- 11 minutes ago
Miami Herald columnist Omar Kelly joins The Joe Rose Show for his weekly Monday appearance to react to the Dolphins' loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, RB roster depth, De'Von Achane's injury status, and defensive strides.
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00:00Dolphins head coach Jeff Halfley there.
00:01It's time to head out to the Toyota of Hollywood hotline.
00:03Shop over 2,000 Toyotas on sale at one location.
00:06Toyota of Hollywood on 441 between Hollywood and Sheridan.
00:09Toyotaofhollywood.com.
00:10Joe.
00:11All right, Woody.
00:11We go right to him.
00:12A guy that was there to watch the game and hear the coach yesterday.
00:17Coach Halfley talking.
00:18You just heard it there.
00:19I'm talking about Omar Kelly, Miami Herald columnist.
00:22And as I say good morning to Omar.
00:25Omar, two running backs.
00:26I was a little surprised.
00:28We only had two running backs active.
00:30But then I forgot Malik Washington, who knows what everybody in the whole organization does,
00:36is incredible how smart a guy he is.
00:38Ends up helping him out when it looked like we weren't going to have any running backs
00:43until Ollie Gordon came back.
00:44Did that surprise you?
00:45They went with two active running backs?
00:48Yeah.
00:49It was absolutely something that I knew was going to be a problem at the beginning of the game.
00:54We went through that last season with Mike McDaniel,
00:57where there was a game where he decided to carry two running backs and both of them got hurt in
01:02the game.
01:03And so I learned a lesson from that game.
01:06So I knew the minute you carry two running backs, both of them are getting hurt.
01:10It's just the way the info works.
01:13I think we all, they came up and go, hey, we're going two running backs today.
01:16And I was like, ooh, are you sure?
01:20No, I was thinking the same thing.
01:22And then, you know, Malik, who really, I think, is playing really, really well this year,
01:26everything he's doing.
01:27But, hey, I want to ask you about the number one story.
01:31Devon Achan, who actually got off to a great start,
01:34had a nice run on the one he got injured on with that great speed getting outside.
01:40Do they think he's coming back this year?
01:42I got everybody already asking me.
01:44It didn't sound like Coach had high expectations for this one.
01:48It certainly didn't sound like he had high expectations.
01:51I'm hopeful and optimistic from the standpoint you rarely ever see a guy dressed in his clothes,
02:01in pads, watching the game on the sideline.
02:05He, you know, but then you never know.
02:08I mean, Chris Bell, when he got injured at Louisville,
02:10he continued to play in that game with a torn ACL.
02:13So you just absolutely never know.
02:16Hopefully this isn't the worst case scenario for Devon.
02:18Hopefully a lot of times they'll wait a day to see if things subside.
02:25And, you know, pray for miracles.
02:27Because realistically, while it's not going to be a disastrous thing for this organization
02:34in terms of where they are and what they're trying to do
02:38and what they're trying to achieve, which is gain and develop young players' talent
02:42and realistically get to the top of the NFL draft,
02:47losing your best player.
02:48And I think nobody would argue that Devon is their best player
02:52is never a good thing for any NFL team.
02:54Yeah.
02:55Yeah.
02:55Listen, the other story.
02:58And we did not get better from the Raiders to the 49er game.
03:02You know, my partner goes,
03:04All right, Joe, so what did you see improvement on today?
03:06And I went, uh...
03:08I disagree with you.
03:09I disagree with you.
03:10No, no, no.
03:10From the Raiders to the 49er game?
03:12Yeah, I think they stopped the run better.
03:14I think they stopped the run better.
03:16Special teams' coverage was not a disaster, which it was against the Raiders.
03:22There was a third element of the game that I can't remember.
03:25Oh, and they ran the ball better.
03:26I think those are the improvements that you saw from Raiders to 49ers.
03:31Okay.
03:32I mean, there were bits and pieces.
03:33The first half they did and had some nice numbers,
03:36but it just got wiped out in the second half.
03:39Oh, yeah.
03:39But yesterday, there was improvement after that first drive,
03:44really picked it up defensively and offensively.
03:48I mean, if you just look at the stats of this game, you go,
03:51wow, that game went right down to the end of the game.
03:55If you just look at...
03:56The final score does not indicate how close that game was,
03:59which was very interesting.
04:00This was a first fourth quarter game that the Dolphins have had.
04:04If you would have told me at the beginning of the season to pick their fourth quarter losses,
04:08I would have never put Kansas City on that list.
04:12You know, whether or not Kansas City probably took them lightly, I don't think so.
04:18But, you know, I mean, the fact that the crowd was there,
04:23it was kind of like a home game for Kansas City.
04:25A lot of Kansas City, yeah.
04:28So, I think that they improved from the standpoint, they stopped the run again.
04:32So, this is a consistent thing with them right now.
04:36They can stop the run for two straight weeks against two very good rushing teams.
04:41We didn't see any special teams disasters, which is a step in the right direction.
04:47You're talking yesterday, except for the penalties that Paul plays back.
04:52Yeah, but, I mean, that's field position.
04:54I mean, that's got to get cleaned up.
04:55I'm not going to sit here and go, well, young guys,
04:58they can hold a couple of times a game on special teams.
05:01I mean, we need good field position, that's all.
05:04I'm saying, we need the shoulder field.
05:05I'm looking at it from a coverage standpoint, and it's not disastrous.
05:10And I thought that they, you know, even though they lost,
05:14I thought that Malik running the ball was a step in the right direction, improvement.
05:20Obviously, playing the game without Caleb Douglas is not going to be an easy thing.
05:24I thought the receivers stepped up.
05:26Chris Bell stepped up.
05:27Malik Washington stepped up.
05:29But there's a next level from Malik Willis in terms of third down efficiency, third execution.
05:37There were a lot of fourth down plays that were just not very good.
05:43And sometimes that probably could have been helped out by play calling.
05:47But I thought that the defense played a much better game.
05:51They got pressure on the quarterback.
05:53They hit the quarterback.
05:55Stunts were working.
05:56That was an encouraging sign.
05:59That's something that you can build off.
06:00I thought Uche had a nice game, by the way.
06:02Had a couple of nice bull rushes, pancake the tackle.
06:06It was just a great effort.
06:07I thought he was good.
06:09And I agree with you.
06:10Play calling on both sides.
06:12And I got to tell you, I love it.
06:14The fourth down at midfield, I love going for it.
06:17With this team, I do.
06:19Hey, man, I believe in you guys.
06:22Go get it done.
06:23And keep guys going.
06:25It was an aggressive game plan.
06:26We were backed up.
06:27We're throwing the ball out.
06:28I thought it was fantastic.
06:30I like the thought process.
06:34Obviously, you haven't really had stops all season for three games.
06:39So giving this to your defense is not an ideal situation.
06:43But it would be nice if you would have seen some execution offensively and maybe had a run game.
06:49People don't realize, you know, without Malik Willis running, they averaged 2.8 yards per carry.
06:56He's a big part of what he does.
06:58Listen, he doesn't have to do much to get six yards.
07:01It's incredible that he can just take off and dance his way.
07:05And kind of, he's got an extra gear.
07:07He gets it quickly to get five or six yards and able to slide without taking big hits.
07:13I mean, there's some potentially big runs there.
07:16I understand.
07:17But he doesn't want to run, obviously, all the time.
07:19And, hey, man, the receivers, they should all like that.
07:23He's trying to buy time for them to get open, right?
07:26Down the field, there's potential big plays.
07:28He's not afraid one-on-one if a guy looks like he's covered to do what he did with Dulcich
07:33and throw it up where he can go find it when they're not sure where it is.
07:36Another positive.
07:37I thought the tight ends were much more impactful.
07:41I think that they can contribute a lot more than they have.
07:44Obviously, you're leaning on them a little bit more now that you're receiving core
07:48and your running backs are injured.
07:49But that's part of football.
07:51That's part of the game.
07:51You have to play to whatever your strengths are on that particular game
07:56and that particular week.
07:58So, yeah, we can get more out of the tight ends.
08:01I love the Chris Bell reception.
08:02I think that, you know, there's more there.
08:05Obviously, you saw him turn on the afterburners,
08:07even though he's been nursing the knee injury.
08:12I think this week, if they can improve coverage of the tight ends,
08:17because that's been a problem and disaster all season,
08:21and improve third-down efficiency and third-down defense, you know, to me,
08:26I'm baby steps.
08:27It's just small little improvements every single week.
08:30And you can get somewhere with this.
08:34They showed that they can be competitive.
08:37Yeah.
08:38That's a good point.
08:39They put together that by far first half,
08:42and then unlike the 49er game where they came out second half
08:46and, you know, made some mistakes and gave up 21 quick points.
08:49Man, they did not go away yesterday.
08:51They did not go away.
08:52Now, they shot themselves in the foot a little bit.
08:54I want to ask you about the chop call.
08:56I know Bo and I were on the phone last night,
08:58and he played that position.
09:00He goes, it's impossible from a guy straight ahead to get in front of him.
09:04Then he falls on him, and they call that, like, what are we doing?
09:06He didn't hit him in the head.
09:08Yeah.
09:08The goal is to get the quarterback down.
09:10But, you know, any other quarterback, you could make the argument.
09:15This is Patrick Mahomes.
09:16This is the golden goose.
09:18You know, Patrick Mahomes, when he got up
09:21and he started flinching for his back,
09:23you knew that the flag was going to be called.
09:25You can't touch the golden goose of the NFL.
09:28So, you think they're special calls?
09:30Woody's on this, too.
09:32Absolutely.
09:32No question.
09:33I mean, Kansas City is going to get every call that they could possibly get.
09:36That was a – I don't complain about calls
09:41because I think they even out during the season.
09:43But you're at home.
09:44You got no calls.
09:46And they got every call.
09:48But, like, I was surprised when Zach Seeler got a holding call.
09:52I was like, damn, he finally got a holding call.
09:54First time all season anybody's ever held Zach Seeler.
09:57Like, come on, man.
09:58Like, this is ridiculous.
10:01You didn't have a problem with the Michael Taft holding Travis Kelsey.
10:04That's a penalty.
10:06That's a penalty.
10:07I mean, yeah.
10:08I mean –
10:09It is.
10:09I mean, you make a great play.
10:11Jordan Brooks, you know, like I said, I loved the play calling yesterday.
10:14It was aggressive.
10:15And they're dialing up different stuff to try to get pressure on him.
10:19But I look up and I see the replay and I go, yeah, man,
10:22he's got his arms around him.
10:24I don't know if he didn't think it was.
10:27And this is part of the problem.
10:29Like, it's Michael Taft versus Travis Kelsey.
10:31That is.
10:32And it's Michael Taft versus –
10:33He's not a cover guy.
10:35I totally agree.
10:35I thought the same thing.
10:37Yeah.
10:37But what are you going to do?
10:40Like, are you – he is your best coverage safety.
10:43So, exactly what are you going to do when this is just a situation that the
10:48Dolphins are going to be in all season where – and the funny thing is,
10:51I like Michael Taft, I think he's probably the guy that's showing the most
10:55progress on a week-to-week basis.
10:57I think he's played well.
10:59They love him.
10:59Yeah.
10:59No, no, no.
11:00I got you.
11:01I'm not saying that.
11:02I'm just saying that play – I was talking about one specific play that –
11:05The problem is he's just an athletically limited guy.
11:08And it's – it's – it's Kelsey.
11:10It's Kittle.
11:12Kelsey looks a lot better this year than I thought he looked last year.
11:15I don't know.
11:15Last year, I wasn't sold, but he came back on a mission.
11:18He looks – run after catch, he surprised me a little bit.
11:23This is – them and the 49ers, this is their window.
11:26I mean, those are two teams that –
11:27Rams.
11:28Rams in there, too, on the window program.
11:30Yeah.
11:31I'm with you.
11:31No, no.
11:32There's a couple teams that are like, we got to get her done right now.
11:35Hey, I thought the offensive line – we got a lot of things.
11:38Offensive line played pretty well in this game.
11:39Absolutely.
11:40A bounce-back game for Austin Jackson.
11:42Yes.
11:43It definitely helps that he's not facing one of the league's elite pass rushers.
11:47Chris Jones wasn't even a factor the entire game.
11:50And I haven't looked at the film yet.
11:52No.
11:52But that's got to be –
11:54You didn't hear his name a lot.
11:55You're right.
11:55You're right.
11:55That's got to be a compliment to the guards, Caden Proctor and Jonah Savanaya.
12:00You know, I know this – it doesn't sound great,
12:05but we knew what you signed up for when you did this Scorch Shirts rebuild.
12:08Like, you knew what it was.
12:11It was slow progress, slow development.
12:14Yeah.
12:15A competitive game against the Kansas City Chiefs,
12:18which I expected to be a blowout.
12:19And, yeah, the score shows it was probably a blowout.
12:2114 points is not encouraging.
12:24But the game was way more competitive than anybody would have ever given credit for.
12:30Hey, Malik Washington, I think he's off to a nice start,
12:33plus all the different things he can do.
12:36Yeah.
12:36I know I got caught talking so much about all the rookies
12:38and how much they were going to play.
12:40But, man, Malik on everything from returns,
12:43although he's pulled off the returns a little bit yesterday,
12:45but just what he does offensively.
12:47And, hey, man, they had him ready to go.
12:49Like, hey, you're third running back.
12:51And, you know, for certain kind of plays, I don't want him doing it a full game.
12:54I know what you're thinking.
12:55But, man, what a nice piece he is.
12:58I didn't get enough credit either.
13:00He's probably not getting enough credit.
13:02Probably won't ever get enough credit because he's not one of the three rookies.
13:05It's – he's in a hard place because he doesn't represent youth,
13:12even though he's in a third year as a player.
13:15Yeah, young guy.
13:16But he's definitely playing a pretty good game this season.
13:21And he's – obviously, you mentioned it.
13:23He's one of the smartest players on the team in terms of knowing everything
13:26and just being asked to play running back yesterday.
13:28That's impressive.
13:30Yeah.
13:30Yeah, it's not easy, all the things.
13:31But they ran some good things.
13:33Hey, yesterday I thought the coaching took a step up on both sides of the football.
13:38I thought that was great as well.
13:39Omar, thanks, man.
13:40Appreciate you coming on today, bud.
13:42Always a pleasure, Joe.
13:43All right, man.
13:43Omar Kelly from the Miami Herald columnist joining us.
13:46Got great stuff out there.
13:48My man knows how to get it rolling.
13:50There's no question about that.
13:51And speaking of rolling –