Drive Time: Dolphins Commanders Week 11 Preview

Thursday is preview day as Travis went into the film room and came back with a plan to beat the Commanders. We’ll break down the schematics, the personnel and everything in between.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. What is up, Dolph fans,
and welcome to the Drift Time Podcast. I am your host,
Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, it's preview day. We're
back in the film room assessing the personnel and the

(00:23):
scheme of the Washington Commandos. I'll tell you where Miami
has the advantages and where the game plan around some
stuff and everything in between from the Baptist Health Studios
inside the Baptist Health Training Complex. This is the Drive
Time Podcast. Ye before I forget TNF pick Patriots over Jets.

(00:43):
There you go. Let's go ahead and get into the
Washington Commandos are week eleven matchup, and yes, they are
the commandos on this podcast at least. And we did
a mini dive, a shallow dive. Is that what you
would call that? The opposite of a deep dive into
the Commander's Commandos on the pod last week in our

(01:04):
NFL Thoughts segment on the Tuesday show. And it's a
team like this that this exact portion of the preview
podcast was made for to get an understanding of their trajectory,
how they arrived, where they are right now, where they're
going and potentially forecast everything in between for the Washington Commanders,
although in the NFL, forecasting where teams are going is

(01:26):
about as easy as forecasting the weather. A team that
was lost at sea for three decades, right aside from
a couple of pop up seasons here and there, all
of that was flipped in one season with new ownership,
a new head coach, and a new quarterback. Josh Harris
took over in twenty twenty three, got his fingerprints on
the organization for twenty four with Dan Quinn, who then

(01:47):
drafted Jade and Daniels. And it's a good example of
nil and the quarterback and the coach and how that
can change everything for a downtrodden franchise. I was critical
of their offseason and proven wrong ahead of the twenty
twenty four season. But even though I was critical, I
still thought they were a potential division winner because I
thought the NFC East would be down last year. I
was right about the Commandos but wrong about the Eagles.

(02:09):
But also I thought between Jade and Daniels and the
offensive personnel and a lot of the stuff they had
on defense as well, there were some good pieces there.
You know they're gonna be without a lot of players
we're going to talk about here, but those guys were
healthy last year. But this is also in instructive lesson
and how those moves paid off for twenty four but
they haven't got anywhere near the same production from that

(02:30):
class of free agents in the draft, due mostly to injuries,
but also from performances and just how difficult it is
to sustain success year to year in this league. Think
about how many teams have had, you know, a year
or two of like double digit wins, maybe a playoff
run in there, akin to what the Commanders pulled off
last season. Like the Houston Texans, I'll never forget, Like,

(02:52):
you know, they won the South at like nine to seven, right,
and they because Tyler Goodson dropped a swing pass from
Gardner Minshew. They made the playoffs and then they beat
the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the playoffs.
And I'll never forget, like beat writers and everyone being like, oh,
this is a shame. How fast the Texans passed the
Miami Dolphins. And it's like, did they they went back
last year and again beat a bad playoff team and

(03:13):
the Chargers, But look at where they are now. You know,
their offense is stuck in mud. They're winning some games
against bad teams and had a miracle comeback against the Jags,
but no one's views the Commander or the Texans as
a threat in the AFC right now. The Commanders are
in that same boat. We were kind of a team
like that in twenty two and twenty three, really good seasons,
kind of plagued by injuries in both those years, and

(03:34):
then took a step back in the wrong direction now
trying to find that again. It happens all the time
in this NFL, and it should make you really appreciate
those teams that can sustain it year to year. And
quite frankly, what do all those teams have. I mean,
it's pretty simple, bueller. They have quarterbacks that are consistently
good and stay healthy. That's really what it comes down to.

(03:55):
Back on track here, I went back a little bit
further after a fourteen win season nine to ninety one,
nineteen ninety one, that is you, guys, ever watched the
show Wilfred on FX. This is such a deep cut
no one's gonna get. But he was a show about
a guy that thought that his neighbor's dog was like

(04:16):
a like could talk to him and you know what,
you know what. Never mind, they had a fourteen win
season in nineteen ninety one. I want to tell the story,
but it's not gonna make any said. They had a
fourteen win season in nineteen ninety one, you got it,
their last Super Bowl year. They didn't win more than
ten games in a season from that entire stretch until

(04:37):
twenty twenty four. They did have three ten win seasons
in their seven playoff berths, but never beyond the divisional round.
So in one year, they accomplished a regular season with
twelve wins and a postseason feet into the NFC Championship
Game they hadn't seen in thirty three years. That's kind
of what we're hoping to do right at some point here.
And now they're at three and seven, extremely banged up

(04:58):
and coming off the worst three game stretch of the
dan Quinn era. Quite frankly, three of the worst games
any team has played in the NFL this year. They've
gotten the doors blown off them the last three games.
Let's get into why that happened here and start with
the Dolphins. The Commander's depth chart, So this is gonna
include all the injuries that we're not going to include
the players in here that are injured right now. At
quarterback Marcus Mariota and Josh Johnson. The running backs Jacrosskey,

(05:23):
what's his first name? Bill, Jacorey Krosskey, Merritt, Jeremy McNichols.
I can't believe McNichols is still kicking, and remember how
tough of a start he had to his career. But
he's found on this year's niche here as a third
down running back. Chris Rodriguez also in the fold, Deebo,
Samuel Robbie Chosen, Chris Moore and Jalen Lane are the
top four receivers. Zach Erze, John Bates and ben sonnatt Son. So, no,

(05:45):
it's not Si n n ot. What's funny is I
love ben sonnatt or So, but I don't know how
to say his name. He was at Kansas State tight
end that I talked about a couple of years ago
in the draft. No clue how to say his name
still to this day. On the offensive line, larry My
Tunzel and Josh Connor Lean the Oregon tackle rookie from
last year rookie this year, I should say a guy
we talked about in the draft shows a lot, and

(06:06):
then Andrew Wiley's the swing tackle, Chris Paul Tyler Biattish
and Sam Cosmey on the interior. It's a good offensive line.
On defense, Javon Kinlaw and Johnny Newton because Deron Pain's
going to be out, are the starters, with Sheldon Day
and old Man Eddie Goldman still doing his thing rounding
out that group there. Off the edge Jacob Martin and
Von Miller, with Preston Smith and Jalen Holmes at linebacker,

(06:28):
Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu. They do run out Jordan
McGee from time to time. At cornerback. Their two starters
are out, so John Jones and Noah Igbinoghany are the
perimeter starters, with Mike Sandrastill in the slot. At safety,
Jeremy Reeves, Kwan Martin and Darniel Savage does play in
some big Nicol situations. The injuries, I mean Daniels's bat
Jaden Daniels is down, so it's Marcus Meriad at the controls.

(06:51):
Terry McLaurin not going to play in this game. Luke
McCaffrey also out. Noah Brown was lost early in the season.
This is an incredibly banged up football team. They lost
Austin Eckler back in Steeptember. I'm not sure how big
of a loss that was. On defense, they lost more pieces.
Trey Amos now on ir he was hurt Sunday. They
will continue to be without Dorince Armstrong, their best pass rusher,
Without Drake Jackson, without Dietrich Wise, without Marshawn Lattimore. I

(07:14):
wrote down twice that Trey Almoss is out, so it
must be a big deal. Deron Payin is suspended and
that suspension was upheld, and Javon Kinlaws should play in
the game, but he exited the game on Sunday with
an injury, so something to track there as well. When
it comes to the Commander's offense, it's crazy how similar
this matchup is to the one we just had from
a personnel standpoint. At least. Let me say first, the

(07:35):
Buffalo quarterback is one of the best in the game,
and the Commanders do have that, but he's out, and
Mariota is one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league,
but he is a backup quarterback. They also don't have
James Cook. Far from it, but in terms of being
short on vertical stretch options and really because of injuries.
I mean again McLaurin, McCaffrey, Noah Brown. Those guys can
all stretch the field, but none of them are going
to play in the game on Sunday. Then they have

(07:57):
a really good offensive line. The quarterback can also run.
We'll get into the schematics here in just a moment,
but I think this is the damn near copy paste
game plan in terms of your cage rush technique essentially,
those are those are techniques where you're not trying to
rush half the guy and get past him. You're kind
of trying to put him in a position to set
them up to discard them once the quarterback breaks contained.

(08:19):
You want this quarterback to throw from the pocket. That's
just how it is. But you blitz, but you mix
them up, but don't do it that frequently, and you
play a lot of heavy zone coverage in the backside
the offensive line. Again, very good. You guys know about
Larry Mtunzel, one of the best smooth operators in terms
of his footwork in the history of the national football Like,
he is so good with how he can get himself

(08:39):
in position to make all the blocks that he makes,
and that remains one of the weirdest moves in the
NFL last year to me was the Houston Texans just
talked about them a little bit moving off of a
very good left tackle for an offensive line that isn't
good and wasn't good. I mean, you can get into
like the leadership in the locker room, presence, all that stuff,
but like man I let go of a guy like
that for a mid round draft pick. They cant slide

(09:01):
to larry My Tunzel. He changes the way you can
call your offense and the way you can game plan.
That's Bradley Chubb's side and beat Chubb coming off his
best day, maybe as a Dolphin, maybe one of them
at least. It's not a good matchup for him, but
it is imperative for him to play with really good discipline.
Might be a tough game for him. He might get
thirty pass rush reps without having an impact against the quarterback.
But if he can stay in his lane and maintain

(09:23):
that rush laying integrity, I think he could break through
late and find some rhythm down the stretch. In this
game when his crunch time the left guard is Patrick
Paul's brother, not the Clippers Chris Paul, just the Commander's
Chris Paul. Tyler Biattish one of the best communicators and
toughest centers in all of football. I had some concerns
about him coming out of Wisconsin, but he has proven
that wrong. He has been a very good player for

(09:43):
both the Cowboys and now for the Commanders. One of
the big signings of Dan Quinn there last year. Sam
Cosme is very good as well at the right guard position.
If there is one unknown, it's the rookie right tackle
that's going to be CHOP's side in this game. And
I think if there's something that can get Josh Connery
or they can they can get after him in this game.
It's the speed and then speed to power, two of

(10:04):
chop specialties in this game, maybe a Chop sack in
this game. They're gonna chip and double him a lot, though,
because I think they're gonna go tons whole single man
over on Chubb and try to just basically take Chop
out of the game with the with the scheme and
the way they game plan it. The best part of
the offense though, is their tight end. Zach Ertz is awesome.
John Bates is awesome, Ben Snow or Sinnat? Should I

(10:26):
look it up right now? Let's look it up. Bene Sinat,
give me a pronunciation already, Sinate, Yeah, it's Sinate, Ben Sinnate.
I didn't have either of them on that and my
two freaking options there. Ben Sinnate would be more awesomer

(10:49):
awesomer if he wasn't buried behind two awesome players to
begin with, the problem is they don't have the run
game to really support what makes those tight ends so
deadly and how they function. And before you come at
me with their rush totals in the rushing average, a
lot of that's quarterback run I'm talking about. When it
comes to your design run game, it's basically plot ahead
for three or four yards. I guess there's success rates good,

(11:10):
but they just don't have any explosive element to the
running game. But I think this will be a big
nickel game for the Miami Dolphins, or quite frankly, pulling
some cornerbacks inside to deal with them, because between Brents
and Douglas and Jason Marshall all big physical dudes, or
if you Meila Falm with the safety position, this is
a good spot for them to get some run and coverage.
I think Minka could probably kick down there as well,

(11:31):
because he's been playing a lot of nickel for US
this year, and I think his nickel presence to match
up on like zach Ertz, that's probably what I would do,
you know, go after their best guy with one of
your best guys, because I think you can play a
lot of soft and off and then just rally up
and tackle against Deebo, who he's not separating anymore. It
looks like those legs are kind of on the last
of them. Chris Moore, you know, no disrespect, but not

(11:53):
really a big time producer in this league. And then
Robbie chose and I mean, I mean it's the least
imposing receiving tenem in the and you would be two.
If you're one, two and three, we're out. Well, not
your one, two and three, but three of your top guys.
As with the personnel on the Commander's defensive side of
the football, it's been a major, major regression from last season.
Twenty eighth and yards, twenty ninth against the pass, twenty

(12:15):
second against the run, twenty third in points. This thing
was built around two stud linebackers, and Bobby Wagner and
Frankie Luvu go koogs, and I still think they're good
football players. But Wagner, he just looks a step slower
to me. I mean he's he got drafted in twenty twelve,
so how old is he? Thirty three years old? Like
getting near my age. And then Frankie Luvu, I don't

(12:37):
know what it is, but there's a lot of freelancing
on that tape for Aluvu, and that's a good way
to get your defense out of sorts and get your
teammates pissed off at you. Man. I think he's a
player you can really influence with all the motions and
eye candy this offense features. I think if the Dolphins
can have a drive like they did last week, that
twelve play march with a ten to two run pass ratio,

(12:57):
I think you can almost call Curtains on this matchup
because of the way it would open up the middle
of the field and Tua can just shine by, you know,
shooting those things in there to waddle where he gets
after it and just attack this team with with you know,
being multi dimensional, and they're gonna they're gonna ask their
corners to come up and tackle. Playing that cover one,
cover three mixture, top down style attack. It just it's

(13:19):
a really good mashup for the Dolphins guys. But there
lies the problem because they are so depleted at cornerback.
I'm talking about the problem being how they present this
thing with Trey Amos, who was a really good rookie,
and Marshawn Lattimore, who I mean, he was playing over
these guys, so it tells you how they view the
rest of the room. But he wasn't playing good ball
when he was up. I really like Mike Sandra still.

(13:42):
He's a guy that I think you have to identify
every snap because he's that slot cornerback that plays a
safety backer role. He can blitz. He's a lot like
Minca in that regard. He can support the run, he
can play trail tech and undercut routes. Sometimes you can
get waddle inside on slot corners, but I think it's
probably best just to attack on the outside with him
because those matchups are far more attractive in my opinion.

(14:03):
Jonathan Jones remember him. He was signed for depth of offseason.
Now he's gonna have to play at the rest of
the year because of the Amos and Lattimore injuries. He
was the you know, he's been like an above average
player his whole career, but he was like prime Reebus
every time he saw Tyreek, and I think it was
because of his ability to play physical at the lion
of scrimmage. I don't think Wattle's game is the same

(14:23):
way like, I don't think he is as disrupted at
the line of scrimmage by press coverage. And with Tyreek, that's
why you had to run all those motions and do
different things to get him off the line, because you
had to essentially, you know, burn your pre snap advantage
to get your best player open. And it made sense,
but I just thought that's what pigeonholed this Dolphins offense.
So for with Wattle, you don't have to do that.
He can just win at the line scrimmage as it is.

(14:45):
And then next up is Noah Egbonoghany. And you guys
know what Noah Egnogany is as a player to his
play style is what gave Igbo problems down here, and
I don't think much has changed. He's He's more of
a see it and then go type of player. Right,
It's a tough way to make a living. So I
don't think it's a big Maleikue Washington game because of
Sandra Still, I think Waddle can get loose a bit.

(15:06):
I think Dulcic against a relatively green safety group was
a good matchup as well, especially on those little slide routes.
We broke down the slide rail glance combination on HQ
a couple weeks ago. Like pull up that Lions tape
and watch how often the screen game or the backside
split flow tight end sneaks out into the flat. It's

(15:26):
there for you all game long. And because of that
a chan, whether it's against the safeties, the linebackers, or
just to a patch of grass, it's uncovered. It feels
like a big devon a chance spot is ever a
not a big devon a chance spot. But I just
think all those things should be available to him. I
think he's primed for a big receiving day up in
over in out in Madrid. Upfront, Deron Pain being out

(15:49):
as a killer. He's their run stuffer. He's also a
good pass rusher. Javon Kinlaw has some good pass rush wiggle.
That's also a Johnny Newton's game. I hope we get
Brew back for this game or up for this game.
I should say I suspect he will. He doesn't miss games.
He's tough. He's the kind of guy you want to
build around because I think his ability to help either
guard inside, even with a banged up or missing drawn

(16:09):
payin inside Commander's front. I think that really benefits the
Dolphins guard matchups because of the way Bruke can help
on those guys too. Then I like Patrick Paul against anybody,
but especially this week. And then do we get Austin
Jackson back, Man, win this game. Get Austin Jackson back,
maybe James Daniels. I don't. I have no idea what's
going on with James Daniels. But if he comes back, man,
you get your front five up there. I'm telling you

(16:31):
like this offense could could really really lean into what's
worked for them this year, especially with those two guys back,
plus von Miller rushes that side. He's had a lot
of success against older age von Miller in his career.
But I think Larry Boram could do that job too,
because quite frankly, I think Vaughn's lost a step. So
options out there. I think the Dolphins offense can score
in this game. Let's go ahead and take a break,
come back and talk about the comatics on the other side.

(16:53):
That's next Drivetime podcast, brought to you by AU Donation. Right,
welcome back. We talked about personnel on the other side
of the show the opening segment. By the way, tomorrow,
Patrick Paul joins me. Hugo Manetto from the Dolphins fan
club in Spain joins me. Will also do the week

(17:14):
eleven picks. That's what's ahead on tomorrow's show. Gonna be
a little bit later of a publishing because we're gonna
have Pat Paul on Friday morning and then we will
put it out as soon as he finishes talking to me.
It's gonna we're gonna talk at like ten o'clock in
the morning, so I'm hoping the show comes out around
like eleven am. I don't know. Let's talk about this

(17:35):
calling cards here for the Dolphins offense. First, the Commander's
defense their base four to three. They operate out of
that fourteen percent of the time they run their nickel package.
Seventy one percent of the time they play dime eleven percent,
so eighty two percent of the time they are in
their sub although base is the new sub. It's been
that way for fifteen years right their last in the

(17:56):
NFL and EPA per drop back aloud. Those that remember
the legion of Boom Seattle Seahawks, you know a dan
Quinn defense, Cover one, Cover three. They run that twenty
eight and twenty five percent of the time respectively. That
adds up to fifty three percent. Don't have to do
live math on the aera to figure that one out.
Not a lot in terms of their other man principles,
which I know Cover three is not man but Cover

(18:17):
one is. But they want to get depth on the
perimeter there and keep the top on the defense that way,
they've had to go to more of that basic structure.
With some of the injuries and now without Amos, I
really doubt they'll get themselves in a lot of man situations,
so I assume it'll be less Cover one this week.
I also think it's gonna be an issue. One of
their big principles they abide by is lack of pre

(18:39):
snap disguise, and when you're more banged up playing more
green players, you can do even less of that. They're
gonna trail and funnel Wattle into the other safety, so
there will be vertical opportunities away from Waddle this week,
but we don't have Tyree Kill on the other side anymore.
But I also like him on those slants against Cover
one should they go to that, which is why I
think they won't go to it, since he's one of

(19:00):
the best, you know, lion scrimmage release players in all
the football and then you get him one on one
versus safety for a long catch and run touchdown. If
we can establish our run game early, that's gonna be
there if they go to that coverage. Otherwise, it's gonna
be catch point and shoot for Tua and he's gonna
carve him up in the short passing game all game
longs that's how they're going to play it if they
don't play that Cover one, you know, pressed up man

(19:21):
coverage type of defense and without Pain. Javon Kinlaw is
kind of more of a pass rush specialist pass rush specialish,
where Pain is more of a three down guy. I
think it'll be tough for them to consistently stop the
run and create pass rush situations. But that said, kim
Law did pop on tape. He was a guy that
you know I was a huge fan of his coming
out of South Carolina, and he kind of he didn't

(19:45):
really play up to that potential. In San Francisco. He
was the you know, the reason they traded to Forrest
Buckner and basically tried to make a swap for a
player and uh just trade out the big contract and
didn't work for him that way. But he has come
on post Jets career now here with the Washington Commandos.
They get to quarters a lot fourteen percent and they
pair that with thirteen percent Cover two. So those are

(20:06):
two combinations of coverage where you can you know, there's
disguise within how that is deployed post snap. But like, man,
let's hang on, it's in the notes here. I'll get
to in a second. Maybe the solution for the Dolphins
is a lot of those are for the Commanders, I
should say, is a lot of those twos and trying
to zone things off if that prevents you from adding
hats in the box. So that's why I think the

(20:27):
Dolphins power run game can get a going here once
again on tape. They are super susceptible to the quick game,
particularly from the backs. That's part of the Cover three,
Cover one concepts. You catch them in that Cover three,
you run them off with verticals on the perimeter, you
can run play action, you can suck them up as well,
and you can get completely vacated flats and devad h
Chien could get the ball in space. No matter what

(20:49):
they do. Because of these absences, they're going to be
at a deficit. And for the Dolphins, it's all about
finding out how to take advantage of that and exploiting
it here in this game. Also on tape I told
you I get back to it. They don't disguis coverage.
What you see is what you get, and that you know.
The tells that you get from motion could tip you
off as to whether it's a manner zone look. And
when Tua knows that man pre snap, he's really tough

(21:12):
to stop. And you can kind of glean which coverage
will be based upon when they're on or off. If
they're playing quarters, they're they're probably off. If they're up,
they're probably playing Cover two, and then their their man scheme,
their their man principles. If they're playing off, it's probably
Cover three. If they're up, it's probably Cover one. Watch
the Lions tape and you constantly had slides, chip releases, flats,

(21:34):
quick out swing screens. All of that stuff was open
and like we've got Devon a chan So yeah, I
think he's gonna have a big day receiving in this one.
Their blitz rate is around twenty five percent. That's thirteenth
in football. They might ratch it that up here a
little bit in this one. On the other side of
the ball. Their offense, they run eleven personnel fifty seven

(21:55):
percent of the time, twelve personnel twenty three percent of
the time, one of the more prominent twelve personnel teams
in football. They also run their thirteen personnel three tight
end package five percent of the time. They love those
tight ends and they should. It's the deepest height end
room in the NFL. Okay, So what they want to
do in the run game power power, power, Anny powders powers,

(22:17):
Anny powders fla ma blanca. That's how you want to
establish yourself if you're the Commander's thirteen personnel power concepts
traditional power duo. They want to drive you off the
football and get crosskey Merit to burrow his way forward
for three or four yards, like whatever the line blocks
for him is kind of what he gets. I never
got it from the player perspective there, but you know,

(22:40):
the fantasy heads love him. It's not really searching for
the lane. It's about staying on schedule and just getting
positive yardage. It's been effective in the yards per carry department,
which it's at four point nine for them this year,
but that number is inflated by the quarterback run, which
counts all the same. Don't get me wrong, every yard counts,
but when it comes to dissecting their running game, they
want to get one double and then try to win

(23:00):
with this placement at the point of attack. And when
you look at the Dolphins defensive line with how they're
playing right now, you can't double in that scheme Seeler
and Jordan Phillips at the same time. So whichever one
gets single blocked needs to be a menace, and I
suspect they will because of injuries. They have similar issues
that we saw with the Bills. There's not really a
vertical stretch element in the offense. They run a lot

(23:20):
of static routes coming back to the quarterback and try
to out muscle you. But Rasul Juju, Brentz, Mika Fitzpatrick,
Jason Marshall. If imlafmlu the way that the linebackers played
the hook last week, that too was difficult task. With
how the Dolphins defense is going right now, if it
reverts back to old ways, they'll have a chance. But
if the Dolphins pluck they have the last three or
four weeks, it's going to be a struggle here for

(23:41):
the Commander's offense. Previously, I think they would have been
a tough matchup, but not how it's going lately. I
do actually really appreciate the design and route distribution and
spacing they create, but it's more suited for Daniels than
it is for Mariota. More on that in just a second.
In fact, let's go ahead and take our second break
right there, come back and talk about the quarterbacks, the

(24:02):
special teams, what's at stake, the keys to victory, and
our prediction. All that ahead. Draft Time Podcast brought to
you by Autnation. We've come a long way on these
previews shows because usually start at the quarterback position. But
when you're a tape doggin, when you're a dogger of tape,
you hold the quarterback to the very end. Marcus Mariota,

(24:23):
he is a really good example of a trope that
I think exist around quarterbacks. People think you can just
draft traits and then develop the other stuff. But it's
like saying, I'm just gonna you know, who's that long
drive guy, Kyle Berkshire. It's like saying, I'm just gonna
take Kyle Berkshire and turn him into you know, Scottie Scheffler.

(24:44):
It's the freaking premise of Happy Gilmour. Right, give me
six months to work with you, You'll be the best
player on tour. Like, No, just because you drive the
ball four hundred yards, like, you still got to have
a golf swing. You still got to have the quarterback
swing here. You gotta be able to play the position
from the pocket. Marioda just never could do that. What
did I say? Married Marcus Mariota. But you know, the
other stuff is just just as hard to develop as

(25:05):
it is to improve your traits. You can do it
a little bit, but I think only so much. There
are some quarterbacks that have taken some big jumps in
that area. The guy we played last week might be
the greatest example of that, literally of all time. But
Marcus was high octane RPO zone read quarterback design run game.
Then layer in your run game with play action shots,
with long developing crossers, verticals, things that cut the field

(25:27):
in half and give him define Reed's pre snap. Sometimes
I go through these things and like I got my
detractors on social media and stuff, and it's like Travis
doesn't get his predictions right, doesn't know football, And it's like,
you think, so, do you really think so? I don't know, guys.
I think I know some ball. I showed out seventy

(25:48):
five through the day on the golf course. You guys
proud of me for that. Let's get back to Marcus Mariota,
but he's not running as much this year, and the
run game success rate is not consistent enough to get
to all the things I just talked about. As much
as I kind of appreciate the approach of the running game,
I don't think it's enough to make us change the
way we play because we do have a strong and
stout defensive line that can fight power with power, right,

(26:10):
fight fire with fire, fight power with power. I think
Mariota is one of the best backup qbs in the league,
but he's a backup. There's a lot of bailing on
clean pockets. There's just straight up turning down throws that
come open against zone with anticipation. But there is one
area that he still presents a tremendous threat with those legs.
But we just faced a quarterback that has thatact exact

(26:30):
same thing and we zoned it off. We played tight
in the second and third level, and I think we're
well eclipped equipped to just kind of play like a
twenty yard and end box and make them like, if
you guys want try to go deep, go for it,
but we don't think you can and really focus bodies
on the quarterback, run on the running game, and flood
the middle of the field, Flood those short throws because
they do not have guys to stretch you vertically. Our

(26:52):
quarterback two us doing that thing this year to me
man where he gets me out and gets me back in.
I think this game Ms Taylor made for Tua to excel.
I wrote, excel ac ceo, you dummy. Those vacancies in
the flats and the curl hook areas with how I
expect us to run the football, and then the pre
snap alignment that does not present diskies. I think this

(27:15):
is kind of a game where Tua can flourish. It's
akin to the game against the Patriots last year, and
I will ever forget watching the miked up copy from
to in that game of just going through his process
and talking to guys with what he's seeing and how
he's you know, what he sees pre snap and how
he's assessing that. Sometimes I just need you guys to
trust me when I say things, because I do know

(27:36):
some things that you don't. Just to be totally blunt,
Like this particular thing, Tua knew what was coming the
entire game time and time again. Now the quarters beater
that you that I think would really make this game
open up, Tyreek is not here, right, and I don't
think you get the same you know, anticipation fly by
ops when you only have one of those receivers. But
I do think Waddle can get access to those corners,

(27:58):
those outs, the comebacks, and then go to work over
the middle once you've kind of horizontally strudged them in
that way too. That with the middle of the field
grouping that has just been a little bit slow and
disconnected this year, I think this might be a chance
for Twua's best game of the season as far as
like his yards and numbers here special teams and miscellaneous.
I'm quite fond of the EPA per special or per

(28:20):
play special team snap to decipher these. Jake Bailey has
nice stats, but I don't think that the job that
he and the group as a whole do get done
justice by these stats, by his punting stats. But we
are fifth in special teams ETA. That's obviously very good.
The Commanders are right behind us, they are eighth. What's
at stake in this game, win and we stay alive.

(28:41):
That's what it's become. I'm hopeful for a decent little
ride here, but we need more proof for it to
become reality. Right. I also think the AFC field is
going to just produce at least seven teams that have
ten plus wins. So if you're going to make a
miracle run, probably have to win all the games. Not likely,
but you know, I guess we'll hope that it happens.
You know, each we that it does happen. My three

(29:01):
keys to victory Number one use motion to id advantageous matchups.
They are a static on defense. They don't disguise. They
will not disguise with how they run with motion. If
you motion, they'll tell you what they're gonna do pre snap.
Number two, utilize the quick passing game. They vacate these
short areas of the field. They don't really adhere to
the slide, the little under routes, the sneaks, the swings,

(29:22):
the sneaks. You can get space in the short flats,
in the space against the commander's defense. And number three,
you need a back seven mind mild with zone distributions
like you had last week. Do that play at top down.
You should be able to put this offense to rest.
My prediction. You're gonna hate me for this. The pendulum
has swung back for you. Boy. I wish we had

(29:43):
won two more games during our bad football stretch. I
think the Dolphins are going to be considered a good
team in the second half of the season, and I
think that will carry some good will into twenty twenty six.
But I think we match up extremely well with these
guys on both sides of the football. Now, can our
operation be sharp? Can we string together another good game?
We've seen a short week throw off our prep and

(30:03):
look like total crap versus Baltimore, and coaches talked about that.
How you the week of preparation, they kind of figured
out versus the Falcons was able to carry over to
the Bills game. Can we withstand the distractions from the
week away from home? The jet lag, you know, overcoming
all of that. The commanders deal with it too, but
we have notoriously struggled to handle unique elements. So because
of all that, I'm not going to go crazy blowout,

(30:25):
but I think the matchup does dictate blowout. I think
the Fins win this one thirty one twenty one. I
think Waddle will have a nice catch and run on
a slant glance type of throw. I think a Chan
is going to go over one hundred yard receiving, and
I think two has a big day. Sue me. That's
my podcast, That's my time tomorrow, Patrick Paul Hugo, Manetto
and the week eleven picks. Until then, you please be

(30:46):
sure subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcast from.
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