Drive Time with Travis Wingfield begins. Now, let me check your pulse if you're not form What is up? Dolphins?
And welcome to the Drive Time Podcast, part of the Miami Dolphins podcast network, covering your team, your Miami Dolphins. How's it going everybody? I am your host, Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, a fun episode, a fun tape to come over. We're going over the all twenty two from Miami's twenty two to twenty win over the Dallas Cowboys.
We'll tell you about the game plan, the top tapes, the explosive plays, the game winning drive, the key numbers, and so much more from the Baptist Health Studios inside the Baptist Health Training Complex.
This is the Drive Time Podcast. Mayie Daffy first, Typically.
We start this thing with the explosive plays, but since the Dolphins and Cowboys offenses, known for their explosive plays, didn't have much beyond the first couple of series in the game, we're gonna just do two plays, and one of the being an actual big play. It starts with back to back dots from QB one to a tongue of bi loa. I think in a game of that magnitude.
To start it off with a pair of deep shots from your own end zone, both right in the bucket, both right on stride to a pair of sub four to three receivers is a good reminder of what you have under center. Dolphins fans, the debate is over to a tongue of by Low is the best deep ball thrower in the National Football League?
And I don't think it's that close.
And I don't think that that should surprise anybody because it was the same stuff on Alabama tape every single week back when he was playing his football there. The one to Tyreek is mastery of the position because the Cowboys rotate into a three high look with the widest corner getting width to account for alec Ingold who had come across the formation and motion, and the middle of the field safety in this three high look squats right at the snap and you see twos helmet stripe locked
onto that safety and he sees it immediately. So I decided I'm gonna put my timer on this because from snap to throw he sees that makes that decision cuts that thing loose. One hitch timing one point eight one seconds was my average on three times gets the football out from his own one yard line and Micah Parsons is hitting him before the ball leaves his hand and it hits Tyreek's hands at the forty one yard line
from the far hash. I mean, there is a list of quarterbacks who have led the NFL in Bold completion percentage and yardage simultaneously in the same year, and that list is Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Brett Faarr, Kurt Warner, and Dan Fouts. All of those guys are in the Hall of Fame, or at least Drew Brees will be right. It's wouldn't de breathe retired. It should
be coming up here pretty soon. This is why when you can put the ball in hand off position from forty yards away and throw it in one point eight one seconds, that that in and of itself is a unique unicorn rarefied trait that people don't even want to talk about. Now Tireek's credit, I'm pretty sure, and I can't know for sure because I'm not in the huddle.
I'm not in the meeting room.
That the numbers are the landmark for that pass and the ball sales wide of the numbers and tracking that thing back across your face is really really tough because because it changes the eye line at the last second,
it's it's very difficult in all of sports. That's why you teach a catcher to not make a basket catch and a pop up behind home play with the glove above your head, because if you put it above your head, the eye line chain stays the same for the entire time, whereas if you go below the waist, you have to track the ball from looking up into the sky down below your belt.
That changes the eye line.
Same idea there, and also big credit to Rob Jones for coming across the formation and getting a second, a last second shot on Micah Parsons, which if he doesn't do that, I think Tua is taking a shot from Parsons that probably wipes him out and makes that ball flutter up in the air.
But where this play belongs in here.
Is the fact that Tua takes that shot from Parsons on his first drop back, and then after a delay of game, it's third and eight and again you're playing quarterback from your own end zone, from those beautiful orange en zones that we saw on Christmas Eve, And what does Tuwa do the Cowboys wind up in what I think is cover six quarter quarter a half with Stefan Gilmour as the quarterfield safety, so he's playing one fourth of the deep coverage to the short side of the
field and Waddle just runs by him, and Gilmour is almost kind of flirting with giving the outside access on the fade and why not because it's a small window. Reminds me of playing recess football back in fourth grade when you would bait that one kid that you know can't make that throw into certain passes so you can get that pick right. But what he didn't realize is it wasn't the fourth grade recess kid. It was the most accurate quarterback to any level of football on the planet.
Yeah, that's what he is.
Two was on three hitch timing this time, and the feet are so clean, so pretty, no crossing over, no heel clicking. Slightly expedites the entire process of that setup. With a good Dallas pass rush, and number eleven, who is unlike any player I've ever seen on tape my entire life and from the l in Dolphins in the end zone, loads up this shot to Wattle, who's the ball comes out when Wattles is his own fifteen yard line, so twenty yards away from Tua, and it descends between
Wattle's arms at the forty five in stride. Play goes for forty nine yards and a massive first down to flip the field. That play is points right because you pump from your own end zone that typically directly leads to three points at least for the opposing offense if not a touchdown. But you're typically when you pump from your on en zone, getting the football at best at midfield or in plus territory. But this flips the field and Miami scores in this drive too, so really a six point.
Swing at minimum. I love the concept.
Tyreek runs the post corner that holds the other quarterfield safety for just a beat, which is all Wattle needs for that one on one matchups and access to the throw to the perimeter. Kendall Lamb does a great job of getting in front of an absolutely out of control Micah Parsons because Parsons sometimes just basically like hits the gas, like puts it to the floor and goes and not many guys can handle the speed and explosiveness.
That he has.
But on this rep he just throws a full speed bowl rush at Kendall Lamb and he absorbs that and puts him on the ground with some help from Rob Jones. Liam on the other hand, has a great twist pickup Cotton and Teestead shut down their one on one reps.
Just great team football across the board and a superstar quarterback making a superstar throw who, by the way, had to climb and make himself skinny to get out of the way of the trash that Parsons put at his feet with that out of control pass rush to find his star receiver. So yeah, stars all over the field in South Florida. Right, big time completion there. Let's go ahead into the top five tapes. Speaking of these stars,
and number one is Andrew van Ginkel. The way he plays through guys with power like he can two gap off the edge in a way that I thought was exclusively on this team, reserved for Jalen Phillips, but also
Bradley Chubb's doing it. Melvin Ingram can do it as well, Emmanuel Ogbad does some of it, But Andrew Vankinkle is the one guy who doesn't fit the mold of the rest of the outside backers on this team right, And what I mean by that is they're all two sixty two sixty five beefed up dudes who can really hold that point, which is such a key in this defensive system that plays light boxes, because you have to one be able to two gap and get off blocks inside,
and we have two of the best defensive tackles in the world at that, but you also have to be able to play inside outside and a two gap off the edge at your outside linebackers spot. And Van Ginkles's makeup and body composition would tell you that's not his game, but it is.
He's great.
He's great at it, and it helps him stay on the field for all three downs and ultimately become the productive pass rusher that he is and just productive player that he is. Ten tackles, one and a half sacks, four quarterback hits.
He's awesome. But he's also so damn fast.
Those games they run where he takes one step upfield to set the tackle in a certain a certain set and then takes the crossover step and slides all the way across to the opposing a gap or even to pursue it all the way to the perimeter to go make a tackle on a quarterback scramble.
It's freaky fast. Those two traits pair together to make.
A breakout candidate here for Andrew Van Ginkle, and I haven't seen much of this this year on him, but they would double team him with double wise in tight to the formation, twelve personnel unbalanced, put both wide tight ends on Andrew Van Ginkle and double it and he just holds the point and does not let them detach and climb to the second level, which on this particular play I'm talking about, allows Xavi and Howard to come off the edge and scrape as the force defender and
make a tackle right at the line. So this entire front is tough to push around. They're physical, they get after you. They can beat you with speed and power. And Andrew Van Ginkle leading the charge in this one. Nine pressures, three stops, two targets on two yards in coverage he played five coverage snaps. Andrew Van Ginkle is
your top tape from Miami's Big Christmas Eve win. Your second top tape if I told you back in September, Miami's winning a game against a ten to four football team to clinch a playoff berth and get their first eleven and four stars in thirty three years. Would you have guessed that Andrew Van Ginkel and Rob Jones are
the top two tapes from that game. That's what you're getting because Rob Jones constant displacement in the running game and moving guys off the football and in critical spots late in the game when you know the Dolphins are running.
The football didn't matter.
Rob Jones just pushed you around and made you his well, it's b word. Also the pass protection if there was if he would see the three technique or the two or two iy whatever who's across the guard slash center, he would see them take one step inside, he would immediately get depth and go get ribs on Micah Parsons go help out. And it was such a critical chip or just additional block to help slow him down for
another half beat. Just a fantastic job holding up in one on one pass protection, passing off on games.
I mean, he was one of the best players on the entire field.
And Parsons has this move and Brian Baldinger put it on his breakdown so you can go back and check it out on there where he he will line up in the A gap either on ball or off ball, and it essentially turns into press coverage for a receiver and defensive back with how he does this. But he's like the best at defeating press coverage in the NFL,
even though he's a linebacker. He comes squared up to the offensive lineman, has this little stutter step and then explodes in one direction or the other, and the man literally teleports across a gap like it doesn't make sense how fast he moves one gap to the next. But Jones would just say, all right, I'm gonna play with physicality to match that and just go attach and ride him through the rep and just do a good enough job to carry him past the quarterback. Talk about stepping
up to a big time challenge. Rob Jones had him on the podcast on Friday. He was fantastic. He was even better on Sunday. Two pressures on forty pass blocking snaps. Have a day, Rob Jones, he is your left guard for my money, when Rob Hunt gets back number three, gonna do something a little bit different here and combine this.
I know it's a little bit cheating.
I know Seth and OJ will say, Travis, you give out way too many game balls. You're giving out six top tapes in the top five tapes, but I cannot differentiate in this game Christian Wilkins and Zac Seelert's salt and Pepper baby. So Christian, we know he's having a great year, right, But how about plugging on a tape against Zach Martin and watching Constant walk back the ruffiing call.
What a shame because he had a bull rush that took Zach Martin halfway through the end zone, halfway to Miramar, discards him and takes away any hope for Dak to make a throw a great play that was undone by a not so great call. Did the exact same thing in the running game reset shed make the play just an overwhelming presence on a down in, down out basis. And also, do not do not discount the value of Christian Wilkins' mind games, because in this game, he took
Jake Ferguson's towel didn't give it back to him. He also on a false start where the Cowboys gave a little love tap to Tyler Biottish their center, and he didn't take Verry Kyle of that att and got a couple of swings.
After the fact and then at the end of the half he put.
A full on rep against Zack Martin on a kneel down play and Beadish tried to come after him, and Christian just turned around and ran back to the locker room. He is a master of getting us side the head of the opponent. He's a player that you would hate if he's not on your team, but because he is, you love him. How about Zach Steeler, who I thought was even better than Christian in this game, but they played together so well that it just made sense here.
The control that he has of his man in a phone booth and when on one situation all American man wrestling alligator forearm grip strength is what is on display for Zach Steeler on a down and down out basis the eye discipline to go along with that, and the rush lane integrity. He's never going to sacrifice his rush lane for what he thinks might be able to go beyond the scheme to go make a play. And it helped out so much this week because the coverage was
so good. We'll get to that here in a second. That Zach's two gapping and eyes in the quarterback were such a critical part of cutting down so many of those Dak Prescott scrambles. You have to tip your cap to the guy because he's not just the strongest person on the field. He also plays with very very good
football acumen. And he forced a hold on a play where he was doing this because so frustrated by him just controlling the rep Sometimes you grab on and erases a first down, backs the Cowboys up and gets a punt out of their own end zone. So Christian Wilkins and Zac Seeler. For Christian two pressures and three stops for Zach four pressures and three stops.
They were both excellent.
Once again, my fourth top tape goes to David Long, and really these three guys I think are the epitome of how this defense functions under Vic Fangil. We'll come back to that, but his physicality and explosiveness just jumps off the tape every single week. And what's best about it, like Christian and Zach is the film study makes him even more of those two things because of the instinctive
nature that he operates with. He impacts the game as a blitzer gets Dak Prescott off the spot on a play where Ceedee Lamb was running free at one point. His flexibility is such a key to our varied looks. Because of that play speed, the outright speed speed, We're able to go two man and reroute Kendall Lamb with hook linebackers and basically say, if you want to put Lamb on the slot, fine, we'll have cater Cooho cover him.
He's gonna have to fight through a bunch of trash in the hook zone with linebackers rerouting him and walling him off, and safety's buzzing down to go play him. And one of the biggest reasons you can do this is because Long has the recognition and speed to get vertical, to get depth and take away a window on a twenty five yard over route in behind that second level of Dolphins defense.
He is so unique in the way he does that.
And then he'll get tasked with man coverage on Jake Ferguson up the stem. And I talked about Ferguson's physicality and the nuance of his routes on the preview podcast right how he can really remove your power because he kind of forces you onto your heels. Well, David Long didn't let that happen because he dictated the terms of the matchup and greeted him with equal or greater physicality.
On the day, three pressures as a rusher, one stop in the running game, and one for three passing completions and targets with seven total yards on seven on thirty four covered snaps.
That was difficult. What we got through it.
So, David Long, your fourth top tape and my fifth top tape goes to toront Armstead and he talked about not playing to his standard a couple weeks ago when he was coming off the injury.
Well he's back.
I mean collapsing the edge in the running game. He and Durham Smyth erased the edge completely a few times, and then DeMarcus Lawrence was silent all game long. He had three pressures, but none of those were on Teestad. In fact, he had twenty four pass rush snaps against Teestad without a pressure, and he had three on the other sixteen. But he didn't hit the quarterback a single
time in the whole game. And the play that really put him here for me was the screen the Tyreek that gave Miami a critical first down on the game winning drive. He was in the just miscategory until I came across that play. But one of the best things about Tron is this jump set that he has where he goes and gets the long runway, the nine technique, the Cameron Wake who's all the way outside the tight end.
He goes and gets it and shortens that runway to take away their speed their speed to power their long arm move. And on that play he bluffs the jump set on Micah Parsons, who takes the invitation to go get the inside gap and you'll make a short run to the quarterback because he'd been doing that all night long. But bluffs that and Parsons winds up basically diving face first onto the ground, and that's where the screen got ran.
So Toront Armstead the intellect, the knowledge, the game plan throughout the course of a game to adjust and make that call. It kind of won you the game in some respects. So t Stead zero pressures in the game, clean sheet on forty pass blocking snaps.
He's your fifth top tape.
The just miscategory alec Ingold, Tyreek Hill, Tua Tongua Bailoa, Jalen Ramsey, and Bradley Chubb are also in my honorable mention. My six through ten if you will, And with that, let's go ahead and take our first break rate there. Come back on the other side, do the entire offensive notes. We'll finish up with the defensive notes and the staff counts. All that coming away here on the Draft Time podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation.
Top five tapes in the books.
Let's go ahead and open up the offensive notes here and start by some general concepts and philosophies that I thought were very impressive from Mike McDaniel and this Dolphins offensive staff, starting with the man beaters in short yarders, because nobody runs more man coverage than the Dallas Cowboys, and you have to have your answers, and quite frankly, I think those are the easier answers to come up with than beating zone coverage because you get your natural rubs,
your slant flat, your mesh concepts, and we saw all of that in this game, including one of the coolest designs I've seen all year long by any offense on the raheem moster or touchdown reception.
But on the opening drive, you.
Face a third and three and you get a slat flat combo to Jeff Wilson, where Tyreek wins inside and forces all of the attention inside to the part of the field and it opens up that outside throwing lane to Jeff Wilson, who, if you remember last year, Wilson was a pretty valuable part of the passing game, and he also did something in this game that we haven't seen really all year from the Dolphins.
More on that in a moment.
That makes me think maybe there's a bigger role waiting for Jeff Wilson down the stretch here as he continues, or really his playstyle, I should say in this time of year really is conducive to physical December and January football.
But I thought those man beaters were very impressive, especially the touchdown to Raheem Moster, where they basically ran what was like a double mesh concept and the Cowboys rushed four and played man coverage with brackets, and you had three guys that had eyes on Tyreek Hill and he and Durham run this, or rather he and Cedric Wilson run this dual mesh concept where they both run shallow crossing route shallow drags to kind of pull the attention away from that part of the field that you want
to sneak Rahiem moster are out into and Durham consistently is just so on his details of his job, does a great job of feeling those routes and just kind of climbing to levels to where he knows he can put himself to set a legal pick without actually putting his hands on guys. He just carries that reroute and sifts his way through traffic to make himself big, and it's always effective when he does it. Now, he and Tyreek really took away the entire middle of the Cowboys defense.
And then Raheem is all alone after a Dumby motion where he fakes going to the right at the snap, peels back and goes back to the left and just gets completely lost in the wash from the Dallas defense. And then Rob Jones another awesome rep, giving Liam Eichenberg help and then peeling back and picking up a slanting rusher.
Two for one.
Kendall Lamb has a beautiful anchor on DeMarcus Lawrence, while Cotton and Tea Stead both put Micah Parsons in avice for that touchdown. Speaking of Micah Parsons, you will not see a player like this on Miami's schedule the rest of the year for four more years, because I think this is the best player I've ever watched on tape.
I guess you could see Miles Garrett and the Browns, it's pretty close, but this guy is a freak like he lined up everywhere and you just can't keep him from impacting the game because he's too dang good and too much of a unicorn for his position. We talked about the basically you crossover step wide receiver on cornerback release pass rush Movie has when he mugs up in the A gap. But I did think that Miami's effort and strain and awareness of Parsons was just good enough
to prevent him from changing the game. He impacted the game, but he didn't make a game changing play. Let's go ahead and talk about the quarterback he was trying to get after here and two tongue of my low, who I thought, despite some misses, played a very very good football game. Playing play making through vision was something that was on the I guess on the docket last week from Darryl Bebble's press conference. But what I didn't really take into account with how vision is so imperative to
the position. Is how you can have good vision in two.
Areas of the field at quarterbacks.
So on the play where Tua hits Cedric rolling out to his left, I'm not sure I've seen him do this before, but it's awesome to know it's in the bag. So the Cowboys run a game where the end loops inside to Tua's left, and tuas looking down the field, but he feels the rush so he can process the coverage right, but also the pass rush because he leaks out at the exact same time to the left that that end loops inside, so he feels that.
And do you guys.
Understand how insanely rare and valuable that is? Like Jets fans can't figure out why Zach Wilson stinks right with all those cool throws, bro cool Pro day throws. It's because he can't see and can't process and can't put the coverage and the rush together. And it's why you do not blitz to a front side. Blitz backside game
won't be an extra rusher to the backside. So I know that once that end leaves that position of the field, I now have an open window to escape that way to get myself in a threatening position to throw the football down the field. To Cedric Wilson, I have answers to my test ahead of time. Let's escape and throw a dot. I like to think I know what I'm talking about, and I'm still very much an amateur with this. I'm not coach McDaniel or coach Frank Smith. But man,
I've studied a lot of coaching clinics. I've watched a lot of tape. There's not more than five or six quarterbacks doing this. I'll just go ahead and say that also something that kind of I just think to his entire game is like a test of who knows ball, and it's the mastery of the seemingly innocuous. Kind of like that last point, but that's how I would describe
two as game, the mastery of the seemingly innocuous. When I did his breakdown for the YouTube channel which you can go find that, and the Bradley Chubb and the Jayleen Ramsey breakdowns that we put up on the YouTube channel with me on a telestrader, go watch if you have not seen that where I show plays where Tua turns us back to the defense and gives a fake inside on an end around and then flips back and fires to a spot. And he did it again here.
And this one was a touch throw the Tyreek hill between three Cowboys defenders right in stride and after a reverse pivot step. And I feel like I'm very much over using this point on the podcast today. But there's like a handful of quarterbacks who I would would trust to mechanically get themselves aligned and put the football right
back in the right spot off of that action. It's impressive on its own, but the type of skill and ball handling that makes our run game even more dangerous makes it go to.
A different level.
Not to mention it's a player where you've sort of given the offensive line the rep off not to diminish their work, but the action on the fake gets the defensive line moving laterally.
And then the quick throw.
It's almost impossible to affect Tua when he's got that operation rolling, so he basically by himself can mitigate pressure on ten plus snaps on a given game.
It's impressive. Man.
How about the end of half, end of game drives. That's where I thought Tua really made his money in this one. So the Cowboys play this three deep coverage this entire time, the middle of the field safety's twenty
five yards off the football. This is the end of the first half, by the way, with the perimeter of the three high coverage playing fifteen yards so deep show that's why you get smythe on stick and Tyreek layered in behind that runs the coverage off to a Seizon goes the short route because they ran with a deep route,
smart quarterback play. They came right back to it, and this time Tua has to shoulder roll pump to Tyreek into the high window to create the vacancy underneath some hesitation the middle linebacker position creates a window to Durham.
Smyth hits that one. Just fine.
I just love what Tua did on these man. The hook would not widen and he would read that. So he would rip it inside to his number three receiver of alignment, right you your third closest receiver inside to that side of the field, Smyth, Cedric Braxton. Then they would flood the trip side and just now it's Tyreek against off coverage. Just throw a little now hitch route to him. So it's a play by play example of Tua's vision and the ability to get the football out early.
It's so so critical on this drive that they have the ball early, and they do it every damn snap. Then the game winning drive more of the same design. Swing to a Chan face mask is the drive starter this time around, finds the grip on a low snap and rips a perfect slant et Cedric Wilson for nine yards on time on the stop route to Tyreek for a first down to Boom. Three plays were already in Jason Sanders field goal range, but now you need to manage the clock in the game, so you miss Tyreek
on first down a little bit inside. Then another great call to minimize Micah Parsons by running play action away from him and sneaking alec Ingold into the route on split flow where Parsons thinks he might get picked up by Ingole, but then rather than doing that, you throw it to him. In fact, Dallas did the exact same thing to Jake Ferguson on the open drive of the game, where they fake the split flow block and throw it to him. Then the check to a now screen to
Tyreek is the biggest play of the game. Right took another ninety seconds off the clock, allows us to make it a chip shot field goal. And that's a man coverage recognition from Tua. Check at the line scrimmage, make that call big time down.
Now.
This is part of the general plays and the general breakdown for the Dolphins offense inside the Tua portion of the podcast. Almost an inception here for you. But the run game, Man. Hefe's eight yard run gets excellent perimeter blocks from Reek and said Rob Jones had a great.
Catch and climb.
Lamb and Eikenberg held their reach blocks just long enough. And then great downhill running by Hefe himself. Then that third and two Man, they've used their timeouts, but they gonna stop here. They're gonna have about fifty five seconds left and just needing thirty five forty yards for a long field goal try. And that kicker never misses. That's an eternity of time, man. But they know, especially with
how they move in the ball. Last couple of drives ten points on the Dolphins defense in the fourth quarter, but they know the run is coming. Everybody's in the box and how freaking cool is this. We are primarily a zone running team.
Right outside zone.
Inside zone, they go power, which is classic one back power Man gap scheme, Lamb Jones and Eichenberg all down block and make critical attaching blocks, and Robert Jones just completely displaces the B gap. Lester Cotton pulls in the backside and gets the crucial chip on DeMarcus Lawrence that makes the lane wide open for Jeff Wilson.
He sees it, he hits it. Awesome call. Better execution wins you the game. Goosebumps man.
I came winning for this game impressed by two of for three things. Well aside from the fact that he made Dallas decide to change their entire defensive philosophy, which is one thing on its own, but the three things. Number one, an understanding of defenses and coverages and how to attack them that gets better every single week, taking what the defense gives you and knowing what's there. And then two, the drive starters and the threat.
Of play action.
Because of Tua's ball handling and the ability to mess with the defense with his drops, his footwork, how they can change the launch point, how Miami can do different handoff type of techniques every single week. Because this quarterback is so adept in those fine details, and because you always know that he'll get back on balance and throw these anticipatory strikes down the.
Field on time, on target.
He threw an eighteen yard hook to Tyreek where his hands separate before Tyreek even sinks the hips to get into the route, and the off course is in a full sprint to the goal line. There's a middle field safety running full sprint to the goal line and a cloud corner who's getting depth at full speed trying.
To impact that.
The only way you get the ball into a triple team there is with elite anticipation and location. We were in scoring range all night long because of the ability to hit these chunk plays early in drives against that Tampa two cover three early down defense of Dallas, like I talked about in the preview podcast. And finally three, he was impacted by Parsons immediate pocket collapsing a few times.
Thought he missed some throws he normally hits, and every time it's a sped up operation where he's not in the same mechanical alignment because eleven is relentlessly in his face. But then there were some adjustments. He just threw it earlier and took some gas off the throw. That's adjusting endgame in a way that I don't think many quarterbacks are capable of. He converted a third long at the
plus thirty nine yard line in the third quarter. That I think is a difference between points and not kicking a field goal there at all. So although Sanders had hit from that range, but you get the idea just so pressure from Tua. I did think there was a few misses that were bothersome. The missed to Waddle on what looks like a site adjustment as well as running the glance, but they had that thing walled off backside, so he pivots out and Tua tries to throw a
back shoulder ball, but it's just high and away. Base got a little bit wide. He pumped it and held it a beat longer, which got the rush into his face. Mechanics go awry, ball goes awry. He misses a speed out to Waddle where Parsons has immediate eight gap pressure and forces the footwork to change.
Ball is wide.
On the penultimate drive of the first half, he missed a speed out to a chan the opening drive of the second half, third and nine, Tyreek runs a slam.
Tua throws the out.
The safety had rolled down inside, but Parsons winning inside the tackle again speeds things up. He ruined plays all night long, and the worst one wasn't out to Cedric Wilson on third and seven at the plus seventeen in the third quarter with just two minutes to play, sixteen to ten game. He was wide in his base, he was early, and there was no pressure on this one.
Just flat out and missed it.
And I think that the game winning drive does not have to happen if he hits that throw. But all things told, solid grades Soliday for Tua. Parsons makes a big impact man. We'll see if the Ravens can do the same thing to him next week. But twenty plus air yard throws one for four his lowest pertentigs of the season fifty yards though, and then ten plus throws eight for sixteen for one to seventy seven.
That's a great number right there.
He was pressured eleven dropbacks, went three for ten fifty one yards, Parsons man, and then he was blitzed six times, went three for six for forty six yards. Let's go ahead and take our last break right there. Come back on the other side, do all the eligibles and the defense.
That's all.
Next draft Time Podcast, your host Travis Wingfield, brought to you by Auto Nation. Almost thirty minutes into the show. We have a lot of ground to cover here in the final SEGM. Let's go ahead and start with the eligibles and Tyreek Hill and what a freaking teammate this guy is.
Man Dallas was not gonna let him see the ball. Early.
Everything was a bracket. Sometimes a third backside defender would lurk to buzz a crosser or peel off when he'd stay front side, but he still ran every route with deliberate intention, right with purpose. Chosen's reception, zero chance Tyreek's getting the football on that play because Dallas has literally four sets of eyeballs, that's eight eyeballs on him, But he clears space for Chosen by running a full fledged
clear out route with all the effort he can possibly give. Then, of course, the play that he makes just gliding around the field, his presence forcing some of these off coverages that opens up space for other guys and himself on those quick hook throws to get you in critical field goal range in the fourth quarter. Great to have him back.
I know he didn't make the catch and was on different pages with two at one point the deep catch I'm talking about, But all these grabs came against doubles and brackets.
That special.
When you can defeat brackets and doubles, that's Hall of Fame stuff. Seven point zero seven yards per target honestly the lowest he's seen all year, I believe this season against that coverage that he saw, though, is amazing. To do that against constant double and triple team. Also just a cool two point six eight yards per route ran, which would have been third in the NFL on the
entire year. I think, uh Nico Collins and who's the other one, Ceedee Lambs, somebody else is higher, but Tyreek in this game against double coverage as good as the best receivers in the NFL, well besides himself, because he's like four point six this year. Durham Smith helping the tackles hit those reach blocks every single week where he just holds him up for a beat to get that reach block attached. Then he detaches and climbs up to a nickel corner, a safety, a middle linebacker trying to
flow over the top. He's so good, and I'm gonna do a segment on Durham Smyth later this week talking about his the microcosm that he is for the rest of the football team and how the coaching staff plays the strengths of the players.
But every big run there's eighty one locking onto somebody. What a year he's having. And also about catching the football.
Caught every target, eleven yards per target, one point nine to three yards per route. Ran great game for Durham Smyth, just like it was a great game for alec Ingold, who hit several critical blocks all game long, all over the formation.
He gets put in.
These difficult positions, and I think the design of the offense speaks to his competence, Like you can run these complex things because of alec Ingold, like a counterplay where he has to take two fall steps place before winding back and cutting off the free running, unblocked end elite combo of both vision and athletic ability. The entire Dolphins backfield is smart players and only you can only run these varied running games with.
Them because of that.
He also had a cut block on Parsons at the point of attack that sprung a fourteen yard where he most run on the opening play of the third quarter. He just did a little bit of everything, man. I do think though the league ALEC might be privy to that hurdle at this point.
A little fun there.
Cedric Wilson angles back to the quarterback as well as anybody on the roster, good hands, catches, survives contact a couple of times, some superb blocking off the edge. He's really stepped up in whatever role he's been asked to fulfill, and I thought had a real sense of urgency on both end of half scoring drives where they're playing that soft off coverage three deep zone. Get out of the blocks, you have to go now, show your numbers of the
quarterback and then fall forward into the catch. There's value in catching the ball at five yards and then making it an eight or nine yard game to get second and two second one. Julian Hill, the thing I like about him is I know there's going to be one hundred percent straight on every single block, every ounce of effort he can give. He will still a really good blocker off the perimeter. And then Raheem Mostert in here
as well. Backside vision keeps his shoulders over his feet on those cuts, leans into contact and a blocker trying to disengage at the point to get off the block and make the tackle.
Good frigging luck.
I'm not sure I've seen Raheem get tackled by that one time this year. Arm tackle is not going to work on a guy with that speed. Makes him for a dangerous runner three point four or five yards after contact on average thirty eight total. One thing I can't get on board with the eligibles is Craycraft down for chosen just unwillingness to make tough blocks in the first drive put us behind the sticks, and I don't like that. Creycraft don't do that on the offensive line. Huge props
to Liam meickenberg Man. The difference in picking up loopers and games inside is night and day difference from what it was his first couple of games. It looks like Connor Williams in a sense was out there in terms of the communication inside.
Not quite as good, but closer.
This is the fifth position this guy's played in his career, and more comfortable than ever I think right now, and I think the reliable pass pro and no day that made him a second round draft pick is showing up in these short spaces because he's so strong in these condensed spaces where he can throw a punch and absorb power and kind of keep his man in a pham booth, and with how the offense operates, that's not an effective
form of pressure. Now, it does take away from a lot of your outside running game, but in these critical past pro situations it's a benefit. And then Rob Jones, he got himself in the top five at being a dominant beast that he was Kendall Lamb upon further review of the tape, Parsons had a pretty impact impactful game.
Didn't change the game, but like on the Turn of Rundown series on third Down, Wilson is naked on a little pivot China route and Tua wants to go there, but Micah has already blown through Kendall Lamb into tu his face kind of like a zombie reaching around the boarded up windows and Apocalypse film, like, you know, he's kind of being held up, but the arm is reaching through the windows.
Tough ask.
I thought Kendall did enough, but Parsons definitely had the better of that matchup. On balance, I think you're continue to see the impact of coaching and a group that adheres so they're coaching. The connectivity was great finally get a little bit of continuity even without Austin Jackson the lineup, because I thought this was the best game they played with this combination, and that's encouraging heading into even more
important games down the stretch. The numbers for these guys to Ron Armiston did clean sheet, Lester Cotton two pressures, was charged with a half a sack, Leam Miikenberg two pressures, no QB hits, Robert Jones two pressures, one QB hit, and Kendall Lamb three pressures, charged with a half sack and one QB hit. How about the defense quick pivot here?
I think the variety that Lamb saw ultimately removed him from the game for two plus quarters of football, and they frustrated him to the point that there were some routes where he didn't really go that hard. They'd flash in front of him cap the top and just keep
him guessing, regardless of his alignment inside or outside. I thought we sprung a couple of busts early on that led to those big plays that did get him four for ninety three in the first quarter, but then locked it down with great execution and adhering to the rules on a given play. We also dominated the trenches. Dallas is a big, physical, not fake Gucci bag team, right, gonna push us around?
Yeah, good call, there a ding dong. We dominate the trenches.
Had a really good play in the perimeter in the end in the hook zone with Ramsey X, David Long and Duke Riley and shut down the run inside. Impressive ability to get production up front without sending blitzers or even fit in the run with additional hats. He can be down a hat in the box and still win because Wilkins, Seiler, and Long are so critical to that aspect of your run defense. But also their ability to affect the quarterback with just four rushers. God, it's impressive.
And I throw Duke in that mix as well. Very impressive down the middle. This Dolphins defense right now is humming and I can't wait for the big test on Sunday. Let's go ahead and talk about the previous Sunday against the Cowboys. We talk about the retrace all off season, right, but it shows up on game days, and man, it shows up every single week. Wilkins had one on the first drive on the opening the first sack of the opening drive, and then Sealer on the Deshaun Elliott play.
We've all talked about a million times.
Zach is five yards behind the play and it looks like Pollard has a cruise in touchdown, but Zach never gives up on the play. In fact, he accelerates and I'm not sure if Deshaun's tackle keeps Paul out of the end zone without the cleanup hit of Zack Seeler. Just want to go ahead and make a mention of that.
I think we won this game because of the combination of speed off the edge and the ability of ninety four and ninety two to consistently collapse the pocket inside that paired with really good communication and physicality to either absorb power routes or to make speedier routes take a beat longer. Just complimentary football and examples of individuals winning their matchups over and over and over again, that changing
the calls. Duke Riley delays a blitz that puts the right tackle to squeeze the b gap and that allows Andrew van Geegle to flash his bendability around the edge. The backside safety shows too high but buzzes down the backside slant with an eye on the front side Crosser. Dak is such a great quarterback with elite vision, but you could tell Miami had him a little bit guessing and confuse out there. That's a tough task to do. Vic Fangio did it. How about the individuals, ray Kwon Davis.
I thought his power and length was too much for Tyler Battish just overwhelmed him a lot.
Beian just kind of got whipped in this game.
Radley Chubb, I thought, you know, I still fail to understand how he bends the corner at the speed that he has with the body composition that he has because he's so thickly built and able to hold the point against the run. But then to the minute the tackle flashes any green grass outside, he takes it and wins with speed that can then turn to speed to power where he then resets the anchor of the right tackle
or left tackle. I should say I think that's why he leads the league in four fumbles, because the tackles are often taken by surprise when he gets the arc and then resets it through speed, power, and he uses that physicality to impact the b gap too, which also helps Seeler and Wilkins get their pass brush production when they he slants across face and they loop around the outside edge because he's moved the entire edge inside and gives him a tighter line to the quarterback. He had
six pressures and three stops in the game. The off ball linebackers already talked about Duke Riley a little bit, and David Long got in the top five tapes. But I think here's where things have changed for me is the coverage that has improved since these two guys got together back in the Washington game. The ability to get depth on some of these hook drops, but also locate
quickly what happens. I think there's a lot more anticipation happening at that level than there was before, and really taking away reaching the quarterback and helping aid in more coverage sacks.
In fact, here's some numbers for you.
The Dolphins have thirteen sacks in three and a half games with Duke Riley in the lineup. The number is just slightly higher than the average before, but the tape tells me it's more indicative of improved coverage because, after all, Jalen Phillips, who is your best pass rusher bar none, The number didn't drop that much without him, So why is that the case? Why did Denver do that? I'm inclined to think that this is why. In fact, Dak Prescott,
here you go. Time to throw against the Dolphins this year two point nine to eight seconds for Dack, Zach Wilson three point one five seconds, Will Levis two point seven to six seconds, Sam Howell three point twenty seven. Before that, Tim Boyle when they had Duke wasn't playing linebacker. Tim Boyle two point three to five, aid And O'Connell two point eight five, Mahomes two point eighty six, Mac
Jones two point five one. Here's the discrepancies of those quarterbacks based upon their season average and the game against US. Dak held the ball for a quarter second longer, so did Zach Wilson. Will Levis held the ball for a tenth of a second longer. Sam Howe was way off. But that was a different game, disaster game for the Commanders before that without Duke Riley, Tim Boyle doesn't qualify for time to throw, so we remove him. Aidan O'Connell had one tenth of a second less time to throw.
He held the ball less before the injury to Jerome Baker and Duke Riley in the field. Patrick Mahomes a decreas as well, and then mac Jones only jumped up point zero five seconds. The difference is stark. The coverage is creating more sacks. I think that that middle portion of the defense is a big reason why. And for
Duke Riley, the coverage is fantastic. His ability to sift, condense and find the football because he's a bit smaller at that position, but he plays with so much physicality and instincts in speed and beat you the same way David Long does.
I don't think it's been a drop off here.
I think it's been better at middle linebacker and speaks to his work ethic and staying ready. He had two pressures and two stops in the game. Finally, the secondary Ramsey the play before the Deshaun play before the fumble, right Cooks has a path to the pylon, but Galen comes down and puts a lick on him. He makes a play with the physical aspect of the game every single week, and right here it helped induced a seven
point swing. Also, his coverage Jake Ferguson, Ceedee Lamb playing out against Brandon Cooks, Camante Turpin like he was doing so much against so many guys. Twenty yards allowed on three targets and forty two cover snaps.
He's the best in the business man.
How much we miss to Sean Elliott the run fit the play then, gosh, the center field work.
Does not get enough love in this defense.
I think you really see it when Javon Hollins out there because he can go play make more because Deshaun can play the deep center part of the field, but he caps routes down the hash he's helping on bump and run outside seems to always force the quarterback to get out of their hitch timing and.
Double clutch because he's in the vicinity.
I think Xavi and Howard had a tough night and he's kind of not playing the ball in the air very well, but his work fitting the edge is the forced defender has been the best ever been in his entire career. Seventy seven yards on forty two covered snaps, got beat on that deep ball got be better there. Kanerko, who had some really good work inside, some good trail technique and funnel part of the Zeus concept where you play funnel underneath bump and run and funnel right into
your help. He was very good in that regard twenty six yards on thirty five coverage snaps and then Brandon Jones, Look, I've been talking about it every week, like you know, I hope Javon's close. He worked out pregame. That's usually a good sign. But man, we are just I don't know what we're doing a lot of the time. He made the big play. The funble recovery is a good example of playing to the whistle because lots of DB's
and those goal line plays they don't factor in. They peel off the minute the ball pops out, though Brandon Jones sees it and hits the gas and goes and gets it, because if it's a half second later, I think Dak recovers it and then second in goal with the two yard line instead of a turnover. But then it's just back to some nonsense like Ceede Lamb is the two to the field against Caterer who has outside leverage, so he's gonna run the over route and you better
pick him up on the backside. But Brandon Jones comes down and plays the X out the out route to the X receiver, Like what are we doing there, but he's like eight yards away from the football but not fitting the run or playing anything, just covering grass and by the time he play pass, he's late to get back into the hook and it's a huge play to Lamb. Every week this happens. The very next play is a big game. But a horrendous angle gives him thirty more
yards and a touchdown play. So Javon Holland hopefully coming back soon. But I thought that was a big, big issue early on in the game in that back end of coverage. But by and large, Dolphins defense gets after. Let's go ahead to the stap counts here real quick. What do we learn from those in this game? Well, offensive line went wire to wire, so your quarterback, that's a great sign. Durham Smith, we talked about how big of a game he had. He had the most snaps
besides quarterbacks in o lineman with fifty five. The other tight end Julian Hill, played eleven STAPs in the game. So durham smyth is a very critical part of the offense. As far as the receivers, Tyreek eighty five percent leads the way, Cedric goes sixty two percent with Wattle playing forty three because the injury. In fact, Barrios got two more snaps than Waddle, so Wattle in and out of lineup high ankle sprain. Hopefully he'll be back soon. Chosen
had five snaps and Claypool had three. At running back, Moster leads the way. No, sorry, a Chan led the way with fifty five percent of the workload. Moster had twenty nine percent. I didn't wize he played that few snaps, but good for him for gutting it out getting back in the lineup. And then Ingold played forty three percent of the snaps there as well. So that's your offensive look. On defense, two guys go to distance, Duke and Jalen, and then Brandon Jones and Deshaun Elliott both played all
but one snap in the game. Let's go ahead and stay their cornerback X played all but three snaps. You had Coohu playing three quarters of the snap. So there's your nickel versus base defense difference right there. And then Nick Neaedham played six snaps in the game and had a rough game in.
That regard as well.
Back to the front, the defensive ends, or rather the defensive tackles I should say Christian Wilkins played sixty one snaps ninety two percent. Zach Seedler played fifty six snaps. Those guys are unreal. Man DeShawn Ham played eleven snaps.
I thought he had a.
Rough game as well in that in that capacity off the edge, what have we got here? Van Ginkle leads away with fifty four snaps. That's eighty two.
Percent of the workload.
We saw Bradley Chubb get eighty percent, so just one snap fewer. And then we saw Melvin Ingram play twenty one snaps in his first game.
Up.
I guess that's your JPP replacement there. And then Cameron Good had four snaps at linebacker, David Long played sixty one, and Duke Riley played all of them. Dang, So Duke was the primer backer in the game. That's pretty impressive there from him. Tells you how they think about him. And then finally, what other position do I have here? The nose tackle Rayqwan played thirty five percent of the snaps, So yeah, pretty good feel there. It's been that rotation
for a long time this season. That's a long podcast. That's what happens when you get a big win. On Christmas Eve to clinch the playoffs and put yourself in position to win the division. Next week, We're gonna go ahead and get out of here tomorrow on the podcast previewing the Big Game and Ravens and Dolphins do that on the Drift Time podcast. We'll have some guests this week, plenty to come your way, but in the meantime, that's gonna be my time.
You all.
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Until next time, fins up. Carol on Cameron Daddy, He's coming home.