00:00Ben Volan is on the Toyota of Hollywood hotline.
00:04He's the senior NFL writer for the Boston Globe,
00:08and he witnessed the Dolphins-Patriots game.
00:12What were your thoughts after the game, Ben?
00:14Did it solidify what you had thought about the Dolphins
00:18after the preseason and week one and the Patriots,
00:22or did you see something different Sunday where you said,
00:25oh, this is interesting, I didn't realize this team was blank?
00:30I mean, I guess both teams showed me something different in that
00:33Tua and the Dolphins' offense didn't just completely fold up
00:39like they did the week before in Indianapolis.
00:42They had a pretty good day. Tua came away with good numbers.
00:45The Dolphins couldn't get it together at the end.
00:49And the Patriots' defense, again, I thought this would be the unit
00:52that they could hang their hat on, and second week in a row,
00:55the Patriots' defense has been picked apart.
00:58And, you know, they made a couple plays at the end,
01:01but if Devon Achan doesn't step out of bounds,
01:03I mean, the Dolphins very well are winning that game.
01:07So I guess surprised to see the Dolphins do a little bit better
01:10than everyone's talking about, and the Patriots do worse.
01:13You know, that said, I think the final drive by the Dolphins says it all.
01:16I mean, the Dolphins had multiple delayed game penalties,
01:19had to use a timeout when the clock was stopped,
01:22like couldn't get the calls in, just complete dysfunction,
01:25which is what I expected of the Dolphins this year.
01:28It just doesn't ever – it didn't ever seem like Mike McDaniel, you know,
01:31really had command over the team.
01:33And to see the Dolphins just kind of, you know, puking on their own feet,
01:39you know, on the last drive there was just, you know,
01:41the epitome of all that, I guess.
01:43So, you know what, I think the Dolphins did show some fight,
01:47but, you know, obviously, as you guys know, they have a long way to go
01:51and are facing a pretty tough task this week in Buffalo.
01:55Hey, Ben, a long way to go after four years.
01:58That kind of puts a bad taste in my mouth.
02:0125 years.
02:02Well, with McDaniel for four years, Ben, I just – I watched –
02:09because I watched the – there was Atlanta-Minnesota game that night,
02:12and I'm like, okay, these are two first-year starters.
02:14They have to have some, you know, some process problems throughout the game.
02:19And Pennix, they couldn't get the call in the Pennix,
02:22and Pennix started cussing and yelling at the sideline.
02:26And then J.J. McCarthy – J.J. McCarthy threw a – he threw a bad ball,
02:31whatever, and Kevin O'Connell went crazy on him.
02:34Am I making too much of that?
02:35Because you never see Tua get mad.
02:37You never see McDaniel get mad.
02:40You never see that uncomfortable situation that I think make teams better.
02:45Well, you know, and if anyone was the king of that, it was Tom Brady.
02:50I mean, he would always get fiery on the sidelines.
02:53I hate being the body language police, though, Channing.
02:56I mean, with Tua – you know, every player is different.
02:58Every player gets pumped up differently.
03:01I think it's pretty clear that the Dolphins believe that Tua needs a lot
03:04of positive reinforcement.
03:06I mean, you've seen that now for the last four years,
03:08ever since they got rid of Brian Flores.
03:10Maybe he does need some harder coaching.
03:14I just think with the Dolphins, like, the owner, Stephen Ross,
03:19just doesn't do a good job of recognizing when a run has come to an end.
03:23And he always holds a coach on, like, a year too long.
03:26Like, he kept Tony Sperano too long and fired him midseason.
03:29Did the same thing with Joe Philbin.
03:31And it seems like the same thing is going to happen with Mike McDaniel.
03:33You could see the train coming off the track toward the end of last season.
03:37And the fact that these guys have never been able to win in December
03:40in January under Mike McDaniel.
03:42Like, there were clear signs that his program had run its course
03:46and it was time to start over.
03:48And instead, Stephen Ross just tried to run it back
03:50and hope to, you know, catch lightning in a bottle, I guess.
03:54And here we are, and it's going to be the same old thing.
03:56They're going to start 0-3 probably.
03:58They go 1-5.
04:00Mike McDaniel is going to lose his job,
04:01and you have to finish out the season with another interim head coach.
04:04So, it's just, it feels like the more things change,
04:07the more they stay the same.
04:08And, you know, it's just the definition of insanity down there in Miami.
04:12And what do you do, Ben, if you're the Dolphins in this case?
04:15It seems like you're speaking like it's inevitable that this is going to happen.
04:19What do you do then with Tua Tungabailoa?
04:21I mean, if you're the Dolphins, you paid them.
04:24You kind of have to play them at least this season
04:27and then maybe next season as well as, like, a stopgap.
04:30Like, do you just go start drafting quarterbacks?
04:32Like, how do you see the future of the organization
04:35as it pertains to Tua and his long-term future in Miami?
04:40I mean, it looks like they're stuck with him.
04:42I haven't looked at his contract in the last, like, couple weeks.
04:46I remember looking at it over the summer
04:47and trying to find all the ways that the Dolphins could get out.
04:51And, I mean, they're mostly stuck with the guy.
04:54You know, they might be able to pull what the Broncos did with Russell Wilson,
04:58where they basically paid him $37 million to go away,
05:02and he played for free, basically, for the Steelers next year.
05:05I mean, I guess the Dolphins could try to buy Tua out,
05:09but it's like $53 million or $55 million, which is a lot.
05:13And good luck even finding a team willing to take half of that.
05:16I don't think many teams around the league even want Tua at $30 to $35 million.
05:21They'd rather either, you know, find a cheaper veteran
05:24that they could try to rehabilitate like a Daniel Jones
05:27or draft their own guy for a fraction of the cost.
05:30So, I think that was a very misguided contract extension
05:33that the Dolphins signed with Tua.
05:35I think they panicked.
05:36They could have waited longer with him.
05:38And they're locked in now,
05:40and there's not a whole lot they can do about it.
05:42Is there a pathway, Ben, for Thursday night to not be embarrassed?
05:48I'm not even saying to win.
05:49I was saying to Solana when the show started,
05:53Thursday night to me feels like a TV show
05:56that I can't wait to see the next episode,
05:59whether it was The Office or Seinfeld, whatever it was.
06:03Sopranos, right?
06:03When Sopranos was on and you couldn't wait for Sunday night
06:07because you thought you knew what was going to happen,
06:10but they always had amazing twists.
06:14And I feel that way about Thursday night.
06:16I think I know what's going to happen, man.
06:19And they telegraphed it to me in the previous episodes.
06:23And somehow I always ended up being surprised.
06:26Is there a pathway to me being surprised Thursday night?
06:30It probably involves Josh Allen getting stuck in traffic
06:35or breaking his nose further or, I mean, a natural disaster.
06:42Some sort of act of God is probably what it's going to take
06:47for the Dolphins to pull this off.
06:49You know, the Bills, their defense looked problematic in week one,
06:53but that was against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
06:55I mean, Tua, I just don't think is going to provide the same type of issues
07:00for the Bills' defense.
07:03You know, the Bills' offense, I don't know if it's totally clicking yet,
07:08either with Josh Allen and kind of his weapons,
07:11where it does feel like he might need more help at receiver
07:14as the season goes on.
07:16So maybe the Dolphins, you know, can clamp down on Josh Allen.
07:21But it's not like the Dolphins' defense has done anything through two weeks.
07:24So I don't know how you could have confidence in that.
07:27I think just make drinking games out of the game and just try to have fun
07:30because if you're expecting the Dolphins to win,
07:32I think you're going to be, you know, pretty upset about it.
07:35Just try to have fun, Ben.
07:36That's a great way to watch a game.
07:38Go to the cheetah.
07:38Try to have fun.
07:39Go to the cheetah, man.
07:40That's exactly what I was saying.
07:42Ben, AFC East, Drake May, because you've been high on Drake May.
07:46Now you've seen him a couple games.
07:48He looks like, hell, he was Michael Vick against the Dolphins,
07:51but it was the Dolphins' defense with that secondary.
07:54Is Drake what you've been selling us, I'll say?
07:58What you've been selling us last year and this year,
08:00is Drake May coming around to be one of those guys?
08:02Well, I think, like, I have a lot more, you know,
08:08higher expectations for him than I did for Mac Jones.
08:11And you could see it just in that two-play stretch in the third quarter
08:14where, first, he stepped up in the pocket, avoided the rush,
08:18and threw a perfect pass down the field to Ramondre Stevenson in stride,
08:2255-yard play.
08:24I mean, Mac Jones was not making plays like that,
08:26didn't have the physical skills, really, to be making plays like that.
08:29And the Patriots didn't have much of a downfield threat, you know,
08:32the last few years.
08:33But Drake May has had a couple of these downfield-type passes now.
08:37So that was big time.
08:38And then two plays later, he, you know,
08:40outruns Matthew Judon around the corner and scampers into the end zone.
08:44The Patriots haven't had a quarterback with athleticism like Drake May has, too.
08:48So he's still very young.
08:50He's only 23 years old.
08:51The game on Sunday was just the second time in his career
08:55he won a game that he started and finished.
08:57So, you know, that was a big step for Drake May.
09:01And, you know, the Patriots, I think they really simplified things.
09:04It was a lot of, like, quick throws over the middle to the slot receiver
09:07and the tight end.
09:09It was not the – he had some of the fewest air yards in the league this week.
09:14So it was a lot of, like, quick, short throws.
09:17Josh McDaniels did a good job of simplifying things
09:20and making it so that Drake May could just kind of make one read
09:23and know where to go with the ball.
09:24So, you know, a nice performance from him and a good stepping stone.
09:29But obviously no one's ready to call him the franchise quarterback yet.
09:33Hey, Ben, big picture in the AFC.
09:35You're talking about the Bills and Josh Allen.
09:37Obviously, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson,
09:40probably the two favorites to win the AFC this season
09:43with Kansas City starting 0-2.
09:45A, are you buying the Chiefs with their current core,
09:49their runs kind of over after the two losses?
09:51And, B, is it now or never for Josh Allen and the Bills?
09:55Like, it has to be this season for them?
09:59No, I still don't see it as now or never just because, what is Josh Allen, 29 years old?
10:03I mean, he should have – he still has a pretty long runway ahead of him.
10:07You know, he might have to change his style a little bit as he gets older.
10:10But I don't see it as now or never for Josh Allen.
10:13It might be now or never for Sean McDermott,
10:15who I think the owner there has shown more than enough patience
10:19for Sean McDermott to see if he can get the team to the Super Bowl.
10:22And if he can't, I mean, I think it's kind of one of those
10:25Tony Dungy, John Gruden situations where the Bills,
10:28if they don't do it this year, they should look to find a new coach
10:31who can take them over the top.
10:34As far as the Chiefs, I am buying that they're done.
10:36They look dead, man.
10:38They look like the same team that got blown out of the Super Bowl.
10:40The only offense they have is when Mahomes runs around
10:43and improvises something.
10:45They're throwing to this guy Tyquan Thornton,
10:47who wasn't even good enough to make the Patriots last year.
10:49He was, you know, released by the Patriots,
10:52and now he's the Chiefs' deep threat.
10:54They need to call the Dolphins like yesterday and go get Tyreek Hill.
10:58I think the Dolphins would love to get rid of Tyreek Hill,
11:01and I think the Chiefs could handle bringing a guy like that back,
11:05and they need, you know, some more playmakers for Patrick Mahomes.
11:09They'll get Rasheed Rice back, but they still need someone like Tyreek Hill.
11:13So the Chiefs and Dolphins, like, they really need to get that trade done.
11:17And it's been, let's say we, I don't know, like you said,
11:23Josh Allen gets a flat tire and can't play the first half.
11:27They go one and two because I don't think they have a chance
11:31of beating the Bills in Buffalo on a short week.
11:34But, like, should the Tyreek Hill trade just be inevitable
11:38no matter what the schedule is?
11:40Because he can still play.
11:42Like, Tyreek would get something back for you.
11:45You can't trade, you know, you can't trade Darren Waller for something,
11:49but Tyreek would get you a couple picks back.
11:51Is that an inevitable trade for the Dolphins?
11:54I think so, and I think the return will be based also off
11:58of how much contract the Dolphins are willing to eat.
12:01If they're willing to eat some salary,
12:02then they could definitely get a good pick back.
12:05But if they're expecting the Chiefs to pick up everything on his contract,
12:08then you're probably looking at a mid to a late round pick.
12:11Because I think everyone knows the Dolphins would love to get rid of Tyreek Hill
12:14because he's, as good as he's been on the field,
12:16he's just been such a headache for them and such a bad influence in the locker room.
12:20And I definitely think if they got rid of him,
12:22it could be one of those addition by subtraction things where, you know,
12:26now you're looking for other people for leadership
12:28who maybe are better suited for the role.
12:30And maybe Jalen Waddell can have more of an impact on the offense.
12:34I definitely think that trading Tyreek Hill is inevitable,
12:39and especially because I don't think the Dolphins' playoff chances
12:42are going to be that good throughout the season.
12:45Neither do we.
12:47Ben Volan from the Boston Globe.
12:49Thank you, Ben.
12:49We always appreciate your time.
12:51All right.
12:52Thanks a lot, guys.
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