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Recapping the Miami Dolphins' Week 1 loss to the Raiders with NFL broadcaster Josh Appel.
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00:00Josh Appel, radio play-by-play broadcaster nationally for the NFL, heard on Sports USA.
00:07He's off this coming weekend, but week three, he'll be on the call for Raiders and Saints.
00:12We just saw the Raiders.
00:14Week four, he'll have the Rams and the Eagles.
00:17That'll be a good matchup there if the Rams get things going.
00:20But let's talk about the Dolphins yesterday, Josh.
00:23Give them a letter grade.
00:24What letter grade would you give the Dolphins?
00:26Overall letter grade, we can get into coaching and offense and defense and all that stuff.
00:31But overall letter grade for the Dolphins, yesterday's game against Vegas.
00:36I love this.
00:37I'm going to go D-plus yesterday for the Dolphins.
00:42D-plus.
00:46I get a D-plus for radio.
00:47I don't know how to turn my mic on.
00:50I'm like, are you pointing at me?
00:51Is my microphone on?
00:53No, I was just giving Crowder a little heads up that his mic is muted.
00:57Hey, man, I'm in a closet.
00:58I've been up all day.
00:59I'm a little flustered right now.
01:00Your skin looks great, though.
01:03Does your skin look great?
01:04I took my black oil seed.
01:06I don't know if it's the camera.
01:07I don't know if he's got a filter working, but his skin looks terrific.
01:11Milk thistle.
01:12I take milk thistle.
01:16Josh, what takes it from an episode?
01:18You told me what season, when week one, we're talking about milk thistle.
01:23What makes it not an F?
01:25I was going to ask what's the highest grade, but what makes it not an F?
01:28Because there wasn't anything impressive.
01:30I think that Jacob Rodriguez had a good game.
01:34I think that Caleb Douglas had a good game.
01:36And I think there were enough flashes from what I would consider performance from Alec Willis
01:44that I'm like, okay, that was not F quarterback play from Alec Willis.
01:49As a whole, there was enough there that it wasn't a total abject disaster,
01:55while also noting they lost by one of the worst teams in the league going into the season by two
02:04touchdowns.
02:05So, Malik Willis, I think the number one objective this season for the Miami Dolphins organization
02:12is to figure out whether or not Malik Willis is franchise caliber worthy.
02:17Did anything you saw from him yesterday, because you said it wasn't a great performance,
02:22did anything you see from Malik Willis yesterday indicate that the Dolphins perhaps have found
02:28their answer at quarterback?
02:29And it's only week one, I realize that, but it wasn't necessarily the big splash I think
02:35we were all hoping for.
02:36No, I think that he had some stretches of the game yesterday where he was pretty good
02:41and showed, all right, like I've sat behind one of the game's best offensive minds,
02:47say what you want about what's happening in Green Bay right now,
02:50but Matt LaFleur is viewed as one of the better offensive minds in the league.
02:53I sat behind a good quarterback in Jordan Love, and now I get the keys
02:57with not a lot of help around me.
02:59And I think he showed some flashes there.
03:02I mean, how refreshing is it to have a quarterback for the Dolphins
03:05that at any point when a play breaks down, he's able to maneuver out of the pocket
03:10and make things happen with his legs.
03:12Not that they've got a Lamar Jackson back there or anything,
03:14but just that it's a threat is a nice thing for the Dolphins to have.
03:19I think where you really start to separate, all right, is this a guy or is this not a guy?
03:24You get a 70-yard kick return, you start in the red zone,
03:27and you come away with no points, you settle for a field goal.
03:30Solana's boy, Riley Patterson, shanks a 41-yarder,
03:33and then they get the Dante Trader interception early in the fourth quarter.
03:37How about Jason Knight don't get caught?
03:38How about that?
03:39Right, that too.
03:41How about just getting the ends up?
03:43Some running back.
03:46They get caught by a special teamer, honestly.
03:48And then they had the Trader interception.
03:50By the way, that just doesn't happen.
03:52Never.
03:52You get past the kicker and you're gone.
03:53Right?
03:54Like the booster jets come on, and I don't know what happened there.
03:59Look at that.
04:00There's Ryan Clark.
04:01That's a Ryan Clark sighting.
04:04I knew I would see him.
04:05I saw Ryan Clark.
04:08I was watching Pivot Mondays.
04:11Good-looking man, ain't it?
04:12He's a good-looking man.
04:14Hey, Josh, where did the Dolphins?
04:16I was joking.
04:16I'm not really joking.
04:17Can a brother get a flea flicker?
04:20If you know you can't just go man for man, like, why run plays like you're a playoff team?
04:28Do something fun.
04:29Do something more than what I watched.
04:32I think that you just stumbled upon a new T-shirt or sweatshirt for HawkLovesAvocadoToast.com.
04:40Can a brother get a flea flicker?
04:43I just –
04:45I can't even go more campaign.
04:50Dolphins' entire 2026-2027 season should just be – my brother get a flea flicker.
04:59Something make me excited.
05:03There was a sequence, I think it was in the first half, maybe it was early third quarter, where the
05:09Dolphins had a fourth and four-ish, I want to say, in a spot where, like, maybe you'd think about
05:15going for it.
05:16Like, I know Jeff Halfley's a defensive-minded coach, and those guys tend to err on the conservative side of
05:22those types of situations.
05:23But to your point, besides games, which, I mean, in the long run is probably better for this team, what
05:29do they have to lose?
05:30Like, be aggressive and try and be fun.
05:34People are going to talk about Devon Achan and only 11 carries or only 11 touches.
05:39I mean, when you're down multiple scores the entire game, you're not going to sit there and hand the ball
05:44off.
05:46And Chop Robinson, did he play?
05:50Like, Kirk Cousins early on did a really nice job of – he was dropping back, he was getting rid
05:55of it as soon as he hit his back foot in his drop.
05:57Hard to get a pass rush when they're getting rid of the ball that quickly.
06:00We saw that a lot when Tua was the Dolphins quarterback.
06:03But my goodness, they could not get close, close to Kirk Cousins.
06:10And so, like, that is concerning.
06:12I'm not here to make sweeping, you know, comments on one game.
06:18And I see a lot of, well, where's the win going to come?
06:22And I see people that are surprised by this performance.
06:24I mean, did it not look like a team that is, one, very young, number two,
06:29put together with less than half of the NFL salary cap in paid dollars to guys who are actually here?
06:36I mean, to me, that's what it looked like with a quarterback who's starting for the first time as the
06:40guy somewhere with no weapons.
06:42So, like, I don't know really how we could have expected anything differently here.
06:47But the guys that you need to make a jump, Chop Robinson, like, that was not an encouraging performance.
06:56Like, with Malik Willis, you could say, all right, there were a few plays here and there.
06:59We were like, all right, there was a flash there.
07:01Like, I could see something here.
07:02With Chop, I mean, there was nothing.
07:06He was dominated the whole game.
07:07He cannot be non-existent game after game.
07:10They will give up points like crazy.
07:13Like, he cannot have a game like that on a regular basis.
07:17But I would ask you, like, when you watch yesterday,
07:20did you get the feeling after game one that this is an epically bad team?
07:24Or do you get a feeling that, hey, you know, give it a little bit of time.
07:29They'll start to gel.
07:31Jeff Halfley will get more comfortable working within the parameters of the roster.
07:37Malik Willis, you and I were talking last night.
07:39He'll let it fly a little bit more instead of waiting for a receiver to get open.
07:45Like, take some chances.
07:46Like you said, get aggressive, take some chances.
07:48Like, it all comes together.
07:50Now, when I say comes together, I don't mean they go on a six-game win streak.
07:53Like, no, but I mean, it's like, is it epically bad what we're on the precipice of?
07:59Or is this something that's a work in progress?
08:02Well, it might be both.
08:05There's going to be early in this season, that 59-10 type game that the Dolphins lost
08:11in the opener to the Ravens.
08:12Like, when they play Buffalo, like it could happen this week when they go to San Francisco.
08:16Like, it could happen against the 49ers.
08:20Yesterday wasn't that.
08:21It was a team that had, unfortunately, there were veterans who made these mistakes,
08:27multiple holding penalties on the offensive line.
08:29They didn't have a good game, which is not.
08:32I was expecting that group to be a quote-unquote strength of this team,
08:36and they were at best inconsistent and average, I would say, against the Raiders yesterday.
08:41But there's so many, such little room for error that, you know, when Juju Brents, as, I don't
08:51want to use the word controversial, but the unsportsmanlike call was a little bit skinny,
08:56I think we can say.
08:58They're not good enough to get a stop on third down, have it taken away by a dumb penalty,
09:03and then get a stop after that.
09:04They're just not at that point yet.
09:06They don't have room for those types of errors.
09:08And against Kirk Cousins, the end result might be like, oh, we had a couple chances there
09:12to maybe make this a game late.
09:14But when you play the Niners and the Chiefs and whoever else they have up coming on the
09:18schedule, you might see a 59-10 type performance.
09:24But you say put it together.
09:27That team put it together, Hawk.
09:28They finished with five wins.
09:29If I had told you after they lost 59-10 to the Ravens week one in 2019 under Brian Flores
09:35that they'd finish with five wins, including ruining Tom Brady's final season in New England,
09:41like you would have called me crazy.
09:42And that's what we're all doing here.
09:43That one felt like we were on the precipice of an epically bad season.
09:48I didn't feel that way yesterday.
09:50No, and I think that has a lot to do with just the Raiders.
09:53I think the Raiders are kind of better than they were last year.
09:57Certainly on paper they are.
09:59But good luck with that offense and Kirk Cousins and that division and really strong AFC in
10:05general.
10:06They have a tough schedule too.
10:10Yeah, it's going to be a long season, but I don't know why we expected anything else.
10:14We're preparing ourselves this entire time and this entire offseason and preseason
10:18and training camp where, hey, like this is not going to be fun to watch and follow.
10:22And then it happens.
10:24I don't want to say we're surprised, but I mean, what else were we expecting?
10:28And look, again, I know people are saying, well, where is the wind going to come?
10:33Where are the winds going to come?
10:34In 2020, the Jets were 0-13 and they went to the Rams late in the season and they beat
10:43the Rams.
10:44The NFL is weird.
10:46It's weird as hell.
10:47There is a reason there have only ever been two winless seasons in the history of the league.
10:55It's just sometimes the game that you want to play that you're striving for, you do it
11:00the one time out of 17 games and on that day, it just works for you to win.
11:04Crowder, I don't know what you felt in the 0-7 season.
11:07Did it get to a point where you were like, well, where's the wind coming?
11:11Did you expect to beat the Ravens that day?
11:13I mean, right.
11:14Like it's going to happen at some point.
11:16That's just the NFL.
11:17So I think like we're overreacting a little bit when we say things like, well, where's
11:23the wind going to come from?
11:24I don't know where it's going to, but the likelihood that at least one or two happen is
11:28kind of high, honestly.
11:30I contemplated popping Cam Cameron's tires every day.
11:33I just wanted to inconvenience him for an hour if I could, because he was so terrible.
11:40You think Cam Cameron could change a tire?
11:42No, he couldn't.
11:43Really?
11:44He couldn't make a Lego house.
11:46This man, I know, he was so terrible.
11:50Most NFL head coaches, I would submit to you, could probably change a tire, but I don't
11:55know about Cam Cameron.
11:56Because he's not an NFL head coach.
11:58Right.
11:59He actually didn't get another job after we fired him because he shouldn't have been
12:02in the league.
12:02You think Mike McDaniel could change a tire?
12:05Nah, a little too heavy for him.
12:08He's a smaller human.
12:10Did you guys see, I want Mike McDaniel to do well with the Chargers, but did you guys
12:15see the reputation laundering that was going on for him in the pregame shows before the
12:23game?
12:23I forget which interview or which outlet had this quote or interview or this scoop, whatever
12:28you want to call it.
12:29Oh, Mike McDaniel has told people that he has these plays that he's never been able to call
12:34in his playbook in his entire career.
12:37And they start yesterday looking like that against the Arizona Cardinals.
12:41I mean, when do we get to the secret plays?
12:46Like, what was that?
12:48And Hawk's going to hate this thought.
12:50But you're talking about teams like the Dolphins are susceptible to getting 60 put on them.
12:56Shorten the game.
12:57Like, go two tight ends.
12:59Run the ball.
13:00Four yards in a cloud of dust.
13:01Just kind of move it down the field.
13:03Don't give them 14 series, give them nine series, and just kind of see if you can keep
13:08it close.
13:09Crowder, I know that I said, you know, you're going to hand the ball off less when you're
13:12down multiple scores.
13:13But when I say multiple scores, it was really never more than a two possession game.
13:17I think that they got a little pass happy a little too early.
13:20It wasn't, you know, midway through the fourth quarter where you're trying to get quick
13:23scores.
13:24You had time, especially after you go down 24, 13, you know, mid to late third, you don't
13:29have to immediately abandon the running game.
13:32I just, 17-6 also, like, I don't know.
13:35I feel like, I know towards the end, the play calling dictated how many runs you used
13:41Devon A. Chan for.
13:43But I'm with you.
13:45Like, they're going to have to chew up clock to beat some of these teams and keep that
13:48defense off the field as long as they can.
13:50And Devon A. Chan's your best player.
13:51Might as well put it in his hands.
13:54I'm with you.
13:54I just want to make sure I have this correct.
13:56You guys are calling for the prevent offense?
13:59No, Huck.
14:00Yes.
14:00Huck, if I see a second and six, what?
14:04A third and two?
14:06Are you kidding me?
14:07No, you'd like, okay, I got you.
14:09By the way, I just, in this segment, I have said, yeah, let's be aggressive.
14:13What do you got to lose?
14:14But I've also said, and that often did run from the line.
14:18I want to see a dulcet heavy offense.
14:22Well, now, goal line on the 50?
14:24Let's get it.
14:27No, I was just going to say, they tried to run the ball, pal.
14:29They couldn't.
14:30I mean, 3.3 yards per rush for Devon A. Chan, I don't know what's more concerning.
14:34You touched on Chop Robinson and really that front four overall.
14:39Like, Jordan Phillips didn't do anything in that game.
14:42No.
14:42Josh Uche didn't really do anything in that game.
14:45They didn't touch Kirk Cousins.
14:46But the offensive line was pretty concerning as well because you could not run the ball.
14:51And if you can't do either of those two things, you're right.
14:53That 49-10 burger is coming.
14:56Yeah.
14:56And so the tackles, I think, got worse as the game went on.
15:00And I know that, especially in the second half when they were just dropping back every down,
15:05I had texted Hawk about this.
15:07It felt like Malik Willis was holding onto the ball for so long.
15:12And that will make the offensive line look like they can't protect because he's getting close to getting hit every
15:17time.
15:18But I also don't know how much that has to do with, well, is there really anybody getting open consistently
15:23down the field for him to throw to?
15:24Like, you're going to have plays where Caleb Douglas is designed well and he's wide open over the middle.
15:28Chris Bell had a nice catch too.
15:29Like, those plays are going to happen.
15:31But on a consistent basis, if he's searching for a guy, he's going to hold onto the ball longer.
15:35I know he said afterwards he'd like to, you know, speed that process up a bit.
15:39But, yeah, that was concerning from Austin Jackson.
15:42That wasn't great from Patrick Paul.
15:44It felt like a step back for him specifically.
15:47Proctor was fine.
15:48I mean, it was up and down, but Proctor was fine.
15:51Disappointing that Aaron Brewer, your all-pro center, who's one of your pillars, is committing back-breaking penalties in the
15:57middle of a drive.
15:58And, like, that kind of stuff sucks.
16:00I didn't feel like Jonah was terrible, but look what the result was.
16:04You know, they had chances to score more than 13 points.
16:07They didn't.
16:08And they lost by what many think is one of the other bottom three teams in the league by two
16:12scores.
16:13So, I mean, it's going to be like that this season.
16:15It just is what it is.
16:17It couldn't have been any other way.
16:19I mean, that's just the reality of it.
16:21Yeah.
16:21It is what it is.
16:22Congratulations, by the way, Josh, on your USF Bulls.
16:26I mean, when that ball, I don't know if anybody saw it, Army sent zero blitz on fourth and five
16:32with 25 seconds left.
16:33They ran a go-route down the sideline.
16:35It worked great.
16:37The ball was in the air and in my head.
16:39What the blitz?
16:41With 25 seconds left, we're going fade down the sideline.
16:46Get five yards and keep the game going.
16:48Kick a field goal.
16:49And then he caught it for a touchdown.
16:50And it was the best thing ever.
16:52It was great.
16:53Real quick.
16:53We have, like, 30 seconds left.
16:55Is there any possibility that the Marlins make the postseason?
16:59If they go 9-0 on this road trip, I think.
17:02As Solana mentioned.
17:03Yeah.
17:04Yeah.
17:04I'm with Solana.
17:05It's going to be really tough.
17:06A really cool moment.
17:06A really cool weekend.
17:07Dontrell Day.
17:08Teal Sundays.
17:09Walk off.
17:10Gus Buss.
17:10Choo-choo.
17:11Great stuff from the Marlins.
17:13Choo-choo.
17:14Well, I believe that's a nod to Gus Buss himself holding up a bus and going, choo-choo, into
17:23the Marlins social media.
17:24Oh, I didn't see that.
17:25I thought that was Josh describing the weekend.
17:28No, no.
17:29That was a curious way to describe the weekend.
17:32Yeah.
17:32All right.
17:33So, to recap.
17:35Dolphins, expect more of this.
17:37Run a prevent offense.
17:40But also be aggressive.
17:42Be aggressive.
17:43Run a prevent offense.
17:45Try to chew up some clock.
17:47And get a mother, get a flea flicker.
17:48And a mother, a flea flicker.
17:51USF Bulls and Brian Hartline doing miracle work in Tampa.
17:57They really missed Tutu Atwell, I think, yesterday.
17:59I used that line at the beginning of the show.
18:01Damn it.
18:02Well, I texted it to you.
18:03I stole it from you.
18:04I stole it from you.
18:05Josh Chappelle, always appreciate your time.
18:08Thank you, Josh.
18:08Thanks, guys.
18:09I mean.
18:11I mean.
18:11He's wearing the sweatshirt.
18:13I mean.
18:14You can get yours at HawkLovesAvocadoToast.com.
18:18You can also get your starting quarterback since Marino t-shirt because now it's official.
18:26Malik has started a game.
18:27So, that t-shirt actually is official.
18:30And it's available at HawkLovesAvocadoToast.com.
18:35Thank you, Josh.
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