January 5, 2023 • 36 mins
Week 18 of the Game Preview Podcast with Ethan Greenberg and NFL Network Analytics Expert Cynthia Frelund and the duo dive into Jets-Dolphins. Before they preview the matchup, they discuss Bills S Damar Hamlin and the impact it had around the NFL. Then they start the first quarter talking about how the Jets can spoil the Dolphins' playoff hopes (13:40) and Miami's quarterback situation (15:45). In the second quarter, they talk about the flashy matchup between the Jets cornerbacks and Dolphins wide receivers (17:50). They also discuss how the Green & White's defense can bounce back against the 'Fins (21:05). In the third quarter, Cynthia gives her take on the importance of stopping the run for the Jets (26:40) and limiting intermediate passes (29:11). They finish the fourth quarter talking about the future of the Jets (31:15).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the season finale of the Game Preview Podcast.
It only took eighteen weeks to get a new guest
on the pod. New Year, New guest, Cynthia's Puck Gordy
in the Flesh. If you're just listening to this, I
feel really bad for you because Gordy is very cute.
He's very fluffy, and he looks very snugly right now.
(00:25):
Just looks like he needs a nap or something. He's
definitely he's either gonna like jump up and leave me
like usual, or he's gonna fall asleep. So I mean,
we went for a really long walk this morning. It's
pouring green in Los Angeles, so my fluffy he's he's look, well,
you're not betting people. We've we've said this many times.
But the over under thing, if you were to set
(00:47):
it for how many minutes, he will stay five? Okay,
all right, sit off, start the timer right now, and
then it is on the East coast. So if he's
there by twelve fifty he's or twelve fifty one, he's
done a good job. If he's got a dog, by
the way, this Jets pillow, your dog's he's like obsessed
(01:09):
with it. Like he he loves it, so so everybody
needs a Jets pillow, that's what you're saying. I am
all right, Season finale, Week eighteen, Jets at Miami. We're
gonna get into everything in depth as much as we can,
but first it feels like we should talk about a
non Jets related topic, and obviously that is the health
(01:31):
of Bill's safety Damar Hamlin. If you did not watch
the game or you have not heard about it, I
feel like at this point mostly everybody has. But if
you have not, Bill's safety Damar Hamlin was making a
tackle on Bengals wide receiver T Higgins. He stands up
after the play and then he just immediately collapses, goes
into cardiac arrest, gets transported to a Level one trauma
(01:55):
center near the stadium. After the medical staff had administered
CPR on the field, the game canceled or it was
temporarily suspended and then canceled. Since Damar Hamlin, no real
update other than from close friends and family just saying
that it seems like everything is as much as it
can be positive. I mean, there's no real like update
(02:19):
other than that that whatever vital signs that the doctors
wanted to see overnight from last night to this morning
had taken place in a progressive manner, meaning in like
in a good way. That's really the only update. But
where were you when you were watching the game? Like
were you watching it? Did somebody tell you about the
game to turn it on? Like how did you take
(02:39):
in the information? And for someone who's been covering the
NFL for so long, like what was going through your
mind and the immediate you know, aftermath of what happened?
So I was watching obviously this was a highly anticipated
Monday night game too. I mean there's so much on
the line seating you know the a f C, like
one to three between them and the Chiefs. It is
going to be really these are like the three best
(03:00):
teams in the a f C, right and maybe the
three best teams in all of football. Um, So I
was watching, And I also spent the preseason with the
Bills a couple of for a couple of years. And
I have a chance to know, got a chance to
know tomorrow. Hamlin myself, a six round pick out of
pit a kid who you know, he used to anytime
you'd ask him to do any interview, any anything, any
(03:21):
like just the answer was yes, and he just wants
to play football. Like this is the type of person
who you want on your team. This is the type
of person who you know in preseason. You know, remember
ahead of the season with Micah Hyde and Jordan poy
are all healthy. This is a hard secondary to make.
This was a very difficult team to make, just period,
full stop. And you know he's sitting there being serious
(03:42):
and trying to call me ma'am, and I'm telling him
that he better call me a miss, because you know,
you didn't want to call anyone ma'am. Just always go
a miss. So you know, these are the types of
He just a really gregarious, like just a great kid.
And it's really sad to hear, although I will say
there are some silver line is here. Number one, you know,
first and foremost that he's at a really great hospital,
(04:04):
the University of Cincinnati Hospital. You said it, it's a
Level one trauma center, but also like a like world
right now situation. So if you're gonna go to a
trauma center, that is one that you would want to
have to go to if you were unfortunately in this situation.
But you know, beyond that, like you know, you saw
the entire NFL community come together. You weren't a fan
of the Bills or the Dolphins, or the Bengals or
(04:27):
the Jets or anyone else at that point. You were
just a football fan and nobody you know, Like I said,
if there's any Selver lining, it's the outpouring of his charity.
He he had been interested in helping kids get toys.
He started doing in Pittsburgh, and overnight the charity went
from like maybe ten thousand people donating to over like
(04:47):
like several millions. So you did get to see some
great humanity from all of us. And you know, I
have texted and talked to some of my you know,
my Bills team staff members that you know, and they
were saying that the Bengals fans couldn't have been more
kind and like nice and loving, And you know, I'm
at liberty to share that, you know, when we didn't
(05:09):
know what was going on, Um, you know, no. But
by the way, we still don't really know what's going on.
You know, we don't know how it's going to end.
But you know, at the end of the day, like
you know, hopefully it ends in you know, he's on
the field and we can say, you know, get better.
He has a great, awesome life. But you know, we
don't know right now, we're really in it, we're really
we don't know what to expect. So um, you know,
Joe Burrow did a really nice job of saying I'm
(05:32):
you know, he he followed all the protocols and rules
and said I want to go down to the bills
locker room. Um, figure out a way, and he rallied
his captains and brought them down to the bills to
offer any support. And obviously you saw in the field
all of the levels of support that the entire Bengals
you know, organization gave to the Bills. But at the
(05:52):
same time, it's like it's nice to hear that behind
closed doors when the cameras weren't watching and etcetera. Like
these people are who we hope they are, so Joe Burrow, like,
you know, it's it's nice to see and nice to
hear those things where he had he had no there
was no there was nothing in it for him other
than just to be a good person. So you know,
it's nice to at least see like the positive, like
you know, people on TV praying with each other, and
(06:14):
you know, I was watching Ryan Clark, and he absolutely
crushed it, just being like so vulnerable and compassionate. So
you are seeing a lot of at least positive things
in response to a horrible thing. But I hope we
never have to see anything like this again, and I
hope that he's obviously okay and able to be, you know,
just normal, like it goes, you know, things go back
(06:35):
to normal, just a fluke incident. But you know, it's
it's scary, it's very scary, and it reminds you that
there are a lot of things that matter way more than,
you know, than than a game. Yeah. I think that's
all extremely well said, and there's really no precedent, at
least in modern times from like just as a fan
(06:55):
watching the game, from the moment that Damar Hamlin went down, Like, yes,
there are medical procedures. There was an article written about
it about the NFL emergency procedures. Very interesting article, just
like a peek behind the curtain, But there's really no
precedent from the second he went down to where we
are now. You know, whether that's the way the broadcast
team handled everything, the way the players and coaches on
(07:18):
the sidelines handled everything, the way that the all thirty
other NFL teams and coaching staffs and ownership have handled everything,
like I think it's really brought the sense of family
in football. And I think a lot of people say that,
like faith football family and you you, obviously after most
game see players from both teams praying at midfield together
(07:39):
and that, you know, people always say football is family,
but I think we really got to see that on
Monday and throughout the days afterwards, and it's just really
cool to see and obviously everyone is praying and hoping
the best for Damar Hamlin, and it's just like a
really humanizing situation because you know, for people's even like you, Cynthia,
like for people whose job it is to talk about
(08:00):
fantasy football like we we we NFL Network has so
far two days this week we canceled Fantasy Live because
it just doesn't seem like exactly, it just doesn't seem
you know, we have two hours of total access instead
so that we can have more the conversations that need
to be had right now. Eventually we'll be able to
go back to having some fun. But you know, right now,
(08:20):
it's not it's not the moment for that exactly. And
I think Ryan Clark said it best, like next time
you're in your fantasy football championship and e'ure upset that
you know this player didn't perform at the level that
you wanted him to to win you probably some money
in that case, or just some street credibility amongst your
friends for winning the championship like this puts things into
a different perspective. And have really hit me when Ryan
(08:44):
Clark said, like all his life, meaning Damarrow Hamlin's life,
he had worked for the opportunity to one play in
the NFL, then to play for any team, than to
play in what would have been the biggest game of
this season, probably of his career, than to have something
like that happened, and really like shake everybody at their core.
I mean the Bills and Bengals faces say at all.
(09:07):
But I think it's also one of those things where
if you're a fan of football, probably shakes you up
a little bit as well. Shook me up, like you're
watching this and obviously the older you get, I think
the more you understand the value and the fragility of
life as a whole. But to have it to have
the way everything happened just really puts things into a
(09:29):
different perspective, and right now, in terms of looking ahead,
that game doesn't have a set date for obvious reasons,
and the NFL said that there are no scheduling changes
to week eighteen. But to me, like that doesn't necessarily
shut the door, you know, like this leaves the door
kind of open the way that it was worded. So
(09:49):
I'm interested to see how that plays out. But obviously
everybody is thinking about Damar or Hamlin, his friends and
his family. Yeah, I mean, it also reminds you that,
like we get to play football, we get to watch football,
we get to enjoy football. We you know, like, I'm
glad we didn't have any precedent of how to handle
this from a you know, league to broadcast to anything standards,
(10:10):
because thank god, we like that doesn't happen. Right at first,
it looks very reminiscent of what we saw from to us,
So you you did not you thought maybe concussion. You didn't.
I certainly didn't. My gut instinct wasn't that, you know,
cardiac arrest was even possible. So at the end of
the day, like we were reminded that like we get
to experience this all together, we get to be Jets fans.
We get to be Bills fans, Like we get to
(10:31):
be at a game where these people are doing like
it's such a like a we're so privileged and we're
so lucky to be able to have that. So you know,
it's it's just a reminder that's like sometimes like sure,
like you know, it feels really important, and I'm glad
it feels important that you know whatever happens and the
outcomes of any game. Right, but at the end of
the day, like you still get to go home and
hug your dog, right, and and talk to your friend
(10:53):
on a podcast. So that's the that's the kind of
thing that we like the good takeaway like really like
be little like more present in your life. Yeah, And
I think that the whole approach of you get to
do this. I think that obviously in our football world,
that's the scope at which we're talking about it, but
I think that kind of scope could be applied to
(11:15):
just life in general. Like you get to go on
a walk with your dog, who, by the way, has
officially hit the over It is now twelve fifty five.
He must be very a very sleepy boy. Right. I
think I just worked about two hard this morning. Yeah,
he seems like a big orange theory guy anyway. So
I just think that general scope of of the your
(11:36):
approach on life is probably the one that people take
for granted and until something devastating happens. And in the
football world, this was that devastating thing. And in the
history of the NFL, Like I think when you think
about all the different events, like the one that I
know of, I wasn't even alive for it happened in
(11:57):
the Detroit Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes like died on
the field because of a blood clot and that's probably
the most traumatizing or devastating scenario the NFL has had
to deal with. And I think Lisa Saulter said it,
it's like everyone takes for granted that when people get
stretchered off on the field in modern football, everyone mostly
gives the thumbs up as they're leaving, right like shows
(12:19):
like like I'm conscious, I'm okay, Like that simple thumbs
up didn't happen Monday night, And that is where we
stand now, exactly. So yeah, no, look, I mean Ryan
Shays here, we have some examples of some pretty devastating
things happening. But at the by the end of the day,
like does the brutal sport, and you know, we'll move
on and we'll figure it out and we'll honor him,
(12:42):
and like we'll find the right ways to honor Damar Hamlin.
So we'll we'll all figure it out and be better
because of it. It's just it's it's really scary, and
it's we get a chance now to be better. We
all get a chance. You get a chance now to
like snap some priorities in place and be better. Yeah,
I think that is the perfect way to put a
(13:02):
bow on that conversation. And it's not there's no easy
way to go from such a serious topic into Jets Dolphins.
But with that being said, well we'll give it a shot,
and I think that I think that we should start
with a kind of a general theme for the first
quarter is just that the Jets officially eliminated from playoff contention.
(13:23):
The Miami Dolphins do have a chance to make the playoffs,
but the Jets also have a chance to squash those
dreams by beating the Dolphins in South Florida on Sunday.
Just what are your overall takes about this matchup? Before
we get into some specific players. Yeah, so it's interesting
because I'm looking at this matchup. Look, there's a lot
(13:44):
of injuries that the Dolphins had significant injuries that I
don't know if they were like fully, they felt very
questionable too late and then they were scratches. Usually I
feel like it's like those questionable doubtful out right. It
was like questionable out right. So you had no Bradley Job,
you had no Zaman Howard, we had no you were
missing all of these thess torn arms set, so these
are this is an opportunity where the Jets could really
(14:05):
especially with their strength, which is the defense, they could
really play spoiler quite easily to the Dolphins, especially if
you're looking at things like pressure. And I mean we
saw last week by the way, Carl Lawson ranks fifteen
and edge pressure and amongst edge rushers and pressures this
season with forty seven. Quentin Williams also has forty seven.
He ranks third among interior defenders. So pressure from all
(14:28):
areas of this defensive front are a really big strength
of the team. And also with questions of quarterback, and
I mean it's Teddy Bridgewater even going to be able
to go like that could be a really big, a
big problem for for the Dolphins. Yeah, and Teddy Bridgewater
dealing with a dislocated pinky. So this would be regardless
of who starts for the Dolphins on Sunday. The one
(14:49):
certain is that the Jets will not have seen to
a tongue of valoa in either game that they played
the Dolphins this season. In Week five, he was in
concussion protocol. Teddy Bridgewater got to start. Then Teddy Bridgewater
gets hurt elbow injury first play of the game. Sauce
Gardner blitz is Teddy call for intentional grounding, gets hurt
on the place. Skyler Thompson, the seventh round pick out
of Kansas State, comes in. The Jets win that game
(15:10):
for sev This Sunday, you're either looking at Teddy Bridgewater
with the dislocated pinky. It'll depend on his grip strength
and the swelling around his pinky. According to Mike McDaniel,
the head coach of the Dolphins, Skyler Thompson again or
Mike Lennon, because Mike Lennon just got signed to the
Dolphins practice squad and so there's a chance that he
(15:31):
could be elevated. I mean that probably sounds like an
outside chance if you're reading the tea leaves of what's
happening here, it seems to me, Cynthia. Although there's no
official word that Teddy Bridgewater would be trending down with
the idea that Thompson would be the starter and Mike
Lennon elevated to the backup, Okay, here we go. You know,
(15:52):
like like maybe on some level, like I don't know,
I'm not um wishing for anything, but maybe it's okay
if the Dolphins will make anything. Two needs a little
bit more time to figure this out anyways, and without quarterback,
it can be tricky for for for anyone. So you know,
maybe that maybe we don't call it that the Jets
place spoiler. Maybe we call it that the Jets like
do the Dolphins a favor and make them not make
(16:14):
it to the postseason. Um the quarterback position is it's
it's dice. I mean, obviously the strength of this team
are to me, like we would imagine we see better running,
but we had we didn't see the type of rushing
that we were we had been expecting from the Dolphins
since like the Chargers game in their skid, they haven't
been running the football. Okay, well you've got Tyreek Hille,
you've got Jalen Waddle. If you can shut them down,
(16:35):
then you shut down that entire team. Or even if
you can, I'm even shut them down, limit them, then
you you don't really have a lot like Mike Kasiki. Okay, sure,
but that's still not a that's not enough to to
overcome I I don't think this one falls in favor
of the Dolphins for many reasons, even if it was
full strength, when it when it came to who's at
least who we see is available now right, I think
(16:57):
that that's a great segue into the second quarter, which
is Tyreeke and Jalen Waddle Sauce Gardner DJ read part
two because in Week five, with Skyler Thompson at quarterback
for essentially the entire game minus one play that Teddy
Bridgewater was in, Wattle and Hill were combined to a
season low seventy yards receiving, and the Jets, coming off
(17:20):
of a game where Gardner, DJ Reid and the rest
of the secondary held DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett to
a total of eighteen yards, fifteen of which came from
Tyler Lockett, which means DK Metcalf who's six four six
five two thirty five pounds, was held to three yards receiving.
So the Jet secondaries playing lights out. But don't you
(17:42):
think that the Dolphins receiving corps with Hale and Waddle
are just so different than anybody else they've seen just
because of the speed element. I mean yeah, And also
if you go back two games ago, you saw something
that I that I hadn't seen from Tyreek Hill when
he was a Chief, and that was he he's a
great blocker, right, Like he didn't really have to block
for Travis Kelsey that much because like Travis Kelsey weighs
(18:05):
like six pounds and he's like maybe eight tall, So
like it wasn't the same thing. But Jalen Wattle, you
see him block for Wattle like a lot, right, you
see Wattle block for him. You've seen that before from Wattle.
But like now I'm talking like you're watching little Tyree
Hill muscling some people, which is is an interesting like
that's an interesting strategy. Is an interesting wrinkle because you know,
(18:25):
look like you there are only two corners. If if
you if you figure out how to exploit some mismatches
anywhere you know you could get a safety or out
of position where you can get a nickel corner on
in a in a in a different situation, and that
isn't quite ready for the type of speed that they're bringing.
And if now you have Tyree Kill blocking for Jalen
Wattle too, like that could be difficult. But the only
(18:45):
problem is one the person throwing them the ball. You
need to have some consistency there that really helps. I
mean there's there's a lot they can do after the catch, absolutely,
but you still got to make the catch in order
to have the after the cat thing happened. So that's
where I get confused, right like on how this is
going to play out. Skyler Thompson against the Jets in
(19:07):
Week five was nineteen for thirty three. That's completing fifty
seven point six percent of his passes in that game
one hundred sixty six yards, no touchdowns, an interception for
a fifty eight point four rating. Not great, but also
he was thrust into that position early in the game.
Like Skyler Thompson this week, you would imagine with Teddy
(19:29):
having a dislocated pinky will have the week to prepare
for the Jets. Now, granted, I think what you may
of Skyler Thompson and his abilities, but at least he
has a full week to prepare for the Jets defense. That,
by the way, he's playing at a very high level,
especially as of late or before the Seahawks game. Like
the Seahawks game, Cynthia, let's just talk about this for
a minute, Like, I know that the at the secondary
(19:53):
played real well, but it felt like the Jets defense
just got out to a slow start and wasn't able
to recover and it just kind of snowballed from there. Yeah. Look,
you know, complementary aspect of football is always super important, right,
Like if your offense gives you some turnovers, then your
defense it magnifies what your defense is doing if you
(20:14):
and if your defense is slow, it magnifies what your
offense is doing. So it just was both things magnified
in the wrong direction and they couldn't right the ship
in time. Like that's kind of how it it works,
because I saw some good moments, but it was it
wasn't as consistent as we've seen and the defense it
feels more surprising when that happens. But you have to remember,
like do you know Smith had been leading the league
(20:36):
in downfield passes this season. It's not like you're and
and ken Walker has been kind of come out of
you know, out of Michigan State with like, you know,
a full head of steam. So it's not like and
by the way, DK Metcap and Tyler Lockett are both
very very good. Tyler Lockett might be one of the
more underrated receivers in the entire league. So you know,
it's not like you're sitting here facing a bunch of scrubs,
(20:56):
right Like, It's not like a situation where you're facing
an unknown, known, you know, wide receiver from wherever or
even like you know, some guys sitting and whatever. It's
not like that. Like that, They're still a good They're
still a strong team. I don't take much away from
the defense on that. This is still I mean, it's
a top three defense in the league for a reason,
and I think the Jets remain at top three defense.
(21:18):
If not, they could even be stronger. I think that
if I look at that Patriots game, I think they
pressured the Dolphins six it's either sixteen times sixteen pressures
last game, and Toron Armstead did not playing that game.
We'll see what the status is of toront Arms said,
who started against the Jets and then came out in
(21:41):
that game. Because even if he plays like, we're not
getting you're not getting Torn Armstead. Even if he's not like,
look this time of the year, that's what happens. These
are the types of things that that go on. We
all know injuries are real, and you know you could
be playing, but six will get you in the game.
It doesn't necessarily mean you're on Armstead though totally. And
(22:05):
for the Jets, all eyes probably gonna be on Hail Waddle, Gardner,
Reid Well. The Jets have to stop the run and
we're going to talk about that in the third quarter.
But that brings us to halftime of the final episode,
which leads me to a layup of a question, what's
been your favorite play or your favorite moment of the season.
(22:28):
I don't know, like I very much. Every week look
forward to your cooking, so that is always think a
great moment for me week over a week. Um, I
think I really think like maybe like some of the
first Mike White games were just a lot of fun
because you didn't like seeing him come in and just
like slang it and have a ton of fun doing it,
like football should be fun, remember, like whatever, And also
(22:50):
like I don't know, I've really enjoyed the emergence of
these rookies, Like this has been a really epic draft class,
and it's been really fun watching them grow. Like eating
sauce was fun on the beginning of the season, Like
eating and that was that was really fun, really fun.
So I feel like there's just been there's like this
has been really a really great season, lots to lots
to build on going for it, and I'm I'm excited
(23:11):
to see this what happens in this year's draft class.
It's gonna be great. I know, I know. It feels
like like it's an unfortunate thing to say that the
off season is like kind of here already for the
Jets because postseason is not on the cards or not
in the cards for the New York Jets again, which
is the reality of the situation. But also in that
same breadth, the reality of the situation, which we'll talk
(23:33):
about to wrap up the fourth quarter of the final
episode of the Game Preview podcast of the two thousand
two season, is just the future of the Jets is
very bright. With that being said, we do have a
chime in here from producer Matt Sikoff. He says his
favorite play of the season was Joe Flacco hitting Garrett
Wilson to win the Browns game in Week two, the
(23:55):
improbable victory. That was a fantastic moment. I love it, obviously,
off the off the foot of Brandon Man after the
onside kick just successfully recover it was It was definitely like,
there's some cool moments. If we're bringing this full circle
to this week's matchup, Quentin Williams stiff arming Tyreeke winning
the Angry Runs Award on Good Morning Football. That was fun, Like,
(24:18):
there's a lot of fun moments, but the trying the
sauce earlier in the year was definitely up there. I mean,
I had to be Yah. We set the tone, We
set the tone. We said it strong. We knew we
were like so early on the sauce sauce it was.
I'm sure it's not like a best seller for be Dubs,
Like I haven't looked into it, but I'm sure I'm
(24:38):
sure it has to be as well, especially given this
success that Sauce Gardner has had since since going to
be able to uh Am I gonna like high five
him on like a Thursday night in Arizona. I think so.
I think so I'm gonna get tell him to look
out for my high five. Like I tried your sauce.
(25:01):
I think if you're if you're not picking up the
tea leaves. The Arizona reference is not about the super
Bowl in the game. It's more about a certain award
that is handed out. There's just this thing, it's called
NFL Honors. I don't know what happens there. We're not
going to talk about it too loud, but you know,
a couple awards, this thing happens, and you know, and
(25:21):
there's a chance, I don't know what the percentage chances, Well,
there's a chance that the Jets could sweep the awards,
don't you think In terms of the two that we're
talking about, it's definitely my best, but I would say
the defender has the best chance. Though. Yes, the defender,
as in Sauce Garner, the fourth overall pick out of Cincinnati,
(25:42):
has the best chance to win a certain award given
to rookies on a certain side of the ball. We're
not jinxing it, so I'm not gonna say it but
on the other side. But on the other side for
the Jets. Garrett Wilson could also win another side of
the ball rocky thing, which leads us to the third
quarter because he will be competing with someone that the
(26:04):
Jets just played. That's Kenneth Walker, the Seahawks running back
who had a very successful day on the ground. He
started things off with a sixty yard run that kind
of set the tone of the game for the Seahawks
and also kind of for the Jets defense wasn't really
able to recover from that. He finished with twenty three
rushes one thirty three yards for an average of five
point eight yards per carry. Knowing this weekend Cynthia against
(26:27):
the Dolphins that the Jets will either see Teddy Bridgewater,
Skyler Thompson or Mike Lennon, and given that Tyreek killing
Jalen Waddle are who they are both very talented, how
imperative isn't that the Jets cannot let the Dolphins run
the ball? I mean, I think you're gonna see a
lot of man so meaning you're not gonna see a
lot of like the zone, which typically means run you
(26:51):
you're the hybrid, is what I'm guessing you're gonna see
kind of Tyreeke and Jalen. They'll get manned up and
then you'll get a little bit more zon they're gonna stop.
They're gonna probably to stop the run. I would imagine
that there's there's not a lot of these guys are
very familiar with each other's concepts in terms of, hey,
this is what they're going to try to do to
run the football, etcetera, etcetera. We haven't seen the Dolphins
(27:11):
run a ton, which I don't know. I'm not in
their locker room. I don't know what's going on, but
you know, I I will say I think like some
people don't give Quinnon Williams enough credit for his ability
to stop the run. There's a lot of good run
stoppers on this team. But you know, I think if
they try to run anywhere near him, like not gonna happen.
So I would imagine part of the reason why we
don't see as many of the run concepts as that
(27:32):
they're either their old line isn't doing the shifts that
they like, etcetera. Or they're just like really relying on
yards after the catch, which is something a concept that
we did see from San Francisco as well, and we
still see it. But I would imagine you're gonna see
hybrid and you're gonna sell out to stop the run
up front, but man off those guys in the back.
You know. It's it's funny that you said or tronic
that you said that Dolphins don't run the ball a lot,
(27:54):
because they don't. They have the twenty six rushing offense
in the league. They average three yard per game team.
But in Week five, the Jets got out to a
slow start stopping Raheem Mostert. He had one d and
thirteen yards in that game and a touchdown, and in
the first half he had seventy seven of them. So
most of the damage was done in the first half
(28:15):
of Raheem Mostert. Obviously, the discrepancy and the score started
to go up a little bit in the second half
as the Jets climbed out to a forty to seventeen victory.
Dolphins had to basically wane off of the run. But
also at that point in time, just putting this out there,
the Dolphins were relying on Raheem Mostert. Recently, it's been
(28:35):
Mostart and Jeff Wilson, who they acquired from the San
Francisco forty Niners mid season. So that's just something to
keep in mind as the Jets play the Dolphins, and
you would imagine that maybe with Skyler Thompson in or
Teddy in that they would try to run the ball
given the success in Week five. However, it's not really
in the Dolphins d NA throughout the success of their
(28:56):
eighteen week or I guess at this point seventeen week season.
It's just something that worked well for them against the
Jets in Week five, so that one they've got to
shut down the tight end yet. I mean, I know
that sounds crazy because I'm not worried. It's that intermediate
level that I'm a little bit more worried about. Right.
It's it's not the it's not the where the responsibilities
come for Sauce or for DJ Read. It's it's the
(29:19):
Mica Sicky outlet, Oh my gosh, panic mode type of
thing because the pressure will come and that's been his outlet.
So his meaning the whoever the quarterback is for the Dolphins.
So that's where that's where I'm looking here. I'm like,
where somebody just stay on Gasick and the Seahawks had
two touchdowns against the Jets. Both of them came to
(29:41):
the tight end, one of them Colby Parkinson early in
the game, the other one Tyler Maybury. First it up
just just like every better out there expected Tyler Maybury
catching a touchdown against the Jetskisicky had had been a
what people refer to like as a Jets killer, like
he has success against the Jets. He only had one catch,
(30:03):
it did go for thirty yards. Though, to your point,
the intermediate stuff, gotta be wary of that, and also
the humidity is something that the Jets have not really
had to deal with, especially recently when you're talking about
Seattle MetLife against the Jags, MetLife against the Lions, at
Buffalo at Minnesota, Like, the Jets haven't had to deal
with humidity since pretty much the beginning of the season.
(30:24):
Something that they're gonna have to keep in mind for
Week eight teen. But let's wrap up the fourth quarter
of the final episode of this season kind of talking
about the future of the New York Jets. And obviously
it's a little early to be talking about who the
Jets should be looking at in free agency, who they
should be looking at in the draft. But when you
if we were like concocting a drink or a recipe,
(30:47):
and the recipe was the Jets two season as a whole.
To sit where they are now at seven and nine,
I think fans would probably think that there were signs
of encouragement. There are, but all so, how impressive is
being seven and nine going into week eighteen given the
injury status of Breese Hall, Elijah Vera, Tucker McKay, Beckton,
(31:11):
essentially everybody on the offensive lines going all the way
back to training camp. It just feels like the Jets
have had to deal with a lot that I know
they haven't been on a in like, I think there're
two and six over the last eight I know that's
not a good number, but I think that the blueprint
is there and the foundation is there for long term success,
whereas when the Jets went seven and nine and two
(31:33):
thousand nineteen, that outlook might not have been there. Also,
put in context that the Dolphins are still playoff eligible,
the Patriots are still playoff eligible, and the Bills have
already secured a playoff spot. So let's be fair. This
division is very difficult. So it's not like you're sitting
here talking about your I mean, look, we're ahead of
(31:55):
the season. Would have been like the a f C
West is so hard. Nope, that's a lot easier this
season then the a f C so like look like
put it in context, there's so much to be excited about.
If you're a Jets fan. There's one thing, there's one
big old it's maybe the biggest thing that needs to
be decided on. But other than that, you've got a
lot of the great foundational pieces, including getting a little
(32:17):
healthier along the old line will change everything for anyone.
But that one piece, that one position, that's that's got
to be decided, and I'm I'm glad that it's not
my pay grade to decide that position because it's the
hardest thing to do in the entire sport. But get
get that one position that's it's clearly not me that's
(32:41):
going to play that position, but get that one position.
If you miss it on if you're only listening, it
was perhaps the worst throw mechanic of the world. But
you get that one position right, and things look a
lot different because imagine, like this team went from did
something miraculous right, you went from the last rank total
defense too, and you finished right now it's number three.
(33:04):
If that holds that jump, it's like that it's since
two thousand. It matches. The two thousand to Carolina Panthers
is the biggest jump in NFL history in a single season.
So let's talk about how all these awesome pieces are
setting this stage. Like, you don't even need like a
world beater, you don't need Patrick Mahomes. You need someone
who's going to get you passed that point. So again,
(33:28):
I'm glad it's not my pit, Like I don't have
to figure it out, but it's gonna be really interesting
to see how that all shakes out. Yeah, and this
is this is why the people who are put in
charge get paid what they do, because they have some
difficult decisions to make, that being Joe Douglas and Robert
Sala And Robert Salad did say a couple of hours
ago before we started this podcast, as it relates to
(33:49):
Zach Wilson, who obviously has been having his fair share
of sophomore slumps to say the least, that that the
Jets organizationally are prepared. The quote was through hell or
high water to grind with Zack Wilson to get him
to the point where they want him to be and
they know where he can be because he was at
(34:10):
number two overall picking the draft, and Robert Salom made
it very clear, like it has nothing to do about
the talent of Zach Wilson's arm, the talent, because everything's there,
he said. It's really the way he said it was.
It was a two way street with confidence. And so
for Zach Wilson have the confidence in the Jets to
get him where he can be, and for the Jets
to have the confidence in Zack Wilson. So it's gonna
(34:32):
be an interesting offseason, one filled with storylines because of
the nature of the quarterback position. And I'm here for
it because, you know what, the Jets are a team
to be reckoned with for I'd say the next handful
of years and we'll see what happened in the offseason.
Let's let me be clear. I didn't say to get
rid of. I didn't say to replace. I said they
need to figure out that position. I don't know what
(34:54):
the solution is. I don't know. I mean that's why, like, look,
if if you're looking on track records, just look at
how good Joe Douglas did it drafting, Like there's a
lot of pieces here that are like A plus, A plus,
a plus. So if he says we just need to
work with him, then I'm going to believe him. But
at the end of the day, I don't have to
figure it out. I don't know. You know, I'm not
in the locker room, I'm not at practice, like, I'm
(35:14):
not received, I'm not the subject of catching a ball
from anyone. So at the end of the day, you know,
like I don't, I'm glad I don't have to figure
it out. But it is that is the biggest Rubik's
cube in all of sports. So figuring out is that
that makes a pretty big difference. You could probably ask
Andy Reid or you know, Zach Taylor or Sean McDermott,
or having the right quarterback matters, you know, anyone who's
(35:37):
coached Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Todd Bowls, you know matters.
And on that note, Cynthia, as always, it has been
an absolute pleasure to do the Game Preview podcast with
you and Gordy for the first episode of two thousand
twenty three. I hope you have a wonderful offseason and
maybe maybe we'll get an in real life meeting again.
At some point throughout the offseason. Well I will I
(35:58):
better see you at the combine, I mean witness and
if you come out to l A Gordy needs to
meet his uncle. You know, yeah, you got it. Thank you, Cynthia.
As always, a Happy New Year, Happy New Year, Thank
you so much. Has been such a pleasure. I always
look forward to this every week. So much fun. H
(36:19):
m hmm
Welcome to the season finale of the Game Preview Podcast.
It only took eighteen weeks to get a new guest
on the pod. New Year, New guest, Cynthia's Puck Gordy
in the Flesh. If you're just listening to this, I
feel really bad for you because Gordy is very cute.
He's very fluffy, and he looks very snugly right now.
(00:25):
Just looks like he needs a nap or something. He's
definitely he's either gonna like jump up and leave me
like usual, or he's gonna fall asleep. So I mean,
we went for a really long walk this morning. It's
pouring green in Los Angeles, so my fluffy he's he's look, well,
you're not betting people. We've we've said this many times.
But the over under thing, if you were to set
(00:47):
it for how many minutes, he will stay five? Okay,
all right, sit off, start the timer right now, and
then it is on the East coast. So if he's
there by twelve fifty he's or twelve fifty one, he's
done a good job. If he's got a dog, by
the way, this Jets pillow, your dog's he's like obsessed
(01:09):
with it. Like he he loves it, so so everybody
needs a Jets pillow, that's what you're saying. I am
all right, Season finale, Week eighteen, Jets at Miami. We're
gonna get into everything in depth as much as we can,
but first it feels like we should talk about a
non Jets related topic, and obviously that is the health
(01:31):
of Bill's safety Damar Hamlin. If you did not watch
the game or you have not heard about it, I
feel like at this point mostly everybody has. But if
you have not, Bill's safety Damar Hamlin was making a
tackle on Bengals wide receiver T Higgins. He stands up
after the play and then he just immediately collapses, goes
into cardiac arrest, gets transported to a Level one trauma
(01:55):
center near the stadium. After the medical staff had administered
CPR on the field, the game canceled or it was
temporarily suspended and then canceled. Since Damar Hamlin, no real
update other than from close friends and family just saying
that it seems like everything is as much as it
can be positive. I mean, there's no real like update
(02:19):
other than that that whatever vital signs that the doctors
wanted to see overnight from last night to this morning
had taken place in a progressive manner, meaning in like
in a good way. That's really the only update. But
where were you when you were watching the game? Like
were you watching it? Did somebody tell you about the
game to turn it on? Like how did you take
(02:39):
in the information? And for someone who's been covering the
NFL for so long, like what was going through your
mind and the immediate you know, aftermath of what happened?
So I was watching obviously this was a highly anticipated
Monday night game too. I mean there's so much on
the line seating you know the a f C, like
one to three between them and the Chiefs. It is
going to be really these are like the three best
(03:00):
teams in the a f C, right and maybe the
three best teams in all of football. Um, So I
was watching, And I also spent the preseason with the
Bills a couple of for a couple of years. And
I have a chance to know, got a chance to
know tomorrow. Hamlin myself, a six round pick out of
pit a kid who you know, he used to anytime
you'd ask him to do any interview, any anything, any
(03:21):
like just the answer was yes, and he just wants
to play football. Like this is the type of person
who you want on your team. This is the type
of person who you know in preseason. You know, remember
ahead of the season with Micah Hyde and Jordan poy
are all healthy. This is a hard secondary to make.
This was a very difficult team to make, just period,
full stop. And you know he's sitting there being serious
(03:42):
and trying to call me ma'am, and I'm telling him
that he better call me a miss, because you know,
you didn't want to call anyone ma'am. Just always go
a miss. So you know, these are the types of
He just a really gregarious, like just a great kid.
And it's really sad to hear, although I will say
there are some silver line is here. Number one, you know,
first and foremost that he's at a really great hospital,
(04:04):
the University of Cincinnati Hospital. You said it, it's a
Level one trauma center, but also like a like world
right now situation. So if you're gonna go to a
trauma center, that is one that you would want to
have to go to if you were unfortunately in this situation.
But you know, beyond that, like you know, you saw
the entire NFL community come together. You weren't a fan
of the Bills or the Dolphins, or the Bengals or
(04:27):
the Jets or anyone else at that point. You were
just a football fan and nobody you know, Like I said,
if there's any Selver lining, it's the outpouring of his charity.
He he had been interested in helping kids get toys.
He started doing in Pittsburgh, and overnight the charity went
from like maybe ten thousand people donating to over like
(04:47):
like several millions. So you did get to see some
great humanity from all of us. And you know, I
have texted and talked to some of my you know,
my Bills team staff members that you know, and they
were saying that the Bengals fans couldn't have been more
kind and like nice and loving, And you know, I'm
at liberty to share that, you know, when we didn't
(05:09):
know what was going on, Um, you know, no. But
by the way, we still don't really know what's going on.
You know, we don't know how it's going to end.
But you know, at the end of the day, like
you know, hopefully it ends in you know, he's on
the field and we can say, you know, get better.
He has a great, awesome life. But you know, we
don't know right now, we're really in it, we're really
we don't know what to expect. So um, you know,
Joe Burrow did a really nice job of saying I'm
(05:32):
you know, he he followed all the protocols and rules
and said I want to go down to the bills
locker room. Um, figure out a way, and he rallied
his captains and brought them down to the bills to
offer any support. And obviously you saw in the field
all of the levels of support that the entire Bengals
you know, organization gave to the Bills. But at the
(05:52):
same time, it's like it's nice to hear that behind
closed doors when the cameras weren't watching and etcetera. Like
these people are who we hope they are, so Joe Burrow, like,
you know, it's it's nice to see and nice to
hear those things where he had he had no there
was no there was nothing in it for him other
than just to be a good person. So you know,
it's nice to at least see like the positive, like
you know, people on TV praying with each other, and
(06:14):
you know, I was watching Ryan Clark, and he absolutely
crushed it, just being like so vulnerable and compassionate. So
you are seeing a lot of at least positive things
in response to a horrible thing. But I hope we
never have to see anything like this again, and I
hope that he's obviously okay and able to be, you know,
just normal, like it goes, you know, things go back
(06:35):
to normal, just a fluke incident. But you know, it's
it's scary, it's very scary, and it reminds you that
there are a lot of things that matter way more than,
you know, than than a game. Yeah. I think that's
all extremely well said, and there's really no precedent, at
least in modern times from like just as a fan
(06:55):
watching the game, from the moment that Damar Hamlin went down, Like, yes,
there are medical procedures. There was an article written about
it about the NFL emergency procedures. Very interesting article, just
like a peek behind the curtain, But there's really no
precedent from the second he went down to where we
are now. You know, whether that's the way the broadcast
team handled everything, the way the players and coaches on
(07:18):
the sidelines handled everything, the way that the all thirty
other NFL teams and coaching staffs and ownership have handled everything,
like I think it's really brought the sense of family
in football. And I think a lot of people say that,
like faith football family and you you, obviously after most
game see players from both teams praying at midfield together
(07:39):
and that, you know, people always say football is family,
but I think we really got to see that on
Monday and throughout the days afterwards, and it's just really
cool to see and obviously everyone is praying and hoping
the best for Damar Hamlin, and it's just like a
really humanizing situation because you know, for people's even like you, Cynthia,
like for people whose job it is to talk about
(08:00):
fantasy football like we we we NFL Network has so
far two days this week we canceled Fantasy Live because
it just doesn't seem like exactly, it just doesn't seem
you know, we have two hours of total access instead
so that we can have more the conversations that need
to be had right now. Eventually we'll be able to
go back to having some fun. But you know, right now,
(08:20):
it's not it's not the moment for that exactly. And
I think Ryan Clark said it best, like next time
you're in your fantasy football championship and e'ure upset that
you know this player didn't perform at the level that
you wanted him to to win you probably some money
in that case, or just some street credibility amongst your
friends for winning the championship like this puts things into
a different perspective. And have really hit me when Ryan
(08:44):
Clark said, like all his life, meaning Damarrow Hamlin's life,
he had worked for the opportunity to one play in
the NFL, then to play for any team, than to
play in what would have been the biggest game of
this season, probably of his career, than to have something
like that happened, and really like shake everybody at their core.
I mean the Bills and Bengals faces say at all.
(09:07):
But I think it's also one of those things where
if you're a fan of football, probably shakes you up
a little bit as well. Shook me up, like you're
watching this and obviously the older you get, I think
the more you understand the value and the fragility of
life as a whole. But to have it to have
the way everything happened just really puts things into a
(09:29):
different perspective, and right now, in terms of looking ahead,
that game doesn't have a set date for obvious reasons,
and the NFL said that there are no scheduling changes
to week eighteen. But to me, like that doesn't necessarily
shut the door, you know, like this leaves the door
kind of open the way that it was worded. So
(09:49):
I'm interested to see how that plays out. But obviously
everybody is thinking about Damar or Hamlin, his friends and
his family. Yeah, I mean, it also reminds you that,
like we get to play football, we get to watch football,
we get to enjoy football. We you know, like, I'm
glad we didn't have any precedent of how to handle
this from a you know, league to broadcast to anything standards,
(10:10):
because thank god, we like that doesn't happen. Right at first,
it looks very reminiscent of what we saw from to us,
So you you did not you thought maybe concussion. You didn't.
I certainly didn't. My gut instinct wasn't that, you know,
cardiac arrest was even possible. So at the end of
the day, like we were reminded that like we get
to experience this all together, we get to be Jets fans.
We get to be Bills fans, Like we get to
(10:31):
be at a game where these people are doing like
it's such a like a we're so privileged and we're
so lucky to be able to have that. So you know,
it's it's just a reminder that's like sometimes like sure,
like you know, it feels really important, and I'm glad
it feels important that you know whatever happens and the
outcomes of any game. Right, but at the end of
the day, like you still get to go home and
hug your dog, right, and and talk to your friend
(10:53):
on a podcast. So that's the that's the kind of
thing that we like the good takeaway like really like
be little like more present in your life. Yeah, And
I think that the whole approach of you get to
do this. I think that obviously in our football world,
that's the scope at which we're talking about it, but
I think that kind of scope could be applied to
(11:15):
just life in general. Like you get to go on
a walk with your dog, who, by the way, has
officially hit the over It is now twelve fifty five.
He must be very a very sleepy boy. Right. I
think I just worked about two hard this morning. Yeah,
he seems like a big orange theory guy anyway. So
I just think that general scope of of the your
(11:36):
approach on life is probably the one that people take
for granted and until something devastating happens. And in the
football world, this was that devastating thing. And in the
history of the NFL, Like I think when you think
about all the different events, like the one that I
know of, I wasn't even alive for it happened in
(11:57):
the Detroit Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes like died on
the field because of a blood clot and that's probably
the most traumatizing or devastating scenario the NFL has had
to deal with. And I think Lisa Saulter said it,
it's like everyone takes for granted that when people get
stretchered off on the field in modern football, everyone mostly
gives the thumbs up as they're leaving, right like shows
(12:19):
like like I'm conscious, I'm okay, Like that simple thumbs
up didn't happen Monday night, And that is where we
stand now, exactly. So yeah, no, look, I mean Ryan
Shays here, we have some examples of some pretty devastating
things happening. But at the by the end of the day,
like does the brutal sport, and you know, we'll move
on and we'll figure it out and we'll honor him,
(12:42):
and like we'll find the right ways to honor Damar Hamlin.
So we'll we'll all figure it out and be better
because of it. It's just it's it's really scary, and
it's we get a chance now to be better. We
all get a chance. You get a chance now to
like snap some priorities in place and be better. Yeah,
I think that is the perfect way to put a
(13:02):
bow on that conversation. And it's not there's no easy
way to go from such a serious topic into Jets Dolphins.
But with that being said, well we'll give it a shot,
and I think that I think that we should start
with a kind of a general theme for the first
quarter is just that the Jets officially eliminated from playoff contention.
(13:23):
The Miami Dolphins do have a chance to make the playoffs,
but the Jets also have a chance to squash those
dreams by beating the Dolphins in South Florida on Sunday.
Just what are your overall takes about this matchup? Before
we get into some specific players. Yeah, so it's interesting
because I'm looking at this matchup. Look, there's a lot
(13:44):
of injuries that the Dolphins had significant injuries that I
don't know if they were like fully, they felt very
questionable too late and then they were scratches. Usually I
feel like it's like those questionable doubtful out right. It
was like questionable out right. So you had no Bradley Job,
you had no Zaman Howard, we had no you were
missing all of these thess torn arms set, so these
are this is an opportunity where the Jets could really
(14:05):
especially with their strength, which is the defense, they could
really play spoiler quite easily to the Dolphins, especially if
you're looking at things like pressure. And I mean we
saw last week by the way, Carl Lawson ranks fifteen
and edge pressure and amongst edge rushers and pressures this
season with forty seven. Quentin Williams also has forty seven.
He ranks third among interior defenders. So pressure from all
(14:28):
areas of this defensive front are a really big strength
of the team. And also with questions of quarterback, and
I mean it's Teddy Bridgewater even going to be able
to go like that could be a really big, a
big problem for for the Dolphins. Yeah, and Teddy Bridgewater
dealing with a dislocated pinky. So this would be regardless
of who starts for the Dolphins on Sunday. The one
(14:49):
certain is that the Jets will not have seen to
a tongue of valoa in either game that they played
the Dolphins this season. In Week five, he was in
concussion protocol. Teddy Bridgewater got to start. Then Teddy Bridgewater
gets hurt elbow injury first play of the game. Sauce
Gardner blitz is Teddy call for intentional grounding, gets hurt
on the place. Skyler Thompson, the seventh round pick out
of Kansas State, comes in. The Jets win that game
(15:10):
for sev This Sunday, you're either looking at Teddy Bridgewater
with the dislocated pinky. It'll depend on his grip strength
and the swelling around his pinky. According to Mike McDaniel,
the head coach of the Dolphins, Skyler Thompson again or
Mike Lennon, because Mike Lennon just got signed to the
Dolphins practice squad and so there's a chance that he
(15:31):
could be elevated. I mean that probably sounds like an
outside chance if you're reading the tea leaves of what's
happening here, it seems to me, Cynthia. Although there's no
official word that Teddy Bridgewater would be trending down with
the idea that Thompson would be the starter and Mike
Lennon elevated to the backup, Okay, here we go. You know,
(15:52):
like like maybe on some level, like I don't know,
I'm not um wishing for anything, but maybe it's okay
if the Dolphins will make anything. Two needs a little
bit more time to figure this out anyways, and without quarterback,
it can be tricky for for for anyone. So you know,
maybe that maybe we don't call it that the Jets
place spoiler. Maybe we call it that the Jets like
do the Dolphins a favor and make them not make
(16:14):
it to the postseason. Um the quarterback position is it's
it's dice. I mean, obviously the strength of this team
are to me, like we would imagine we see better running,
but we had we didn't see the type of rushing
that we were we had been expecting from the Dolphins
since like the Chargers game in their skid, they haven't
been running the football. Okay, well you've got Tyreek Hille,
you've got Jalen Waddle. If you can shut them down,
(16:35):
then you shut down that entire team. Or even if
you can, I'm even shut them down, limit them, then
you you don't really have a lot like Mike Kasiki. Okay, sure,
but that's still not a that's not enough to to
overcome I I don't think this one falls in favor
of the Dolphins for many reasons, even if it was
full strength, when it when it came to who's at
least who we see is available now right, I think
(16:57):
that that's a great segue into the second quarter, which
is Tyreeke and Jalen Waddle Sauce Gardner DJ read part
two because in Week five, with Skyler Thompson at quarterback
for essentially the entire game minus one play that Teddy
Bridgewater was in, Wattle and Hill were combined to a
season low seventy yards receiving, and the Jets, coming off
(17:20):
of a game where Gardner, DJ Reid and the rest
of the secondary held DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett to
a total of eighteen yards, fifteen of which came from
Tyler Lockett, which means DK Metcalf who's six four six
five two thirty five pounds, was held to three yards receiving.
So the Jet secondaries playing lights out. But don't you
(17:42):
think that the Dolphins receiving corps with Hale and Waddle
are just so different than anybody else they've seen just
because of the speed element. I mean yeah, And also
if you go back two games ago, you saw something
that I that I hadn't seen from Tyreek Hill when
he was a Chief, and that was he he's a
great blocker, right, Like he didn't really have to block
for Travis Kelsey that much because like Travis Kelsey weighs
(18:05):
like six pounds and he's like maybe eight tall, So
like it wasn't the same thing. But Jalen Wattle, you
see him block for Wattle like a lot, right, you
see Wattle block for him. You've seen that before from Wattle.
But like now I'm talking like you're watching little Tyree
Hill muscling some people, which is is an interesting like
that's an interesting strategy. Is an interesting wrinkle because you know,
(18:25):
look like you there are only two corners. If if
you if you figure out how to exploit some mismatches
anywhere you know you could get a safety or out
of position where you can get a nickel corner on
in a in a in a different situation, and that
isn't quite ready for the type of speed that they're bringing.
And if now you have Tyree Kill blocking for Jalen
Wattle too, like that could be difficult. But the only
(18:45):
problem is one the person throwing them the ball. You
need to have some consistency there that really helps. I
mean there's there's a lot they can do after the catch, absolutely,
but you still got to make the catch in order
to have the after the cat thing happened. So that's
where I get confused, right like on how this is
going to play out. Skyler Thompson against the Jets in
(19:07):
Week five was nineteen for thirty three. That's completing fifty
seven point six percent of his passes in that game
one hundred sixty six yards, no touchdowns, an interception for
a fifty eight point four rating. Not great, but also
he was thrust into that position early in the game.
Like Skyler Thompson this week, you would imagine with Teddy
(19:29):
having a dislocated pinky will have the week to prepare
for the Jets. Now, granted, I think what you may
of Skyler Thompson and his abilities, but at least he
has a full week to prepare for the Jets defense. That,
by the way, he's playing at a very high level,
especially as of late or before the Seahawks game. Like
the Seahawks game, Cynthia, let's just talk about this for
a minute, Like, I know that the at the secondary
(19:53):
played real well, but it felt like the Jets defense
just got out to a slow start and wasn't able
to recover and it just kind of snowballed from there. Yeah. Look,
you know, complementary aspect of football is always super important, right,
Like if your offense gives you some turnovers, then your
defense it magnifies what your defense is doing if you
(20:14):
and if your defense is slow, it magnifies what your
offense is doing. So it just was both things magnified
in the wrong direction and they couldn't right the ship
in time. Like that's kind of how it it works,
because I saw some good moments, but it was it
wasn't as consistent as we've seen and the defense it
feels more surprising when that happens. But you have to remember,
like do you know Smith had been leading the league
(20:36):
in downfield passes this season. It's not like you're and
and ken Walker has been kind of come out of
you know, out of Michigan State with like, you know,
a full head of steam. So it's not like and
by the way, DK Metcap and Tyler Lockett are both
very very good. Tyler Lockett might be one of the
more underrated receivers in the entire league. So you know,
it's not like you're sitting here facing a bunch of scrubs,
(20:56):
right Like, It's not like a situation where you're facing
an unknown, known, you know, wide receiver from wherever or
even like you know, some guys sitting and whatever. It's
not like that. Like that, They're still a good They're
still a strong team. I don't take much away from
the defense on that. This is still I mean, it's
a top three defense in the league for a reason,
and I think the Jets remain at top three defense.
(21:18):
If not, they could even be stronger. I think that
if I look at that Patriots game, I think they
pressured the Dolphins six it's either sixteen times sixteen pressures
last game, and Toron Armstead did not playing that game.
We'll see what the status is of toront Arms said,
who started against the Jets and then came out in
(21:41):
that game. Because even if he plays like, we're not
getting you're not getting Torn Armstead. Even if he's not like,
look this time of the year, that's what happens. These
are the types of things that that go on. We
all know injuries are real, and you know you could
be playing, but six will get you in the game.
It doesn't necessarily mean you're on Armstead though totally. And
(22:05):
for the Jets, all eyes probably gonna be on Hail Waddle, Gardner,
Reid Well. The Jets have to stop the run and
we're going to talk about that in the third quarter.
But that brings us to halftime of the final episode,
which leads me to a layup of a question, what's
been your favorite play or your favorite moment of the season.
(22:28):
I don't know, like I very much. Every week look
forward to your cooking, so that is always think a
great moment for me week over a week. Um, I
think I really think like maybe like some of the
first Mike White games were just a lot of fun
because you didn't like seeing him come in and just
like slang it and have a ton of fun doing it,
like football should be fun, remember, like whatever, And also
(22:50):
like I don't know, I've really enjoyed the emergence of
these rookies, Like this has been a really epic draft class,
and it's been really fun watching them grow. Like eating
sauce was fun on the beginning of the season, Like
eating and that was that was really fun, really fun.
So I feel like there's just been there's like this
has been really a really great season, lots to lots
to build on going for it, and I'm I'm excited
(23:11):
to see this what happens in this year's draft class.
It's gonna be great. I know, I know. It feels
like like it's an unfortunate thing to say that the
off season is like kind of here already for the
Jets because postseason is not on the cards or not
in the cards for the New York Jets again, which
is the reality of the situation. But also in that
same breadth, the reality of the situation, which we'll talk
(23:33):
about to wrap up the fourth quarter of the final
episode of the Game Preview podcast of the two thousand
two season, is just the future of the Jets is
very bright. With that being said, we do have a
chime in here from producer Matt Sikoff. He says his
favorite play of the season was Joe Flacco hitting Garrett
Wilson to win the Browns game in Week two, the
(23:55):
improbable victory. That was a fantastic moment. I love it, obviously,
off the off the foot of Brandon Man after the
onside kick just successfully recover it was It was definitely like,
there's some cool moments. If we're bringing this full circle
to this week's matchup, Quentin Williams stiff arming Tyreeke winning
the Angry Runs Award on Good Morning Football. That was fun, Like,
(24:18):
there's a lot of fun moments, but the trying the
sauce earlier in the year was definitely up there. I mean,
I had to be Yah. We set the tone, We
set the tone. We said it strong. We knew we
were like so early on the sauce sauce it was.
I'm sure it's not like a best seller for be Dubs,
Like I haven't looked into it, but I'm sure I'm
(24:38):
sure it has to be as well, especially given this
success that Sauce Gardner has had since since going to
be able to uh Am I gonna like high five
him on like a Thursday night in Arizona. I think so.
I think so I'm gonna get tell him to look
out for my high five. Like I tried your sauce.
(25:01):
I think if you're if you're not picking up the
tea leaves. The Arizona reference is not about the super
Bowl in the game. It's more about a certain award
that is handed out. There's just this thing, it's called
NFL Honors. I don't know what happens there. We're not
going to talk about it too loud, but you know,
a couple awards, this thing happens, and you know, and
(25:21):
there's a chance, I don't know what the percentage chances, Well,
there's a chance that the Jets could sweep the awards,
don't you think In terms of the two that we're
talking about, it's definitely my best, but I would say
the defender has the best chance. Though. Yes, the defender,
as in Sauce Garner, the fourth overall pick out of Cincinnati,
(25:42):
has the best chance to win a certain award given
to rookies on a certain side of the ball. We're
not jinxing it, so I'm not gonna say it but
on the other side. But on the other side for
the Jets. Garrett Wilson could also win another side of
the ball rocky thing, which leads us to the third
quarter because he will be competing with someone that the
(26:04):
Jets just played. That's Kenneth Walker, the Seahawks running back
who had a very successful day on the ground. He
started things off with a sixty yard run that kind
of set the tone of the game for the Seahawks
and also kind of for the Jets defense wasn't really
able to recover from that. He finished with twenty three
rushes one thirty three yards for an average of five
point eight yards per carry. Knowing this weekend Cynthia against
(26:27):
the Dolphins that the Jets will either see Teddy Bridgewater,
Skyler Thompson or Mike Lennon, and given that Tyreek killing
Jalen Waddle are who they are both very talented, how
imperative isn't that the Jets cannot let the Dolphins run
the ball? I mean, I think you're gonna see a
lot of man so meaning you're not gonna see a
lot of like the zone, which typically means run you
(26:51):
you're the hybrid, is what I'm guessing you're gonna see
kind of Tyreeke and Jalen. They'll get manned up and
then you'll get a little bit more zon they're gonna stop.
They're gonna probably to stop the run. I would imagine
that there's there's not a lot of these guys are
very familiar with each other's concepts in terms of, hey,
this is what they're going to try to do to
run the football, etcetera, etcetera. We haven't seen the Dolphins
(27:11):
run a ton, which I don't know. I'm not in
their locker room. I don't know what's going on, but
you know, I I will say I think like some
people don't give Quinnon Williams enough credit for his ability
to stop the run. There's a lot of good run
stoppers on this team. But you know, I think if
they try to run anywhere near him, like not gonna happen.
So I would imagine part of the reason why we
don't see as many of the run concepts as that
(27:32):
they're either their old line isn't doing the shifts that
they like, etcetera. Or they're just like really relying on
yards after the catch, which is something a concept that
we did see from San Francisco as well, and we
still see it. But I would imagine you're gonna see
hybrid and you're gonna sell out to stop the run
up front, but man off those guys in the back.
You know. It's it's funny that you said or tronic
that you said that Dolphins don't run the ball a lot,
(27:54):
because they don't. They have the twenty six rushing offense
in the league. They average three yard per game team.
But in Week five, the Jets got out to a
slow start stopping Raheem Mostert. He had one d and
thirteen yards in that game and a touchdown, and in
the first half he had seventy seven of them. So
most of the damage was done in the first half
(28:15):
of Raheem Mostert. Obviously, the discrepancy and the score started
to go up a little bit in the second half
as the Jets climbed out to a forty to seventeen victory.
Dolphins had to basically wane off of the run. But
also at that point in time, just putting this out there,
the Dolphins were relying on Raheem Mostert. Recently, it's been
(28:35):
Mostart and Jeff Wilson, who they acquired from the San
Francisco forty Niners mid season. So that's just something to
keep in mind as the Jets play the Dolphins, and
you would imagine that maybe with Skyler Thompson in or
Teddy in that they would try to run the ball
given the success in Week five. However, it's not really
in the Dolphins d NA throughout the success of their
(28:56):
eighteen week or I guess at this point seventeen week season.
It's just something that worked well for them against the
Jets in Week five, so that one they've got to
shut down the tight end yet. I mean, I know
that sounds crazy because I'm not worried. It's that intermediate
level that I'm a little bit more worried about. Right.
It's it's not the it's not the where the responsibilities
come for Sauce or for DJ Read. It's it's the
(29:19):
Mica Sicky outlet, Oh my gosh, panic mode type of
thing because the pressure will come and that's been his outlet.
So his meaning the whoever the quarterback is for the Dolphins.
So that's where that's where I'm looking here. I'm like,
where somebody just stay on Gasick and the Seahawks had
two touchdowns against the Jets. Both of them came to
(29:41):
the tight end, one of them Colby Parkinson early in
the game, the other one Tyler Maybury. First it up
just just like every better out there expected Tyler Maybury
catching a touchdown against the Jetskisicky had had been a
what people refer to like as a Jets killer, like
he has success against the Jets. He only had one catch,
(30:03):
it did go for thirty yards. Though, to your point,
the intermediate stuff, gotta be wary of that, and also
the humidity is something that the Jets have not really
had to deal with, especially recently when you're talking about
Seattle MetLife against the Jags, MetLife against the Lions, at
Buffalo at Minnesota, Like, the Jets haven't had to deal
with humidity since pretty much the beginning of the season.
(30:24):
Something that they're gonna have to keep in mind for
Week eight teen. But let's wrap up the fourth quarter
of the final episode of this season kind of talking
about the future of the New York Jets. And obviously
it's a little early to be talking about who the
Jets should be looking at in free agency, who they
should be looking at in the draft. But when you
if we were like concocting a drink or a recipe,
(30:47):
and the recipe was the Jets two season as a whole.
To sit where they are now at seven and nine,
I think fans would probably think that there were signs
of encouragement. There are, but all so, how impressive is
being seven and nine going into week eighteen given the
injury status of Breese Hall, Elijah Vera, Tucker McKay, Beckton,
(31:11):
essentially everybody on the offensive lines going all the way
back to training camp. It just feels like the Jets
have had to deal with a lot that I know
they haven't been on a in like, I think there're
two and six over the last eight I know that's
not a good number, but I think that the blueprint
is there and the foundation is there for long term success,
whereas when the Jets went seven and nine and two
(31:33):
thousand nineteen, that outlook might not have been there. Also,
put in context that the Dolphins are still playoff eligible,
the Patriots are still playoff eligible, and the Bills have
already secured a playoff spot. So let's be fair. This
division is very difficult. So it's not like you're sitting
here talking about your I mean, look, we're ahead of
(31:55):
the season. Would have been like the a f C
West is so hard. Nope, that's a lot easier this
season then the a f C so like look like
put it in context, there's so much to be excited about.
If you're a Jets fan. There's one thing, there's one
big old it's maybe the biggest thing that needs to
be decided on. But other than that, you've got a
lot of the great foundational pieces, including getting a little
(32:17):
healthier along the old line will change everything for anyone.
But that one piece, that one position, that's that's got
to be decided, and I'm I'm glad that it's not
my pay grade to decide that position because it's the
hardest thing to do in the entire sport. But get
get that one position that's it's clearly not me that's
(32:41):
going to play that position, but get that one position.
If you miss it on if you're only listening, it
was perhaps the worst throw mechanic of the world. But
you get that one position right, and things look a
lot different because imagine, like this team went from did
something miraculous right, you went from the last rank total
defense too, and you finished right now it's number three.
(33:04):
If that holds that jump, it's like that it's since
two thousand. It matches. The two thousand to Carolina Panthers
is the biggest jump in NFL history in a single season.
So let's talk about how all these awesome pieces are
setting this stage. Like, you don't even need like a
world beater, you don't need Patrick Mahomes. You need someone
who's going to get you passed that point. So again,
(33:28):
I'm glad it's not my pit, Like I don't have
to figure it out, but it's gonna be really interesting
to see how that all shakes out. Yeah, and this
is this is why the people who are put in
charge get paid what they do, because they have some
difficult decisions to make, that being Joe Douglas and Robert
Sala And Robert Salad did say a couple of hours
ago before we started this podcast, as it relates to
(33:49):
Zach Wilson, who obviously has been having his fair share
of sophomore slumps to say the least, that that the
Jets organizationally are prepared. The quote was through hell or
high water to grind with Zack Wilson to get him
to the point where they want him to be and
they know where he can be because he was at
(34:10):
number two overall picking the draft, and Robert Salom made
it very clear, like it has nothing to do about
the talent of Zach Wilson's arm, the talent, because everything's there,
he said. It's really the way he said it was.
It was a two way street with confidence. And so
for Zach Wilson have the confidence in the Jets to
get him where he can be, and for the Jets
to have the confidence in Zack Wilson. So it's gonna
(34:32):
be an interesting offseason, one filled with storylines because of
the nature of the quarterback position. And I'm here for
it because, you know what, the Jets are a team
to be reckoned with for I'd say the next handful
of years and we'll see what happened in the offseason.
Let's let me be clear. I didn't say to get
rid of. I didn't say to replace. I said they
need to figure out that position. I don't know what
(34:54):
the solution is. I don't know. I mean that's why, like, look,
if if you're looking on track records, just look at
how good Joe Douglas did it drafting, Like there's a
lot of pieces here that are like A plus, A plus,
a plus. So if he says we just need to
work with him, then I'm going to believe him. But
at the end of the day, I don't have to
figure it out. I don't know. You know, I'm not
in the locker room, I'm not at practice, like, I'm
(35:14):
not received, I'm not the subject of catching a ball
from anyone. So at the end of the day, you know,
like I don't, I'm glad I don't have to figure
it out. But it is that is the biggest Rubik's
cube in all of sports. So figuring out is that
that makes a pretty big difference. You could probably ask
Andy Reid or you know, Zach Taylor or Sean McDermott,
or having the right quarterback matters, you know, anyone who's
(35:37):
coached Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Todd Bowls, you know matters.
And on that note, Cynthia, as always, it has been
an absolute pleasure to do the Game Preview podcast with
you and Gordy for the first episode of two thousand
twenty three. I hope you have a wonderful offseason and
maybe maybe we'll get an in real life meeting again.
At some point throughout the offseason. Well I will I
(35:58):
better see you at the combine, I mean witness and
if you come out to l A Gordy needs to
meet his uncle. You know, yeah, you got it. Thank you, Cynthia.
As always, a Happy New Year, Happy New Year, Thank
you so much. Has been such a pleasure. I always
look forward to this every week. So much fun. H
(36:19):
m hmm
Popular Podcasts
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!