December 3, 2025 • 36 mins
Travis is back for a jam-packed Wednesday show. First, we’ll welcome Antwan Staley of the NY Daily News to talk Jets. Then, Travis unpacks the three-game winning streak and tells you how the Dolphins can sustain success on both sides of the ball. Finally, we’ll look at a wild year in the AFC and forecast how December might play out.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. What is up Dolphins
and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host,
Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, we're going to turn
the page to the New York Jets and bring one
of my favorite guests we get on the show just
(00:20):
about every single year, and Twan Staley joins me for
the Jets perspective, And now that it's December, we're going
to take a look at the AFC standings and talk
through the first three months of this conference and what
it might look like for the final month of the season,
plus the key elements of the Dolphins turnaround so far.
All of that from the Baptist Hill Studios inside the
(00:41):
Baptist Hill Training Complex. This is the Draft Time Podcast.
Joining us today here on the Draft Time Podcast for
the perspective from New York is longtime friend of the
show and Colin Myths from the NY Daily News and
Twan Staley Twin what's up man?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Hey, how you doing? Wingfield?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
It's always good to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Antoina text I DMed you at first, which those are
dubious if they get through these days or not, And
I'm like, I bet you. I have Antoine's phone number,
and I did, and I text you and you you
didn't have mine. But because you spent time in the Northwest,
you knew the five ZHO nine area code might be your.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Boy exactly and talking about dolphins, and I was like, okay,
dolphins specific Northwest, Like it's only one person it really
could be, right, yeah, exactly, So that I was like, yeah,
it has to be Wingfield, It's got to be right.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
And I guess I got it right. You did.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
You were spot on. We made this happen.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
So I appreciate you coming on the show here talking
about what is, you know, a big game for Dolphins
fans perspective. We've been thinking about the idea of getting
back to six seven for a while here now with
the possible run in which we're leading into that here
and the Dolphins content wing of things.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
But you were telling me that you have all day.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Today to record because it's actually snowing where you're where
you're at right now, and obviously the weather on Sunday
does not call for snow, But I am curious, uh,
tell us about like the weather latest in New York,
what should we expect for the game on Sunday and
of how that might have an impact on this one.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Cold and last Sunday was cold and rainy against the
Falcons too, and the Jets and both the Falcons had
to navigate that. Tyrod Taylor, you know, did a decent
enough job through that.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
But yeah, it probably spent the same similar type weather there.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
It seems to always rain with its Jets home games
for whatever reason. So yeah, I would definitely expect it
to be below probably like mid the late thirties.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
It's funny you mentioned the fact that it always rains
for the Jets home games, because I had a tweet
before the game against the Saints where I was looking
at the weather report and it was supposed to rain
basically to like to bowl forty five and stop for kickoff,
and we got that, but it did start raining again.
But it does seem like over the last you know,
six years that I've been here, every time it's one
o'clock at Hard Rocks game, the rain seems to subside.
(02:47):
But in that game it did not, and it led
to some kind of up and down play there for
both offenses for the Dolphins and Saints in that one.
So be curious to see how the weather affects the
game once we kick it off, But I'm also curious
how it might affect the MetLife Takeover, which is an
annual tele getting event for Dolphins fans to get out
to MetLife and about twenty thousand them show up there
and root for their team against the New York Jets.
I know you have a history among Dolphins fans. You
(03:09):
worked on the beat down here. Do you find your
way out into the parking lot during the takeover or
are you all business come Sunday?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Of course, I mean I could be I can be Boobo, really,
that could be. I could be business light. But I
also go out there too because this is so many
Dolphin fans that still remember me or just still have
conversations with even.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
To this day.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
So yeah, go out there, have a good time with them.
I think it's you know, for good calls and you
know they do really good things. And you know, I
love it because you know, the Jets and Dolphins band
banter is like unlike nothing no other. So it's definitely
gonna be a mate for a good time there Bett
Life Stadium on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Rivalry games are always the best, And yeah, I think
that the Jets got the win last year for the
first time, and and well they won on twenty two
when Twua was down and they played against Teddy Bridgewater
than Skylar Thompson, so they have won some games there.
But the Dolphins have kind of owned this rivalry as
of late, and they had the win back on Monday
Night back in week for but since then this team
has changed a lot. I kind of want to, you know,
(04:03):
cover talk to you about that specifically on this show today.
And let's start at the quarterback position, because they go
from Justin Fields to Tyrod Taylor, and like, Tyrod's.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
So like you know what you're gonna get.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
He's played for so long that you just kind of
the film is the film, and there's some good and
some bad obviously, But with Justin Fields, I think a
lot of folks were expecting him to possibly be that
next like reclamation quarterback, and for whatever reason, it just
didn't happen. And I'm curious from your perspective, Antoine, watching
the team practice every day, watching the games on Sunday,
what's been the biggest difference between going from Justin Fields
(04:36):
to Tyrod Taylor.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
They really have as simbilis of a passing game.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Now, tyrod is it's scared to hesitate to throw the
ball down the field, like you know, I think justin
field sometimes. You know, we all know he has the
athletic ability to be able to throw down the field
and to really make any kind of pass you wont
in the NFL. But I think a lot of it
is mental. I think he probably goes back to today's
Chicago maybe coaching or a lot thereof. And you know,
I think sometimes you can get this in his head
(05:00):
and just overthinking and just hold on to the football
way too long.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Whereas Tody Rodgers, like he just slings it like he
doesn't you know, he doesn't necessarily care, Like if he sees.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
A guy open one on one coverage like a d
Mitchell or you know, Menchi down the field or whenever
Garrett comes back, he has no hesitation to do that,
just throw the ball down the field, which coutes with
that is interceptions and possible turnovers. But you know, you
gotta have to live with that, you know, you get
in the bad And that's kind of what.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
You alluded to.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Yeah, I think that that was the case back in Chicago.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
And why you know, even going to Pittsburgh last year,
like people were like saying, this could be the guy
that doesn't like duplait quarterback. You have to see out
the field and anticipate and throw with timing, and it
just hasn't happened for fields that way. And for Taylor,
he'll bring that to the equation here, along with the
legs and the scramble ability and antoina. This league is
so funny, man, you've been covering it for a long time.
You know how this goes. Every time you think you
(05:49):
have this league figured out, it changes on you. And
it's the main reason why we love this game so much.
Because the Jets post deadline. It's kind of rudderless, right,
They're not winning any games. They trade Way Sauce guard,
they trade away Quentin Williams and now they're playing their
best football.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
It's it never makes sense this league.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
What do you think has attributed besides the quarterback change,
And maybe it is the quarterback change isolated, but what
is the biggest reasons here for the Jets kind of
turning things around here and getting back to winning ways.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I think it's a combination of a few things. One,
I think defensively and coaching has gotten a lot better too,
and becames with that. I think their defense is playing
a lot better as opposed to what they were in
Week four, where I feel like they had one of
the worst defenses in football. I feel like they're taking
care of the football. They're not committing as many penalties. Remember,
you know the Week four contests really on both sides
with this kind of a bid of a penalty fest
(06:37):
if you are just from both sides. But I think,
you know, I think they're playing smarter football. I think
the defense is playing a lot better there. They of
course they don't have saucing Quentin Williams anymore, but you
would think they'd be playing worse. But I think Jawan
Brace is kind of slidd in that role. Done a
solid job there stopping to run there. They did a
good job against the Ravens, who, as you know, is
a really good run run offense. You know, they had
(07:00):
trouble with b John Robinson, but who doesn't have trouble
with Robinson as good as he is. But overall, I think,
you know, coaching on the defensive side of the ball,
Steve Wills there, and I think the players are really
buying into what Aaron Glen is selling in his vision.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Yeah, I think the one team that had success against
the John Robinson was the Miami Dolphins. They held him
pretty much off the scoreboard in that game back in
a big blow over the Falcons. But otherwise, yeah, he
has been very, very good this year and that was
kind of the start of the Dolphins run defense kicking
it into high gear and playing some good football over
the last month plus.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Here you mentioned Juwan H.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Briggs.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I forgot, and then you also mentioned I was I
was a huge MATCHI fan coming out of Alabama. Didn't
quite work out there in Houston, but he finds his
way to New York along with a d Mitchell. They
also got Jason brown Lee back and I think it
was in September, and to me, that's been like the
best part of the Jets season, on top of adding
capital for the future because obviously they're not going to
(07:53):
make a run this year, but they're gonna try to
find their way, you know, back into the mix next
season and beyond. And one way you can do that,
like it's not all about the big quarterback splash or
a big trade that you make. Sometimes you can add pieces,
you know, ancillary roll pieces and again with those guys
I mentioned that that's a really positive, uh you know
change to this football team.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I'm curious what you think.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
About how they've gone about adding to like the not
the depth of the roster, but also not the top
of the roster, kind of that middle pack of the roster.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Right.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Yeah, I think this year is all gonna be about
evaluation anyway for the Jets. I mean, you transfer from
Aaron Rodgers and de Watcheadams in that eraw with a
bunch of veterans and now you get an abundance of youth.
It comes with that, it's gonna be growing pains, and
you know, I think Jet fans are hard to understand that,
especially after trying to go forward the last few years.
But you know, I think Aaron Glenn and Darren Moodie
(08:40):
have a vision where, you know, they see a guy
that may have potential, but it may not be working
out for one team, but you bring him over there
and it may work out for the Jets.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
So you just kind of kick the tiers on guys.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
And that's why you bring over John Metchi who we
always saw he had potential to Alabama. It just hasn't
worked for whatever reason, and ad Mitchell is he can
fly like the wind. You know, catching the ball has
been apoplement times. But if you can work with that
with coaching, you know, Scott's the limit potentially. There you go,
already got Garrett Wilson, So yeah, I think it's good
to be able to kick the tires on some of
(09:09):
these guys there. You know, Bridge is another one of
those guys that you know, he wasn't doing much with
the Browns, comes over here as one of their biggest
run stoppers there too as well. So yeah, I think
Brownie is another guy that has really stepped up in
kind of that slot role.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
That's kind of the reason they traded Michael Carter the second.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
You know, he's really done a good job there and
run coverage and also in the past game too as well.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah, I wasn't too thrill about the Titans getting rid
of Brownly for a cheap cost to arrival, because he's
a good player and he's making a big just a towaway.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
They just really just gave him away, it seems like, right.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Yeah, in a season where they have one win too,
so it's like, hey, don't don't help out the juts
too much. Now we gotta put those guys twice a year.
So I'm really curious about what it looks like in
the passing game right now. Because you mentioned Garrett Wilson
a few times. He's not going to play in this game.
He's on IR but Metchie and Mitchell to your point,
like I thought, coming into the year, one of the juts,
like I do a summer preview series where I talk
(09:58):
about each team strength and they're like their you know,
their potential vulnerabilities are And for me it was always
Jets depth at the skill positions on top of a
quarterback that hadn't proven himself in this league. But like
now they're adding pieces in depth and I look at
like next year with when Wilson comes back, with with
Mitchell and Mitchie, Mason, Taylor, Breize Hall's playing good even
though he's going to be a free agent, but like
the eligibles were coming along behind an offensive line that
(10:21):
has some pieces as well. But right now today, Antoine,
you know, forget the future. Talk tell me about Michie
and Mitchell and how they've I guess transformed the Jets
passing offense. You mentioned with Taylor, they've had an actual
passing game now, you know, after the losing streak to
begin the year. But how do Mitch, Mitchi and Mitchell
say that five times fast? How do those guys factor
into how that all goes.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Well, they've got they're guys that can stretch the field
there in both sides too. I mean Mitchi's a little
bit of a smaller guy there, you know, more of
a slot inside guy. But you know somebody that Tyrod
Taylor has been relying on just kind of get quick
passes out there. And then Mitchell, I mean we saw
it at the combine at twenty twenty four. I mean
he you know, had that fast time there and you
know obviously that's truly that speed is translated to the league.
(11:02):
And you know tal Rod we talked about Toyrod Taylor
just being able to sling it. You know, you got
a guy like Ady Mitchell that can stretch the field
like you see like what happens that can happen, especially
against the Falcons, where you end up having that fifty
two yard pass, you know, and that can you know,
change transform the game. So just having those guys there
creates another element that defenses have to worry about.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
On a consistent basis.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
And also, you know, when you get a guy like
Garrett Wilson back potentially from myr also your commands attention
from you know, not just Wilson, but also other parts
of your offense.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
And Twas Elliot Colinis from New York Daily News, my
guest today, let's go ahead and take our first break
on the show right here.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Come back on the other side.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
I have three more questions too about the defense and
those big trades they made at the deadline. That's Next
Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Auto Nation. Back
here on a Wednesday, talking to my guest today and
Twas Early from the New York Daily News breaking down
all things Dolphins and Jets, who will kick off on
Sunday at one o'clock December the seventh for another renewed
(11:58):
matchup in this rivalry and Antoine we talked about it
a little bit off the top, but the trades of
of Sauce Gardner and Quinn Williams were massive, right, and
they get back a boatload of draft picks going forward
here for those guys and have a chance to round
out what's a pretty good core, a pretty good roster
corp here in the future. But I'm curious about today, Like,
tell me about how the defense has changed post Quinn
(12:19):
and Sauce. Who's made up that you know, that ground
that you lose those two guys departing, and maybe the
defense is like rallied around the fact that they lost
the star players. Just kind of take us through how
this defense has performed post that trade.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Well, I think they've thrown much better, Like they're now
a middle of road defense. Basically Brandon Stevens has become
the number one corner there for the Jets too as well.
And also you know, they've incorporated a z Thomas there
at the rookie out of Florida State who's done a
really good job there. Somebody they really liked, they thought
had a number one corner potential has slid in that
role and done solid job too as well. You know,
(12:52):
Melicot Moore is another guy they've been using at a diss
the Jarvis Brownlee and he's helped you know, basically run
stop it and also in the past Game two as well,
And also you talked about we talked about Juwan Braids earlier,
like he's at least he's second on the team in
sacks with three and also been a rig fucking play
guy along with Harrison Phillis there in the run stock
going game.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
So yeah, they've really done a much better job there.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Obviously, you know you're not You don't get better lose
than those all pro guys, but it's been a collection
to everybody that's kind of contributed to their success.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, I didn't even mention Harrison Phillips when I talked
about all these like you know, day three pickswap trades
they made. That's another guy that's a big contributor there
for them up front on that defensive line. And I
guess a follow up to that Antoline be you kind
of covered it there. But I remember watching the film
going into that Week four game and like, I'm not
disparaging anybody, just the facts of it, Like they didn't
tackle well, they were really bad tackling defense, and there
(13:43):
was bust all over that coverage. We saw that in
the game on Monday night when the Jets or the
Dolphins won pretty handily. The Jets made to come back late,
but the Dolphins were pretty well in front of that
game in the second half.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Has that been fixed?
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Have you seen better connection and better tackling from the
Jets defense.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Oh, everything's been better since that money that was just
a complete nightmare. On special teams, on defense, on offense,
on all sides too, which obviously I want to give
a shout out to the Jet special team. They've also
been playing really well too, especially Isaiah Williams who had
that you know, crazy fumble inside the five yard locks.
He was like Dante Hall right now with some of
his returns. But yeah, I mean they've done a much
(14:20):
better job there in that area too, just showing up
to tackle into as well. And I think that part
of that comes with just learning the scheme and just
being comfortable in it. Night you could just tell that
the players were still getting comfortable. There is a lot obviously,
they're coming from the Rockets Sala you know scheme where
it was more of a zone coverage there. Now they're
more man the man type of team there, especially with
Glenn and what Will's like to run. And they're also
(14:41):
more aggressive blitzing, you know, in some of their schemes
too as well. So but the players are much more
comfortable and you can just tell just you know, from
the simple coaching and now they're actually wrapping up as
opposed to, you know, being out of position consistently.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah, it's it's funny you mentioned that, man, because like
I feel like as the football cognizant that can be
guilty of this too. Like we take the first five
or six games this season and sometimes we get so
set in our ways like that's that team forever.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
But every year teams change and they make improvements.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
And again it's not just about like going into the
offseason and overhauling your personnel. Sometimes guys just play better
and they execute better, and you see it all the time.
I mean the Dolphins defense. I was talking to a
buddy in our content studios here about this last year.
Like at that Rams game last year on Monday Night Football,
the Dolphins were two and six going in. The defense
clicked that game and played really good on the entire
second half of the season. It happens all the time
(15:30):
in this league. So don't get too married to your impressions.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Is the point.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I'm never always going to be just plug and play.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
It's not like it's mad where you're just gonna plug
and play and then that's their defense forever. No, people
develop and they grow, especially when you have a young team.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Like this, and that's why we love this game because
it always keeps you on your toes. This is not
the English Premier League, whe you know you're gonna have
the same four teams at the top of the table
every single year. It always changes, at least for the
most part. The last question I have for you here, Antoine,
I just want to ask you to like give me
your thoughts on this game.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
What's your early lean?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
How how can the Jets spoil Miami's win streak and
potentially their hopes that a miracle run back to the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Little Basically, it's gonna come down and get into tour
like force him to make the States there if he can,
if Tua can play a clean game, and you know
he typically has against the Jets for the most part. Yeah,
I think the Dolphins are gonna win this game, but
they got to be able to get pressured on him consistently.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Will McDonald has to be a part of that.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Jermaine Johnson obviously, we talked about brids and Phillips too
as well, and also incorporate Quincy Williams too. He could
also be a guy that they're using blitz situations too,
as well, and obviously Tyrod Taylor has to play a
clean game too as well, be able to get the
ball there the Breist Hall and particularly in the run
game and also the past game too as well. But
I think the Dolphins are the better team. I think
(16:42):
they're more desperate, So I'm gonna I'm gonna lean towards
Miami in this situation, but I think it's gonna be
a really close game.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I'll say twenty four to twenty one Miami.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
That's That's kind of where I'm at right now with
my early lean before I get the tape and everything,
so I'm we're in locks up on that. I do
think the Dolphins can win this game, but I think
it'll be close s right to the end. And man,
crazy stat right, the Jets haven't intercepted to pass this season?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (17:03):
So five games.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Year?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
That's that's great.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Had one of those, by the way, So.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Let me let me just we'll play a fun game
to close the show here. Antiwe crystal ball. Will they
get one over the course of the final five games,
and who will be the guy that gets the first one?
Speaker 4 (17:20):
If they do get it, I'll say yes, and I'll
go with a Z Thomas. I think he'll be the
guy who gets the ind of session.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
He was a fun guy to watch at Florida State.
Had a really good senior bull in man coverage intercepting
passes there. So a good pick there, nice little deep
cut there from an twinse aale A columns from the
n Y Daily News at antwins Daily. On Twitter, twe
we appreciate your time so much. Many teach us so
much about the Jets every time we have you on
the show here, and you're such a gym my friend.
Thanks so much, Hi, thanks for having me and away,
he goes, let's go ahead and just pivot right off
(17:48):
of that chat. We'll come back to the Jets tomorrow
on the podcast and do the usual Thursday preview episode
of Drive Time. But I I got to the office
here on Tuesday and thought, what do I want to
talk about to fill out the Wednesday show as we
get ready to turn the page. I want to have
Antwina on and talk about the New York Jets, but
I also wanted to look at a couple things that
(18:08):
were more deep divy which has not quite turned the page.
Perhaps there should have been the first segment and then
turn the page in the second segment, but none of
that matters because it's all on the same show. And
the things I wanted to look at was the three
game winning streak, some of the things that are consistent
within that streak offensively and defensively, and then I wanted
to go full Kornaki and kind of talk about the
(18:29):
NFL standings here as we enter the month of December,
because as you know, as they say, dog a season
don't start until after Thanksgiving. And we'll come back to
that on the final segment of the show. Here, let's
do a little bit of an update now on a
topic we've been tracking for a few weeks really since
the Falcons game. Right, that's where the season changed and
(18:51):
for better, and it was the Daniel Brunskill inclusion. It
was the mix of gap scheme to go along with
the zone game, but now with extra parts coming back.
You know, Brunskill was born out of necessity given the
injuries to the tight end position. Well, now the guy
that really does that job, Julian Hill, is back, and
so too is the perfect complementary skill set tight end
(19:15):
to Julian and Darren Waller. So with all of that,
let's see what it looks like, looked like, i should say,
versus the Saints, and maybe where it can go from
here over the final five games. First, we mentioned the
gap zone disparity in the Washington game, right, second highest
gap runs in the McDaniel era, the first being the
Falcons game, which spawned an entire segment on the podcast.
(19:37):
First the Saints, it was pretty similar in terms of
the variety. Seventeen zone runs, eleven man scheme runs in
that game, and that was a pretty regularly like three
to one sometimes four to one split in years past,
just not a lot of gap scheme runs in this offense.
But now it's been seventeen to eleven, seventeen to nine
(19:59):
in the first two wins the Saints and the Bills game,
and then sixteen and twenty one and ten and eighteen
in the Buffalo in Washington games, so that variety appears
to be here to stay. And those splits just tell
me that they've done a good job with this coaching
staff of reassessing. And you know, at doing it at
one and six. You can have your opinions about whether
(20:19):
or not that was too late. It certainly seems that way,
but let this season play out here, but a good
job of.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Adapting what you do to.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Fit your roster and your players and the strength and
your identity of your football team and going with what
works versus what the opponent is doing and what's clicking.
Like you love to see that in season adjustment, to
adapt to what your team tells you they are. And
to that point, I think Tua played his best game
against the Falcons, which was a similar split of zone
(20:50):
and man run scheme than we saw in the Saints game.
And I would argue that he had similar opportunities versus
the Saints. He just didn't execute nearly close to what
he did in the Atlanta game. Didn't really execute a lot,
to be quite frank, And I think a lot of
that is those play action opportunities with bootlegs, with roles,
things of that nature. It's all sequential into the passing
(21:11):
game and tied to the running game because you know,
you create certain vulnerabilities with how you attack an opposing
defense with your running game, and I think that's instructive
in terms of how the passing offense can get going
or at least create opportunities for the passing offense. Then
then becomes up to the quarterback to execute in those situations.
(21:32):
That's kind of where I think going forward, if you
can maintain this ground game, and I certainly think it's
here to stay where the quarterback can find his brythm
and find his game. And these next two games are
going to be in inclement weather. You know it's going
to be cold in the Jets game. We'll see what
happens come Pittsburgh, and then of course the season finale
in Foxborough will be cold as well, with two home
games sandwiched in there. So can he find that rhythm
(21:54):
in December with the season on the line, in cold weather,
in tough environments. That's a big, big ass for this quarterback.
But that's what it's gonna come down to, because the
way the defense is going against these next two offenses.
They'll face three very good offenses down the stretch. But
these next two games, I expect the defense to keep
cooking and keep the Jets and Steelers under twenty points.
(22:14):
And for the offense, can you find a way to
score more than twenty points? I think it's very doable.
I do think we're gonna get back to seven and seven,
although I do think either of these games the Jets
and Steelers could go in the other direction. I will
probably pick Miami in both games. We'll see what happens
come Jets game before I predict the Steelers game. But
I think they're gonna get to seven and seven and
overcome some of the things that have plagued this team,
(22:35):
primetime spots, cold weather, you know, all the things that
have gone against you. In that Steelers game, I think,
I think because of who they are and where the
Steelers are going, and they can find a way to
win that game.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
But that's what it's gonna take.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
And just to kind of give you some more numbers
here from the Saints game, I mean, this personnel deployment,
it's here to stay, and it has to be because
the numbers are so so glaringly obvious. So this team actually,
let's just go ahead and read the stats off first.
I have my point to make after the fact, eleven
personnel hash, three receivers, right, one back, one tight end,
twelve plays for sixty yards. There was a twenty two
(23:06):
yard play to Wattle and a ten yard eight Chan
run the only two big plays. So they got sixty
yards on twelve plays. That's a five yard per play
average a good number. That's a little bit above league
average in terms of yards per play. But the rest
of the groupings collectively are just better. It's just flat
out better. Twelve personnel, thirteen plays for one hundred and
(23:27):
seven yards. I mean, that's what like eight yards per play.
Let's do some live math here on the air. I
have a calculator that's not doing live math. That's a lie. Yeah,
eight point two yards per play there, So I mean
that's you know, what is a sixty six percent improvement
over the previous You had a sixteen yard play to Cedric,
thirty four to wall or twenty one to Dulsage, fourteen
to Wattle, four big plays there. You're twenty one grouping
(23:49):
nine plays fifty six yards. I should have done the
math a four time beforehand too. That's six point two
yards per play better than eleven personnel. You have the
twenty nine yard touchdown run there, which helps your average.
But that's how all these groupings, I mean, they all
have the big explosive plays that change the dynamic.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
There.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Twenty two personnel, two plays for sixteen yards. That's eight
yards of pop downs. Tell you about that through calculator,
we had an eight chan sixteen yard run, a play
for no gain, and there was also two kneel downs
I did not include in that step. They ran one
play from thirteen personnel, got four yards on that one.
They also had three different groupings with Daniel Brunskill in
the game twelve, twenty one, and twenty two. So twelve
heavy is where you go one running back, two tight ends,
(24:27):
six offensive line, so you're back down to one receiver.
So essentially it becomes thirteen personnel, four plays, sixteen yards,
nothing exceptional, no explosive plays four yards per play. Twenty
one heavy, two backs, one tight end, one receiver, six
offensive line, four plays for negative two yards, not good.
Twenty two heavy that's no receivers, that's six offensive line,
(24:49):
two running backs, two tight ends, four plays, three yards,
no explosives. In this particular game, those plays were more
for show, but I think it also opens up the
opportunity to get other to get more yards and other groupings,
and you're putting stuff on tape to possibly unfurl wrinkles
off of down the line, which I would imagine Miami's
self scouting at the BI week was not a one
(25:10):
week snapshot. I think you had to kind of have
a plan to how to unroll this thing going forward.
So there's also like two main takeaways for me from
that entire you know, stat dump if you will. Miami
is vast in their personnel groupings. I just gave you one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight different formations not formations, sorry, groupings that they can
(25:32):
go to. Most teams run like three groupings, you know,
throughout the course of a game, four or five, like
depending on situational you can get more. But eight groupings
is kind of crazy, and it's consistent. They are better
better with multiple backs or tight ends, anything that has
less than three receivers, which you know, in a post
Tyreek Hill world, do you have more than one receiver?
(25:54):
Who is you know, garnering upwards of thirty snaps in
a game? I would argue no, And that's part of it.
But also that's just not who this football team is
right now. And this has been the case since the change,
right since the Tyreek injury which took them a few weeks.
They kind of dabbled in it during the Jets, Panthers,
Chargers and Brown's game of course zero to three. In
those Panthers Chargers Brown's game. If you had just found
(26:17):
a way to not dabble and go full in, is
your record different? I digress, But we've seen it and
it's been the case since the change. They are suited
to play this style of football and they've made a
complete one point eighty in terms of how they attack it. Again,
you just have to wonder, or I do, how different
things would look right now if this happened in September
opposed to Halloween, and just posterity for all of it.
(26:39):
We've covered what it looks like before the shift. Well,
how about what it was prior to the shift. In
that game in Cleveland, which was one of the worst
performances by any team in the NFL this year, was
the Two had the lowest epa per dropback of any
quarterback in a game this year.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
It was horrible. But it comes down to this.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
We ran eleven personnel the three receiver, set, one back,
one tight end in Cleveland thirty four times, and that
was a change to previous deployments. Right that was this
was a twenty one personnel team for three years. Alec
Ingold was a big part of that, but also the
use of fast twenty one with eight Chan and Raheem
moster For a long time, twenty one was the grouping
(27:16):
two receivers reakan waddle, that was the idea. This year
it became more eleven because you got Nick Westbroo, Kakine
devon A. Chan's part of like the receiving game as well,
and they malike Washington got an elevated role and we
had a deeper receiving core with you know, d. S.
Gridge being a big camp star this year, like there
was opportunities to get to more eleven groupings and the
offense changed in that way when the answer actually was
(27:38):
a pivot in the opposite direction to go more heavy,
more two back, more two tight, more six offensive lineman.
And it took them six game, seven games to get
to that, but eventually they did and you can see
why they became a big personnel team. I'm not going
to do a whole segment again, but we talked about
this back earlier after the Atlanta game or the Buffalo game,
I can't remember, but there is a foundation here for
(27:58):
this to be the norm, not just the rest of
the year, but beyond. And I'm really, really, really curious
to see what the off season looks like in that regard,
which we'll have plenty of time to get to that
in January. But I was so excited about this offseason
because of how they gave themselves the chance to really
hone in on those areas of the team.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
And it's here and it's worked.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
They are a physical, short yardage like ground and pound
football team, and they've gotten reduction in the explosive passing
element of the game, which sucks, but that's what happened,
and it took a one and six start, but it
is here, and there's a modicum of vindication for you
boy in that. I would feel a lot better again
(28:38):
if we did it back on September seventh, and we're
nine to three right now, which I think is a
real possibility.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
But I digress once again. But man, that's all great.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Also, how about the defense That turnaround has been just
as well orchestrated. Will pause right there, come back and
talk about that and some playoff talk playoffs on the
other side. Drivetime Podcast brought to you by Autoonation. Right,
we're back. Lots and lots to chew on in that
previous segment, and I played around with some different stats
(29:07):
sliders ranging back to the Falcons game to give us
a comprehensive look at the defense over the course of
the turned around Miami Dolphins here four and one of
their last five games, but quite frankly, that Ravens game
throws quite a bit of a wrench into the numbers,
which puts Miami in middle of the pack at a
lot of stats despite a good Falcons game to go
along with it. Fourteenth in the NFL in defensive EPA
(29:28):
since Week eight, but over the winning streak we are
ninth and akin to the offense, there's been some structural
changes too. The big nickel has increased. You've seen bigger fronts,
loss of three defensive tackle packages, more of a kind
of a five man front. We've played more zone and
all of that has worked. And it's been against you know,
Josh Allen and a Commander's offense that has some parts.
(29:49):
We saw them play really well in the game against
the Broncos on Sunday night. So this isn't like you're
doing this against the you know, a fourth game starter
and Tyler Shook and you know, the New York Jets
on tap. Yet you're not facing those teams over the
course of this the stretch, you face some pretty good
offenses there, so I think it's valuable to talk about that.
We've seen the bigger fronts, we've played more zone. It's
(30:10):
all worked. You can just see in the coverage aspect.
On the back end, you've seen the impact of playing
bigger upfront. With the run game stats and to put
a bow on it, since Week ten, the Dolphins defense
is first in points per game allowed fourteen point three.
They're eighth in EPA fourteen point five. They're third in
rush EPA. We are the only team without allowing a
(30:30):
rushing touchdown over the last three games. They're eighth in
rush success rate. They're eighth in yards before contact, not
very good after contact, tackle better, but eighth in that
stat twenty second yards after contact. They're fourth in points
per drive at one point three to nine. We're third
and percentage of drives ending in a score at twenty
five point eight percent, and tenth in three and out
(30:51):
rate at thirty five point five percent. So yeah, playing
good football, it's fun. Let's keep that going. I enjoy
winning games more than anything else. And if we keep
it going, we can keep climbing the standings. And I
want to just go ahead and look at the AFC
for a moment. The Patriots and Broncos at eleven and
ten and two are one and two. The Jags at
eight and four are third in the AFC. The Ravens
six and six are fourth, and then you have three
(31:13):
eight and four teams. The Chargers, Colts, and Bills are
in the playoff spots in the wildcard position right now.
The Texans are seven and five, the Steelers and Chiefs
are six and six, and the Dolphins are five and seven.
And I've been playing with that playoff predictor ESPN machine,
and every time I do it, I wind up with
at least three teams at ten and seven fighting for
that last spot, which tells me that's where the Fins
(31:34):
would have to get to have a shot here. But
even then that's not guaranteed. Quite frankly, the entire thing
is just a jumbled mess. Like there are so many
games where you think you know who you should be
rooting for in that game, but it's only true if
you get a specific result in a game that happens
a week or two later, like Kansas City Houston this week.
(31:54):
There's benefits for us for either team to win that game,
and you're not gonna know what that benefit is until
we get to week like seventeen. But here's what you
gotta do, right, One playoff team from the North is
a given. We assume the Patriots and Broncos will win
the divisions three games up for both those teams. That
feels like a lot to me. And then you'll remove
one of the South teams who wins their division. Quite frankly,
(32:16):
I think we see a Colts collapse, and since the
Jags get them twice and the Titans, I'm gonna pick
the Jags to make that run, which I would have
thought that was crazy back in September. So then you'd
have to jump one of Houston and Indy. They play
in Week eight team which could be a huge game
if you make the miracle run. Remove Let's do it
this way, remove the Patriots, Jags, and Broncos and the
(32:36):
entire AFC North. We control our destiny over Pittsburgh if
we just beat them next month the night and Baltimore
is winning that division and your wig in my opinion. Now,
there are three playoff spots in the scenario for Buffalo.
The two teams in the South, the LA Chargers, the
Kansas City Chiefs and a six teams three spots. I
think the Colts are gonna go nine to eight at best.
(32:56):
They're eight and four right now, so I think that's
one of them. They play the jag the Seahawks, the Niners,
the Jags again, and the Texans. The quarterback can't move.
I think it's I think it's midnight on the Colts
Sauce Gardner's down. They might even go eight to nine.
Houston's interesting. The Chiefs, the Cardinals, the Raiders, the Chargers,
(33:19):
and then the Colts. Sorry, two layups and three potential
losses there. I feel like that Week eighteen game could
be critical for us, but we shall see. Maybe the
Colts can lose the next four and then win that
one and give the Texans a loss.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Again.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
The Chiefs and Texans game is a swing game. We
just don't know which way it has to go. Because
I can still see Kansas City getting hot. I refuse
to bury them, even though Houston, the Chargers, the Titans,
the Broncos, the Raiders. There's two gimmes in there. So
they have to lose two of the three against Houston,
the Chargers and the Broncos. Only one of those games
is against the team that we're not also competing with,
so who knows what you're gonna need there, But the
(33:52):
Broncos game feels like you need the Broncos to win
that one.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
I think that's dubious. Two the Chargers.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Herbert's broken hands the real kicker here, right, He's gonna
probably play in the game against the Eagles. We'll see
because the schedule is pretty easy. But this is not
rather not easy, I should say, but this is not
a good football team given their injuries. They play Philly
on Monday. They have to lose that game. You need
some of these teams to lose and then play chaos
against other teams like Pepe Silva stuff Like Chargers.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Lose this one but win that one.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
So they play the Eagles, the Chiefs, the Cowboys, the Texans,
the Broncos. They could lose all five of those games.
Herbert against Houston with that offensive line they have without Slater,
without Alt, without Becktim we saw what happened in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Four picks.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
That's a collapse candidate right there, Buffalo. I think the
Bills are the longest shot as far as we are concerned,
which is unfortunate because they're the only team that we
could possibly jump with a tie breaking scenario over if
they lose one more division game and we went out,
we would jump them at ten to seven if they
lose to the Patriots or the Jets and they go
ten seven. So at Cincinnati, they have to lose that one.
(34:53):
The Patriots, they have to lose that one because not
gonna lose with the Jets. Then they have to lose
one of three against the Browns, the Eagles, the Jets,
it's the Eagles. They have to lose the Bengals, the Patriots,
and the Eagles. Right, That's basically what it is, because
there's two layups there for them. There's a lot of possibilities.
When I do the predictor, I have us missing out
even at ten and seven, but there's a lot of
swing games that I could be wrong on that would
change that. To me, I'm gonna root for what I
(35:15):
think is most likely, which is a Colts and Chargers
collapse and the Chiefs dropping two more so that would
get Buffalo, Houston and US into the playoffs. So I
guess that answers my question. Go Texans on Sunday Night football.
You get that, and the Chiefs lose the Chargers, or
the Chiefs lose this week, the Chargers lose next week
or this week as well. That would create a win
win game between the Chiefs and Chargers, so they could
(35:35):
both knock each other down a ring there in the
following week.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
So let's get that.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Then we need the Chargers will lose two of three
against the Cowboys, Texans, and Broncos, and that would be it.
Colts collapse, Chargers collapse, Chiefs lose.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
Two more games. It's a lot. Just keep winning and
keep this possible. And even if not.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Maybe I'm starting to get old because I don't care
if we pick eleventh versus sixteenth, Like, just win games.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
We'll figure it out.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Other than that, I think when you're fighting for a
top pick and a quarterback, you class that's a different story.
But to me, eleven through sixteen is not a lot
of difference the culture that the idea of winning football
is more important to me. You all please be sure subscribe, rate,
review the podcast, follow me on social at wink for NFL.
Follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the YouTube
(36:17):
channel for Dolphins. HQ Media availabilities and so much more
and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com until
next time.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
For a job. Caroline, Cameron and Willow Daddy is coming home.
This is Drivetime with Travis Wingfield. What is up Dolphins
and welcome to the Draft Time Podcast. I am your host,
Travis Wingfield. And on today's show, we're going to turn
the page to the New York Jets and bring one
of my favorite guests we get on the show just
(00:20):
about every single year, and Twan Staley joins me for
the Jets perspective, And now that it's December, we're going
to take a look at the AFC standings and talk
through the first three months of this conference and what
it might look like for the final month of the season,
plus the key elements of the Dolphins turnaround so far.
All of that from the Baptist Hill Studios inside the
(00:41):
Baptist Hill Training Complex. This is the Draft Time Podcast.
Joining us today here on the Draft Time Podcast for
the perspective from New York is longtime friend of the
show and Colin Myths from the NY Daily News and
Twan Staley Twin what's up man?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Hey, how you doing? Wingfield?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
It's always good to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Antoina text I DMed you at first, which those are
dubious if they get through these days or not, And
I'm like, I bet you. I have Antoine's phone number,
and I did, and I text you and you you
didn't have mine. But because you spent time in the Northwest,
you knew the five ZHO nine area code might be your.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Boy exactly and talking about dolphins, and I was like, okay,
dolphins specific Northwest, Like it's only one person it really
could be, right, yeah, exactly, So that I was like, yeah,
it has to be Wingfield, It's got to be right.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
And I guess I got it right. You did.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
You were spot on. We made this happen.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
So I appreciate you coming on the show here talking
about what is, you know, a big game for Dolphins
fans perspective. We've been thinking about the idea of getting
back to six seven for a while here now with
the possible run in which we're leading into that here
and the Dolphins content wing of things.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
But you were telling me that you have all day.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Today to record because it's actually snowing where you're where
you're at right now, and obviously the weather on Sunday
does not call for snow, But I am curious, uh,
tell us about like the weather latest in New York,
what should we expect for the game on Sunday and
of how that might have an impact on this one.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Cold and last Sunday was cold and rainy against the
Falcons too, and the Jets and both the Falcons had
to navigate that. Tyrod Taylor, you know, did a decent
enough job through that.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
But yeah, it probably spent the same similar type weather there.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
It seems to always rain with its Jets home games
for whatever reason. So yeah, I would definitely expect it
to be below probably like mid the late thirties.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
It's funny you mentioned the fact that it always rains
for the Jets home games, because I had a tweet
before the game against the Saints where I was looking
at the weather report and it was supposed to rain
basically to like to bowl forty five and stop for kickoff,
and we got that, but it did start raining again.
But it does seem like over the last you know,
six years that I've been here, every time it's one
o'clock at Hard Rocks game, the rain seems to subside.
(02:47):
But in that game it did not, and it led
to some kind of up and down play there for
both offenses for the Dolphins and Saints in that one.
So be curious to see how the weather affects the
game once we kick it off, But I'm also curious
how it might affect the MetLife Takeover, which is an
annual tele getting event for Dolphins fans to get out
to MetLife and about twenty thousand them show up there
and root for their team against the New York Jets.
I know you have a history among Dolphins fans. You
(03:09):
worked on the beat down here. Do you find your
way out into the parking lot during the takeover or
are you all business come Sunday?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Of course, I mean I could be I can be Boobo, really,
that could be. I could be business light. But I
also go out there too because this is so many
Dolphin fans that still remember me or just still have
conversations with even.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
To this day.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
So yeah, go out there, have a good time with them.
I think it's you know, for good calls and you
know they do really good things. And you know, I
love it because you know, the Jets and Dolphins band
banter is like unlike nothing no other. So it's definitely
gonna be a mate for a good time there Bett
Life Stadium on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Rivalry games are always the best, And yeah, I think
that the Jets got the win last year for the
first time, and and well they won on twenty two
when Twua was down and they played against Teddy Bridgewater
than Skylar Thompson, so they have won some games there.
But the Dolphins have kind of owned this rivalry as
of late, and they had the win back on Monday
Night back in week for but since then this team
has changed a lot. I kind of want to, you know,
(04:03):
cover talk to you about that specifically on this show today.
And let's start at the quarterback position, because they go
from Justin Fields to Tyrod Taylor, and like, Tyrod's.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
So like you know what you're gonna get.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
He's played for so long that you just kind of
the film is the film, and there's some good and
some bad obviously, But with Justin Fields, I think a
lot of folks were expecting him to possibly be that
next like reclamation quarterback, and for whatever reason, it just
didn't happen. And I'm curious from your perspective, Antoine, watching
the team practice every day, watching the games on Sunday,
what's been the biggest difference between going from Justin Fields
(04:36):
to Tyrod Taylor.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
They really have as simbilis of a passing game.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Now, tyrod is it's scared to hesitate to throw the
ball down the field, like you know, I think justin
field sometimes. You know, we all know he has the
athletic ability to be able to throw down the field
and to really make any kind of pass you wont
in the NFL. But I think a lot of it
is mental. I think he probably goes back to today's
Chicago maybe coaching or a lot thereof. And you know,
I think sometimes you can get this in his head
(05:00):
and just overthinking and just hold on to the football
way too long.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Whereas Tody Rodgers, like he just slings it like he
doesn't you know, he doesn't necessarily care, Like if he sees.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
A guy open one on one coverage like a d
Mitchell or you know, Menchi down the field or whenever
Garrett comes back, he has no hesitation to do that,
just throw the ball down the field, which coutes with
that is interceptions and possible turnovers. But you know, you
gotta have to live with that, you know, you get
in the bad And that's kind of what.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
You alluded to.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Yeah, I think that that was the case back in Chicago.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
And why you know, even going to Pittsburgh last year,
like people were like saying, this could be the guy
that doesn't like duplait quarterback. You have to see out
the field and anticipate and throw with timing, and it
just hasn't happened for fields that way. And for Taylor,
he'll bring that to the equation here, along with the
legs and the scramble ability and antoina. This league is
so funny, man, you've been covering it for a long time.
You know how this goes. Every time you think you
(05:49):
have this league figured out, it changes on you. And
it's the main reason why we love this game so much.
Because the Jets post deadline. It's kind of rudderless, right,
They're not winning any games. They trade Way Sauce guard,
they trade away Quentin Williams and now they're playing their
best football.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
It's it never makes sense this league.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
What do you think has attributed besides the quarterback change,
And maybe it is the quarterback change isolated, but what
is the biggest reasons here for the Jets kind of
turning things around here and getting back to winning ways.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I think it's a combination of a few things. One,
I think defensively and coaching has gotten a lot better too,
and becames with that. I think their defense is playing
a lot better as opposed to what they were in
Week four, where I feel like they had one of
the worst defenses in football. I feel like they're taking
care of the football. They're not committing as many penalties. Remember,
you know the Week four contests really on both sides
with this kind of a bid of a penalty fest
(06:37):
if you are just from both sides. But I think,
you know, I think they're playing smarter football. I think
the defense is playing a lot better there. They of
course they don't have saucing Quentin Williams anymore, but you
would think they'd be playing worse. But I think Jawan
Brace is kind of slidd in that role. Done a
solid job there stopping to run there. They did a
good job against the Ravens, who, as you know, is
a really good run run offense. You know, they had
(07:00):
trouble with b John Robinson, but who doesn't have trouble
with Robinson as good as he is. But overall, I think,
you know, coaching on the defensive side of the ball,
Steve Wills there, and I think the players are really
buying into what Aaron Glen is selling in his vision.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Yeah, I think the one team that had success against
the John Robinson was the Miami Dolphins. They held him
pretty much off the scoreboard in that game back in
a big blow over the Falcons. But otherwise, yeah, he
has been very, very good this year and that was
kind of the start of the Dolphins run defense kicking
it into high gear and playing some good football over
the last month plus.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Here you mentioned Juwan H.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Briggs.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I forgot, and then you also mentioned I was I
was a huge MATCHI fan coming out of Alabama. Didn't
quite work out there in Houston, but he finds his
way to New York along with a d Mitchell. They
also got Jason brown Lee back and I think it
was in September, and to me, that's been like the
best part of the Jets season, on top of adding
capital for the future because obviously they're not going to
(07:53):
make a run this year, but they're gonna try to
find their way, you know, back into the mix next
season and beyond. And one way you can do that,
like it's not all about the big quarterback splash or
a big trade that you make. Sometimes you can add pieces,
you know, ancillary roll pieces and again with those guys
I mentioned that that's a really positive, uh you know
change to this football team.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I'm curious what you think.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
About how they've gone about adding to like the not
the depth of the roster, but also not the top
of the roster, kind of that middle pack of the roster.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Right.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Yeah, I think this year is all gonna be about
evaluation anyway for the Jets. I mean, you transfer from
Aaron Rodgers and de Watcheadams in that eraw with a
bunch of veterans and now you get an abundance of youth.
It comes with that, it's gonna be growing pains, and
you know, I think Jet fans are hard to understand that,
especially after trying to go forward the last few years.
But you know, I think Aaron Glenn and Darren Moodie
(08:40):
have a vision where, you know, they see a guy
that may have potential, but it may not be working
out for one team, but you bring him over there
and it may work out for the Jets.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
So you just kind of kick the tiers on guys.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
And that's why you bring over John Metchi who we
always saw he had potential to Alabama. It just hasn't
worked for whatever reason, and ad Mitchell is he can
fly like the wind. You know, catching the ball has
been apoplement times. But if you can work with that
with coaching, you know, Scott's the limit potentially. There you go,
already got Garrett Wilson, So yeah, I think it's good
to be able to kick the tires on some of
(09:09):
these guys there. You know, Bridge is another one of
those guys that you know, he wasn't doing much with
the Browns, comes over here as one of their biggest
run stoppers there too as well. So yeah, I think
Brownie is another guy that has really stepped up in
kind of that slot role.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
That's kind of the reason they traded Michael Carter the second.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
You know, he's really done a good job there and
run coverage and also in the past game too as well.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah, I wasn't too thrill about the Titans getting rid
of Brownly for a cheap cost to arrival, because he's
a good player and he's making a big just a towaway.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
They just really just gave him away, it seems like, right.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Yeah, in a season where they have one win too,
so it's like, hey, don't don't help out the juts
too much. Now we gotta put those guys twice a year.
So I'm really curious about what it looks like in
the passing game right now. Because you mentioned Garrett Wilson
a few times. He's not going to play in this game.
He's on IR but Metchie and Mitchell to your point,
like I thought, coming into the year, one of the juts,
like I do a summer preview series where I talk
(09:58):
about each team strength and they're like their you know,
their potential vulnerabilities are And for me it was always
Jets depth at the skill positions on top of a
quarterback that hadn't proven himself in this league. But like
now they're adding pieces in depth and I look at
like next year with when Wilson comes back, with with
Mitchell and Mitchie, Mason, Taylor, Breize Hall's playing good even
though he's going to be a free agent, but like
the eligibles were coming along behind an offensive line that
(10:21):
has some pieces as well. But right now today, Antoine,
you know, forget the future. Talk tell me about Michie
and Mitchell and how they've I guess transformed the Jets
passing offense. You mentioned with Taylor, they've had an actual
passing game now, you know, after the losing streak to
begin the year. But how do Mitch, Mitchi and Mitchell
say that five times fast? How do those guys factor
into how that all goes.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Well, they've got they're guys that can stretch the field
there in both sides too. I mean Mitchi's a little
bit of a smaller guy there, you know, more of
a slot inside guy. But you know somebody that Tyrod
Taylor has been relying on just kind of get quick
passes out there. And then Mitchell, I mean we saw
it at the combine at twenty twenty four. I mean
he you know, had that fast time there and you
know obviously that's truly that speed is translated to the league.
(11:02):
And you know tal Rod we talked about Toyrod Taylor
just being able to sling it. You know, you got
a guy like Ady Mitchell that can stretch the field
like you see like what happens that can happen, especially
against the Falcons, where you end up having that fifty
two yard pass, you know, and that can you know,
change transform the game. So just having those guys there
creates another element that defenses have to worry about.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
On a consistent basis.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
And also, you know, when you get a guy like
Garrett Wilson back potentially from myr also your commands attention
from you know, not just Wilson, but also other parts
of your offense.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
And Twas Elliot Colinis from New York Daily News, my
guest today, let's go ahead and take our first break
on the show right here.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Come back on the other side.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
I have three more questions too about the defense and
those big trades they made at the deadline. That's Next
Draft Time podcast, brought to you by Auto Nation. Back
here on a Wednesday, talking to my guest today and
Twas Early from the New York Daily News breaking down
all things Dolphins and Jets, who will kick off on
Sunday at one o'clock December the seventh for another renewed
(11:58):
matchup in this rivalry and Antoine we talked about it
a little bit off the top, but the trades of
of Sauce Gardner and Quinn Williams were massive, right, and
they get back a boatload of draft picks going forward
here for those guys and have a chance to round
out what's a pretty good core, a pretty good roster
corp here in the future. But I'm curious about today, Like,
tell me about how the defense has changed post Quinn
(12:19):
and Sauce. Who's made up that you know, that ground
that you lose those two guys departing, and maybe the
defense is like rallied around the fact that they lost
the star players. Just kind of take us through how
this defense has performed post that trade.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Well, I think they've thrown much better, Like they're now
a middle of road defense. Basically Brandon Stevens has become
the number one corner there for the Jets too as well.
And also you know, they've incorporated a z Thomas there
at the rookie out of Florida State who's done a
really good job there. Somebody they really liked, they thought
had a number one corner potential has slid in that
role and done solid job too as well. You know,
(12:52):
Melicot Moore is another guy they've been using at a diss
the Jarvis Brownlee and he's helped you know, basically run
stop it and also in the past Game two as well,
And also you talked about we talked about Juwan Braids earlier,
like he's at least he's second on the team in
sacks with three and also been a rig fucking play
guy along with Harrison Phillis there in the run stock
going game.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
So yeah, they've really done a much better job there.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Obviously, you know you're not You don't get better lose
than those all pro guys, but it's been a collection
to everybody that's kind of contributed to their success.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, I didn't even mention Harrison Phillips when I talked
about all these like you know, day three pickswap trades
they made. That's another guy that's a big contributor there
for them up front on that defensive line. And I
guess a follow up to that Antoline be you kind
of covered it there. But I remember watching the film
going into that Week four game and like, I'm not
disparaging anybody, just the facts of it, Like they didn't
tackle well, they were really bad tackling defense, and there
(13:43):
was bust all over that coverage. We saw that in
the game on Monday night when the Jets or the
Dolphins won pretty handily. The Jets made to come back late,
but the Dolphins were pretty well in front of that
game in the second half.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Has that been fixed?
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Have you seen better connection and better tackling from the
Jets defense.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Oh, everything's been better since that money that was just
a complete nightmare. On special teams, on defense, on offense,
on all sides too, which obviously I want to give
a shout out to the Jet special team. They've also
been playing really well too, especially Isaiah Williams who had
that you know, crazy fumble inside the five yard locks.
He was like Dante Hall right now with some of
his returns. But yeah, I mean they've done a much
(14:20):
better job there in that area too, just showing up
to tackle into as well. And I think that part
of that comes with just learning the scheme and just
being comfortable in it. Night you could just tell that
the players were still getting comfortable. There is a lot obviously,
they're coming from the Rockets Sala you know scheme where
it was more of a zone coverage there. Now they're
more man the man type of team there, especially with
Glenn and what Will's like to run. And they're also
(14:41):
more aggressive blitzing, you know, in some of their schemes
too as well. So but the players are much more
comfortable and you can just tell just you know, from
the simple coaching and now they're actually wrapping up as
opposed to, you know, being out of position consistently.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Yeah, it's it's funny you mentioned that, man, because like
I feel like as the football cognizant that can be
guilty of this too. Like we take the first five
or six games this season and sometimes we get so
set in our ways like that's that team forever.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
But every year teams change and they make improvements.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
And again it's not just about like going into the
offseason and overhauling your personnel. Sometimes guys just play better
and they execute better, and you see it all the time.
I mean the Dolphins defense. I was talking to a
buddy in our content studios here about this last year.
Like at that Rams game last year on Monday Night Football,
the Dolphins were two and six going in. The defense
clicked that game and played really good on the entire
second half of the season. It happens all the time
(15:30):
in this league. So don't get too married to your impressions.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Is the point.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I'm never always going to be just plug and play.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
It's not like it's mad where you're just gonna plug
and play and then that's their defense forever. No, people
develop and they grow, especially when you have a young team.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Like this, and that's why we love this game because
it always keeps you on your toes. This is not
the English Premier League, whe you know you're gonna have
the same four teams at the top of the table
every single year. It always changes, at least for the
most part. The last question I have for you here, Antoine,
I just want to ask you to like give me
your thoughts on this game.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
What's your early lean?
Speaker 1 (15:59):
How how can the Jets spoil Miami's win streak and
potentially their hopes that a miracle run back to the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Little Basically, it's gonna come down and get into tour
like force him to make the States there if he can,
if Tua can play a clean game, and you know
he typically has against the Jets for the most part. Yeah,
I think the Dolphins are gonna win this game, but
they got to be able to get pressured on him consistently.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Will McDonald has to be a part of that.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
Jermaine Johnson obviously, we talked about brids and Phillips too
as well, and also incorporate Quincy Williams too. He could
also be a guy that they're using blitz situations too,
as well, and obviously Tyrod Taylor has to play a
clean game too as well, be able to get the
ball there the Breist Hall and particularly in the run
game and also the past game too as well. But
I think the Dolphins are the better team. I think
(16:42):
they're more desperate, So I'm gonna I'm gonna lean towards
Miami in this situation, but I think it's gonna be
a really close game.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I'll say twenty four to twenty one Miami.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
That's That's kind of where I'm at right now with
my early lean before I get the tape and everything,
so I'm we're in locks up on that. I do
think the Dolphins can win this game, but I think
it'll be close s right to the end. And man,
crazy stat right, the Jets haven't intercepted to pass this season?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (17:03):
So five games.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Year?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
That's that's great.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Had one of those, by the way, So.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Let me let me just we'll play a fun game
to close the show here. Antiwe crystal ball. Will they
get one over the course of the final five games,
and who will be the guy that gets the first one?
Speaker 4 (17:20):
If they do get it, I'll say yes, and I'll
go with a Z Thomas. I think he'll be the
guy who gets the ind of session.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
He was a fun guy to watch at Florida State.
Had a really good senior bull in man coverage intercepting
passes there. So a good pick there, nice little deep
cut there from an twinse aale A columns from the
n Y Daily News at antwins Daily. On Twitter, twe
we appreciate your time so much. Many teach us so
much about the Jets every time we have you on
the show here, and you're such a gym my friend.
Thanks so much, Hi, thanks for having me and away,
he goes, let's go ahead and just pivot right off
(17:48):
of that chat. We'll come back to the Jets tomorrow
on the podcast and do the usual Thursday preview episode
of Drive Time. But I I got to the office
here on Tuesday and thought, what do I want to
talk about to fill out the Wednesday show as we
get ready to turn the page. I want to have
Antwina on and talk about the New York Jets, but
I also wanted to look at a couple things that
(18:08):
were more deep divy which has not quite turned the page.
Perhaps there should have been the first segment and then
turn the page in the second segment, but none of
that matters because it's all on the same show. And
the things I wanted to look at was the three
game winning streak, some of the things that are consistent
within that streak offensively and defensively, and then I wanted
to go full Kornaki and kind of talk about the
(18:29):
NFL standings here as we enter the month of December,
because as you know, as they say, dog a season
don't start until after Thanksgiving. And we'll come back to
that on the final segment of the show. Here, let's
do a little bit of an update now on a
topic we've been tracking for a few weeks really since
the Falcons game. Right, that's where the season changed and
(18:51):
for better, and it was the Daniel Brunskill inclusion. It
was the mix of gap scheme to go along with
the zone game, but now with extra parts coming back.
You know, Brunskill was born out of necessity given the
injuries to the tight end position. Well, now the guy
that really does that job, Julian Hill, is back, and
so too is the perfect complementary skill set tight end
(19:15):
to Julian and Darren Waller. So with all of that,
let's see what it looks like, looked like, i should say,
versus the Saints, and maybe where it can go from
here over the final five games. First, we mentioned the
gap zone disparity in the Washington game, right, second highest
gap runs in the McDaniel era, the first being the
Falcons game, which spawned an entire segment on the podcast.
(19:37):
First the Saints, it was pretty similar in terms of
the variety. Seventeen zone runs, eleven man scheme runs in
that game, and that was a pretty regularly like three
to one sometimes four to one split in years past,
just not a lot of gap scheme runs in this offense.
But now it's been seventeen to eleven, seventeen to nine
(19:59):
in the first two wins the Saints and the Bills game,
and then sixteen and twenty one and ten and eighteen
in the Buffalo in Washington games, so that variety appears
to be here to stay. And those splits just tell
me that they've done a good job with this coaching
staff of reassessing. And you know, at doing it at
one and six. You can have your opinions about whether
(20:19):
or not that was too late. It certainly seems that way,
but let this season play out here, but a good
job of.
Speaker 3 (20:27):
Adapting what you do to.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Fit your roster and your players and the strength and
your identity of your football team and going with what
works versus what the opponent is doing and what's clicking.
Like you love to see that in season adjustment, to
adapt to what your team tells you they are. And
to that point, I think Tua played his best game
against the Falcons, which was a similar split of zone
(20:50):
and man run scheme than we saw in the Saints game.
And I would argue that he had similar opportunities versus
the Saints. He just didn't execute nearly close to what
he did in the Atlanta game. Didn't really execute a lot,
to be quite frank, And I think a lot of
that is those play action opportunities with bootlegs, with roles,
things of that nature. It's all sequential into the passing
(21:11):
game and tied to the running game because you know,
you create certain vulnerabilities with how you attack an opposing
defense with your running game, and I think that's instructive
in terms of how the passing offense can get going
or at least create opportunities for the passing offense. Then
then becomes up to the quarterback to execute in those situations.
(21:32):
That's kind of where I think going forward, if you
can maintain this ground game, and I certainly think it's
here to stay where the quarterback can find his brythm
and find his game. And these next two games are
going to be in inclement weather. You know it's going
to be cold in the Jets game. We'll see what
happens come Pittsburgh, and then of course the season finale
in Foxborough will be cold as well, with two home
games sandwiched in there. So can he find that rhythm
(21:54):
in December with the season on the line, in cold weather,
in tough environments. That's a big, big ass for this quarterback.
But that's what it's gonna come down to, because the
way the defense is going against these next two offenses.
They'll face three very good offenses down the stretch. But
these next two games, I expect the defense to keep
cooking and keep the Jets and Steelers under twenty points.
(22:14):
And for the offense, can you find a way to
score more than twenty points? I think it's very doable.
I do think we're gonna get back to seven and seven,
although I do think either of these games the Jets
and Steelers could go in the other direction. I will
probably pick Miami in both games. We'll see what happens
come Jets game before I predict the Steelers game. But
I think they're gonna get to seven and seven and
overcome some of the things that have plagued this team,
(22:35):
primetime spots, cold weather, you know, all the things that
have gone against you. In that Steelers game, I think,
I think because of who they are and where the
Steelers are going, and they can find a way to
win that game.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
But that's what it's gonna take.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
And just to kind of give you some more numbers
here from the Saints game, I mean, this personnel deployment,
it's here to stay, and it has to be because
the numbers are so so glaringly obvious. So this team actually,
let's just go ahead and read the stats off first.
I have my point to make after the fact, eleven
personnel hash, three receivers, right, one back, one tight end,
twelve plays for sixty yards. There was a twenty two
(23:06):
yard play to Wattle and a ten yard eight Chan
run the only two big plays. So they got sixty
yards on twelve plays. That's a five yard per play
average a good number. That's a little bit above league
average in terms of yards per play. But the rest
of the groupings collectively are just better. It's just flat
out better. Twelve personnel, thirteen plays for one hundred and
(23:27):
seven yards. I mean, that's what like eight yards per play.
Let's do some live math here on the air. I
have a calculator that's not doing live math. That's a lie. Yeah,
eight point two yards per play there, So I mean
that's you know, what is a sixty six percent improvement
over the previous You had a sixteen yard play to Cedric,
thirty four to wall or twenty one to Dulsage, fourteen
to Wattle, four big plays there. You're twenty one grouping
(23:49):
nine plays fifty six yards. I should have done the
math a four time beforehand too. That's six point two
yards per play better than eleven personnel. You have the
twenty nine yard touchdown run there, which helps your average.
But that's how all these groupings, I mean, they all
have the big explosive plays that change the dynamic.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
There.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Twenty two personnel, two plays for sixteen yards. That's eight
yards of pop downs. Tell you about that through calculator,
we had an eight chan sixteen yard run, a play
for no gain, and there was also two kneel downs
I did not include in that step. They ran one
play from thirteen personnel, got four yards on that one.
They also had three different groupings with Daniel Brunskill in
the game twelve, twenty one, and twenty two. So twelve
heavy is where you go one running back, two tight ends,
(24:27):
six offensive line, so you're back down to one receiver.
So essentially it becomes thirteen personnel, four plays, sixteen yards,
nothing exceptional, no explosive plays four yards per play. Twenty
one heavy, two backs, one tight end, one receiver, six
offensive line, four plays for negative two yards, not good.
Twenty two heavy that's no receivers, that's six offensive line,
(24:49):
two running backs, two tight ends, four plays, three yards,
no explosives. In this particular game, those plays were more
for show, but I think it also opens up the
opportunity to get other to get more yards and other groupings,
and you're putting stuff on tape to possibly unfurl wrinkles
off of down the line, which I would imagine Miami's
self scouting at the BI week was not a one
(25:10):
week snapshot. I think you had to kind of have
a plan to how to unroll this thing going forward.
So there's also like two main takeaways for me from
that entire you know, stat dump if you will. Miami
is vast in their personnel groupings. I just gave you one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight different formations not formations, sorry, groupings that they can
(25:32):
go to. Most teams run like three groupings, you know,
throughout the course of a game, four or five, like
depending on situational you can get more. But eight groupings
is kind of crazy, and it's consistent. They are better
better with multiple backs or tight ends, anything that has
less than three receivers, which you know, in a post
Tyreek Hill world, do you have more than one receiver?
(25:54):
Who is you know, garnering upwards of thirty snaps in
a game? I would argue no, And that's part of it.
But also that's just not who this football team is
right now. And this has been the case since the change,
right since the Tyreek injury which took them a few weeks.
They kind of dabbled in it during the Jets, Panthers,
Chargers and Brown's game of course zero to three. In
those Panthers Chargers Brown's game. If you had just found
(26:17):
a way to not dabble and go full in, is
your record different? I digress, But we've seen it and
it's been the case since the change. They are suited
to play this style of football and they've made a
complete one point eighty in terms of how they attack it. Again,
you just have to wonder, or I do, how different
things would look right now if this happened in September
opposed to Halloween, and just posterity for all of it.
(26:39):
We've covered what it looks like before the shift. Well,
how about what it was prior to the shift. In
that game in Cleveland, which was one of the worst
performances by any team in the NFL this year, was
the Two had the lowest epa per dropback of any
quarterback in a game this year.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
It was horrible. But it comes down to this.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
We ran eleven personnel the three receiver, set, one back,
one tight end in Cleveland thirty four times, and that
was a change to previous deployments. Right that was this
was a twenty one personnel team for three years. Alec
Ingold was a big part of that, but also the
use of fast twenty one with eight Chan and Raheem
moster For a long time, twenty one was the grouping
(27:16):
two receivers reakan waddle, that was the idea. This year
it became more eleven because you got Nick Westbroo, Kakine
devon A. Chan's part of like the receiving game as well,
and they malike Washington got an elevated role and we
had a deeper receiving core with you know, d. S.
Gridge being a big camp star this year, like there
was opportunities to get to more eleven groupings and the
offense changed in that way when the answer actually was
(27:38):
a pivot in the opposite direction to go more heavy,
more two back, more two tight, more six offensive lineman.
And it took them six game, seven games to get
to that, but eventually they did and you can see
why they became a big personnel team. I'm not going
to do a whole segment again, but we talked about
this back earlier after the Atlanta game or the Buffalo game,
I can't remember, but there is a foundation here for
(27:58):
this to be the norm, not just the rest of
the year, but beyond. And I'm really, really, really curious
to see what the off season looks like in that regard,
which we'll have plenty of time to get to that
in January. But I was so excited about this offseason
because of how they gave themselves the chance to really
hone in on those areas of the team.
Speaker 3 (28:16):
And it's here and it's worked.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
They are a physical, short yardage like ground and pound
football team, and they've gotten reduction in the explosive passing
element of the game, which sucks, but that's what happened,
and it took a one and six start, but it
is here, and there's a modicum of vindication for you
boy in that. I would feel a lot better again
(28:38):
if we did it back on September seventh, and we're
nine to three right now, which I think is a
real possibility.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
But I digress once again. But man, that's all great.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Also, how about the defense That turnaround has been just
as well orchestrated. Will pause right there, come back and
talk about that and some playoff talk playoffs on the
other side. Drivetime Podcast brought to you by Autoonation. Right,
we're back. Lots and lots to chew on in that
previous segment, and I played around with some different stats
(29:07):
sliders ranging back to the Falcons game to give us
a comprehensive look at the defense over the course of
the turned around Miami Dolphins here four and one of
their last five games, but quite frankly, that Ravens game
throws quite a bit of a wrench into the numbers,
which puts Miami in middle of the pack at a
lot of stats despite a good Falcons game to go
along with it. Fourteenth in the NFL in defensive EPA
(29:28):
since Week eight, but over the winning streak we are
ninth and akin to the offense, there's been some structural
changes too. The big nickel has increased. You've seen bigger fronts,
loss of three defensive tackle packages, more of a kind
of a five man front. We've played more zone and
all of that has worked. And it's been against you know,
Josh Allen and a Commander's offense that has some parts.
(29:49):
We saw them play really well in the game against
the Broncos on Sunday night. So this isn't like you're
doing this against the you know, a fourth game starter
and Tyler Shook and you know, the New York Jets
on tap. Yet you're not facing those teams over the
course of this the stretch, you face some pretty good
offenses there, so I think it's valuable to talk about that.
We've seen the bigger fronts, we've played more zone. It's
(30:10):
all worked. You can just see in the coverage aspect.
On the back end, you've seen the impact of playing
bigger upfront. With the run game stats and to put
a bow on it, since Week ten, the Dolphins defense
is first in points per game allowed fourteen point three.
They're eighth in EPA fourteen point five. They're third in
rush EPA. We are the only team without allowing a
(30:30):
rushing touchdown over the last three games. They're eighth in
rush success rate. They're eighth in yards before contact, not
very good after contact, tackle better, but eighth in that
stat twenty second yards after contact. They're fourth in points
per drive at one point three to nine. We're third
and percentage of drives ending in a score at twenty
five point eight percent, and tenth in three and out
(30:51):
rate at thirty five point five percent. So yeah, playing
good football, it's fun. Let's keep that going. I enjoy
winning games more than anything else. And if we keep
it going, we can keep climbing the standings. And I
want to just go ahead and look at the AFC
for a moment. The Patriots and Broncos at eleven and
ten and two are one and two. The Jags at
eight and four are third in the AFC. The Ravens
six and six are fourth, and then you have three
(31:13):
eight and four teams. The Chargers, Colts, and Bills are
in the playoff spots in the wildcard position right now.
The Texans are seven and five, the Steelers and Chiefs
are six and six, and the Dolphins are five and seven.
And I've been playing with that playoff predictor ESPN machine,
and every time I do it, I wind up with
at least three teams at ten and seven fighting for
that last spot, which tells me that's where the Fins
(31:34):
would have to get to have a shot here. But
even then that's not guaranteed. Quite frankly, the entire thing
is just a jumbled mess. Like there are so many
games where you think you know who you should be
rooting for in that game, but it's only true if
you get a specific result in a game that happens
a week or two later, like Kansas City Houston this week.
(31:54):
There's benefits for us for either team to win that game,
and you're not gonna know what that benefit is until
we get to week like seventeen. But here's what you
gotta do, right, One playoff team from the North is
a given. We assume the Patriots and Broncos will win
the divisions three games up for both those teams. That
feels like a lot to me. And then you'll remove
one of the South teams who wins their division. Quite frankly,
(32:16):
I think we see a Colts collapse, and since the
Jags get them twice and the Titans, I'm gonna pick
the Jags to make that run, which I would have
thought that was crazy back in September. So then you'd
have to jump one of Houston and Indy. They play
in Week eight team which could be a huge game
if you make the miracle run. Remove Let's do it
this way, remove the Patriots, Jags, and Broncos and the
(32:36):
entire AFC North. We control our destiny over Pittsburgh if
we just beat them next month the night and Baltimore
is winning that division and your wig in my opinion. Now,
there are three playoff spots in the scenario for Buffalo.
The two teams in the South, the LA Chargers, the
Kansas City Chiefs and a six teams three spots. I
think the Colts are gonna go nine to eight at best.
(32:56):
They're eight and four right now, so I think that's
one of them. They play the jag the Seahawks, the Niners,
the Jags again, and the Texans. The quarterback can't move.
I think it's I think it's midnight on the Colts
Sauce Gardner's down. They might even go eight to nine.
Houston's interesting. The Chiefs, the Cardinals, the Raiders, the Chargers,
(33:19):
and then the Colts. Sorry, two layups and three potential
losses there. I feel like that Week eighteen game could
be critical for us, but we shall see. Maybe the
Colts can lose the next four and then win that
one and give the Texans a loss.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
Again.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
The Chiefs and Texans game is a swing game. We
just don't know which way it has to go. Because
I can still see Kansas City getting hot. I refuse
to bury them, even though Houston, the Chargers, the Titans,
the Broncos, the Raiders. There's two gimmes in there. So
they have to lose two of the three against Houston,
the Chargers and the Broncos. Only one of those games
is against the team that we're not also competing with,
so who knows what you're gonna need there, But the
(33:52):
Broncos game feels like you need the Broncos to win
that one.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
I think that's dubious. Two the Chargers.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Herbert's broken hands the real kicker here, right, He's gonna
probably play in the game against the Eagles. We'll see
because the schedule is pretty easy. But this is not
rather not easy, I should say, but this is not
a good football team given their injuries. They play Philly
on Monday. They have to lose that game. You need
some of these teams to lose and then play chaos
against other teams like Pepe Silva stuff Like Chargers.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Lose this one but win that one.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
So they play the Eagles, the Chiefs, the Cowboys, the Texans,
the Broncos. They could lose all five of those games.
Herbert against Houston with that offensive line they have without Slater,
without Alt, without Becktim we saw what happened in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Four picks.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
That's a collapse candidate right there, Buffalo. I think the
Bills are the longest shot as far as we are concerned,
which is unfortunate because they're the only team that we
could possibly jump with a tie breaking scenario over if
they lose one more division game and we went out,
we would jump them at ten to seven if they
lose to the Patriots or the Jets and they go
ten seven. So at Cincinnati, they have to lose that one.
(34:53):
The Patriots, they have to lose that one because not
gonna lose with the Jets. Then they have to lose
one of three against the Browns, the Eagles, the Jets,
it's the Eagles. They have to lose the Bengals, the Patriots,
and the Eagles. Right, That's basically what it is, because
there's two layups there for them. There's a lot of possibilities.
When I do the predictor, I have us missing out
even at ten and seven, but there's a lot of
swing games that I could be wrong on that would
change that. To me, I'm gonna root for what I
(35:15):
think is most likely, which is a Colts and Chargers
collapse and the Chiefs dropping two more so that would
get Buffalo, Houston and US into the playoffs. So I
guess that answers my question. Go Texans on Sunday Night football.
You get that, and the Chiefs lose the Chargers, or
the Chiefs lose this week, the Chargers lose next week
or this week as well. That would create a win
win game between the Chiefs and Chargers, so they could
(35:35):
both knock each other down a ring there in the
following week.
Speaker 3 (35:38):
So let's get that.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Then we need the Chargers will lose two of three
against the Cowboys, Texans, and Broncos, and that would be it.
Colts collapse, Chargers collapse, Chiefs lose.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
Two more games. It's a lot. Just keep winning and
keep this possible. And even if not.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Maybe I'm starting to get old because I don't care
if we pick eleventh versus sixteenth, Like, just win games.
Speaker 3 (35:56):
We'll figure it out.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Other than that, I think when you're fighting for a
top pick and a quarterback, you class that's a different story.
But to me, eleven through sixteen is not a lot
of difference the culture that the idea of winning football
is more important to me. You all please be sure subscribe, rate,
review the podcast, follow me on social at wink for NFL.
Follow the team at Miami Dolphins. Check out the YouTube
(36:17):
channel for Dolphins. HQ Media availabilities and so much more
and last but not least, Miami Dolphins dot Com until
next time.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
For a job. Caroline, Cameron and Willow Daddy is coming home.
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