Bills-Dolphins Week 3 TNF Recap and Head Coach Hot Seat Watchlist

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0:50Oh, and it was a bad ending once again to that book for the Miami Dolphins. 31 to 21. The Buffalo Bills win on Thursday night football over the Dolphins. That was Chris Brown on WGR. We are getting used to hearing Chris Brown at the end of these games because the Bills just keep winning 3-0 on the season. Another efficient offensive performance by the Miami Dolphins offense, Nick Shook, just until the moment that they needed a game-winning drive and then a big-time mistake by Tua.

1:25Nick Shook:yeah and the third straight different outcome like different style of game for the bills they have a furious comeback in week one they have a dominant performance against the jets in week two they win a close one because their defense steps up on a night in which their defense couldn't get off the field against two is improvisation uh not the most high scoring entertaining game but an entertaining game if you like close games uh with a bit of a chess match going on in the second half between these two teams. Yeah, it had an early season Thursday night feel to it in some regards. And yet it was intriguing.

1:58I can't say it was shocking, Nick, because it took me all of about 90 seconds in the show to bring up the fact that I hit this score exactly right, 31 to 21 on game debut. I could go three more years without hitting one game score right, so I'm going to mention that. But the way they got there with great running, really, by both teams, very efficient, No turnovers until that play by Tua. And two offenses, Shook, I'll start here, that to me were the symbols of what happened to my beautiful game. There were no deep passes in this game. You know how many throws Josh Allen made that even went over 10 yards?

2:41Can you guess, Nick Shook? I'm going to say three. One, and he didn't complete it. It was a dime. It could have been a touchdown. And the defender, who was that on that play? Isaiah Davis or something, made a deflection just at the last second to prevent a touchdown on a nice throw by Josh Allen. He didn't attempt anymore. And I can't kill him because he didn't really need to. I think they watched that tape from the Dolphins and the Patriots last week and saw the Dolphins just leaving wide open receivers underneath. And if you're going to give us eight, nine yards a pop, we'll take it. And for most of the night, it worked out.

3:17And then on the other side, you know, before we got on, you noted it's not it's not too often you see a guy throw the ball 34 times for 146 yards. That's what Tua did, you know, under four or five yards per attempt. And I only think he attempted. Let's let's look. He had many in the intermediate zone, one deep, but he only completed three of them, three of 10 over 10 yards. So it was just like a dink and dunk and dink and dunk and running type of game. And ultimately, were you ever like actually thinking that the Bills were going to lose this game?

3:51Nick Shook:No, I thought that the Dolphins might tie the game and the Bills would find a way to win. And they'd win by one possession, maybe by three points. Although I don't know if you can entirely trust Matt Prater. He had a bit of an up and down night. But what I think about that one deep ball, I know exactly which one it was. It was a shot down the seam to Tyreek. And it was a bit of a desperate heave by Tua. And it really, I think, captured a lot of how this game played out between these two teams. because the big story for me is Buffalo's ability to get to off his spot and force him to improvise, both kind of hand-stirring, undercutting their offense early, and then he adjusted and was able to make plays in the second half to keep them in this game.

4:27Nick Shook:But even with the score being tied, to answer your initial question, I never quite felt like the Dolphins were going to win this game because it took so much, such an effort just to get to the end zone because there weren't the explosive plays that it just felt like eventually because the Bills are the better team. They were going to win out, and they did. Yeah, I get the instinct to give them a pat on the back for giving us a good show, and I do get that. It's a little bit of a moral victory. You're listening to Kirk Herbstreit and Al Michaels talk about them like they deserve medals of valor for trying so hard in a difficult situation.

5:01And it is difficult. The vultures are circling. There are reports before the game, one from our Ian Rappaport, who is on Amazon Prime, saying that the owner of the Dolphins, quote, doesn't want to fire Mike McDaniel, but that had some caveats. If fans stop showing up, newsflash, they will stop, you know, showing up if they keep losing. And then if the players look like they're quitting on Mike McDaniel, which we haven't seen the last two weeks have just been normal games that show the cracks in the dolphins, but they're plenty competitive after the first ugly performance against the Colts. Unfortunately, the record, is what it is.

5:43It's still 0-3. You've still lost, I think, seven straight now to the Bills, and it's a matchup problem, and you're in now year four of Mike McDaniel. You want it to start moving forward. Before we get into all that, I do want to give the Bills some love, because ultimately their offense, Nick, is playing with a pretty small margin for error. They needed to hit almost all these touchdown drives tonight to make sure that they won, and they went out and did it. And I think it shows a more mature Josh Allen. One thing that stuck out to me was just how quick his decisions were. So he's getting rid of the ball really quickly.

6:20He knew exactly what he wanted to do when he scrambled, which was very rare tonight, only a few times. He was quick and decided when to do so. I think he's just making smart football decisions and playing with a maturity at this stage of his career of doing exactly what he needs to do. And this is what this game kind of required out of him.

6:38Nick Shook:yeah i actually really like this matchup because it was a good comparison between two quarterbacks who are just different at different levels uh you know to uh has to try to figure out how to improvise and it's not pretty at times sometimes he has to cut the field in half in his reads just because he can't get to the other side of his progression in time or he's just not going there he's missing open guys because primarily he doesn't have time to throw and he's not a guy that ever really looks comfortable improvising josh allen improvising is like just part of his game like if there are some plays where the first read's not there and he immediately takes off and makes you pay.

7:07Nick Shook:The Dolphins are committing, you know, Tyrell Dodson to spy him, and it's not really working. There's one time where Allen scrambles for a big gain, just shy of the line to gain, and Dodson flies in and tries to, you know, finish off the tackle because, of course, you're not going to give up and pull up on a Josh Allen scramble. He could take that to the house. That causes some Bills players to get a little, you know, irritated with how that play finished, but it's a great example of just the fact that this is a guy who's a weapon with his feet and obviously with his arm, and it shows why he's an elite quarterback, why he's the reigning NFL MVP.

7:36Yeah, I follow some some Bills fans on Blue Sky and I'm listening to them. Will you let Josh Allen actually be Josh Allen in this? And I'm thinking Josh Allen's doing what he wants to do. The idea was like, like, let the shackles off. He's not going deep at all. And they will need that. And there were a couple of drives in the second half where they did eventually punt where it didn't work out. Ultimately, though, he threw the ball 28 times for 213 yards and three touchdowns. and, you know, any complaints about not improvising or not giving us enough entertainment. I'll send you to the first quarter of this game when he got one of the most fun touchdowns of the year to Spencer Hawes, a Yale graduate, scoring a touchdown on Thursday Night Football.

8:19Nick Shook:Allen under center on first and goal from the five. Motion from Hawes. Fakes the snap. Allen going to roll left, looking for someone in the end zone. And now shovel passes it. complete to Jackson Hawes for his first career touchdown from five yards out. It reminds you of Brett Favre a little. He flicks the ball while he's looking one way, sends it another. It almost felt like early in this game it was too easy for him, and he was just trying stuff out because he tried another flick across the body, a drive later further down the field to a receiver that wasn't even that open, and it felt a little unnecessary, and it was just like, yeah i'm josh allen like i can try things like this it was a flick that probably could have been like a a floated pass like a traditional throw like just a toss didn't need to necessarily flick that ball but it just shows that exactly what you said which is that he's playing freely he knows he's at the peak of his powers and that this offense runs through him and that no defense really has a real answer for him and he can do whatever he wants including taking a risk sometimes and you know it's one of those things where like when it works the first time suddenly you feel emboldened and i'm just gonna try it again because it worked on that touchdown pass it's funny because on that drive, you know, the Dolphins come out strong.

9:30Nick Shook:They score a touchdown. They get a big kick return to sit themselves up. They go down and score a touchdown. I'm like, oh, okay. They're going to be a little punchy here. This is going to be maybe a close game. And the Bills go right down the field. Yes. And Alan caps it with that flip. And I'm like, ah, yes. But then you must remember you are playing the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins. And this is going to be a bit of a long night when you have to stop this quarterback. It's really fun to watch. Like he's atop my QB index for a reason, for plays like that. He's at the peak. Ooh, spicy. How high is Dak Prescott right now?

9:56I should be. He's in the top 10. Oh, top 10. I mean, I know the QB index has taken into previous years, but he might be top three, top one for me. He's not top. I'll look it up right now. He is. 20, 25. I don't know why. I got him at eight. Okay. But you're taking into more than just these two games so far. I was just saying two games. By the way, I apologize to Jackson Hawes, scoring his first touchdown in his NFL career. before tonight, he'd barely run any routes at all. And now he gets a couple of catches in this game. I called him Spencer Haas, who was a top 10 pick by the Sacramento Kings in the NBA about 10 years ago.

10:38Who do you remember Spencer Haas as? Because I remember him as a 76er. I barely remember him. I don't know how that name was in my head. But yes, a nice moment for Haas, who's mostly out there blocking. And while we're talking blocking, this Buffalo run game is where everything starts. And the threat of Josh Allen is important. But tonight, it's not like it was a lot of RPO nonsense or anything like that. It's just there's straight ahead running game. James Cook goes 19 for 108 again. And his success rate for the season is just through the roof. He is taking advantage of great blocking. and then he is making extra plays once he gets to the second level.

11:20A lot of yards after contact. They actually had a rushing success rate tonight for 50%. And that was much lower. I'm much higher until late in the game. And I think that includes the last cup in the last drive where they were just trying to get the clock to run out. So I've been really impressed by them. And one thing that stands out, you can tell me what you think when you look at the blocking scheme and the play calling and everything. I think the wide receivers block really well like the tight ends block well and then you see all the wide receivers including Keon Coleman out there really effective on the perimeter in terms of

11:55Nick Shook:their blocking too yeah I would like Bill's fans to understand one thing you're not going to get the explosive plays you yearn for on a consistent basis because you don't have field stretching weapons and that's fine because you've traded stretching the field for really good blocking all across the other 10 guys on the field and and it's producing a very balanced offense it's producing first half for James Cook in which he goes seven for like 74 which is an insane rate and it it just makes you a more threatening team and a tougher team to defend because not only do you have to worry about the NFL MVP at quarterback but you have a running back who is dynamic a running back who has great vision great burst and also makes guys miss he's hard to bring down he'll rip off a big one your explosive plays are probably going to come on the ground about as often as they come through the air because you have James Cook and thank god Brandon Bean finally figured out how to get James Cook to the table and get that contract done because wow it'd be a lot different story if he wasn't on the field oh he was never going anywhere but they they treated him well like they should even though he had still a year on his contract I'm surprised Ray Davis isn't getting more run because he's a good backup but you didn't even need him tonight Ty Johnson's in there as a good third down back so they can use those guys more and he had a key third down pickup where the Dolphins were just expecting them to pass even in a short yarded situation because he's out there, they have a lot of weapons.

13:10Like Kincaid had a nice night, five for 66, had a touchdown, could have scored another if he stayed a little more upright. But Minka Fitzpatrick got him down at the goal line. And Keon Coleman went three for 20. And yeah, I've been impressed. Each and every game, I've seen something really good that he's done a good contested catch on a third down. I like Keon Coleman. You mentioned the touchdown drive. So the Dolphins tie it 21 all in the fourth quarter. We got a real game here, and then the Bills just do what they do. They went right down the field, finishing with a touchdown to Khalil Shakir.

13:47Shakir in motion left to right, and now in an orbit motion back to the left side.

13:51Nick Shook:Back to pass. It's a screen pass to Shakir. Has a blocker in front, racing to the end zone, and he's in. It's a 15-yard screen pass for a touchdown as Shakir got great blocking downfield, got up the sideline and into the end zone, and the Bills have the lead back again. Yeah, I think that was Dawson Knox with some good blocking there down the field. So this is a good time. Well, let's pivot over to the Dolphins' side where the defense just hasn't provided a lot of resistance. There wasn't a lot of hope, at least in my mind, on that drive that they were going to make a stop. Nick there. They're paying a lot of guys up front tonight.

14:30I don't think they really had a chance to make much of an impact because Josh Allen was getting rid of the ball so quickly. Like, what are you seeing out of this Dolphins defense?

14:38Nick Shook:You know, they get pressure or they at least cause a bit of havoc up front. The rest of the picture is inconsistent. And we know the injuries that they've dealt with in the secondary and they lost a defensive back. They lost Jack Jones for like a play. Like it was almost in succession. Jason Marshall, their slot corner also was knocked out of this game yeah and then jack jones came back in yeah so you're thin like you're thin back there and we talked before the season about their investment was very much in their front seven and you know he had a penalty that was just completely unnecessary tonight but i have liked the way that jordan brooks has played through the first three weeks of the season i thought that he's you know a nice linebacker in that group um and so they're going to keep you competitive it's just a matter of you know getting teams off the field they did a great job in the second half i thought that early on it felt like anthony weaver was a step behind joe brady and then we got to the second half and it felt like Weaver was a step ahead and Brady was playing a little bit conservative in his play calls.

15:27Nick Shook:They were taking a lot of short passes that the Dolphins were all over. It was a good chess match, a good back and forth. So like, I can't put high expectations on the Dolphins offense right now because they've been very hit or miss, but they were more efficient tonight. They did get into a rhythm in the second half. So it's hard to say which side is better. Oh, I can tell you the offensive side is better. The defense. Yeah, because here's the thing. The defense does stink, except they forced three punts in the second half and kept them in the game. It's just that they didn't capitalize. So I'm looking at it here and I'm with you.

15:56That was my feel from the game. Oh, the Dolphins defense, they actually competed. They figured out something. They were trying a lot. I sometimes I'm looking at all the crazy, you know, things that Weaver is throwing at them and throwing at the bills in the first half. And none of it's really working. I'm thinking, does he have the personnel and the continuity to really do all this crazy stuff? In the end, you know, in the first half, they gave up two touchdowns and a missed field goal. They did force two punts in the middle of that third quarter. but sandwiched between that was another couple of touchdowns and field goals.

16:23So I think we are three games now into the season and they've had a total of four stops. So they had none against the Colts. They forced two punts against the Patriots, gave up scores or field goal attempts on every other one. And the same thing tonight, it was just a low possession game where they're, you know, giving up these longer drives and especially their offense is going on these longer drives. It's rough. And on the other side, like, this used to be one of the most exciting offenses in the league and they were reasonably efficient tonight you know they didn't turn it over until that interception and so before that you had three touchdowns on seven drives like on a per drive basis that would lead the league over the course of the the season scoring three points to drive like that that's great but man they are working hard to do it and it you mentioned the third downs uh that that tua was pulling off actually in that touchdown drive at the end of the second quarter.

17:19Like, asking him to play that game is, to me, like a sign it's not really the Dolphins offense that you want to see.

17:26Nick Shook:Yes, but I texted you this. It was kind of a gross game by halftime because, like, they got down there and scored, and the whole way down was just, like, you're living on the razor's edge. Like, hold on to the side of your seats here because this is going to be a wild ride. It was, like, the pressure was affecting to, like I said earlier, he was basically forced to, like, only take half of the field. He was missing open guys. And yet he was finding ways to complete passes or at least extend drives. Tyreek Hill makes a phenomenal catch in front of two defenders and just not a phenomenal catch, but a phenomenal catch and run because he's just that fast.

17:58Nick Shook:He's able to outrun two guys to get to the line to gain, to extend that drive. And by the time they get in the end zone, I was like, well, that's good for them, but God, it was chaotic getting down there. It was not clean offense. It just happened to work. The second half was much better for them offensively. Yeah. You're right. Like this is the strength of their offense. It's just about consistency. And it's about details. like the details kind of lost in this game more on the defensive side and special teams than offense. Of course that interception was kind of an example of two immediately putting his head in one spot and being like, I'm looking here and the defense reading it and him not seeing a blind spot.

18:28Nick Shook:And I have some issues with the way that he, the speed at which he gets through his progressions, but he was sped up all night. And so it's kind of difficult to hold that against him when you know that he was sped up all night. The two things that I took away from it more than anything was that he does not trust his offensive line. And he, he breaks, he doesn't slide away from pressure very well because he's just constantly like i know i don't have time to throw but the beauty of that is that they were that touchdown drive that they pulled off in the second half that throw to tyreek hill was exquisite that was two guys who have played with each other for a long time i know he's going to be there i'm going to throw it up off a back foot with the guy in my face and cap off the most impressive drive of the night for them yeah like that's the thing he really did pull off three great third and longs and there was another one where he ran for in that drive and him having to do that is not a great sign And at that point, he was 12 for 18 for 66 yards, which is crazy.

19:17And they were tied in this game because, you know, we've been so hard on the Dolphins here. Let's let's listen to a happy moment from Tua Tunga by Loa because they did keep it close. And when they finished off that second quarter drive, I thought, OK, we're actually in this game. Four cracks in the end zone. Back to throw. Slap pattern. Waddle touchdown. Nice throw. Great call. Terrific pattern by Waddle. What a great drive. Wow. One of my favorite touchdown celebrations, Jalen Waddell finishes with five for 39 and a touchdown rewarding his fantasy owners that had some faith tonight. Like Tyreek Hill, I thought, other than that one drop, which was big on the deep ball, and that was a, it was a balloon, but ultimately I think Tyreek Hill would admit that he should have that ball.

20:03He jumps and gets his hands on it. He finishes with five catches, 49 yards, a touchdown, and an eventual backflip on that throw that you were talking about in the fourth quarter, which was just a terrific route by Tyree Kill. Ultimately, though, like, it's a good running game. A-chan and Ollie Gordon ran the ball very well. Their success rate has been actually pretty consistently high all season and was excellent tonight. I have questions about the Bills' defense overall. Yes. Oh, you do too. What are your questions?

20:33Nick Shook:Yeah, I'm glad that we've gotten there because you made the point about the Dolphins maybe not having the personnel on that side of the ball. I don't know if the Bills do either, And I don't know if Sean McDermott has admitted that yet, because that sequence that led to that touchdown just before the end of the first half was a display of how McDermott, I think, trusts his guys more than he should in the way that he approaches defense. They ran a lot of man. They gave a lot of man looks, and that's fine. But that instance when Tua throws a touchdown pass, I have no idea why they called the defense that they called.

21:02Nick Shook:Like, they're double mugging the A-gap. They've got Tredavious out wide against Jalen Waddell playing soft off coverage. you're going to bring pressure why not try to press at the line because if you're going to speed up the quarterback make the route harder to run he plays often it's the easiest slant I've seen in a long time and it was one of many where I think in the second half when the Dolphins were you know marching down the field slowly I mean crawling down the field kind of uh there were a couple of instances in which they convert third downs a lot of passes to waddle near or outside the numbers where they're showing pressure and changing coverage rolling the shell at the last second and asking Cole Bishop to run from the hash to the numbers like an undercut a route and I'm just like do you understand that you don't really have the guys to do all this exotic stuff that you don't need to necessarily do all this exotic stuff I think that's a big reason why that they they were they struggled to get stops in this game tonight and it's correctable but it concerns me just about their long-term approach they need to look in the mirror a little bit and be like maybe we shouldn't get that adventurous with our play calling defensively yeah I I don't think it's going to show up for them.

22:03They're going to have such an interesting regular season. And I think their fans might get annoyed because I think this defense is going to struggle. Our friend Jordan Rodriguez is right with you. And she has big concerns about this defense. And yet it might not really show up because they're going to keep winning. Like the AFC East out of division schedule is so easy because you play the NFC South. And like, for instance, the Bills upcoming games, Saints, Patriots at Falcons. That's a little tricky, I guess, at Panthers. It's like it's going to be a while. You then get the Chiefs in the back end.

22:34The Eagles are in week 17, but for the most part, it's games that they're going to be heavily favored and that they can win shootouts or games like this when they need to. That's just how they're built. And that's just how the schedule comes up this year. By the way, the Dolphins at 0-3, and we're going to talk about Mike McDaniel and his future in a second after the break, do have a softer part of the schedule coming up with the Jets and a game at the Panthers. But those two teams are also looking at the schedule and thinking, oh, great, we get to play the Dolphins. So it's like every fan base like thinks that way.

23:10But it's like the Jets are also thinking, OK, that's a possible win. And only one of them is going to get it. So I always think to fear the moral victory. All right, let's take that break. On the other side, we are going to talk about coaches potentially on the hot seat. It's a little early, but I think with the Dolphins tonight being in prime time, I just thought, let's think about an early watch list of these coaches. And I don't think tonight necessarily got Mike McDaniel off that watch list. And we will also do a little bit of news before getting out of here.

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