with four hundred and thirteen yards, six touchdowns, one interception, and a ninety four point O passer rating

against the Blitz per PFF. And the Patriots normally a team that likes to ratch it up the pressure, but this year they're blot of the ninth lowest clip of the time they bring an extra pass rusher. They play six defensive backs at the fifth highest rate in the league. They use dime or dime personnel of the time, and nobody uses more seven defensive backs packages in the NFL ont eight up next in that category. The Giants use

seven dbs fifty one times this season. So the Patriots almost three times as much as the second place team with seven defensive backs on the field. So you're gonna get a lot of opportunities where they're gonna not They're gonna play coverage. They're gonna have seven guys back in coverage and and force two to find soft spots and

find openings. And they can mix that man zone hybrid look and just do so much to confuse young quarterback and get pressure through their schemes, through their their stunts, their games up front. It's gonna be a tough, tough challenge for a young quarterback and I'm excited to see

how to can handle it on Sunday. As far as their scheme, the Patriots, they are twenty six and scoring offense and total offense fifth and rushing and twenty nine and passing And this is Josh McDaniels sixteenth season with the Patriots, and he's in year number nine of his second stint with the team as the offensive coordinator. And you know, a few teams have been able to match the flexibility and adaptability of this Patriots offense under McDaniel's tenure.

And this season, no team has more rushing attempts than the Patriots four and twenty seven. So they love to run the football. They also lead the league in snaps out of twenty one personnel. We talked about this Yakob Johnson, two running backs, one tight end and two receivers. Who and Johnson has those three and fourteen snaps play that second to Kyle, you check up there in San Francisco.

Defensively in New England ranks seventh and scoring tent and total defense twenty three and rushing defense and eighth in passing defense. They can get after on the back end of the secondary and they can move bodies off the line of scrimmage with that offensive line, two of their staples on this team. And despite blitzing just of the time on defense, there twenty seven point for pressure rate is third best in the NFL. Per Pro Football Reference,

this matchup is gonna be fun to watch. It's a good a good clash of styles between the Patriots and the Dolphins, and we also are getting close to an even point here in terms of the season series. The Dolphins lead the all time series against the Patriots fifty six to fifty four that includes the playoffs, but Miami are thirty eight eighteen all time at home against New England and Tongue Baowa through his first interception of the season last week, that broke a streak of a hundred

and fifty two consecutive passes without a pick. It was the third longest streak in Dolphins history. Not a bad start to his career, but after the interception, he bounced back. He completed nineteen of thirty one passes for two hundred and four yards and a touchdown. After his first career interception, we talked about xaving Howard allow. Let's go ahead and finish up with a note here on him. His next pick will be his tent that would tie a franchise

record that has stood since nineteen sixties. Evan with cornerback Dick Westmoreland. The Dolphins entered Week fifteen for the league, are tied for the league lead with twenty five takeaways on the season, and they have the best third down defense at thirty three point one percent conversion. Man, going through this preview, going through and looking at the Patriots and comparing these two sides, it got me so much more pumped for Sunday. Now, I feel like we're over

the hump. Its Wednesday, onto the Patriots. I can't wait

for this game. Let's go ahead and kick off player media availability with Dolphins center Ted Carriss, who first was asked about the fourth quarter offensive production the Dolphins had in the game against the Chiefs and some of the cast of characters who stepped in in place of the injured Davante Parker and Joachine Grant and Mike get Sicky, with Lynn Bowe and Malcolm Perry and Mac Hollins and Adam Shaheen and those guys stepping up and making plays to get seven team points on the board in that

fourth quarter, as well as the leadership and ability for two of tow to help himself in that regard to make that push in the fourth quarter. Here's Dolphins captain and center Ted Carriss on that fourth quarter performance and the Dolphins next man up mentality they have, Oh, we made it a game at the end. I think that, you know, it was a tough, hard, fog game. Obviously didn't do not to win, especially in the third quarter, but to a really you know, show some great leadership,

a lot of grid. I think the whole offense did. I think our whole team did, you know, coming back and making it a game at the end. Obviously there's a bunch of players that I wish I could have back personally, and I'm sure a lot of guys feel the same way. But um, you know, we're working hard, and you know now we're onto you know, New England here and getting ready to roll in in the biggest game of the year. And no need for any introductory

analysis on this. Next question for Ted Carriss because he was asked about something we opened the podcast with and the similarities between these two defenses and how that might help or maybe you know, be a challenge for the Dolphin's offense this Sunday against the Patriots. It's pretty similar. Obviously, there's gonna be some nuances. Um, you know, a lot of the structure may be the same, but they have

really a lot of really good players. So do we I think that you know, um, we're both matched up pretty well against each other, and we're you know, kind of in the in the same family of defenses at least. Um, and we've had some preparation, but it's all gonna come down to, you know, in game adjustments and how we've prepared throughout the week and then when we get on the sideline after you know, after drive, whether we score or not, making adjustments to see what, you know, what

they've declared they're gonna do in the game. So, um, that's where we're focused. I think it's gonna be a great game and we're ready to roll. Let's go ahead and finish up here with Ted for my question for him regarding Belichick's record against rookie quarterbacks and how that can be a challenge for to in this game, and how Ted has a role this week to help get to and the offense prepared. Here's Ted on his role going up against this Patriots defense and Sunday on Sunday

at hard Rock Stadium. Yeah, my main job, you know, mostly every week is identifying the fronts and helping him, um, you know, identify the mic point obviously, as an old line. You know, we're gonna have to do our part in protection and the run game to make him feel comfortable. Um, you know, I think that coach Belichick is obviously, you know, one of the you know, greatest coaches to to be around the league. And and you know, he schemes it up really well, and he you know, he he knows

his opponents and tries to explore their weaknesses. So, um, you know, we're going in with a good plan. I have a you know, um where we feel confident with our game plan and but it's on us his players

to go execute it. Let's go a little further out along the line there to a player that plays both in line and flexes out and Durham Smith, Dolphins tight end, who was asked about the possibility of how an expanded role if Mike get sick he cannot go on Sunday after his injury against the Chiefs, here's Durham Smith talking about kind of having the same approach every week, knowing the entire game plan that so that in case of the emergency break glass, in case of emergency situation, he

can step in and fulfill whatever roles asked of him. Well, I think at this level, uh, you kind of have to go into every week with the same mentality, um. And that's kind of something that I've I've tried to do, you know since college is just you know, the entire game plan, um, every role within within our tight end room. So I mean, from that standpoint, uh, just kind of status quo in terms of in terms of knowing everyone's role.

And speaking of Mike GA Sicky, I think if you don't know by now, those two guys are best friends, he and Durham Smith, and they they came into the NFL together in the same draft class. And you can kind of tell a little bit of ribbing here between DRMA and Mike and the best friend relationship they do have, because here's Durham talking about coming into the league with Mike A. Sicky and watching the evolution of his game,

his development from year one now to year three. He makes a little joke here at the beginning about Mike going in the second round Durham going in the fourth, and then gives us a great answer about the evolution of Mike A. Sicky's game. Well, first of all, you mentioned the second round, fourth round thing. I tell him every day that they made a mistake in that regard and it should have been the other way around. I stand by that, so that that was obviously an organizational mistake.

But um, I guess it's worked out in the long run here. Uh No, But I mean he's I mean I've known he's he's had this in him since we first got here. Uh. Um, He's progressed a lot in terms of you know, strength, understanding the game and things like that, but he's always had disability. I knew that from day one. Um, and you know this year, you just kind of was able to show it on a consistent basis. Things that you know, I've seen for the

last three years, everyone's starting to see now. Um. Actually he was just talking to him a little while ago. I know. Pro Bowl voting starts today, and I mean I'm doing everything I can to get that guy in because I think he's he's more than deserving of it this year. So um, it's it's been fun to watch, and uh, you know, I think it'll only continue from here.

Let's go ahead and finish up this Wednesday podcast here with starting quarterback to a tongue of Byloa, who was asked about the challenge of facing a Bill Belichick defense, that Patriots defense with all those players, all that scheme, all the pedigree and success they've had over the years. Here's two talking about the Patriots defense. I would say, I'm pretty familiar. You know, I grew up watching the

Patriots play, you know, and a lot of the Super bowls. Um. I would also say, you know, I've seen Bill a good amount at Alabama. You know, him and Nick are pretty good friends. So um, I would say, very similar in a way with is coach Saban with how how they go by doing things. But I know that there's gonna be a lot of challenges that his defense has

to offer our offense. And we just gotta be prepared this week for those you hear to talk about all those challenges, all the different mixing of We talked about the praise for the different fronts and coverages and blitz game or blitz packages and games up front. Gonna be the same story with the Patriots defense over there. They do a great job of mixing things up up Next here with TWA, and we referred to on the earlier portions of this podcast some of the similarities between these

two teams as far as schematics and styles go. On the defensive side of the football, too, was asked about seeing this defense from the Dolphins scout team and practice, getting a good look at it, and really getting that repetition down as far as what the Dolphins might see, what the looks the Patriots give them on Sunday. Here's two on playing against that Patriots defense. Think O, Our scout team does a does a good job helping prepare

us offensively for for the games. It's all dependent on on the looks that we're going to get, and you know, I think the scout teams a good job at that. But there's always gonna be new things that are gonna pop up, whether it's a front or something happens in the back end. You just got to be prepared for it and um, you know, adapt to that change on

the fly. And up next too was asked about some comments that Patrick Mahomes made after the game regarding the performance of your Dolphins rookie starting quarterback and was really complimentary about Towa's composure being down on the scoreboard twenty points and not trying to execute the twenty point play that doesn't exist. We heard the coaching staff talk about

that in the Tuesday press conference. There's no such thing as an eight team point play on the field, and so TWA did more to to take what the defense gave him in that game. Here's two on the on where that trait comes from, if it's inherent within him, and how he's able to process things and move with that pace and really manage the flow of the football game.

I would say that's that's been our our motto or our little mantra offensively, as you take it one play at a time, um, you know, how can you do your best job up on just this particular play? Um? Moving forward? So it's really just the one play at a time mentality. Um. And if the play doesn't go well, then really it's the next step, um, you know, next play mentality. UM. But I think a lot of credit goes to our coaches and helping us preparing us for um,

those things where we're in passing situation. These guys are gonna get back. You know, take what they give you. They give you a flat, they give you a flat. If they give you a deep route, they give you a deep route. So truly take what the defense gives you.

Let's go ahead and finish up here with two of with a question about the loss of Mike Gasiki in the game on Sunday and the elevation of players that came up and played a bigger role in the game on Sunday and to us opportunity here to kind of grow and expand his leadership role and help these help the other guys come up and and be productive in the offense as well. Yeah, I think it's hard to replace,

you know, a guy like Mike. Um. You know, it's also hard to replace any of these guys like Davantage, Jachim Um. But it's it's next man up. And you know, the guys that that are ready to play, they're they're hungry to play, and this is just an opportunity for them as well. Um. You know, this is great time for for me as a quarterback to you know, show my leadership to the these guys, these um new guys,

and then also work my timing with them. And so there he goes, your Dolphins quarterback to a tongue of Byloa. For the rest of these press conferences, you can check them out on the Miami Dolphins YouTube page as well as Miami Dolphins dot com. Before we get out of here for today, we have the Wednesday injury report for you for your Miami Dolphins. Mike get Sicky and Bobby McCain the only two players who did not practice on Wednesday. We had one, two, five. Six players were limited participants

on Wednesday's practice. Running back Savan Akhmed, guard Eric Flowers, receivers jakeem Grant, Davante Parker both limited, and linebackers Eland and Roberts and Kyle van Neu were limited in practice on Wednesday. We had some players that were full participants. That list includes two a Tongue of Baloa, Shack Lawson, Solomon Kinley, Austin Jackson, Xavien Howard, and Cavon Fraser. For the rest of the Patriots injury port, go ahead and check out top news up on Miami Dolphins dot com.

I'll have that update for you guys as soon as that becomes available. In the meantime, that's gonna be my time you all. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Leave us a rating, leave us a review, give me a follow on Twitter. It's at Wingfield, NFL. Follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the Fish Tank and the Audible podcast, and of course Miami Dolphins dot com. Until next time, fins Up