Dolphins Saints Week 16 Recap

On today's show, I think you know what time it is. That's a seventh seventh straight win win win, win, win win. We only play that song on victory Monday's or in this case, a victory Tuesday earlier this year at victory Friday. But you get the idea. The Dolphins takedown the Saints twenty three and we have heard that song seven straight

weeks with a dominant defensive performance. As the Dolphins move into the seventh position in the a f C with two weeks left to play in the regular season, we'll get to the takeaways the individual performances, will play a segment from the post game show with myself and the guys from the Fish Tank Seth and o J will have some postgame audio from coach Flores into a tongue of Valoa as well from somewhere in South Florida in the early morning hours. This is the Drive Time podcast.

I want to go ahead and open up this podcast starting off with Brian Flores message when he was asked postgame about how this team was able to stick together and put themselves in the position they find themselves here on this early Tuesday morning. I think this team is stuck together really the entire year. Mm and I think you know, obviously we doubled a lot of versay earli in the year. Um and I think, you know, revealed a lot of real, real a lot, I would say,

reveal the character of the guys in our locker room. Um, you know, revealed you know that you know, some people with you and some people are on the fence. Um and Uh. I think our guys just kept fighting, they kept sticking together, and UM, you know, I think that's the support each other. When they work hard, they give great effort. And when you do those things, UM, you put yourself in position to get the results you're looking forward.

I wanted to start the podcast with that audio because I think it's instructive and also something you really want to hear if you're a fan of the Miami Dolphins, because that is by no accident of the construction of this football team and the things that have been prioritized by the Miami Dolphins for three years and that have consistently been preached by that guy you just heard, the head coach of these Miami Dolphins, that has Miami with their eighth win of the season after a ten win

season last year, eight wins through sixteen weeks this season hasn't in position that they're in right now to go out to Tennessee and play a meaningful football game on Sunday, and the most important game on the schedule coming up

is the next game with those Titans. But back to the point there, to be able to weather the storm of a one and seven start, to be able to put together a seven game win streak within that same within that same time frame or same season, I should say, which is the first team to ever do that in the history of the National Football League. Like coach Flores says, it does say a lot about this team and what else this team told us again on Monday night is

our first takeaway of the postgame podcast. Here the defense does the damn thing once again. The Saints go over twelve on third downs in this game, and they net five yards total on those third downs. Now, they were in the negative before Alvin Kamara rips off a nineteen yard run on third and twenty, but they'll still count just the same, so they do wind up with the five yards on those third down plays a hundred and sixty four total yards for the Saints offense. The Dolphins

registered eight sacks. That was the first time they had done that since two thousand and two or two thousand twelve. Rather excuse me, they have now BacT to back games in which they have recorded five plus sacks and five straight games with at least three sacks recorded, and over the previous seven games, Miami has forty three sacks over that winning streak, so over six sacks per game during the during this winning streak for the Miami Dolphins defense.

Within this game, they Emmanuel ab picks up two sacks, Jerome Baker one and a half. Brandon Jones puts himself atop the list of all defensive backs in terms of sacks in this league with his fifth of the season, Xavian Howard gets his first sack of the season, Zach Seler has a sack, Christian Wilkins and ray Kuan Davis both record a half sack each. And we'll have the updated season numbers for both the individuals and the team on the podcast tomorrow, taking a deeper dive into this

victory for the Miami Dolphins. But for now, I do want to go to head coach Brian Flores, who has asked post game about this defensive performance and the approach against Ian book credit to Josh the defensive staff. But we have a nice game plan, um, you know, mixing coverages, uh, mixing the for did a good job stopping a round run, which was a big emphasis. Um. But the guys just played. They played hard, they played fast, they gave great effort. I knew it was gonna be a sixteen of game.

We knew it wasn't gonna be easy. It was a physical Saints team. Uh. You know, Seawan had him ready, had some some made some adjustments in the game that then we had to make some adjustments. So though they had a good plan, um, you know, we we we just made a few more players than they did and you heard him say he liked the way Josh, which is Dolphins defensive cordinator Josh Boyer, the way he was

mixing the coverage with the rush. And I really thought that was the case all night as well, because multiple times I noted in Miami doing something a little bit different than the previous time on third down to get stops and changing the picture post snap against the rookie quarterback. Like early in the game, Byron Jones comes off the edge for a cat blitzer, a cornerback blitz, and he applies pressure on Book who asked to flee the pocket,

and winds up in trouble doing that. Later in the game, they get eight man coverage look with and the umbrella of linebackers like Andrew Van Gigel and Jerome Baker for instance, nixaviing Howard who also was part of that underneath shell, with the safety help over the top, and the Dolphins playing that ape man coverage, they had eyes on the quarterback, and Book, after surveying the field and seeing nothing there

against that ape man coverage, decides to flee. But because of that point, with all the eyes and the quarterback, they're able to just string him all the way out of bounds, and I think that was the play where xaviing Howard got the sack. And then later you have Alvin Kamara. He he he flexes out into a position where we kind of talked about this with me, Seth and o J right before this play happened, about how, notice how Alvin Kamara has just the one reception tonight.

That's a great job by this Dolphins defense to keep him kind of off the books in that regard. And as we're saying this, I said, notice how we know what Jalen Waddle can do for an offense and against the defense, and how they have not yet been able to neutralize his production. We were very excited about that thought.

And then outcomes Alvin Kamara into a position of where you can really kind of create a matchup for a guy where he's into a it's a nasty split, which means you're in close to the formation, in close to the two tackles on either side. And they also put him on a stack, which means he's behind another player aligned in that position, which typically creates a free release because you can't go press a guy through another guy. So Camara gets aligned into this position and Jones has

outside technique is the wide corner. I'm thinking, is he gonna take the top man off the stack? What's gonna happen here? Because Van Ginkle is also over there, but neither of them has capped Alvin Camara or anyone either of the two receivers on that stack, and I was wondering how that was gonna look, so I kept an eye on it, and they just they turned the point man on the stack free into the second level and

the safety closed down. That had to get closed from depth right there, but they bracketed Alvin Camara in a way that kind of kept him inside because when he has that free release and from that position close to the quarterback, he kind of has a two way go where he can either hit that kind of juke, move speed out and kind of leave the cornerback leaning inside, or cross space over the middle of the Texas route, the little angle route where you go outside back inside,

and that's a tough matchup to handle. But you throw that bracket on him and that creates a third and short or that wasn't the third and short rather, and it forces the Saints to punt right there. So I love the way they were able to mix the coverage with the rush there and change the picture for the rookie quarterback. And in the first half of this game, I do not have the next gen status of the

second half. Miami blitz book of his dropbacks, which was the most in one half for any team this season. So they wanted pressure, they got pressure, and it was effective all night long. To the tune of eight sacks. I wanted to make a quick note of Nick Needham and Van Ginkle on the pick six that really set

the tone for the course of this game. The Saints get that stop, the Dolphins defense comes out on the third play of the game, gets an interception that goes back for a touchdown, and from there it's just kind of changes the dynamic of the game in terms of how it was played, and I thought it let Miami

get into their offensive plan sooner. It let the Dolphins defense settle into that game, and it it made INDUCED made this point that when a rookie makes it play like that early in the game, he might now kind of having the back of his mind. While I can't let that happen again, so there's a possibility of second guessing. I won't say that he was, but it's something to think about, and that's why you set the tone early is certainly an important element, and that's what the Dolphins

did in this game. On that play, Nick need Um, I thought he was driving on the play before the ball even came out, so he was gonna be in good shape regardless of the tip or not. And I thought Van Geinkel to recognize on a third and two when books back foot hits the top of his drop and you see the hands start to separate off the football, he's got his eyes on the quarterback. And we've talked about this for years how important it is at the rush positions to keep your eyes on the quarterback and

have gap integrity within this defense. I thought Van Ginkle showed that with eyes in the quarterback and then to create distance between he and the man in front of him too. That helps you then get your hands up and get yourself clean so you can't elevate and try to swap the football down. And he gets a piece of the ball and it goes into that pick for Nick need Um in a huge play to get them

going seven nothing off the top. They're just fantastic work by the defense and before we get to our next takeaway here I talked about blitzing Ian book and getting effective pressure that way. Six of the dolphins eight sacks came with four or fewer rushers in this game per next Gen, and in fact, Miami's eleven percent sack rate without blitzing is the best in the NFL since Week nine,

since the winning streak began. That's insane. I mean, think about the guys with a ton of pressure production on the season, like it's a variety of things, but they can all really flash rush ability with you know, a consistent winning type of move that they have shown to be effective time and time again. Like Zach Seeler his snatch and pull up from that defensive end position. It's

getting guys every single week. Emmanuel Ogba the cross chop to get off that edge and then corner around the outside. It's getting home every single week. We've seen Jalen Phillips convert speed to power frequently. We've seen Jerome Baker get those skinny angles up the A gap and really put immediate pressure when he times up those blitz is right on the opposing quarterback. We've seen games work where there's different pick stunts we saw Brandon Jones set a pick

stunt tonight. We've seen Christian Wilkins do that all season long. In addition to his own ability all of a sudden where he's now becoming a just he was always a really good run defender in the past. Rush production has slowly just come along as well, but it's kicking up to another gear even this year. And then you have Adam Butler, the quick, good off and the way he can get by the imposing interior defensive offensive line. I should say, Andrew van Ginkol, I mean that little shoulder

dip and run around the corner. He's found the way to get pressure on the posing quarterbacks. So those are all guys that had pass rush production in this game, and you factor that with the ability to blitz the quarterback. That's how you wind up playing three games over a seven game stretch with only with zero touchdowns allowed, and the total touchdowns in those seven games six. It's pretty good. Takeaway number two. The offensive game plan should come as

no surprise in this game. In fact, to a tongue of Valoa, let's go ahead and let him kick off this segment, or let's takeaway I should say that the offensive game plan should have been no surprise to Dolphins fans out there. Well, we we always stress playing complementary football.

Uh so, the defense giving the offense the ball back in offense capitalizing on those turnovers, and then also in the kicking game, you know, whether it's a punt being able to back their team up and putting our defense in a good situation and vice versa with our our kick return and our punt return game. So it's you know,

it's it's definitely something that gives us life. Whether it's the offense scoring on the first drive or scoring in general, or the defense getting a big third down stop or getting a turnover and scoring, it's definitely something that gives I would say this team life very clearly stayed there by two a tongue of blow that when you've generated game plan for the Miami Dolphins, it's going to be about winning the football game. It's not gonna be three

singular elements offense, defense, and special teams. It's a general plan about winning the football game. And that might be how it is in every single organization, but we know for sure that it is here with the Miami Dolphins and the complimentary game plan. I mean, we told you about the Saints numbers on offense, and it's kind of one of those situations where if you just if you don't really lose the game offensively with that type of defensive performance, then you won't lose the game, if that

makes sense. And so I actually would probably give some love here to my co host on the post game show on five sixt w q A M to Seth Levitt and the analytics debate that he and I seemingly have every single week, whether it's on the podcast or on the post game show, or on the lunch Bunch on Friday afternoons and Instagram Live, whatever the case may be, we always go back and forth on that, and it kind of hurt my soul throughout the course of this game.

You guys know, I'm I love the aggressive mindset of of being aggressive on fourth down. The Dolphins have been that this season many of times and going for fourth downs, and even as I watched this game unfold and typically always fourth and short, go go, go, go go, my my my mantra there during the games watching the games. But in this game, you know, kick it away, let the defense do their thing, because they were so red hot and you kind of feel the flow of the game.

So in this particular instance, if maybe the numbers tell me I should go here, I think the game plan to play that complimentary style where you really just trust a defense is playing so well is a very smart play. And it might not be the sexy play or the attractive play, but you always have to appreciate the right play when you make it, especially when it's not the

sexy play. And I think that's what Miami came up with here and put together a football game where they just were in control from the outset because of that style and because of that approach, I mean we saw a third and twelve running play that's that's a field position play all the way. Kind of some quick game

on the short yardage as well. And now I did like the shot play at to Jalen Waddle in that situation towards the end of the half there where you have a second and kind of medium is long and you've got only thirty seconds or so one I'm out. I think it was that moment and you're right around the thirty or so yard line, the ball was just a bit wide and that very tight spot and the kind of to look that the Saints defense was in and that pylon shot. Uh, you know, there's no real

need to throw the ball. They're also in those last couple of drives. So to run the ball thirty times for eighty six yards compared to just twenty eight dropbacks to have a heavier run to pass balance, I think that's that's exactly how you want to play this game coming in and for Miami to be able to get to that and execute and achieve it, I think there's there's a tip of the hat to be made in that situation, and just real quick to finish up this takeaway.

I thought the combination of Duke and Lindsay was was nice to see both of those guys got thirteen carries. I liked what Philip Lindsay showed in the Wildcat. There's the overall decisiveness they've shown behind the line and they're limited work this year. I've really enjoyed seeing that. Let's get to take away number three, but real quick first these words. So takeaway number three is going right back to the rookie class and it's a one singular word.

It's just waddle. I think that Jalen Waddle's production this year and what he means to the offense. We've kind

of seen it down the stretch here. It's been so so impressive and just really quick on him in this game, ESPN showed the graphic late on the telecast that he tied Jerry Rice for the most catches by a rookie on a Monday night football game with his ten receptions tonight, just under one yards for him another touchdown, he goes in for his fifth receiving touchdown, his sixth total touchdown

as a pro. He became the Miami Dolphins all time rookie receiving guardage record holder tonight in that game or last night, I should say, and he's now within striking distance. Just five more to go from an Kwan Bulden for tying the record for all time receptions by a rookie in a season. And if they try to say, hey, he didn't seventeen games, No he didn't. He missed a game. So if he plays the next two games and he gets the record, that'll happen in sixteen games for him.

So good on Jalen Waddle. And just to further the point beyond the stats in the box score, here and what your eyes tell you, he just doesn't disappear from the game. I mean O J. McDuffie and I were talking about this during the during the broadcasting. Man, what a fun time we had watching that game tonight with him. Seth and Jason Sarni of fins Maniacs came over for the game and hung out with us in the in the Verizon I think it was Talent Lounge at the

five sixties studio there. I was awesome to have that little moment and hang out with him, and I hope you guys saw the promotion for the postgame show. Sarni got involved on that, but I was talking to O J about how Waddle just doesn't seem to have these games where it's like two catches for twenty one yards, like he's always part of the game plan, always finding

a way to factor into the equation. And Juice said that he thinks the reason that he's able to do that is because they do a great job of finding ways to make sure they move him around so he can't get taken away by an opposing defensive game plan. So that's highly valuable when your top guy is not I wouldn't say impervious to being shut down. But so far in his rookie season, he's shown you that he does not go away in games ever. Really, he also

catches everything. He's tough as hell and can maintain possession through contact, whether it's the ground, whether it's a hit, you know, whatever the case may be, he finds a way to hang onto that football opens up so much creativity for the offense, and again, really don't think we've seen what he's truly capable of in the vertical game.

So getting him and not just getting him, but acquiring an additional first round draft pick to go along with Jalen Waddle, you just can't do it any better than that. Takeaway number four. The offense had a rough night, and it started up front against a very strong States front with Cameron Jordan, with Marcus Davenport, with David Anya Mata,

with Marcus or Marshawn Lattimore in that defensive backfield. I just wanted to make a quick note about some of the mistakes that got on my radar in that first half that I thought killed some drives that otherwise had some promise to them, and it was either penalties or sacks early on. So on the first the field goal drive, the Dolphins first field goal scoring drive of the game.

There's a sack on third and four. That one just the it happened so quickly that it was you hope they can confer on that short yards throw the third and two call, there's a holding call that negated a first down on that play. It was a Eikenberg holding call, and they converted for big yards on a third and two and a pass over the middle to Jalen Waddle was the first drive of the second quarter, and that was the one where Eikenberg barely made contact with anybody

and was flagged for holding. And that one comes back, but still a mistake that that really winds up killing a drive there. And then second and one, there's a holding call on the missed field goal drive the fifty nine yard or and this holding call gets called in Austin Jackson to back them up. They would convert that. But later same drive, after getting to a first and short for or a first and five rather after a neutral zone and fraction, Michael Dieter gets hit with a

holding call. They get themselves back into position, but on that same series on a third and two, a negative nine yard sack which sets up a fifty nine yard field goal. But you know you you understand the thought here to this game. Again, like we talked about this, it's if you don't make the big mistake, you don't turn it over. With the defense playing the way they did, it's gonna be difficult to lose that game if you

can stay true to that plan. But again, those long drives do create more opportunities for penalties, for sacks, for mistakes. I mean, and we saw that. That's how that that plan kind of goes. You live and die by your plan. We saw that kind of rear its head at certain points in this game. You have the one turnover, you have the missed field goal in that game that costs

you some points. Obviously, by the way the Jalen Waddles hustle play to get that football back after the sack in the first on the Dolphins first field goal drive. Great great effort by that young man to get himself into the equation and not give the Saints an easy scoop up. I think it was either him or Ikenberg the film the football, but it was Waddles effort that kept the play alive to get a forty eight yard Jason Sanders field goal. But back to the idea, this

was a rough night for the offense. I thought in general to a you know, he missed that crosser earlier in the game against pressure, and this is a play that we've talked about on the altstly two or sometimes there's pre sure if the interior and one of those crossers comes right and behind that and they're open, and the ball does not always get there. I think that

was something we saw in this game. He kind of threw it wide and high of Miles Gascon at that throw, and then also later a third and short throw that came before another Standers field goal attempt that was high to Miles Gascon on an in breaking route. So I kind of hit those. Hopefully we get those ironed out

for next week and are better in those. I thought that the shot play to Waddle was a good idea and really close to good location, but just a bit wide on that and then the bad pick and let's go ahead and let to a break down that interception he threw and what he was going through on his process on that play just stepped up, and I thought I could give back a good back shoulder. Didn't expect him to break it across, uh like it happened, but uh,

you know, took a chance there. Obviously we could have just hit the easier throw, the easier passed to Jalen on the incut on that play. But it was what it was. You know, I think our defense did outstanding, um, giving us opportunities that you know, we obviously need to capitalize on. Uh, but that's that was done. So there

you're here too talking about the interception. Obviously, the big thing you take away from that is he talks about noticing Waddle coming across the middle of the field open on that play and just kind of going through what we you know, we we're gonna be critical when when it's called for and praise when it's called for as well, but you know, to just kind of being transparent about his performance on a night that we call not up to what I think we would all himself would agree

as his standard still goes nineteen twenty six for a buck ninety eight and a touchdown, passing a ninety one point five passer rating. I mean, he winds up with a healthy yards per attempt, just under eight yards per attempt for almost seventy completion he hit seventy against a defense or in a ninety point five passer rating, point one passer rating against a defense who last week held Tom Brady and that offense of passing game to a fifty seven point one passer reading just four point five

yards per attempt and fifty four percent completion. So I mean perspective here, right, It's all you can acknowledge the plays that didn't go your way while also appreciating the greater body of working in this game too. In the offense did enough to win the game within that game plan. But kind of back to the takeaway, just not super efficient five for fifteen on third downs, three sacks, two nine yards in the game. I think obviously you hope and expect to be more efficient and just more sharp

in the coming games. It wasn't there in the running game either, just three yards per carry for Duke Johnson, less than that for Philip Lindsay. Uh. Just to kind of further flash out this idea, I thought there was a left first down on the field on the Miles Gaskins second and nine conversion that Miami wound wound up not getting on the Brissette rollout that I thought could

have been. There was kind of left in the field there in terms of him getting past the sticks there, So all that in mine again, remember that defense shut out the Bucks and Tom Brady a week ago. The fifth takeaway coming up after these words, and the fifth takeaway here on the drive time Victory Tuesday recap edition is speaking of twa. How about the response after another bad pick? You love to see that, I mean, coming back from adversity is really what this game is all

about in that position for sure. And last week on the game winning drive, it was the touchdown throw and the second throw to Mike Asiki, but again the third and eleven touchdown throw to put the team of seven points late in the fourth quarter there was huge and this time it's a forty yard bomb, absolute dime to

get them off their own goal line. And just the situation there that the flow of that game, like e p A is a big stat right that e p A expected expected points added and the win probability added stats out there that had to have jumped pretty significantly on that play because you go from punting from your own fifteen yard line if that completion is not hit

and the Saints probably get the ball. I mean, think about att five yard gross in terms of the kick that puts them, you know, in the plus thirty five thirty yard range to get the football and that spot down by seven opposed to having the Dolphins with the football and plus territory on the Saint side of the field, which would wind up going in to score a touchdown to go by four team points. That's a huge, huge

swing in that game. And on after the interception was thrown, Two went six for nine eighty two yards and a touchdown after that pick Sol again, he bounces back in a big way with that nine play eighties six yard, four minutes and thirty second touchdown drive following the interception and mac Hollins. Let's talk about mac Hollins on that reception. I mean the inside release and the way he's able

to stack that defensive back. I mean he showed the outside release cross face and then got on top of him really quickly, and that gave to a clear window immediately, which is where I think he really excels in the vertical game when he can see it early and rip it early and anticipate that downfield shot. That's what you saw a lot of Obama was those handoffs. What I mean by that is the balls right on the money.

Mac stacks early to a let's it rip early. What it does is it gets the ball out before the past protection or the pass rush even factors into the equation. And it also gives you those one on one opportunities where if you can win early and go get the football, can create some big place down the field. It did in this game the early anticipation vertical shot to Mac. Great job getting that separation and also great job penning that punt down at the one yard line late in

that game. That was a fantastic play to stay right there outside of the white stripe. What a game this was. Dolphins win their seventh straight and again are in the seventh position in the a f c UH standings at this moment. Two more games to play. Next Sunday in Nashville against the Titans. Should be a fun one. But that's gonna do it for my time on this podcast. Tomorrow we have the All twenty two review podcast coming up.

Quick Turnaround Thursday for the preview of Dolphins and Titans, con Gemmy and the Mailbag on Friday, and the post game show podcast should be live on the Odyssey app on five sixty the best of five six w q A M and speaking of the postgame show, stay tuned after the outro here, Seth, o J and myself are gonna show you or talk to you rather about this Dolphins dominant defensive performance and the seventh Strade victory. 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. You can find me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL. Follow the team on all socials at Miami Dolphins. Check out the Fish Tank with Seth and o J. They have Marco Coleman coming in the podcast this week Into the Tank this week.

Check out our YouTube channel for all the media availabilities as well as Dolphins Today with myself, Joanna Torres, Anna Rachel Smith, and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com. Until next time, fins Up Caroline Daddy's filling in season or offseason. You and your car make a great team. Take care of it with Chevron with techron for unbeatable cleaning and mileage. It's a winning play. Chevron together ahead

and guys. We talked about the offense there a little bit, but I do want to go back to the defense because I think that was the story I mean of the game pretty clear. That really requires a whole lot of explanation. But again, the over twelve on third down. That's three straight games for Miami with five sacks, five straight games with three sacks, if you can put that together in your head, forty three sacks over the last

seven games. And I think the part that really impressed me the most juice was the way they finished out this game. There was a series in the middle of the fourth quarter where Seeler finishes up with a huge sack for eleven yard loss. Ogba then finishes them up with a huge hit, and then Eric Rowe comes in for a hit. You had Baker and Javon Holland combining for that sack and a big pop on the quarterback

they were finishing. These guys often kind of something that message to the rest of the league of this defense, they're gonna they're gonna bring the physicality to yeah. Man. They shut down any potential threat like from the beginning, and every single time they had an opportunity, it looked like to even get something going. I mean, you put the one st that out there over twelve on on

third down. That's that's that's getting it done. You know, I think one for one on maybe no one for three is I'm on fourth down as well, So one for fifteen on third and fourth down. Unbelieved. How how they did on on defense? There was really no true thread out there, and they tried to put a little drive together to him. The defense played their butts off man. And and that's where you know, we talked about it

over and over and over against why our bread is buttered. Uh. They got some guys over there that you paid some big buck to make big plays. And that's what they do, a mix of young, a mix of old, bringing in a bunch of different guys to make plays for his team. Man, it was fun. You know, you sit up there and you watch and see a team get eight sacks and it spread out through around the around the whole defense. You know, everybody seemed like they got a little piece

of you know, a book today and it was important. Yeah. Well, if you were listening to the hopefully you were listening, because that was a rough you know, that Monday Night crew was definitely not dolphin favored, that's for sure. But if you were listening to the game being called on w q A, m J T was ready to leave the booth. He said he was ready to go downstairs and try to get a few sacks himself. Yeah, he was.

He would have come out of retirement for I think the fourth quarter for this anime and then gone right back into the booth. But yeah, they were licking their chops, pinning their ears back, whatever phrase you want to use, and and it didn't matter if it was a defensive tackle, a linebacker, a defensive back. They were going after that young guy. Kept having the team meeting at the quarterback. Man, that's what you always want to do, man, you want

to have a team meeting at the quarterback. Tell you what I'm gonna tell you what they always said. And then when you hit the quarterback, the whole team feels it. And he felt it more than anything. They got a nice yeah book I saw, and he sold to beginning

his whole family there. Man. You know, I mean, that's a that's a tough way to get started, man, against a dolphin defense like that, Man, it's a tough way to start your career and get on the players, but also good in the coaching staff because something that Seth came in a little bit fired up about was he wanted to get after that quarterback from the opening snap,

and I thought they did that with pressure looks. They actually Next Gen Stats posted a graphic or that they posted a graphic on the on the broadcast from next next Gen Stats that Miami blitzed him of the passing plays in that first half and that was the most by any team in a single half this entire season. Use I love the way they change the picture on him. Don't make it easy on don't play some soft coverage

that gives him the easy opportunities. There was a great player early in the game, eight man coverage with eyes in the quarterback and Jerome Baker closes it down, or maybe he was xaviing Howard that got that sack. They throw the cat blitz with a cornerback Byron Jones off the edge. He never blitzes. That's a new look. Later on, you have Alvin Camara kind of in a close condensed set close to the formation and he has a possible option route there and they bracketed and take him away.

So I thought the game plan too, was fantastic from this Dolphinse coaching staff. Yeah, when you look at me, who are you gonna take away in this game? You have to you have to find a way. And he's more Dames, I think in the passing game than he is in the run game. So yeah, you get an opportunity. You got your you know, you got your guys ex and environ, you know, on on some one on ones. But then you get a guy like like Kamara and you bracketing. We'll call I know, got some own inside,

some money outside. Whatever you do, we've got to cover. And that's ideal. You know, you got a quarterback that's under a lot of pressure from the beginning of this game, and you gotta you know, running back that they're gonna run a shorter rouse with you bracket that. Then where as you go with the football, he gets sacked. That's what happened this game. So when you go with a defensive scheme like that, bringing some pressure, different looks, it

looks like guys are coming eight across. You know, some guys are bailing, some guys are coming off the edge, and and vice versus. I mean, that's exactly what you do to a young quarterback, smart quarterback and with the Notre Dame play some big games. But hey, he ain't played against Miami Dolphin defense or any NFL defense for that matter. Yeah, but even that, he wasn't playing against the starters. He didn't get any reps against the ones. So so look, that was an eye opening experience. I'm

sure for him he'll grow from that. He'll never see anything like that again in his life. And you know, but that's I go back to what I said earlier. That's what you're supposed to do against the young guy who isn't prepared to handle that kind of heat. That's

what you have to do. Would you guys be upset up with me if I told you I was disappointed about the fifty six yard complation a little or company, because it would have barely been over a hundred yards with that playing the camera play the nineteen yard rush, they were under a hundred yards without those you plays, and I thought they both were a little bit could have gone either way. So for some reason that annoys because it was so dominant by Miami, and it it

certainly shows up in the stats. To We talked about eight sacks book finishes the game twelve for twenty a buck thirty five, two picks and eight sacks and that first pick. How pumped were you guys on? What was the third defensive play of the game, A tip passed by Andrew Van giegl who I thought did a fantastic job of going again third and two. I'm trying to run, run this pass rush game. But I see the quarterback get to his drop. I'm gonna go, and he's separating

the hands, which means the ball is coming out. So he gets separation from his man juice and gets his hands up in the air, gets the tip, and there's Nick Needon to take it in. Talk about how that kind of set just set a tone for the course of that game. Well, even more importantly, Travis, the fact that the offense went out there and with with three and out, you know, and you know we got the ball first, went out there with three and out, and I said, well, this is just as good as us

getting the ball first and scoring. It was huge. You know, defense comes in there and they and they get a score right away. I mean, you couldn't ask for a better defensive start, and it kind of set the tone for the whole rest of the game, and how the defense is going to play, man, but tech of a

play as usual. Look, man, we can sit here and talk about our defense like all night because of you know, so many guys were such had such an instrumental part and an instrumental role, and what we're doing, and just that start right there, Van Ginko getting his hands up, not getting there, and something quick getting his hands up

and we run down there for a pick six. Then all the sacks when guys are gluing guys you know, across the board, eight in the box it looks like, and guys come from different angles, you know, and guys getting there. So I thought that start right there is the way you set the tone right away, especially when you're going into you know, in the New Orleans we're so loud in there. It was loud for a while, but then there's loud because I heard a lot of dolphin chatter, you know what I mean. I heard the

duke chance. You know, we quiet a crowd that's usually incredibly loud, especially on Monday night football. And that was that's how you do you start about getting it done early with your defense. That was quiet people that are really fat fast. Yeah, I thought you mentioned need him driving on that past. I thought he was in possession to make a play regardless of the tip. And that was just out of the whole focus of the night seth And that's kind of been a focus of the

whole season. Getting your hand on the football. But man, up front, these guys are deep, they come in waves. They put pressure on you, absolutely against the running game. How pumped are you to watch that when I know you have a bit of affinity for defensive line play. Yeah, well, certainly around the edge, but now, I mean, look, just put pressure on the quarterback. I've been talking to you about this since the offseason, where I don't I don't even remember who the guests was, but we wanted to

start changing the way that we play defense. This was a physical, dominant defense last year that forced turnovers, one of the top teams in the league forcing turnovers. Do what you do best. You know how many times have we hurt this year? We're gonna take what the defense

gives us. How about you do what you do best and you dictate to the other team, and and so defensively, I don't wan't give them anything, you know, especially when you have these rookies that show up and start bringing heat like that, especially when you have two safeties that can bring heat like that, especially when you have corners that can cover get after the quarterback. This entire is built around the ability of the quarterback to make plays

moving offense, lead a team. And if you can disrupt the quarterback, you disrupt the entire game plan of that team on both sides of the ball. And that's what they did today. And you have to do that when you're playing the fourth string quarterback, and you know, regardless of how many games he won at Notre Dame, regardless of how bright his future may or may not be, you have to get after the quarterback. And that's exactly what they did. I'm glad you mentioned the safety is

talking about the d line there. It's it's all three levels as pass rush comes from. Brandon Jones gets his fifth sack of the season, that's most in the NFL among all defensive backs. Javon Hallen gets a half sack as well. We'll check on pressures and the Drivetime podcast will have those numbers for you on the recap podcast. I want to come back and talk more about the offense. The mistakes and all to a tong about Loto bounces back again, but first