Drive Time - Recapping Dolphins 43-17 Blowout Win Over San Francisco

That's right, it is victory Sunday slash Monday. Here on the Drive Time Podcast, we're gonna recap Dolphins forty Niners seventeen, a massive blowout victory, a route of the forty Niners here on the road, plenty of history made in this game, both individually and from the Dolphins team. We'll get into the stats, the individual performances. I'll get you my five takeaways from the game, and we'll hear from John con Jemmy. A busy, busy show here on this Sunday, October the

eleventh Victory edition of the Drivetime podcasts. And support from Drive Time comes from Auto Nation. There are so many reasons to drive pink, but for Auto Nation, there's only one to finish the fight against cancer. In fact, Auto Nation has helped raise over twenty five million dollars to drive out Cancer. To join the fight, visit the Auto Nation store near you or drive pink dot com. Let's go ahead and get into this game. Here with some stats off the top, because there are plenty to cover.

The Miami Dolphins post game notes are rather extensive. With win, Miami improves to two and three on the season. It's our third road victory in the past four road games going back to last season, and if the Dolphins first win at San Francisco since two thousand four and the first ever win in the first ever game for Miami

at the new Levi Stadium. They have now won four of the past five games against NFC West opponents, and this is the Dolphins first win at an NFC West opponent since November twenty, two, thousand sixteen, when Miami beat the Los Angeles Rams in that game, and the Dolphins are now eight and six all time against the forty nine. How about Ryan Fitzpatrick and that offense. The Dolphins scored on six of their seven possessions in the first half,

opening up a thirty to seven halftime lead. Fitzpatrick was fifteen for twenty with two hundred and fifty one yards and two touchdowns, and had completions of forty seven yards and seventy yards to Preston Williams and Mike Siki. Those thirty first half points are the second most since at least two thousand. The Dolphins had forty one first half points in the first half of the two thousand fifteen game against Houston on October and this is the dolphins

third thirty point half since at least two thousand. In addition to the twenty fifteen Texans game, Miami put up thirty points in the second half of the December twenty oneteen game versus Minnesota, and miami six scoring drives in the first half are the most since at least two thousand and a single half, the Dolphins ran thirty three offs of plays and gained two hundred and eighty one yards in the half. That's an average of eight point

five yards per play. Have mercy, they outgained San Francisco by a margin of two eighty one to one forty yardage in that first half. The Dolphins had three scoring drives in the first half. After the two minute warning, Jason Sanders booted field goals with two minutes, thirty eight seconds and no time remaining on that first half clock. It was the first time since at least Dolphins have scored three drives in the final two minutes of any half.

And for Fitzpatrick, another banner day for this guy. He completed his three thousand pass in this game. He's just the twenty seventh player in NFL history to do that.

He threw for three hundred and fifty yards. It was the twenty three hundred yard performance in his career and his seventh now with Miami in one year and a quarter one year and some change there, Fitzpatrick has now thrown for three hundred plus yards and five of his last seven games, and his seven three hundred yard games for the Dolphins are tied with Chad Henny for third

most in franchise history. He looked up with the Vanta Parker on a third and old play from the twenty two yard line and that gave Miami seven lead there in the first half. It was the longest touchdown on a third and goal play at the twenty two yard line since December of two thousand one, when Aaron Brooks of the New Orleans Saints found Willie Jackson on a third and goal pass from the twenty eight yard line.

Mike gasicki seventy yard reception in this game was Miami's longest pass play went since two thousand eighteen, when Ryan Tannehill found Leonte Carew in that Colts game back in eighteen, and that reception put Gasiki over one thousand career receiving yards as he finished the day with five catches for nine one yards. Preston Williams had a career day with one hundred and six yards on four receptions and a touchdown. Davante Parker caught two balls for fifty yards and a touchdown.

Myles Gascon had five catches for thirty four yards. He also contributed with sixteen rushing yards for sixteen rushes rather for fifty seven yards and on special teams. Jason Sanders broke the Dolphins record for most consecutive field goals made

to open a season. He hit five field goals to give him fourteen consecutive to open the campaign, that tops Pete Stoyanovitch and Olindo Mare in nineteen nine and two thousand one, who made thirteen field goals to open those respective seasons, and Sanders has now made sixteen consecutive field goals going back to last season. And the good times keep on rolling here on this victory Sunday slash Monday edition of the Drive Time Podcast. After the Dolphins get

a forty three to seventeen win over San Francisco. The stats from that game. Dolphins put up four hundred and thirty six total yards to San Francisco's to fifty nine. The Dolphins were six for fourteen on third and fourth down, including two of those on fourth down. We'll hear from Brian Flores on that decision as well as Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Niners were two for twelve on third and fourth down conversion attempts. Miami had three hundred and forty two

through the air, san Francisco one. The Niners did have one hundred and thirty one rushing yards to Miami's ninety four, but the Dolphins did get three takeaways and five sacks, have a day defense compared to Miami's zero turnovers, and got sacked only twice by the forty pass rush there In that game, Dolphins committed seven penalties for sixty nine yards.

San Francisco had seven for seventy five yards, and the Dolphins had the ball for thirty six minutes fifty three seconds compared to San Francisco's twenty three minutes and seven seconds worth of time of possession. Let's go ahead and get to some of the quotes here from coach and Fits and the other guys. And we start here with Coach Flores talking about what this mean wins to the locker room, to that young team, and to the entire

organization here for the Miami Dolphins. The way these guys prepared, the way we practice, Um, important all this is to them. I think it's just a byproduct of all those things. Uh, the way they practice, the way they prepare. Um, Look, it's not easy to win in this league. Um, it wasn't easy today. UM. So that's a good football team. A lot of credit to to to them. And and you know, Kyle and John Lynching and Jetty York, they've

done a good job building a really strong football team. UM. But our guys, you know, they showed up and brought a lot of energy here today. Um. That's the that's the type of preparations that we need to have success in this league. I think they're learning that again. You know, hopefully we're learning that. We understand with it. That's what it takes. That's the type of preparation. We gotta do it every week, you know, when you know one week is this week's great. We'll try, we'll enjoy it um,

but we gotta we gotta streak something together. How about from Ryan Fitzpatrick on the Dolphins offensive game plan, how things kind of got going and there are a plan to attack vertically to Davante Parker, Preston Williams, Mike get Sicky and getting all the guys involved going deep down

the football field. But I thought, obviously we got off to a great start with the deep one to Preston, and you know, I think just evaluating the few games before that we haven't taken enough shots down the field and given our guys chances. And we've got some pretty big targets out there, and guys can really run. So that was a big part of today's game plan. And uh,

you know, those those guys made some good plays. And then just you know, the vibe throughout practice, even though we we've lost a few, there's been a lot of confidence and guys have been working so, um, you know, this is a team that's very resilient. I think we showed that today coming out to the West Coast and playing like we did. Um, but it didn't it didn't

surprise us at all. I think this is this was expected for us, and I'm happy with waye You know, we played on both sides of the ball, and I think I think with how young we are as well, I think it's a nice confidence boost. Um. You know, we'll get back and watch the film, but Rob Hunt getting in there and getting some action for the first time. Obviously Solomon has stepped up, but um, just a lot

of young guys on both sides of the ball. So having that feeling of confidence early and knowing that you know we're gonna play well, I think that really helps out, especially with some of the youth and inexperience that we have on the team. I think that's really important for us, maybe more so than you know in past years or on past teams. And I think that momentum helped us today.

And we'll go ahead and finish up here with Fitzpatrick talking about the defensive performance but also the decision to have that fake punt call on that fourth down and backed up to their own thirty four yard line. Clayton Federlum converts that at that stage of the game. Here's Fitzpatrick on the defense and that call that he calls the call of the game. I thought, I mean, do

you get a few turnovers there? And you know every time you see the other quarterback getting sacked and getting hit um, you know, getting off the field on third down or fourth down, that stuff is a huge booze for us on offense. And I do I do think we played really well off of each other today and you know that's something that Flow always talks about and this was this was a great team win in terms of being able to do some good stuff on both sides of the ball. And then you know, the fourth

down in the second half and calling the fake punt. Um, I thought that might have been the call of the game and really just allowed us to maintain the momentum and uh add door lead. Let's go ahead and keep the fund rolling on this podcast there and pick it up where fits left off talking about this defense and some of the stats these guys had. Eric Rowe had four tackles in the game two passes defense. Bobby McCain had three tackles of his own, a p bu and

also an interception in the game. Emmanuel Ogba had the sack, the forced fumble, a pass breakup with the line of scrimmage. Xavian Howard gets two pass breakups and an interception. Commu gruge Hill had three tackles, had one sack taken off the board on a penalty there as well. Jerome Baker seven tackles in this game, also had a sack in this game. Zack Seeler had the big sack. Sam mcguavin gets in there for a couple of tackles late in

the game. You guys saw that in that fourth quarter, Christian Wilkins had a tackle as well as the fumble recovery there. Towards the end of the game, Andrew Van Ginkle four four total tackles, I should say, and a sack. They lost eight yards on that play. He also forced a fumble and he was just really playing aggressive and strong all throughout this game, setting that edge, stringing plays out there, beating blocks inside. Was very very impressed with

Andrew van get goal. Let's go ahead and get now into the five takeaways a little bit late into the podcast. Usually we covered that first, but I thought that all those stats and all those notes were so important to get to because this team just came out, and I mean lifelong Dolphins fan here, guys, I can't remember a complete win or a win that was that complete in

quite some time. Maybe the twenty seventeen game against Denver was a pretty good one, obviously, the comprehensive of two thousand fifteen win over the Houston Texans in that game, This game measures up there with those games that you really remember as a Dolphins fan that really stick out in your mind as just pure outliers of three phases of dominant football. And that's what we got from the

Miami Dolphins. That's where the first takeaway from this game starts here talking about the Dolphins ability to approach each opponent as a different entity, as a one week season as it were. They talk about it, right, and a lot of coaches in the NFL will talk about the approach of being weekly adaptable. But this coaching staff, they preach it and they practice it on the football field,

and we saw a big time in this week. We talked about it in the pregame lead up, Durham Smith missed a couple of prac this is we weren't sure if he'd be able to go, and then coach Flora's on Friday announces that Derham Smith could not go. And this comes one week after Miami Dolphins had three tight ends with Mike Gazicki, Derham Smith, and Adam Sheheen all played twenty or more snaps. Kasick he was up in the forties, Smith in the high twenties, Shen right around twenty.

And this week they come out they only dressed two tight ends. You heard Fitzpatrick talking about the game plan to get the vertical passing game going deep. They went after that over and over and over again, and we knew they were without Richard Sherman and Kawan Williams and Emmanuel Moseley and so go after the depth of that quarterback position, and the Dolphins got played from their big

guys when they most needed it. In this game, I mean fifty fifty balls for Preston Williams Navante Parker in this game they really seem more like balls. We saw a Jachem Grant catch a pass on I speed out against off coverage. Really respecting that deep speed that he offers and just eat up the space underneath and get that quick pass, turn it up field, get yourself a first down. This offensive game plan. I just loved the

calls from chan Gailey throughout the course this game. The vertical ship, the vertical shots they took up the football field. That was the first takeaway was how adaptable this team is to facing the opponent they have across from them. And they talk about it and they proved it in this one with a big resounding victory going vertical down the field in the passing game. Takeaway number two is

the offensive line the next man up mentality. And I put Eric Flowers in the notes here by himself individually, because I just continue to be so impressed with the job he's doing. He had this block on the Miles Gaskin touchdown run where he pulled out play side. You pull the left guard play side, you have the outside defender, the forced defender, the guy that sets the edge, the one that kind of funnels the play back inside to all of his friends, and Eric Flowers comes out and

just pancakes him. He just landed on top of him, wiped him out. And that has been so consistent throughout the year. I think that's been pretty consistent throughout the year at the right guard position as well with Solomon Kinley. And on the Dolphins first drive of the game, that first touchdown to Adam Shaheen, there was a run where Miles Gaskin looked like he might get bottled up right

around the line of scrimmage. It was a first and goal from the nine or ten yard line, and he has patience runs into the back of the offensive line and then picked a gap and found his way through and got the ball down to the three yard line to set up the Shaheen touchdown catch. And on that play, Ted Carris moves his man a couple of gaps and creates that secondary hole for gasking to score through. But the big key here is the next man up mentality this team wants to play with both on offense and

on defense. You go down Austin Jackson, your rookie left tackle, you think about some possible combinations to put into the game. Brian Flores talked about it last week. Do they go Julian Davenport, who replaced Jackson last week and played well, and it's twenty five snaps no pressures in that particular game. But what were they gonna do in this game? Put Jesse Davis over at left tackle, get Robert Hunt, the rookie lineman, some work at right tackle. Well that's what

they did. I thought Robert Hunt played a good game. I thought Jesse Davis at left tackle put himself a good game. Another credit to the Dolphins offensive line five weeks in. Looks very sharp, looks, very deep, looks very solid. They can move guys off the ball. Pass protection has been good. Big ups for the Dolphins offensive and that's very young, has four new starters on it this year. Even in this game with David's kicking out to left tackles.

Big ups to the offensive line, number three, the defensive plan and Eric Rowe. That was my note for the takeaway there. Brian Flores praised Josh Boyer and his postgame presser with his plan that he came up with in

this game. I thought there was several different looks and blitz packages that really helped confuse Jimmy Garoppolo early in the game and then later on C J. Be ThReD they did a good job putting interior pressure on Garoppolo right and Kyle Shanahan said in his post or his halftime interview that they took Jimmy Garoppolo out not because

of performance, but because they wanted to protect him. They thought that maybe that ankle wasn't quite all the way back ready, especially with the pressure the Dolphins were getting throughout the course of this game. You saw Miami load up the interior of that defensive line with those bodies right Zach Seeler, Christian Wilkins, Devon god Shall getting those

big bodies up front. They would go head up over the center, two guys head up over the guard, and then rush linebackers and off that, and that just created interior pressure throughout the course of the game. It made Jimmy Garoppolo very uncomfortable. It made some throws kind of get popped up into the air, gave the Dolphins some opportunities to get interceptions in that first half, which he did and it got the quarterback on the ground. Got a strip sec in there from Andrew Van gekle. I

loved the way they rushed the quarterback. They had a big stop on a third down with dollar defense, that's seven defensive backs into the formation. They had Christian Wilkins and Emmanuel Ogba down lineman with Kyle van Noy and Cammu Gruge Hill as the linebackers in the game, and the rest of the guys were defensive backs, so a seven defensive backpackage there to help get the defense off the field third down stop start the course of the game.

Bobby McCain played a big game as well, but so did his running mate and Eric Row a big matchup in this game on George Kittle, and Kittle caught one pass that was away from Eric Row. It was the on the touchdown drive to start the third quarter for San Francisco. He wound back across the formation and there was nobody in the coverage area, so you wouldn't say he was Eric Rose guy. And Roe was actually on

the opposite side of the formation. So George Kittle winds up with four catches for forty four yards but only had three for thirty three. Working on Eric Row. This is a guy that caught fifteen passes on all fifteen targets last week for a buck eighty three and a touchdown. This is a guy that's the first team All Pro tight end last year in the NFL. And Eric Row comes in here and just clamps him down, man, And that's what he's done throughout the course of his Dolphins career.

Enters the game with five point one five yards per target allowed. Since that switch last season to the strong safety position to the safety linebacker, corner Quasi does every damn thing on your defensive position, and Eric Rowe continues to have a stellar season this one year after he signs a one year deal in Miami to come over here and be a cornerback, makes the switch to safety, gets the contract extension. Now we were talking about him

as a key focal point of that defense. Love seeing the way Eric role played in this game through the course of the season and his Dolphin's career so far. Takeaway number four, I mean you could have put this number one. I'm not really going in order here, I just kind of wrote these out throughout the course of

the game. But it's Ryan Fitzpatrick right the the the awareness of the matchups, knowing where you can go ahead and take your shots down the football field, finding that one on one coverage, going after a quarterback who's fresh up off the practice squad, and just making it a point to trust your guys to make plays and trust their talent. You heard Fits talk about in his pressure

there a little bit. I love the fact that when he gets pressure on him and maybe they don't pick up that free rusher, maybe they don't have the best protection call they possibly could have, and that free rusher does come into the face of the quarterback, he knows where that football has to go. He gets it out and not only does it prevent him from taking a big shot and getting our starting quarterback hit maybe out of the game, it gets the offense a chance to

make a play. It preserves a possible sack and loss of yardage. It keeps you ahead of the chains. It's just so valuable to have that veteran experience, those veteran eyes, and that veteran decision making back there to go ahead and make those plays down the field. And the Dolphins paid it off today. It wasn't just protecting against sacks allowed. It was doing that and adding big plays off the

back end of the field. They had five plays the Dolphins did that beat their previous season high twenty seven yard play the might get sicky reception before the halftime buzzer against the Buffalo Bills. Miami had five plays that exceeded that twenty seven yard game in this particular game, seventy yards to Mike Gisicky a perfectly thrown corner route and Ghasicky the little shake and move to the inside back to the corner, little post corner route we call that.

Fitzpatrick floats it over the top, right in the bread basket. Good for a huge catch and run for seventy yards from the Dolphins big tight end. We talked about Preston Williams the very first play of the game, forty seven yards up the perimeter. On that particular play, fitz drops that one right in the bucket. That ball probably would have hit halfway on the green grass and halfway on the white paint on the sideline. Just perfect location for your got to make a play and keeping it out

of harm's way of the defensive back as well. And a great job by Preston Williams to get that separation there at the top of the route and make a play with a cornerback in his back pocket as he

worked up that sideline. He also had the thirty two yard touchdown reception down the middle of the field, and you see the split safety looked there of the Niners kind of drive to one side of the formation and Fitch just rips that thing down the scene for an accurate, perfect throw thirty two yards into the end zone for the touchdown. And that was one play after a screen pass to Matt Brita for thirty one yards, so you

see the Dolphins running back getting involved there. We also had our first twenty yard rush of the game with Miles Gaston going for twenty one yards in that second half. And the other play that was the biggest or bigger than the previous high was a twenty eight yard reception to Vante Parker in the first quarter, but that wasn't Devantae's biggest catch. It was, of course, twenty eight yard touchdown on third and goal from the twenty two yard line.

Of course, we talked about that the biggest conversion on third and goal or longest conversion on third and goal since two thousand one with the New Orleans Saints eric Aaron Brooks and Willie Jackson in that game throwing vertically. In this game, Fitzpatrick was five for six for one nine yards and two touchdowns on passes that traveled more than twenty yards down the field. So Fitzpatrick just balling is your fourth takeaway, and the fifth takeaway is Brian Flores.

And we saw Christian Wilkins after the game run up to him give him the football. Very vary the replacements sked there with Danny Bateman, Jon Favreau's character after they want him to get the ball for the on side kick. Coach, I got you the ball. I got you the ball, and he goes over there and hands him the football. That's exactly what Christian Wilkinson, he got Coach Flores his football. You see the way this team rallies around their head coach,

the way they embody his personality. And I thought I thought coming into this game, this Dolphins team would be aggressive downfield, and I thought they would come out sharp and not have that flat start because Brian Flores just does not tolerate losing. He's not gonna do it. And so you're gonna see this team, after a disappointing loss, come out and turn the screws up, get things going, and really make sure they play strong, fast early. And

that's exactly what happened in this game. So the resilience of this team. Fitzpatrick talked about it as well. It's something you see in this game something you see to come out to the West Coast and get a big victory over a good football team. You love to see that for coach Flores and his boys. So the takeaways, the weekly approach adaptation, we've seen it talked about. Now we've seen it with our eyes and put into practice

on the football field. The offensive line, next band up mentality takeaway number two, Number three, the defensive plan was awesome and Eric row is awesome as well. Number four Fitzpatrick just balling out of his mind. And number five this team playing for their head coach and having a fast start when they absolutely needed it in this game coming in one and three, and now we exit two and three with a home game next week against the New York Jets. We'll talk more about that here in

just one second. Some other individual notes I wrote down in this game don't have to go in further on Fitzpatrick. I think I covered how much of a m v P level game he had in this particular performance at the running back position. I just continue to love the way Miles Gaskin absorbs contact and keeps his eyes up, Like after he gets that initial hit, he keeps his eyes upfield and can kind of stretch out and get

that extra two or three yards. And that's so valuable to stay ahead of the chains, stay on schedule, especially when you have a quarterback like Ryan Fitzpatrick who can really dissect a defense on that third and short. Third and four becomes so much easier to convert than third and eight, and Miles Gaskin really gives you a good opportunity to do that at the receiver position. I wrote down a great note here for Isaiah Ford about the way he scooped up a low pass on a third

down conversion a third and long. He and Fitzpatrick continue to have that chemistry to sit down on those zone and he really catches everything you throw at him. If he gets himself open, he's gonna catch the football. I thought that Jachem Grant got open on a few plays. He had the nice clutch first down on a speed out route. We talked about that with the matchup portion. He also got open on a corn on a comeback route with a takeoff speed. You really see the way

his speed impacts the defense. They have to really respect and play kind of deep. Preston Williams making big catches down the football field career high with one and six yards in this game. At tight end, Adam Shaheen I think, continues to have a really nice start to his Miami Dolphins career. He gets it paid off with a touchdown reception in this game Mike get sick. He continues to just be fluid and smooth and fights through contact and can really run up the stem through reroutes and gets

himself into position to make plays in the football. We talked about the post corner route. That was a nasty move he had on Jack Wis guitar in that particular play. The offensive line talked about those guys a good amount. I love Robert Robert Hunt's ability to quickly get to his spot and get to his set and anchor against power moves. Thought Jesse Davis had a fine job at left tackle as well. We talked about the interior guys earlier on on Zach Seler rushing head up over Trent

Williams and works inside for a sack. How about that play from that guy, and then Christian Wilkins and Emmanuel Ogball on that fourth down stop. My goodness, the way they reset the line of scrimmage and just pushed that offensive line back and created space for your land and Roberts to come in and they had him held up. But Roberts finished that playoff with a good stick and kind of forced the running back backwards to make sure he was not going to get the line to gain

there thought. Devon got Shaw had some really nice plays as well in this game. Game off his block for a big tackle on what could have been a bigger chunk game earlier in the game that wound up going for four yards. He does that a lot. And Emmanuel Ogba, man, this guy plays all over the defense. He rushes off

the edge. Got another sack in this game. He had a big pass breakup where he condensed down to the two technique position right across from the offensive guard, gets his big mits in their resets, that line pushes him back and gets up for the PBu great work there from the Dolphins defensive line. We talked about linebackers and the Land and Roberts thought he had his best game

as a Miami Dolphin. Had a big sack in this game, the big fourth down stop as well, and the gangster man Andrew Van Ginkle playing off those polling guards set in the edge, getting that pass rush move going. What a game he had. Jerome Baker I thought had his best game of the year as well, big time sack there late in the game, rushing the passer, playing those hook zones back in that little second intermediate level of the defense. Playing really good ball for Jerome Baker there.

Touched on Commu Gruge Hills game. He was all over the place in this game as well. Nick need Him had himself a couple of pass breakups. Xaviing Howard. I love the way Xavian Howard handled the crossing routes in this game. Some of those over routes kind of got in that back pocket, almost got himself a pick on one of those, and would come back later and get himself an interception on a pass that got popped up there. We barely ever heard Byron Jones name in this game.

Allowed just one reception in the entire game, So that was awesome to see him come back and just kind of change the way that Dolphins defense can operate because he's so smooth and so solid, locking down one side of the field and really just being physical and aggressive, and you just don't hear his name that often. It's kind of his game, he he locks guys out. You don't hear about him. You look up at the score or the box score at the end of the game and his guy has one or two catches for like

maybe ten or twenty yards. So a very typical Byron Jones game here. And we talked about Eric Row and Bobby McCain as well, and Jason Sanders and Matt Hawk, and I mean, what can you say, man, Clayton Federlum converts the fourth down conversion play seventeen comprehensive victory And John kN Jemmy and I joked about this last week on the podcast, how maybe we gotta stop doing these recap podcasts because the last time we did one or didn't do one, rather the Dolphins wont in convincing fashion.

But we're gonna go ahead and get John Knjemmy on the phone right now and have him talk about his three takeaways from this convincing Dolphins forte seventeen victory over the San Francisco forty Niners and joining me now on the Drivetime podcast a little bit of crossover action on your Miami Dolphins podcast network. The co host of the

audible podcast Miami Dolphins multimedia analyst. He is John kN Jemmy John, and we joked about it last week about how maybe we shouldn't do these anymore because the one time we didn't do it, Dolphins got a convincing win. But here we are Sunday night, convincing win in our back pockets. How's it film for you? Well, it feels pretty good, to be honest with you. I mean, that was a complete dominator from start to finish, and the Dolphins were able to find ways even when San Francisco

tried to get back into the game. I thought they did an excellent job of answering a score with the score or answering a stop with the stop, and they were able to stay two steps ahead of the forty Niners, who are a good football team. But the Dolphins seemed like they had all the answers on offense, defense, and on special teams today. Yeah, absolutely they did. Jason Sanders the five field goals in this game. He had now

has fourteen consecutive makes to start the season off. And you talk about the you know, the blowout on the scoreboard, this Dolphins team now has a plus twenty point differential, and I recall so many times in the past it was like, you know, we're seven and six or seven and seven, but the point differential, everyone's kind of getting on you for that. Well there's two and three Dolphins team now has a plus point differential, so maybe things

are turning up that way. Both coach and fits talked about, you know, striking a few wins together here to get this season really going. Let's go ahead, though, John, and start with your first takeaway from your three takeaways up on Miami Dolphins dot com. Well, I think the first thing about the game is the way the offense played,

and they're big playability. They're there. The play calling really matched the situations of how they wanted to attack the San Francisco secondary, and I think that pushing the ball down the field, getting opportunities for Williams and Parker in Kasuki not only in the red zone but on the fringe of the red zone. The way they opened the game up with a huge pass play down the sidelines, the way they were able to capitalize from twenty two yards out on a third and goal situation and get

a touchdown to to Devonte Parker. I just thought those were the difference makers in the football game. And they scored at one point in the game. I remember writing down in my notes they scored on nine of eleven possessions that that just doesn't happen, you know. So, I mean, there were a lot of good things, but they were able not only to settle for field goals this week, they were able to score touchdowns and and they came

from everywhere on the field. And I thought that was that was a big change, not only in the philosophy of the play colleague, but the execution of the offense. We talked about a comprehensive when I couldn't agree more with you on the offensive side of the ball. But something tells me one of your other two takeaways is

gonna be on the defensive side. Right athletic and versatile defense. Yes, I think you got to see a lot of different formations, a lot of different coverage, a lot of different schemes out of Josh Bowyer and the defensive coordinator. I thought the front seven really complimented the way the secondary played and and for a number of weeks I thought the linebackers, you know, kind of disappeared from the Miami Dolphins defense. Today, Jerome Baker gets in and he was a constant fixture

in the offensive backfield of San Francisco. I thought Van Ginkle, pressuring from the line of scrimmage as as an outside end or slash linebacker, played really well. And I thought a lot of guys just had complimentary play. I thought Eric Rowe was the perfect matchup against George Kittle. Kittle coming off of a a career high fifteen catch performance last week. I think they held them to maybe four

catches today. So I thought that was a really big deal in terms of the way they turned it around and used an asset for San Francisco and turned it into a liability. And I thought five sacks, two interceptions, And this is a team going back to last year where a defense they've had eleven straight games with at least one turnover, And you really forget a lot of that stuff from the Miami Dolphins defense because normally they're getting the fingers pointed at that side of the football.

But I thought today, Garoppolo bet they had no answer for the pressure. The offensive line was totally out out manned by the by the front seven of the Miami Dolphins, and I just thought they were more athletic, they were more versatile. Uh, just as they were on offense, they got to certain schemes that you haven't seen so far through four games. And I thought that, really, Uh, the San Francisco offensive line had problems identify who was coming

from where. I love the way you phrased that whole entire thing, John, because I talked about it on on the podcast before you came on. There was a good dollar package with seven defensive backs and you know, two down linemen, two linebackers that caused pressure on Garoppolo and played good coverage to get a stop on the back

end there as well. Talk about a bare front. You go head up over the center and head up over the guard, and then you rush linebackers and behind that with a quarterback who has a bum ankle to put pressure on him on the interior. And I think you mentioned it. We really saw what the vision of this defense is gonna be right running those games, running those blitz packages and trying to confuse the quarterback into those

pressures while you play good coverage on the back end. Man, like I, I can't be more excited about the way that defense played. And before we get to your last takeaway, John, I want to ask you, because I think this is something we have to go to the All twenty two before we can really appreciate it. But I get the sense that Byron Jones might change the way you do things because I recall him giving up one catch and

then pretty much never hearing his name again. Well, he has so much speed and tenacity, and the way he covers, you could stick him on the other speed receiver or the other receiver that's starting to get hot, and he's he's aggravating to run routes against because he's so he's so sticky, you know, he's He's a guy that likes to play physically. He can run and adjust and flip his hips with with with very little problem and does

it with ease. And I think that it really helps out It helps out X on the other side because X plays a different style, but yet there are similar in the results that they get when they're when they're healthy. I think you can stick those guys out on an island and play coverage with everybody else. And you saw it today. I thought X did a really good job on his side of the field. Byron, now healthy, did an excellent job on I think it was AAK who who he was mainly going up against. And then you

break it down into Row versus Kittle. If you go three for three on most of those plays, san Francisco is gonna have nowhere to go the football. And they didn't. They had Mostart and they and they had a little bit of McKinnon and that was it. I mean, there was nowhere else that Samuel's didn't show up. I thought the Dolphin defense won their individual battles in the secondary that allowed the front seven to get after the quarterback

no matter who it was. Yeah, you talk about Eric Rowe, I think that guy's turning into a full blown star at this point. He is. He has something special back there, John, and uh, you know, and it makes me think I want to see this team get a chance again with Byron Jones up against the Seattle and a Buffalo. We will see Buffalo again later this year, not Seattle on the schedule, unfortunately. But John, let's go ahead and get to your third takeaway here from this seventeen Dolphins victory

over the forty nine. Well, I thought the Miami Dolphins, uh really played with the confidence in the energy of their head coach. And I think that tone was set during the week. I thought they really had a great week of work, and I think that that carried over

into the game because they played with confidence. I mean, you run a fake punt deep in your own end, you better be confident if that doesn't work, that the defense is gonna be able to bounce back on the field and hold San Francisco to a field goal opportunity.

When you're a third and goal from your twenty two and you just had it first in goal to one and you throw a pass into the end zone to one of your playmakers, that might be a fifty fifty chance, you better have confidence that your quarterback is gonna put the ball in a position where your receiver is gonna get it, or you're gonna have to try out a guy that hasn't missed all year for another field goal opportunity.

So I just think that they played with a lot of confidence and a lot of energy today, and I think it's starting to get contagious. I think they did as well against Seattle. I thought they played they gave themselves opportunities to win that game. I I guarantee you if you ask Ryan Fitzpatrick if he could have two or three plays back from that Seattle game where he could find Mike Cassicki going down the middle of the field, that they instead of being completions or negative plays, that

those plays turned into touchdowns. And I know that happens every week, but today you didn't miss them. Today. You've got more help from the defense, You've got more help from from your kicking game, and continuing the help from the kicking game from last week, and I think you just played with a little bit more confidence, a little bit more execution, and the result was a blowout win. You talked about the energy that that Brian Flores is,

you know kind of personality had. Ryan Fitzpatrick talked about a post game how that permeates throughout the Dolphins roster and how that decision to go for it on fourth down really kind of set a tone, and talked about the conference and the aggressiveness that gave the Dolphins offensively, defensively in the kicking game. Just a comprehensive win. And John, we talked about this. I think after the Seahawks game, don't get to see you for a few weeks, but

now I get to see you next Sunday, sir. Yeah, that's right. That the schedule has really flipped around on it. And now we have the Jets come into town and and they're they're winless. They didn't look very good today the plays that I've seen. You get your bye week on October, and I believe the Rams come to town November one in Arizona on the roads. Every money everybody fills in. I guess that that Denver game now goes to the bye week in between where the Jets we're

going to play. So um, everything seems to be okay so far in the month of December when we get there, but it's a long way to go. I guess we've got to put all this in in pencil instead of pen very very accurately said. And you know what a good time to come home from a five hour flight from out west to know you have three weeks consecutively at home here with the you know, the home game, a bye week in another home game too, So that's

gotta be a happy flight on the way back. John con Gemmy of the Audible podcast jointing us here on Drive Time. John appreciate it as always, my friend, you gotta Travis, thanks a lot, and there he goes. John con Jemmy. Always a pleasure to have him here on the podcast. I just I talked about it every week. I love watching the game with John. Obviously didn't get

to see the one this week. We'll be back next week at hard Rock Stadium against the New York Jets to go ahead and watch another game together there, hopefully our first home VIC three of the season in that game. And speaking of that, let's go ahead and do some house cleaning here on that schedule. You heard John talk about it a little bit there. Home for the Jets

next week. It's gonna be a four or five kickoff Eastern Time against another late window game for us the bye week October, and then home for the Rams after that, back on the road to the Cardinals. That game remains unchanged. Then we're home for the Chargers the week after that. That one was also a change, and then back on the road to the Broncos the following week, that too was a change, and then the schedule after that remains

the same. Away from the Jets, home for the Bengals, home for the Chiefs, home for the Patriots, at the Raiders, and at the Buffalo Bills. And before I get out of here on this podcast, I would be remiss if I didn't mention it because I love the idea and the concept and how effective it has been, the limbod and wildcat package and picking up those plays again, talking about Miles Gaston's ability to turn out extra yardage, I feel like Boden does the same thing on those plays.

Always finds a way to get your positive yardage, gets you back ahead of the chage, maybe convert a first down or two here, first down or two here and there. So loved just everything about this game. How can you complain about it? Dolphins coming home winners two and three plus point differential and you heard Fits and Flora as we'll talking about stringing some wins together. Hopefully that's coming down the pipe. As for my time on this podcast, that is going to be my time. Go ahead and

check out Miami Dolphins dot com. We have the Ryan Fitzpatrick Spotlight. He did a bunch of stuff to climb up the leaderboard both in the league and franchise history today in this game, we also have the recap article up on the website written by yours truly, as well as John Congemi's three takeaways from the game. As for the podcast you will, please be sure to subscribe, rate

and review the show. Follow me on Twitter at Wingfield NFL Fall, the team at Miami Dolphins and of course the Fish Tank and the Audible Podcast, as well as Miami dolphins dot com. Until next time finds up