All right, welcome back to the Buffalo Bread podcast. This is week four and we're looking
at the Bills vs. Dolphins after each of those respective teams won their week three matchup.
We have a guest co-host with us here today, Steve, our resident Dolphins fan has graciously
agreed to join. Unfortunately, Dan is under the weather and has no voice and even reported
that his wife has stated that this is the most unattractive he's ever sounded. So was
not in podcast shape on the injury report as out. How you doing, Steve?
I'm doing good. Thanks, Gigi, for having me.
Of course. So for tonight's show, we're going to talk, it's Saturday, it's the day before
the game. Everyone's anxious. We're going to talk about each of our teams prior week,
you know, drubbings of their opponents, the dolphins a little bit more than the Bills.
And then talk about maybe, you know, this coming matchup, things were excited about,
things were worried about for each of our teams and then get some predictions. How's
the sound? I'm ready to go.
Let's start with you, my friend. Well, first, a little bit of background. Steve and I, I
think we said this on the last pod where you were a guest, we worked together for some
time during it during that time, both and we sort of commiserated because at that time,
neither the Bills nor the dolphins were capable NFL teams really. I mean, we were you were
in the era of Tana Hill, you know, up and down play. I was an era like Ty Rob Taylor
and various other people journeymen coming through his quarterbacks. And so both of us,
you know, we looked forward to our Bills Dolphins matchup to talk a little smack in the office.
But it was, I mean, in fact, in fact, popped up on my Facebook memories of a bet we made
and I had my Buffalo Bills tie on. Yes, high Buffalo Bills.
Your Buffalo Bills tie on. So yeah, that was one of the few times I've bet, you know,
clothing or like shaving your mustache or some, you know, some random stuff like that.
And I actually won that one. And but I mean, that was that was drought era bills and like,
you know, dolphins, the dolphins claim to fame during that time was that they were like
bane of the Brady and Patriots, you know, distance. We thrived at mediocre at 500.
That's where we lived for better part of a decade. Yeah, those rough times. But I mean,
here we are, both of our teams seemingly I'd be shocked if at the end of the year, they're
both two of the seven seats in the AFC playoffs are not Bills Dolphins. I think that's that's
likely. And so kind of let's get into it. You know, our history is that we're long suffering
fans of teams that have not been very good for for a few decades, but are now on the
rise and and looking good and nothing looks better than nearly setting an NFL record for
scoring in a game like the dolphins did against the I'll say lowly Broncos. Yeah. Yeah. You
know, and and having lived in mediocrity for so long, the the start that the dolphins
are at right now, I'm always very tempered with my expectations, my hopes, because it's
like, all right, what's the catch? What's the catch? But, you know, just seeing this
team play on the first three weeks, I mean, there are certain to draw comparisons to the
greatest show on turf. You know, just between Tyreek and Waddle and to even Raheem Oster
is, you know, prove at his worth yet again. And then last last week, I mean, just an
anomaly, you know, it's hard to look at stats and comparisons against the bills. And it's
hard to take last week, putting up 70 points and saying that's going to be normal, because
we all know it's not normal. Those stats are not going to be normal. But when you look
at them side by side, man, does it look good? Oh, yeah. Tyreek over 400 yards receiving
already two was over 1000 yards passing. You know, both Moster and a chain are both over
200 yards rushing. So like, times are good in the offense of Miami. Oh my God. 10.2 yards
per play. Yeah, every single play they snapped. Yeah. And you know, things, you know, and
you knew things were going their way. When Mike White comes in, I think it was first
pass of when he came in to Robbie Choson, 68 yards, I think it was for a touchdown. And
it's like, yeah, what do you do? You know, they're just in that zone, everything's going
right. It was it was a game for the record books.
Well, and I think of course for the record books, and I'll say this, you know, McDaniel
is a better human being than I think I am, because I would have definitely kicked a field
goal for the NFL record of scoring. Like I just how many times you can have that opportunity
in your life? It hasn't happened in like 60 years or 70 years or something that had many
points have been scored. You know, let let your players and yourself go down in history,
even if the Broncos, you know, maybe feel bad about that. Or but I mean, I heard the
media bit where it was like, I believe in karma. And I feel like maybe that would have
bit us. So it seems like Mike McDaniel is a little bit like my Dolphins fans in the like
waiting for something bad to happen because it's been so exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
So yeah, but and then the bills, I mean, the bills are right there. You know, they it was
weather wise. It was a pretty awful game in Washington last week was drizzly the whole
game. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'll get into kind of the bills and Washington matchup. And I
think that coming into this year, the story of the Buffalo Bills offense was, you know,
okay, rinse and repeat with Josh Allen, Stefan Diggs, get James Cook going as the new like
RB one in the backfield, see how he does. And, you know, really lean on a rebuilt offensive
interior line. Because as you know, I'm sure you saw in the bills, three matchups against
the Dolphins last year, that the middle of the line, the guards, maybe not the center
so much, Mitch Morris has always been pretty solid. But the guards and interior pressure
on Josh Allen was always there because they had super subpar play, you know, at the guard
position. And so they upgraded both positions. They've Connor McGovern at left guard and
they have the rookie Osiris Torrance has been a lovely, lovely surprise. Took took the job
right away from Ryan Bates, who is the incumbent starter and has been playing really well.
But I think that the they did not get they gave up maybe one sack on Josh Allen last
or no, no, no sacks last week against the Voluntid Washington defensive line, which
is all first rounders. They didn't sniff them that I think they hit him one time, but they
didn't bring him down. And it was an amazing, you know, display, because that that's been
the story is if the bills, you know, against the jets on Monday night, even without Aaron
Rogers, because he only played four snaps, which is just like a whole other another thing.
I'm sure you have feelings about the AFC East, the AFC East fan. But yeah, even without,
you know, Aaron Rogers playing more than a single series, the bills suffered because
the jets defense was getting into Josh Allen's face. And when you get into Josh Allen's face,
that's a recipe to ruin his game. He'll start throwing interceptions and try to, you know,
play hero ball. And the dolphins were able to Christian Wilkins, Jalen Phillips, who
I'm actually somewhat relieved is not going to be playing in this game. Because he he
tended to eat, you know, Brown's lunch, Spencer Brown's lunch every single time every snap
unless there was a chip or help on the edge. So I'm really excited to see that he's I hope
he's good. I hope he heals up, you know, take a rest, you take a beat, it's okay, get that,
you know, oblique muscle all repaired. And we'll see you next week.
So yeah, I think that's been the story. The bills and the Washington commanders, I think
it was, you know, can this the Washington defensive line get pressure on Josh Allen,
make him make mistakes and they can't. And that's been the story for two weeks now against
the Raiders against the commanders is good clean pockets, Josh Allen making smart, smart
plays with the ball, really taking what the defense gives him, everyone playing him with
the two high shell, which they have for three years now. But him being much more meticulous
with propagating the ball down the field. And I think that that's, you know, if he can
do that, I think that's where where they can compete with the dolphins, insanely high
powered offense is, you know, the bills to this point have had multiple nine or 10 minute
drives spanning 11 to 16 plays. And they are really tough to get off the field. Unless
the pass rush is really effective, they're able to find options in the middle of the
field around the edges. They have some pretty unique play design, nothing like this crazy
arena league stuff we're seeing from the dolphins. But you know, they've been good at getting
people open in space. So it's good, I think it's going to be a good matchup. And yeah,
like I said, they you know, the end score of that commander's game was far more looked
far more like a beatdown than the actual game. It was entering the fourth quarter was like
16 to three or something like that. So it was not out of it was not out of hand until
late in the late in the game.
Yeah, yeah, looking at I actually sat in fantasy football, the bill's defense last week. Oh,
that's a mistake. Yeah, you know, and because I'm like, I don't know what the weather I
don't know what's going to happen. Sam Howell was looking Sam, right, you know, and I made
the mistake and I'm like, Oh, Jacksonville is playing at home because I'm kind of streaming
some defense this year. Jacksonville at home against the Texans. And that did not happen.
But the put up 31 fantasy points tells me that towards the end of the game is when they really
poured it on defensively when, you know, Washington had to go to completely to the past, you know,
and kind of played into their strength a little bit for the bells, their secondary.
Well, yeah, that's accurate. I think that, you know, for the bills and that gaming against
Washington in general, certainly against the Raiders and then the commanders. The biggest
surprise for that bill's defense has been replacing Tremaine Edmonds, who is always
seen as this like athletic talented, amazing, you know, physical specimen in middle linebacker.
But the problem amongst bills mafia was always that he never did anything with that amazing
talented, you know, those gifts like he I mean, never did anything that may be unfair.
I've always been a Tremaine Edmonds supporter and defender to fellow bills mafia to say
like, Well, you know, there's no stat for quarterbacks not throwing a sling to the middle
of the field because there's a condor sitting in that zone, right? Like there was always
kind of hidden stats that he was making by just erasing parts of the field. And that's
all fine and good. But you still want to see like sacks, fumble recoveries, interceptions.
And Terrell Bernard picked in the third round last year and sort of buried on the desk depth
chart and yeah, I think he had 12 snaps or something on the field on the starting offense
last year. Had a great off season, seemingly good training camp, got injured and training
clamp camp didn't play a single snap in the preseason, and then started week one looked
okay against the Jets definitely had something to do with the alignment that that gave up
the 80 yard, you know, rushing a single snap for breeze hall. But then in week two week
three, last last week, he had two sacks and interception, a fumble recovery. He's the
first player to do that since a black and url locker home and in a single game. And he is
he's looking very good. He just seems to have a natural nose for the ball. He's much more
athletic than many of the middle linebackers the bills have had for a while, include Tremaine
Edmonds, he's not he doesn't have the size of Tremaine Edmonds, he can get bullied in
the run game and I worry about that against this dolphins rushing attack because I think
that's the biggest difference from last year is dolphins look extremely good running the
ball and run blocking. They're averaging like 2.7 yards before contact for the running
backs which is like third or fourth on the league might even lead the league. So they're
basically able to keep their running backs clean until they're already in positive yardage
which is excellent. Yeah, you know, and I attribute that, you know, I know we talked about Mike
Giusecchi, you know, in the off season, what was going to happen with him, he left for
New England. And, you know, they kept a couple guys running a few guys that can actually
help with the block, right? That was always his downside. And so between him, Alec Ingold,
you know, being a fullback being able to give that, you know, first layer of support for
the running backs, you know, that just seems to be, you know, seems to be doing the trick,
you know, and plus the fear of two inches dropping a dime right to Tyree has the defense's
playing on their heels which allows them to run just a little bit better. So yeah, I'm
excited. You know, and I think this game coming up against the the bills, it's going to be
one of the trenches, it's really truly is, you know, you know, both have excellent wide
receivers. James Cook is doing phenomenal as a running back for the bills. And so it's
really going to be, you know, which which line is going to win, you know, in the trenches,
I think, and that will determine it. Yes, I'm just getting it has that has that play
on vibe to that field to it already. Oh, for sure. And I think like I said, you know,
these teams are likely going to play three times this year. And this is step one, right?
And the thing I was like chatting with some of my bills fans, friends about that's like,
I'm worried about is like, we both have pretty insufferable fan bases when it comes to like
trash talk, right? Like, I'll say that like bills fans can be super annoying and kind
of ridiculous. And no matter who comes out victorious tomorrow, the other team is going
to have all the way till week 18 to rub it in the face, right? Like that is, that's going
to be that I think that's a big thing is like the next time these these teams play is the
very last week of the year. And so it's a long season from tomorrow until the end. And
so it's January before they actually see each other again. And like that's going to be the
thing of like the revenge match isn't going to come for a long time. And then it might
be the kind of thing where they play week 18, then they play again the following week.
Exactly. Yeah. And what'll be real interesting to that is unlike in many years past, Miami's
playing October 1st in Buffalo. Normally they're playing in December in Buffalo, you know,
and Buffalo travels down to Miami in September, October, which we hate, which everyone should
hate. Everyone hates, right? And so it's interesting how the weather is going to potentially change,
but not because it's, you know, insanely cold against, you know, when they play each other,
but because it's going to be kind of warm for both teams. It's going to be pleasant.
Yeah. Like it's going to be nice, a nice cool fall day for the team coming up from Miami.
And for the bills, it's going to be what they expect, you know, 70 degrees and sunshine.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's one, I will say this too, I think that that's the thing is
like for both of the games in the regular season last year, there was like sort of this
thing where it's like, well, you know, the bills lost six players during the course of
the game to heat stroke in the first met meeting and lost by a field goal. And then or two
points. And then in the second meeting, Blizzard started when Tua had the opportunity to bring
the team back. So like the snow played a 12th man on the field for the last couple of drives,
protecting the bill's lead. And so like, I think that you're right, it's a another storyline
of this game is there should be no excuses, right? Like, right, both teams are missing
one key starter on defense. Both teams have like a potentially dinged up, you know, player
here or there that is trying to work through something around, you know, I think Mike Ahide
had a little bit of a back thing going on. Jordan Porter is out, of course, that's a
defensive starter I mentioned. Jalen Phillips, your best pass rusher is out.
I just saw Von Billers is out as well. Yeah. Well, he's been out. So he is. Yeah, they
started he started the the year on pup. So he wasn't he was never going to be expected
back for the Jaguars game. And my guess is that they'll keep him out for the Jaguar,
like they won't make him play in London. They'll probably wait till he you know, they'll wait
till the night game against the Giants the week after to bring Von back on the field
to give him a chance. But we'll see. I mean, we'll see. But yeah, there he was never expected
for this one. But that that is a bring that up. And that's an interesting thing. The Buffalo
Bills have a couple of things going for them. One, they're they're tied for the lead league
in sacks. And two, they have the highest per sack percentage and the lowest blitz percentage.
And when you have a team that has the highest sack percentage on a person at basis and the
lowest blitz percentage on a speed person at basis, that means that their front four
are getting done, like they're beating their one on one matchups because they're not sending
extra pressure. Right. And they're getting home. And so that's going to be a curious
thing here, because I think that what we've seen from to is that his average time to release
is like it was like 2.4 seconds, which was like one of the fastest in the league last
last year. This year, it's 2.2. Like he's somehow gone from fastest in the league to
fastest in the league, like he and that is the kind that that's the best way to negate
a pass rush. That's a lot of what the bills have been doing to is against the Washington
commanders. Josh Allen was not holding on to the ball. Like we've seen Josh Allen do.
He wasn't extending plays and run around the backfield. He was basically like delivering
it, throwing it away or like getting a couple yards with his legs. And that was that right.
They also handed it off a lot. And that's the other thing is that the story, I think
you said the story of the trenches, I think the story is absolutely always the trenches.
And then this game more so than that, because I think the dolphins are the best rushing team
in the league. The bills are the third or fourth best rushing team in the league. Both
teams have been susceptible to the run. And so that might be a thing, you know, that might
be a thing. And honestly, like the defense is what worries me the most is, can they do
enough to contain the bills offense to ensure that the Miami offense can score enough points?
Right, right. You know, that really like the first two games, it was really like that is
like, all right, can we do enough against the charters? Can we hold Echler back enough?
Can we contain Herbert enough to win? And we just did. Yeah, you know, 36 34 isn't, you
know, that's the way you want to start the season. But it's a win, right? Right. And
you know, and then last week, like I said, it's just it's hard to talk about last week
as if it's norm, right? Because we all know it's not. And so I think back to week one,
week two, and it's like, all right, they did just enough, they did good enough against
New England. You know, the storyline week one was Miami's offense. storyline week two
was they went up to England and contained New England defense, you know, the defense
stepped up. You know, perhaps week three is what happens when everything comes together,
right? Yeah. So it'll be very interesting to see which defense shows up. Is it the San
Diego Charger defense? Is it one Patriots? Yeah. Yeah, and I think for the bills, I think
the question is, can they, you know, will they have consistency? They had the advantage
against the Raiders and the commanders of playing with the lead enough that the other
teams didn't feel like they could run the ball. Because when they did run the ball,
even Brian Robinson last week against the commanders on like one drive, the commanders
were moving the ball down the field, almost no problem at all, because they were running
it and he was getting like seven, eight, 12 yards on each rush. That I'm terrified of
a chain because he's ridiculously speedy or anybody when they do kind of those orbit
motions, they'll do some stuff with reverses with waddle with hill like, I think that around
the edges, especially with the bills team, especially with a brand new middle linebacker
who has to do their alignments, their gap responsibilities and communicate. I think
that's the problem is that that you saw a defense with the Patriots against the dolphins
who was able to like try to slow down to and that attack by cluttering the middle of the
field, being physical and the, you know, with hill at the line and different things like
jamming, they use three safeties a lot. The bills can do that stuff, but it's not there.
It is not there like bread and butter. Their bread and butter is nickel, right? They have
standard alignment for two with the nickel and we'll see how that looks because they're
susceptible around the edges. We're going to see some rushing and it might be, it might
be way more a story of the running backs on both sides of the ball versus, you know, the
linebackers, the opposing defense than it is to versus the corners or Josh Allen versus
your corners. No, I agree. I agree. So yeah, it's, it's,
I'm excited, you know, it's, it's not often as a dolphins fan that you get excited about
stuff, you know, and, and to see this offense coming together and, you know, you look forward
to next, you know, every week, you know, oh, what's going to come next? Are they going
to try something new, something different? You know, I'm excited to waddle's back after
missing last week. The fact that your team scored 70 points without waddle is just, it's
criminal. Like, it's ridiculous. You have five rushing touchdowns between your two,
lead running backs. Yeah, it's, it's just, it's incredible. So yeah, I think no matter
what Miami does, even if they do win, it's still going to feel like a little bit of
a let down because it's like, ah, they didn't score five rushing touchdowns, you know, and
two didn't throw for 350 yards again. Well, and this is the kind of thing that like Dan
and I talk about on the pot all the time is when your team starts to have success, you
become a spoiled little brat about everything, right? Like with a good football team and
a football team who can win in like confident, dominating fashion, when they don't, when
they squeak something out like a 36, 34 win, you're like, well, they left so many plays
in the field and they really need to tighten this up. And it's you talk like as if they
lost because, you know, when you have a team that you're expect to win, how they win style
points matter and become so, so incredibly spoiled. Yes. You know, as you say that,
I feel that way actually with baseball, you know, watching the Phillies play, you know,
just that expectation every week as a spoiled Philly fan, right? It's got to just be like
a crushing victory. Exactly. You know, if Shorver doesn't hit two home runs, if Harper
doesn't hit a home like it's a disappointment. Yeah, you're like, even if they do get the
win, right? You won normal baseball. Exactly. Right. Right.
It's like, I get that. That's the same thing, you know, we for you, it's like if Hill doesn't,
I think it's like 540 yards and three games this season, like it's bananas. It's disgusting.
Yeah, it's disgusting. Like for a Dolphins fan, like their disappoints, Hill doesn't,
you know, go for over 100 and at least a tutty, you know, exactly. That's like not that is
top tier best in the league wide receiver numbers for a single game. And it's the same
for Bill's fans. I think it, you know, you hear from Bill's fans and like Josh Allen
had like 80% completion rate in the Raiders game. And they're like, well, he didn't throw
any bombs. It's like, what do you want from him? Like he had like two touchdowns. Exactly.
Probably get the ball down the field. He was 80% plus accurate. Like and he ran for
one. Like what what what more can you do? But yeah, we start to get real, you know,
real spoiled. All right, so let's let's transition to a little segment. I'll ask you what is
one thing that you are worried about? What's the one thing you're most worried about?
Matchup or it could be part of your team, part of the Bill's team. You know, which
which Josh Allen shows up? I think is it the MVP Josh Allen shows up or is it the I get
you know, you get under pressure a little bit and they're just going to like start chucking,
you know, balls down the middle and get intercepted or get super flustered, you know. And I think
one of the reasons why he's had success so far this season has been the ability to hand
the ball off. You know, looking through last year even like every time it just felt like
he was trying to be too much of a Mahomes, right? Just like tuck the ball and run. It's
like you got to trust your running back. Yeah, yeah. You know, and now that, you know,
James Cook is there, he's hitting that ball off. Cook's having a great season so far
or search the season. You know, and so that that has to help, you know, Josh Allen out.
And so that's that's who I'm worried about the most honestly. Is just but also Josh Allen
is that is MVP Josh Allen, right? Home game against the dolphins playoff feel like who's
going to show up, right? You know, and it's funny you say that because on the pod I've
been referring to the other Josh Allen, the one who throws interceptions and get frazzled.
I refer to him as gosh Allen. And because there was somebody produced a meme and it
was the superimposed Napoleon Dynamite's face on Josh Allen's body under his mask.
And he's got like tater tots and his like play sheet on his on his like wrist. And it
says I'm gosh Allen, I'll throw as many interceptions as I want gosh. So that's a dated reference.
I'm sorry for anyone who's less than 40, 35. But but yeah, so that that's the gosh Allen.
I hope Josh Allen MVP candidate shows up not gosh Allen, but you're right. That's it. That's
something to be worried about for me. I have a similar worry about gosh Allen. My actual
great my biggest concern with this game, though, is the Buffalo Bill secondary is slow. They
are incredibly disciplined technicians. And they play a scheme that Sean McDermott's calling
these plays, you know, and so it's, it's going to be there's going to be wrinkles there that
that McDaniel hasn't seen because Leslie Frasier is a different play caller. We can tell that
now with three three weeks of evidence. Sean McDonough, Sean McDermott is a little bit
more aggressive, but not with blitzing. He's aggressive with simulated pressure. He will
sugar the A gaps. He'll put both linebackers, mit Milano and Torrell Bernard right up either
side of the center. And then one of them's backing out one of them's potentially coming
or looping. And at the end of the you know, after the snap, only four guys are rushing
so it's not a blitz. But the offensive lines for each of the teams the bills have played,
including the Jets have had a real hard time knowing who's coming and getting the angles
right, which is why you've seen Leonard Floyd go for I think three or four sacks this this
year so far. AJ Epineza has a sack. AJ Epineza has been the bane of your think it's your
right tackle's existence. Since his college days, they were in a bowl game together and
Epineza had three sacks on him. And so and then Epineza actually knocked two out in their
first meetup two years ago, in his rookie year. And so that's, you know, that's a matchup
to watch. But yeah, so my biggest concern with the with the bills of their their slow
defense. So they're, I got kind of off in a tangent talking about McDermott coaching
and the pressure. But they're incredibly technique sound. They play an excellent form of zone.
They tend to squeeze routes, they tend to not give up a lot of space. But they are fast,
the fastest player you know, Tredavious White is a fast corner. But he's not a really fast
corner. He's not sauce gardener. He's not going to run step for step with anybody that
you have out there catching passes for the dolphins. He's going to be in good position.
He's going to use the sideline as an extra defender. He's going to like leverage, right?
Because that's how that's what he's excellent at. And I'd say he's probably one of the better
corners in the league in those things. But he's not a burner. The opposite corner, whose
name escapes me right now. So I'm going to look at my death chart real quick. Who is
a Christian Benford. I get Terrell Bernard and Christian Benford. I think I might have
said Terrell Benford. Christian Benford is a sixth round rookie or second year corner
that won the job over their number one overall pick last year. Coyer Elam Coyer Elam can
literally run with nobody can run with him. He could probably run with Waddle. He's the
fastest corner naturally gifted corner on the team. He's been an active every one of
first three weeks because he does costly penalties at times when he absolutely shouldn't you
know, third and 10, third and 12, he'll do the PI that they're looking for. He makes
yeah, he makes bonehead plays, he gets burned and torched on double moves. So he hasn't
been great, but he's the only player on the roster, I think who could probably have the
kind of speed they need. And then we have Jordan pours out, Mike, a hide is old and
coming off of a neck surgery injury loss season. And so he's just got a interception
last week. But both he and Poyer looked very old in their first two weeks. So they're
30 plus. Yeah, I'm so worried about that. But that's the thing. I'm terrified of the
dolphins just absolutely violating this Buffalo Bill secondary because they are they're slower
there. So I think that they you know, to a passes successfully to his first read over
the 10% of the time. And some people would say, Well, that's because you know, if you
don't, if you don't give him his first read, you know, you can beat him. No, don't think
that way. The way I think about it, because I've watched the film is that to knows exactly
who's going to be open and when and where before the ball is snapped and immediately
after the ball snapped. If the bills want any hope at all in this game, they have to
make sure that that first read is unexpectedly covered, right, which they were they can do
like they're one of the better secondaries in the league at disguising coverage and
those sorts of things. But if they don't, because that's how to two has been beating
people with his mind before he even throws a ball on these snaps. That's why his first
read is there 80% of the time plus. Yeah, yeah, you know, I was looking at the
bill's team stats and individual stats earlier today. And hearing you talk about how slow
the secondary is, but they're very sound, you know, technique wise, makes a lot of sense
when you look at the team stats and many ways that your top tacklers are all your linebackers.
Your middle defense guys, not your true secondary, but when you look over at, you know, interceptions
and everything like that and different knockdowns and whatnot, you see that come through with
the secondary where they're not getting the tackle, but it's because they knocked the
ball down or forced an incomplete pass and, you know, all those different things. So yeah,
it'll be interesting to see how that all rolls out, you know, and will as long as Tua has
enough time, yeah, we can beat that secondary. But it's a matter of the offensive line for
the dolphins keeping the defensive line and check for the bills to give to that time to
if that first read is not right to then pivot over to make that second option, which is
probably be hill first option, waddle second option, go from there.
I mean, absolutely. I think that's the, you know, I'll start with the next the next question
in the segment, which is what am I excited about? What am I hopeful for my team? And
that is exactly it's it's defensive line pressure. It's I am so hopeful that they can cover for
more than two and a half seconds and cause to it to go to a second read. Because when
to is pressured this season, just in these three games, when he's when he's not facing
pressure and gets the ball out kind of on his own time, and his time is very fast. When
he is not pressured is QBR is like 134. It's like almost perfect. When he is pressured,
it's 50. So we know this like this is the most quarterbacks, right? It's not like I'm
not great, you know, breaking the internet with, hey, if you get pressure in the face
of quarterback, they tend to do poorly. But his is kind of more poorly, because if you
look at somebody like Patrick Holmes or Josh Shalin, theirs is definitely not 134 on their
own time because they're I mean, I will say not even Patrick Mahomes has the kind of release
point accuracy and leading his his wide receivers into space that to has. And we know this this
is statistically represented by to a season last year, like, without the injury loss games,
he you know, crushed that statistic, he tends to put the ball in the best possible place.
And so neither Josh Shalin or Patrick Holmes is that person, but they do the second reaction play
a little bit better than to write. And so they drop from, you know, not 130, of course, but from
112, which is where they kind of live to like 80, to it goes from 130 to 50. And so that's that's
the thing I'm hopeful for the bills had nine sacks on Sam Howell last week. Sam Howell is an
incredibly sackable quarterback, though. He's this is his first season starting.
Sean McDermott improved as a head coach to seven and oh against quarterbacks, making their first
season starts. And so are their first full season of starting. And so it's really, you know, it's
something that I'm hopeful for that the bills can can really the new new look defensive line, which
in want to say new look, I mean, at the addition of Leonard Floyd, who's filling a gap while
von Miller still out. And then Greg Russo and AJ Epinezza have looked a little bit better and more
refined in their year two and year three seasons. And finally, Ed Oliver has the highest pressure
rate of an interior defensive lineman on pass rushes, pass rush snaps in the NFL to this point.
And that I think is it is surprising to me. I mean, I have I lived through the Marcel Darius era
where the bills Marcel Darius, who was statistically by the eye test good,
good, got his contract literally stopped playing football as soon as he got paid,
started just drag racing and screw around and eventually left the team. I think he was he
a dolphin for a while? Marcel Darius. I thought he went south somewhere. I don't know if it was
the dolphins or like the years or somebody. But anyway, Marcel Darius was was was a great player
until he got paid and that wasn't at Oliver was a good player. And then he got paid. And is what
what I think is kind of rare sometimes has elevated his game to prove he's worth his money,
which is really, like really, really nice to see from the bills, because he was 11th overall pick
when they picked him. And he has underwhelmed to this point had a couple flash games here and there.
But the the pass rush is what I'm really excited about to see. And I think also you have who's
your center Connor Williams? Yeah, had a little bit of a groin thing going on left the game last
week. And so Brock goes looks like he's gonna gonna play this week. Right. But that's a tough
injury to play through for an alignment. It was a squat stance all the time. Yeah. Yeah. So hopefully
it was just kind of a little tweak and you know, and you're already up, you know, whatever it was.
So why force? Oh, yeah. Why force a play? That's true. That's true. Yeah. So, you know, and I'm
most excited about just to see everyone together healthy, wattles back hill to Raheem, like,
everyone just it's amazing what happens when everything clicks together. And so I feel like
week is going to be the real test, you know, against a playoff tee against the division rival
away. And so I'm just really excited to see what they can do. Yeah, you know,
spite putting up 70 points last week, they're two and a half point underdogs, at least the last I
saw right? Yeah, that's you know, which is really just a push game because that's the home team.
That's the home team. That's a home team. Yeah. Yeah. But I'm just I'm excited to see the just
the offense all together and see what they can do truly against the playoff tee. I feel like
the chargers are just the chargers, right? They're they're always that hey, playoff hopes this year,
you know, Herbert's our guy, Eckler, you know, Kenan Allen, but then they always fall flat. Yeah.
You know, Phillips were over hangover. Yeah, the Phillip River is like effect, which is like so
bizarre because you think that they're like, for the longest time in the AFC, everyone's like, well,
the chargers, you know, if Phillip Rivers just was a little bit better in the playoffs or leading
up to the playoffs, they could go all the way. And then he he retires and they get Herbert. Okay,
finally, finally, they're going to be like one of those upper echelon teams. But they just always
charge her down. Yes, exactly. Exactly. So real quick, I'm curious to get your quick takes with
Stefan Diggs, you know, he just seems just to kind of be doing his thing. But like,
is he really happy in Buffalo? Like, what's what's going on? You know, yeah. So, I mean,
this is all speculation. And it was like all kinds of speculation over the summer. I think that the
the media made Stefan Diggs kind of sitting out the first day of mandatory mini camp.
They made a lot. They made a mound out of a mole a little bit on that. In some regards, I think
that the truth behind it was that he had meetings with Josh Allen with Ken Dorsey with Coach McDermott
was upset. And like really disappointed in like the base, the way that he sounded in interviews,
it sounds like he's really upset with the way the team's ended each year that he wants to get a ring,
of course, he's a massive competitor. The whole whole front office, everybody on the team respects
that. And that's like, that's the stuff that they've talked about, right? Like, Brandon Bean,
Coach McDermott, they've both talked about how stuff is a competitor, we communicate really well,
we have those conversations. He tells us what he, you know, wants to see and wants to do. We tell
us to do we tell them what we need to see need to do. And they they've openly said that they've
worked through that conversation. I will say that if Stefan Diggs does not make it deeper into the
playoffs this season, I don't think he's like Super Bowl or I'm going to like hold out or something
like that. But I do think that he expects the bills to make a super deep run. AFC championship,
anything less than an AFC championship. And I feel like Stefan, there's going to be a Stefan
Diggs problem in Buffalo. Right, right, right. Yeah. I'll say this too, I think part of it. There
was a lot of off the field drama with Josh Allen last year. There's a lot of just general, you know,
overcoming adversity that the Buffalo Bills team had, they had DeMar Hamlin that incident that
the soul of the team was kind of sucked out on that Monday night against Cincinnati. And it showed
in the year in the weeks past, right? Like they were just that they did not look the same team.
They did not. They didn't seem fired up. And so there was a lot off the field stuff. And
some of that off the field stuff was like Josh Allen, you know, ending a long term relationship.
And maybe he didn't have his head in football. And he's big time Josh now he's on the cover of
Madden. He's on like all these, you know, Verizon ads and whatnot. And so I feel like, and this is
just speculation at this point, the stuff about, Hey, we talked, you know, he's a competitor,
he wants to go far, etc. etc. That was all they stated that this is what people in Bills
Mafia are speculating. We're speculating that big time Josh, maybe he wasn't paying enough
attention to football at the end of last season. And Stefan Diggs is pissed about it.
And so Hollywood Josh is what my wife calls him. There you go. There you go. Yeah. You know,
I had Stefan Diggs on my fantasy team last year. And towards the end of the year, yeah,
it just frustrated me. It's like, do I bench him at this point? Because I can't trust them.
It four or five receptions for 40 yards. Right. And one of the things that frustrated me,
and I don't know if it's a frustration point for him or not, but the red zone usage seems to be
very low with him. You know, it always seems like it's a Josh Allen run for a touchdown.
Yep. You know, so it's just interesting. Well, I'll tell you from a bill standpoint,
that when you bring up the red zone and stuff on Diggs, I think that the problem they have is that
teams, and this is a general problem for the bills, not just in the red zone, but from tip to tail,
the whole field, the bills still do not have a super reliable wide receiver to Gabe Davis,
I think is a good player. I think he's a good player. I think Dawson ox is a good tight end.
I think that Dalton is on pace to break a rookie tight end receiving record in terms of receptions.
Like he's had a couple each game. And that's the bar is surprisingly low for rookie tight ends,
apparently. But like, it was because he has not been a world burner, but he's like on pace to
like be a prolific, you know, rookie tenant. So the problem I think that they have is that
when the bills get down in the red area and the, you know, field tightens down,
teams just focus on stuff on Diggs. And then, and then it's Josh Allen, like stuff on Diggs
double covered, that's two people that especially if they're on the opposite side of the field,
they're going to tackle Josh Allen. So he has a little bit of an advantage can make some things
happen. And so, you know, it's really that the bills don't have enough of a threat from their
other weapons to give Stefan Diggs one on one matchups. And the thing that's wild about that is
like Stefan Diggs doesn't even need a one on one matchup. He'd be contested catches against two or
three DBs at a time, because he's just such a technician, surprisingly big for his small frame,
like when it comes to the catch point. So yeah, yeah, no, as a I'm also, I think I'm in four fantasy
football leagues and two of them stuff on Diggs is my wide receiver one. And he's on pace right
now. I mean, he's he's averaging like 100 yards a game over the path, even in the Jets game,
I think he topped 100. So he's he's doing well. But I'm also worried, you know,
I'm worried about a Stefan Diggs problem this off season. I'm not worried this season. I think he's,
you know, unless things really come off the rails, he'll he'll be there.
Yeah. Last question I got to ask you. And I'm surprised it hasn't come up yet in the 45 minutes
we've been on Taylor Swift. She gonna help the cheese or gonna hurt the cheese distraction
or not distraction. So I will say this, you know, Tete has a checkered past with with her,
you know, relationships. I guess she was just with a previous boyfriend for like 70 years. So I
don't want to say that. But like, she's she's built an empire on breakups, songs, right? Like,
exactly. Yeah. So that's the thing that's like so curious to me is like, I think that I'll say
this, I think that Travis, Kelsey and Taylor Swift's courtship is adorable. I like a romantic
comedy as much as anybody. And how they ended up getting together and the fact that she like
basic, I don't think she knows anything about football. That's just all I just that's cute.
I think it's a media storm. I don't think it's actually gonna negatively impact the chiefs
whatsoever. Unless she decides to break up with Travis Kelsey, which I'm really hoping for sometime
in January. Exactly. I want a heartbroken Kelsey, despondent and incapable of get, you know, hitting
his blocks or catching the ball. And I think that I can speak for both Bill's fans and Dolphin's fans
that that would be a lovely addition to the chiefs playoff. It sure would. If Kelsey all the sun was
ineffective because of a broken heart. So I mean, that's my opinion of it. As it stands,
I don't know that it's going to add anything to the team. And I and unless, you know, like I said,
unless we have a heartbroken despondent Kelsey, I don't think it's going to subtract. Yeah. Yeah.
I can appreciate that. That's a good question, though. Yeah. For I have one for you. How was
like the Dolphin's fan base feeling about to to us health and like the worries about to a staying
healthy? It's always for me, it's on the back of my mind. It's always always there. Right. It's always
there. Exactly. But I mean, coming into the pre into preseason and the training camp, I mean,
the dude put on muscle. He looks sharp. You know, with his mind, you know, he was
his training camp looked really, really good. He just he looks more comfortable in the pocket as
well. Now, I don't know if that's someone that's due to just because of his release time or what,
but like he just seems like a completely different player this year compared to last year.
Yeah. I think, you know, I know that the whole kind of game changes if to is not there, right?
Like that's we've seen Mike White from the bill's perspective for many games. Yeah. And we're not
afraid of Mike White. We are afraid of to and I would never wish injury. And I hope he stays
healthy because I think he's a really special football player. So it's good to hear that he
looks different that he looks, you know, capable because I think the whole like, Josh Allen versus
to is like, could be the new Kelly Marino. Very well. And that's that's that's I think that's
good for football, even though, you know, I'm closing in on a heart attack every time, you know,
the these two teams are going to go against each other when they're when they're all on the field.
And that's I think that's a good subtext of this, of this whole game is that we each team is missing
one key starter on defense. And otherwise, it's, you know, full boat, you know, full power, full
steam ahead. Yeah. Yeah. So how about it? You want to you want to hit some score predictions and get
out of here? Let's go. All right. So as our guest, you know, certainly go first, what what is a,
you know, what's a stat prediction that you think would probably come true? And then how do you
think this game turns out? Yeah. I want to go stat prediction and say waddle Tyreek will lead the
team in receiving for the dolphins. Yeah. That's a good one. Yep. And score prediction, I want to go
3024 dolphins. Okay. All right. That's a good one. I yeah, I I like that score. I think that's
about where I was I was thinking to go to for a stat prediction. I'm going to say
a Tarell Bernard gets a sack because he's gotten one in two games now. And the thing about Tarell
Bernard so he's an undersized linebacker looks like a safety playing linebacker very fast has an
excellent nose for the football and is excellent on the rush. They sent him on a simulated pressure
and they actually dropped. Maybe those were so or Leonard Floyd so they dropped one of the ends
in coverage and had Tarell Bernard loop and he like shot through this gap. And he like made
his body so small that the Washington commanders like didn't even see it happening until he like
squirted through the gap and was and hit Sam Howell in less than two seconds like it was
that fast of a rush. And so I think that he gets a sack against to a and continues his like
amazing splash play pace again making everyone forget who Tremaine Edmonds was. So that's one
stat and I actually do like the the waddle out catches hill or out you know, more receiving
yards and help because I think the bills are going to work very, very hard to stop hill.
And that's going to open things up for waddle and you know, probably the tight ends and probably
the running backs. And then for my my game prediction, of course, you know, you're an
Dolphins fan, I'm a Bill's fan, we're going to go go home team on this. I'm saying bills 2724,
like nail biter. I don't think it's going to be like a 42 40 type game that some you know,
some people because I think that both teams are going to both teams are going to they have good
enough offenses, they're going to try to keep the opposing offense off the field and stick to the
run game. So I think the number of possessions is not going to be high enough for a massive shootout.
And so yeah, I'm going to go bills 2724. Last minute Tyler Bass field goal. I'm guessing Jason
Sanders misses one. The war, the wins in in the Highmark Stadium are swirling and he has been
somewhat inconsistent. Whereas Tyler Bass is the AFC special teams player of the month. So
I like I like our chances in the kicking game. There we go. Good deal. Well, Steve, this has
been the light as always. I appreciate you stepping up and filling in for this match.
Yeah, happy to it's always great to come in and talk about the dolphins, especially this year.
Yes, they look they look so dangerous. I'm terrified. Yeah. Well, as always, if you like the
podcast, like, share and subscribe on any of the social media platforms that you'll find us on
or Buffalo Bread. And I'll say this and Steve, you can you can close however you like. No bills.
No bills ends up. All right. All right. Take care, everybody.