Dolphins vs Raiders Week 1 Preview: Can Miami Steal A Win In Vegas?

0:00this is believe one network every topic everywhere. Hello everyone and welcome back to dolphins talk. This is the very first episode with myself Marissa Marino and Dave Hyde. We will be coming to you weekly talking about these dolphin games. Dave so excited to have you as a part of the dolphins talk team. How are you? Yeah, Marissa. I'm excited to be having you all here. We'll be here every week. We'll be here and kick around what's going on, and I'm just excited. The season started, you know, and I'm sure with everybody else has been a long off season and let's get the football. Absolutely. Well, before we get started, just so everybody knows I'm sure if you are a Florida native, you know Dave, but he's been around the team for years and years, but you can follow him on Twitter at Dave Hyde Sports to his sub stack.

1:00I do. It's awesome. You can subscribe at Dave Hyde.substac.com and you can follow me on socials at must be Marissa 87. Well, Dave, we are officially three days away if you count today. So let's get right into it. We are about to go embark upon another Miami dolphin season. Does this season feel to you eerily similar to the 2019 season when Miami tore down its roster and went into the season with everyone expecting them to be the worst team in the league? Well, there's a lot of similarities in that idea that the there aren't high expectations for this team. The overrunners, you know, four and a half, four, three and a half dependent, usually four and a half. And that's pretty much what it was in 2019. So there are similarities as a new era comes in and

2:00goes to the youth movement. Now there are differences too and there are important differences. In 2019, you had a schism in the organization, the front office ownership won to tank and had planned to tank and then they hire a coach and they sign a quarter back and Ryan Fitzpatrick who weren't tanking. And that caused disfunction. Let's face it for not just that year, but the next year and you know, some of it's still playing out in the court right now. Now this off season, I think they went whether you agree with the plan or not. And I do. I think what they did was they got everybody on the same timeline. They brought an outside voice in Troy Ackman and said, let's go get the best personnel guy we can. I think that's the way to do it. And so they got John Eric Sullivan who hired the coach Jeff Hathley. They both agreed on the quarterback.

3:01And so the whether works or not this plan makes sense. A lot more and the structure of it all, you know, it started with Daniel Stillman really. The son-in-law of Steve Ross taken over the ownership, taken over the off season and deciding how to do things. So I like to set up a lot better this year. Yeah, I mean, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. I think you and I were talking before the show. We really have no idea what to expect from this team going into this season. I think Jeff Hathley, you didn't really see much or get to have any idea really what this team is going to look like when they come together on the field. Preseason didn't allude to really anything. So if anybody's guess is this point, but before we talk about our upcoming game that we have against the Raiders, Miami made some roster moves in the past two weeks that I just wanted to get your thoughts on. So what were your thoughts on seeing Miami move on from every backup quarterback

4:04and bringing in Kyle McCord and Brady Cook and revamping that room so close to the season? Well, yeah, look, when you were having a look good in preseason. And so what they did was they went out and they got in McCord. Now you can you can come with any conclusion you want here, OK? But the point being McCord was in Green Bay after this this camp and so they must have talked to people in Green Bay. He was signed two weeks after John Eric Sullivan left the packer. So I'm assuming he had something to do with scouting him and bringing him in. He must have liked him. So he's been through two teams now too though. So it isn't like that's a sure bit. Right now you're betting on as with Malik Willis. Malik Willis, John Eric Sullivan

5:04Jeff Hathley Love him. And it will reflect on how they go about how they scout the most important position. But I like that they're getting the room how they want it. Now we'll see how it plays out. Yeah, I mean, it would be really nice if one of these backups ends up looking like Drew Lock did yesterday when he stepped in for Sam Zarnold. We haven't had that much luck with our backup quarterbacks, but we shall see what happened. Another headline that kind of made a splash at a lot of people I think have were a little surprise about was the Tyrell Dodson. Was that really a surprise to you? Well, no, something was going to have to happen there. Once they drafted Jacob Rodriguez in 43rd pick overall high in the second round. Tyler Dodson's days here were probably numbered. And the question would become

6:07could they trade them and I wrote this heading in the training camp or out of the draft. I can't remember which one could they trade him for a low draft pick or were they just going to have to move on to him because he's making too much money just to be a special teams player which you and he was too good. He'd proven he can play middle linebacker in the league. And so the question really was how are they going to make this work and how they made this work was just by moving on from him because Rodriguez and Jordan Brooks are going to play middle linebacker and you know, one thing they've done well I think is managing setting up, taking away any potential problems and not that. Look, Dodson was a complete pro, okay? But if he's not starting after what he had 120

7:07tackles or something last year, then he's not going to be happy. The word was he really didn't fit in this this defense in that he couldn't. He wasn't a coverage guy. He was purely a runstopper. And so for what they wanted for what they wanted and how they went about getting at this offseason with Jacob Rodriguez, I wasn't surprised that he had to be released. Yeah. Well, we've kind of gone to custom to players leaving the dolphins, I think, over this offseason. So each one I think it stings a little less because we're like, yep, there goes another one. There goes another one. Yeah, there are a few others. Right. Yeah. You know, the Raiders are doing the same thing. I mean, they're they've got a really young team and it's almost looking in the mirror right now. Yeah. So great first team to play. And we are about to get into that moment. Herald Lee. But before we do, we have to pay the bills here at dolphins talk. So make sure you go to Cal

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9:09trade on anything. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Cal She products are not available in all jurisdictions, prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. And for more information, make sure you see cal She.com forward slash regulatory. All right. So getting into this game, we have, for us, a late game of the season, since we have no actually night games, we have a 4 o'clock game. And it was announced against the Raiders that Brock Bowers will be missing the game. How big of a blow is that for the Raiders in your opinion? Oh, he's their best player. So I will hit best offensive player. And really, the only playmaker that they could count on, I mean, he's best tight end and football when he's healthy. So huge on two teams without many

10:10stars or proven stars, he was one of the few. So the fact he's out of there, all of a sudden makes that defensive job a lot easier. They got somehow replaced 100 yards of offense, which is what Brock Bowers is averaging. Yeah. Well, non top of that, this week Miami will not face Fernando Mendoza and Miami will face Kirk Cousins, a familiar face that most of us know if you follow the NFL at all, are you surprised that the number one overall pick of the draft is in starting for them knowing they are kind of in a situation like Miami as in they're doing a rebuild? I'm astounded. I can't believe they're doing this. And I know all the arguments of letting the rookie sit on the sideline and learn and all this stuff. He's going to learn a lot quicker going into the game and look who

11:10they're starting. Everybody remembers Kirk Cousins as this pro baller in Minnesota. Well, time moves on. He's been in Atlanta the past two years. Last year, two years ago, he'd rated like the 22nd quarterback. Last year, he's either the 28th or the 35th depending on not his numbers, but what are one of the qualifying numbers of the quarterbacks being allowed in the list? And right above them in both cases is Quiniuers. OK. So basically, what they're saying is we would rather start Quiniuers than start the number one pick over on the draft in Fernando Mendes. So if I'm the Dolphins, I'm loving this because you don't have a pass. You don't have a pass rush. You don't have a proven secondary. And so you want to go against the worst quarterback. And I get these a veteran. He'll pick up on things that a rookie won, et cetera, et cetera. But if I'm the Raiders, I want the guy

12:11out there who's got the best arm and can take advantage of weak defenses and learn at the same time. And so as a Dolphin fan, I love this move. It's kind of a headscratcher if you're a Raiders fan, but as a Dolphin fan, you're like, with the second hardest schedule in the NFL, we will take what you bring to us. Yeah, both of these teams looking at this as looking across the field at the other team and saying, who, who, who's that? And saying, boy, we got to win this game because the Raiders were three and 14 last year, worse than the League. Dolphins are spending $0.39 on the dollar of the salary cap. There's spending $0.61 almost on players who aren't on the roster. And so they're both in this massive rebuild stage. And this might probably is the easiest game on both team schedule.

13:12I know, and that's interesting because you look at their schedule. It's not easy, but this is one of the more winnable games on the schedule, especially Brock Bauer's being out of the game. Yeah, I mean, yep. How big would it be for Jeff Haftley in this new regime to come out of the gate and get a win, week one? You know, what it would do? It would take, look, we know we've been through this before, right? The one and 15 season. Last year, they started one and seven. What it would do, it would eliminate a conversation of, well, where are they going to get a win? Like San Francisco next, then Kansas City, that Minnesota. And you're going to start looking down the list. They play the Jets then. So that would be the next stop, where you'd say, OK, they could win this one. But you're going to start going down the line of, OK, where can they get a win? So this winning it, I mean, it's his first NFL game as a head coach.

14:13Malik Willis's first start as a dolphin. So it'd be a big win, but it's not like it would be the kind of career to finding when you're looking for. But it would also end the conversation that you really don't want to be having in the next month of where you're going to get a win. Well, that and with the Patriots lost yesterday, if we did win this game, we would not be at the bottom of the AFCE. Maybe at the top of the AFCE. We would. Right now, Marissa, they're half game up on the Patriots. After Wednesday night's Patriots lost. So this might be a season where you take positive news, wherever you can find it. And then take that little, we take the little crumbs where we can get them at this point. They. OK, so both of these teams have great running backs. They both have questions that ride receiver. Do you see a low scoring game happening here?

15:15Or because both teams have huge question marks on defense, do you think we could see a lot of points be put up on Sunday? You know, I don't even know what to expect because do you trust the Dolphins defense? Again, no past rush that's proven. Nobody in the secondary, really, that's proven. And then you flip it around. And look at the Dolphins. If Malik Willis comes out of the gate and plays like he did, in his very limited sample size in Green Bay, where he was almost perfect, who knows what could happen? If Chris Bell and the young receivers. Caleb Dalilish. Yeah, if they start off strong, I really don't know what to expect. So I guess where I'm saying I'm not going to be surprised by anything that can happen because I don't even,

16:15I don't know what to expect from the Dolphins as far as the offensive line. I think that should be a good part. And yet when I look at all the analytics, preseason analytics from Warren Sharp to ESPN down down the line, pro football folks, they haven't ranked in the bottom, fifth of the league from 25 to 31, I believe. So maybe they know stuff or see stuff that I don't, because I think that line has to be good because they've invested. And there are some good players on it. So if it's not good, then I have to adjust even my low expectations for this team. I don't know if you could get lower, but not sure. Okay, so Malik Willis are new QB1. What do you want to see from him this week? And do you think they are going to have a few designed run plays for him

17:19to utilize his ability to make plays with his legs? Yeah, I'm curious about that. Look, he made plays with his legs in Green Bay. It just all seemed to be something we haven't seen a quarterback do here in years out of chaos plays, right? And that will be interesting. He hasn't really been unleashed here in preseason because he hasn't run much and you don't want him to. So now's the time you're going to see. And I think he's got a chance to be really good now. You got to measure that. He doesn't have a receiving core, a veteran receiving core at all. Again, there's that right side of the offensive line. What do we know about that? But if you look at his tapes from Green Bay, again, very limited, it's hard to not look at and say, OK, I understand why they're taking a chance. So why they think he can be somebody special. So we'll see if he is. What I want to leave the season, the best case scenario for the dolphins is,

18:20even if they win a couple games or three games or whatever, you just like New England did a couple years ago, they left that Drake May's rookie season when he threw 15 touchdowns 11 herceptions, they won four games. They didn't look at the numbers. They came out and they said, we know this quarterback can play. And that's what you want to feel coming out of this if you're the dolphins. Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, it's going to be interesting. I think for me, it's going to the natural inclination when I see a dolphins quarterback run. I think at first it's going to be like, because your two, I mean, like a run was like, I think everybody watching the game, like their heart stopped for a second. So I think it's going to be an adjustment period and be like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, go run, go run Malik. Go. Yeah. And then the quarterback, you know, I'm a quarterback sneak. They don't, they don't have, we'll really have that in the play. I mean, there are a lot of things that all of a sudden, just basic fundamental backyard football are back in the playbook

19:23because of Malik was, of course, yeah, you wanted to make his bread and butter in the pocket being able to make throws. But I want a quarterback who has the ability to run. And, you know, he not only runs, he's run a four three. That makes him as fast. He puts him up there with like HN and Tyree Kill and Wattles far speed. So I get ready to be surprised by how fast he can run if he gets in the open. So I have a question. I did a, I'm doing a giveaway on my Twitter. And people have to guess how many yards they think Malik Willis is going to throw four against the Raiders. Do you have any interest in giving a prediction and all give mine? And we'll see how close we get next week. Marissa, I'm always up for a freebie, you know, so if I, I'm gonna pass me to, I'll say, I'll say 215. You know what's crazy is I, my number in my head was 214 days.

20:28So I don't know. You're boxing me out. You're boxing me out with that number. But you can go over. So that's the thing. If he does 216, you're the winner. But that's so funny. We both were on that same. But I'm, I'm locking you in for 215. Okay. All right. What do I, what do I win if I win? That's what I'm doing. You win a dolphins tumbler, turvist tumbler. All right. Yeah. So very good. All right. So let's do a couple predictions before the season starts. And this is just going to be more overall with, with this AFC and then around the NFL. Who do you believe wins the AFC East? And maybe this is an easier question to answer. But you only saw one game. Do you believe it's going to be Buffalo or New England? Well, if you'd asked me 24 hours ago, I was sitting in New England. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I still think New England will win. You know, the injury factory now receiver, I'm not, you know, I wasn't really a big fan

21:30of the AJ Brown move. Like did it really upgrade them enough? On the other hand, I look at Buffalo and it's still a one man band and it's very fundamentally sound across the board. But to win big, you need stars and they don't have enough stars. They have a few players. And so I think the talent is Josh Allen versus the world every year in Buffalo. And I think New England proved their rising team and I think they're going to keep rising. Fair enough. Do you believe that Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City will win the AFC West? No. I think this is a rebuild year for not our kind of rebuild here at the Gulf of Kentucky. Okay. Not that. Let's stop that. Okay. A reset year maybe for for Kansas City. They traded way McDuffie a corner back. They got rid of some salary.

22:31They brought in some different players. But you look at, I mean, the AFC West, that's a tough division of, you know, Mike McDaniel is a great fit at the Charters in the role of an offensive coordinator. And so they're better. And then, you know, the Broncos, if they're quarter back then get hurt in the playoffs last year, pretty good chance they'd be going to the play out, did the Super Bowl last year. I think they got waddle that fills a nice role for them. They're going all in. And so I think Kansas City is a third best team in that division. I couldn't even imagine saying that Patrick Mahomes. Yeah, I know. Patrick Mahomes out. So that makes me so nervous. Yeah, that's probably not smart. You're right. It's okay. Who do you think wins more games this season?

23:34The Jets or the dolphins? The Jets. The Jets. The Jets, I'm not saying they have a, you know, a great ceiling up, but they're, they are offensive line. They've improved that. They've made some moves to help them. And Geno Smith is the, almost some mystery a couple years ago in Seattle. He was really good. Better than, you know, people thought probably when you go back to looking at the numbers, he fell off last year in the Raiders, but he had nothing around him. So there's a question. I don't know who Geno Smith is right now. Better feats, if he can be average, then the Jets are, the Jets have a better roster right now than the dolphins. Fair enough. Okay, this is an interesting one. Let's say that Malik is healthy and he plays all every game.

24:35Let's say two for some reason ends up being the starter in Atlanta all season and he was healthy for every game. Who do you, for, for see having more passing touchdowns this season? Well, if two is healthy all year in the starter all year, considering who he has around him, which again, I mentioned Kurt Cousins struggling last, the last two years in Atlanta. When you got the best running back, perhaps in the league, you have Drake London, you go pits, tight end. There's some playmakers on Atlanta's off. So if two is healthy and playing all year, I don't think that's going to happen either of those, but let's save for this conversation that happens. That means he's playing pretty well and he's got the playmakers to have more touchdowns than I think Malik Willis does. Got it. Yeah, I mean, I keep going back to preseason where he fumbled that snap and I'm like,

25:39Oh, good old to a old faithful. I think he's done. I really do. And I don't say that with rank or bitterness or the ex-girlfriend going to another or boyfriend going to another town. It's just you saw how he finished here and you're looking now in preseason that the game is the opener where he really didn't want to. He was seeing contact and all he didn't want to see that his arm isn't what it was never a strong arm, but it was a capable arm here, average arm. And that's not so I really think I think he's done. Are you going to be since it's a one o'clock game watching that Falcon's game to see how his performance is? Oh, I'm sure. I mean, let's I got this Sunday ticket. I'll be watching several games. So that'll be one. And let's face it, that's. Can't help it. Part of the misery of the dolphin fans is watching what the ex dolphins do.

26:43And typically, you know, it speaks to the talent they've accrued here and let go to typically they don't do a lot somewhere else. Yeah. Yeah. All right. And then what is your super bowl prediction? Who from the AFC will be playing? Who from the NFC? And I know we are just so far from that. But you had to, you know, have your crystal ball out. Who do you got there? Yeah. If I was predicted and it's almost like I feel like I'm going with the chalk here. Yeah. I don't know what else to do. Denver. I think there for all the reason I mentioned earlier, they're set up and feel like they let one get away from them. Unluckily last year with when Bo Nick's got hurt. And then the Rams, I mean, what they've done and the top end talent they have and then getting Aaron Donald back for what maybe 15 plays, 20 plays a game they can use them.

27:45So I think here from the crystal ball view of early September, that's my pick now. Can you look at Sam Darnel goes out? We haven't heard how serious that injury is. Right. You know, can Seattle recover? They can recover in one game. Can they recover over a 10 game stretch if it becomes that? All right. And final question. Do you want to make a prediction score prediction on this Miami versus Vegas game? Well, I predicted the dolphins win, but that's I'm rooting with my interests in hand there in that what I mentioned earlier. I don't want the conversation to be on one, oh, and two, and three, oh, and four, and then you start getting a new historic and downer. I've been through those seasons. Everybody has a fear of dolphin fan and they're no fun. So I'd like to get this win out of the way.

28:48And so I'm I'm it's not even a matchup thing. It's just an emotional thing where I want the dolphins to win. So I'm going to pick them to win and hope karma. My little 1% of of karma in this game helps it. So yeah, I predict I'll predict the dolphins 2117. Well, I'm going 2013. So we we will see how we do coming into next week. So well, this has been great. We are both Dave and I so excited to be able to talk dolphins football with you all each week. Again, we'll be back next week. We'll touch a little bit about how this game plays out in in Vegas and then talk to you about the upcoming week, a game, the following week. So make sure you are tuned in and subscribe to dolphins talk so that you don't miss a thing. Dave, are you ready for this season? I'm ready. I'm ready. Marissa will be bringing it to every Thursday.

29:48So it'll be fun. I can't wait. And again, Marissa Marino, you can follow me at must be Marissa 87. Dave Hyde, you can follow him on Twitter at Dave Hyde Sports and subscribe to his substack at Davehyde.substack.com. To everybody out there in dolphins nation, I wish you the best day ever looking forward to this next game and Dave, any parting words? No, I mean, parting words is patience this year. I'm afraid. But you know what, game one, you can game one, you don't want to have patience. So it'd be excited. Yeah, there you go. Be excited. We might be able to get one in the bag. Well, we hope everyone has a great day and fins up. This episode of the dolphins talk dot com podcast was brought to you by Keynes Wear. Everyone go to Keyneswear dot com for the best. I'm most affordable Miami dolphins apparel on the internet. They have you covered. If you need a Miami dolphins head hoodie t shirt polo or anything with a Miami dolphins logo on it for the home office or any type of apparel.

30:49They also have stuff for the Miami Hurricanes, the Florida Panthers, the Miami Heat and the Miami Marlins. If you're in South Florida, stop by their shop at 2655 South University Drive in Davey, Florida. Keyneswear has it all. Keyneswear dot com. You're one stop shop for all of the best Miami dolphins apparel on the internet. If you liked the show, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe. It really does help the show to grow. Thank you for listening.