- 6 hours ago
Joe Rose sounds off on the Miami Dolphins' offensive breakdown after kicking three field goals and coming away empty in the red zone. From offensive line penalties erasing huge plays to an apparent groin strain robbing Willis of his running threat, Joe details why throwing Kyle McCord into the fire isn't the magic fix fans think it is. Later in the hour, Joe and Danny dive into Miami Hurricanes football, second-guessing the goal-line decision to run the quarterback
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00:00So anyway, they end up blue.
00:02All that matters is they lose the game,
00:04and as long as they take care of business the rest of the way, they're fine.
00:08They're still in really good shape, actually, to finish in the top four or five,
00:12I'm guessing, if they win the rest of these ACC games.
00:16Now, not going to be easy.
00:18Starting with Duke, this week will not be easy.
00:24So we'll see how they bounce back from that.
00:27They'll be at home, earlier games, so all that stuff's good stuff.
00:31Dolphins go down 19-9, cannot score a touchdown yesterday.
00:35Fins D, can't play any better than that.
00:38We got a lot of stuff coming in.
00:40But to be honest, we have stuff coming in on Malik Willis just about every day.
00:48So you look at his numbers yesterday, and they weren't very good,
00:52and watching them not be able to run.
00:56Running half speed, and I realized after the first or second run that he was hurt.
01:03He can't play.
01:05By the way, if it's real bad, he shouldn't play.
01:07Then some of you should get a chance to watch Kyle McCord,
01:10who's never really played in the league except preseason.
01:15So if they don't protect, Kyle McCord has nothing in common with a healthy Malik Willis
01:22as far as running and being able to take off when the pocket breaks down
01:27or gets pushed around like it did yesterday.
01:31And I don't mind.
01:32Look, I get it.
01:34And when are we going to make a change at quarterback?
01:36I love that one.
01:37Like, okay, we got a lot of options.
01:40Kyle McCord and Brady Cook.
01:43The guy that's playing is the best quarterback you have.
01:46No matter what it looked like yesterday, he's the best you have.
01:49Now, there's all kinds of different parts of this.
01:54First of all, I still believe they're going to draft a quarterback in the draft.
01:58Would not be surprised if it's not still – I don't know how we rank them all.
02:02I don't.
02:03Whether you think it's the Oklahoma State guy or – I'm just going to call him by school.
02:10But Malik Willis did not – made a real bad throw in an interception yesterday.
02:16But he was running for his life, people.
02:18He was just running for his life.
02:20He's running for his life.
02:21And when he did make plays, either a 50-yard pass or did run for a first down,
02:27it got called back because of a holding call.
02:31And I know everything just goes to the quarterback,
02:33but sometimes for the quarterback to be as good as what you're seeing on the other side,
02:40you've got to protect him and you've got to help him.
02:43And you can't have five or six holding calls by your tight ends and offense alignment.
02:47You can't.
02:48Oh, coming back.
02:50Hey, maybe he missed Ollie Gordon on an open one.
02:52Maybe – yeah, yeah, he should have.
02:56But to just say, we need to go with a different quarterback, I've seen enough.
03:00No, you haven't.
03:01We just start.
03:02Everybody's in this growing pains thing.
03:04Look, I think Chris Bell's struggling right now as a starting wide receiver.
03:08He doesn't look like Chris Bell at Louisville.
03:10Doesn't look like him.
03:11Doesn't.
03:13Doesn't move like the guy still that he did.
03:16Ran a post pattern, a quick post, well-covered, guy broke on it.
03:20I mean – and Caleb Douglas looks like he's going to be really good.
03:25And Kevin Coleman, who had the 50-yard catch that was called back,
03:30has had some explosive plays.
03:32And, you know, again, I think Malik is –
03:36Washington is really a good, solid player you can trust.
03:40I'd like to go to Dulcet's more when you have a chance.
03:44But when you don't have a running game and they got stuffed
03:48and our guys got beat up pretty good by that defensive line from the Lions,
03:51just like they did the week before against the Patriots.
03:55We took it pretty good.
03:56We got physically manhandled.
04:00And so just to blame Malik Willis for the quarterback play, which I get it,
04:05he's got the ball after the snap and, you know, and he's running for his life
04:10and he's trying to get away and he throws the ball away
04:13and you're frustrated, like, what do you want him to do?
04:17There's a lot of growing pains going on out there everywhere.
04:20I thought one area that was going to start getting better after the Jets game
04:24and that great game they had against the Jets was this Dolphins offensive line,
04:28and that hadn't been the case.
04:31You stepped up in competition, obviously, but it hasn't been good enough.
04:37So, no, if you want Malik Willis replaced, it might happen this week
04:43if that groin is as bad as he was running yesterday
04:47because there was 30 or 40 yards for Malik Willis healthy to get
04:51that I could tell he really didn't want to get.
04:54And a couple that he did, he was just – he slid down early.
04:59And so, then put Kyle McCord in there if you think it's going to be better.
05:03Who has zero experience in games?
05:07Not preseason, but games.
05:11So, anyway, this is why you have a quarterback when you say,
05:15I want to see another quarterback, enough for Malik Willis.
05:18Well, Malik's going to be here, and he's not going anywhere next year either.
05:22He's not.
05:22Now, whether he starts or not, that depends on who you add to the roster
05:28once you have money and where you're drafting and all that stuff
05:31and what's a priority.
05:33But I got to tell you, this is – this was tough to watch
05:38when you kick three field goals.
05:40I agree with you.
05:41It's tough to watch.
05:42You get a great play on special teams, which, by the way,
05:44doesn't happen very often with this group of special teams players.
05:47You get a 40-yard fake punt pass up the middle, wide open.
05:51Beautiful play to Catron Allen.
05:53Nice throw.
05:54Just lofted it out there for him to turn and get you,
05:58and you can't score there.
05:59So, I get the frustration, man.
06:01I do.
06:02But sometimes it's just too easy to go, it's our quarterback.
06:07I never liked the deal to start with.
06:10First of all, we're not paying a 50 or 60 million a year,
06:13so calm down on the money.
06:15And we'll see what happens.
06:17But to blame this just on the quarterback.
06:22A lot of stuff happening yesterday.
06:24Unless you're going to blame him for the holding calls
06:26and the drop balls and everything else,
06:28or you can't run the ball.
06:29That's Malik's fault.
06:31Then I get it.
06:33Hey, besides all that, the Canes,
06:37how will they bounce back this week against Duke?
06:40That's the only thing that matters right now,
06:42although they're going to have a lot of fun
06:43and talk about everything with that thing.
06:44I got to tell you, number one before the half,
06:49you got two big, strong running backs.
06:52Maybe one of the best one-two punch power running backs
06:56in college football.
06:57There's some great backs.
06:59I see them every day.
07:00But you talk about Fletch and Mallory,
07:05and you got first and goal at Mario, say,
07:09closer to the two, one-and-a-half-yard line,
07:11two-yard line.
07:13I don't know who's the best run blocker down there right now
07:16that you trust.
07:17I'm putting in extra bodies,
07:20and I'm going to give it to Fletch three times.
07:23And if I don't get it, and I get second-guessed,
07:28Fletch has been the go-to short yardage guy
07:30for a couple years now.
07:33He's got to get the ball.
07:34He's got to get the ball.
07:36And by the way, if I do decide it,
07:40then I'm going to bootleg Mensaw outside
07:42after trying to run and really sell it
07:45that we're going to run straight up the middle.
07:48Get him outside with a tight end,
07:50floating out there with him,
07:51where you've got a run pass option to try to run it.
07:53And if you suck everybody inside,
07:56then you do it.
07:57But two of those runs are going to be
07:59between the tackles to Fletch,
08:01and if not Fletch, I'm bringing in Mallory.
08:05I am not letting a quarterback, who I love,
08:08I think this quarterback's a lot better
08:10than the guy got drafted last year.
08:12I don't think it's close.
08:13Carson Beck and watching Mensa throw,
08:15not even close.
08:16The throws that Mensa throws,
08:18deep, the deep throws, the fade routes,
08:24he's just not even close.
08:29But I'm going to run my two power backs.
08:31One's about .210, the other's .225, .230.
08:35I am not letting our quarterback,
08:37who doesn't run much in tier recently,
08:39had a couple of running first downs last week
08:42against North Carolina on the first drive.
08:46I don't want to see that.
08:48See him.
08:49I don't want to lose.
08:49What?
08:50What are we doing?
08:52And I like Shannon Dawson, man.
08:54I have not second, you know,
08:58I second-guess everybody,
08:59but not one to get rid of either one of our coordinators.
09:03I think they're really good, both of them.
09:05But sometimes you get calls,
09:06and I know he sees things,
09:08and he sees who's getting blown up and stuff
09:10that I don't see.
09:11But I'm still going to take my chance
09:13with Fletch running full speed up the middle.
09:16What are you with me?
09:17Going over the top?
09:18Or Mallory running,
09:20who runs like he's about .230?
09:22Yeah, I mean, it's obvious to me an easy second-guess,
09:26but, you know, I just, I don't love,
09:28I don't love quarterback runs, to be honest.
09:30No, no, if you've got a running quarterback,
09:32if I've got Lamar Jackson down there,
09:34if I have Cam Newton down there,
09:36and Cam Newton made a living down there.
09:37I still find a lot of those quarterback runs
09:39to be unnecessary when you have a good running back, though.
09:41Like, I never like to see my quarterback
09:43getting unnecessary hits if you can avoid it, Joe.
09:48Oh, you want to keep him healthy.
09:49But anyway.
09:50But yeah, I'm going running back there.
09:53That, to me, was the only confusing part of it.
09:55You want to throw the ball, it's fine,
09:56but, like, to run the quarterback is just a little strange.
09:59Well, even if you start to roll out on a bootleg
10:01and the guy's there,
10:02you just, you throw it close to the guy
10:04that is releasing and get rid of the ball,
10:06and you don't take a sack there
10:08because you don't want to be four, five, six yards back.
10:12But, hey, listen, man, Notre Dame jumped on you early,
10:15and honestly, they did a good job of pass protection
10:19against Miami Hurricanes, pass rushers,
10:23and we got controlled on the offensive line pretty good.
10:27We got...
10:28You know, let's look, Joe.
10:29The other thing, too, like, let's see how they bounce back.
10:31Remember, last year they lost two games
10:33in the middle of the season.
10:34We thought, wow, this is the same team all over again,
10:37and they ended up coming back from the losses
10:41and damn near won a national championship.
10:44So they may bounce back from this game
10:46and look great in these Final Four
10:48and end up going to the playoff.
10:49Yeah.
10:51I think you got to give them a shot here to bounce back.
10:53I thought what they did in the second half was impressive.
10:57Joe, you lost the best offensive weapon in college football.
11:00I know, but...
11:00Bottom line, you lost the best offensive weapon
11:02in college football midweek.
11:05You did.
11:05Late in the week, actually.
11:08You had all your practices done after Wednesday, yes.
11:11Thursday and Friday, very light Thursday,
11:13real light Friday,
11:14and then walked through a lot of times on Friday.
11:17So how about that?
11:18You show up the day before you're going to travel
11:19and you find out, all right, well, you know,
11:21everyone else is going to have to step up
11:22because we just lost the best offensive weapon
11:24in the entire sport.
11:25I got you, but...
11:27I know no one cares.
11:28I know.
11:29It happens, bro.
11:30I know.
11:30I had to go bro on you.
11:32It happens, bro.
11:32I know it happens.
11:33Okay.
11:33But it's also, you know,
11:35it's not something to just overlook.
11:36No, no, no, no.
11:37Hey, listen.
11:38Nobody's overlooking.
11:39Everybody brought it up.
11:41The guy was second or third in the Heisman watch.
11:43Like, we get how important.
11:45We're going back with Jeremiah Smith
11:46and Malachi Tony on who's the...
11:48I get how important he was.
11:50He's 30% of their offense.
11:52And by the way, if it happened last game,
11:53you would have been better off, right?
11:55Because at least you would have had the week of practice.
11:58Yes.
11:59Yes.
11:59Yes, you would have.
12:00Somebody would have been prepared to know,
12:02holy crap, I'm getting a lot of Malachi plays.
12:04That's pretty cool.
12:06But, hey, look, they did a good job.
12:07He's got two guys that he trusts.
12:10His tight end and the guy he's been with from Duke
12:13that came over here, Barcate.
12:15So, you went on the road.
12:17You lost on a controversial play.
12:21I, you know, I just...
12:22It's not a doomsday scenario here, Joe.
12:25No, no.
12:26Hey, Wood, you just got to bounce back.
12:28You don't have to make any excuse.
12:30Oh, no, that's the problem.
12:31A lot of that...
12:31And that has happened a lot, right?
12:33When the losses start to snowball.
12:35When one loss turns into two and all that.
12:37We will find out how good this team is, by the way.
12:40That start they get off in this game is going to be huge
12:45because they're going to have a lot of the same plays
12:47that we've seen now for three or four weeks
12:49that have worked against this defense.
12:53And they come in with a really good team.
12:55Duke's got a really good team.
12:56Manny Diaz, a really good coach.
12:58He's a really good coach.
13:00He is.
13:00He won the ACC last year.
13:04He's a good coach.
13:05Two losses.
13:08Anyway, besides all that,
13:10we've got a lot of other stuff to get to here this morning
13:12as we move on here.
13:15Woody, we've got Omar Kelly going to join us.
13:17You've got Omar set up here for 8 o'clock this morning.
13:20I wonder what he'll be stewing about this morning.
13:22He's got Malik.
13:22I think he did the Malik Willis piece, if I'm not mistaken.
13:28Malik did not...
13:30First of all, if Malik's not healthy enough to move around
13:35and it looks like it's hurting him and he runs the way he did,
13:37I'm not so sure I don't give Kyle McCord a chance to start.
13:43Not because some of you want to see him,
13:45but if he's not healthy enough...
13:48Because right now, with the cracks and leaks in this offense,
13:52you need a guy that can...
13:53You need a healthy Malik Willis.
13:55I'm telling you, there without exaggeration,
13:58there was 30 or 40 yards of taking off and running
14:01for three or four first downs yesterday that he passed on
14:04because he couldn't run.
14:08And if it's a groin injury, yeah, that's a bad one.
14:14That's not an overnight healer.
14:16No question about it.