- 2 days ago
Brian Baldinger joins The Joe Rose Show to break down the Miami Dolphins' ground game against the Jets, the collapse of the Philadelphia Eagles' defense, and massive NFL trade deadline moves. Baldy also weighs in on the Kirk Cousins benching debate, Justin Herbert's struggles under Mike McDaniel with the 0-6 Los Angeles Chargers, Tyreek Hill trade rumors back to Kansas City, and how Brian Flores turned the Minnesota Vikings into the league's top defense.
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00:00Surprised at all?
00:02Dolphins beat the Jets, especially running the ball at the end of the game
00:06to close it out the way they did.
00:08What did you think?
00:09I thought it was great, though.
00:10I thought it was great.
00:11I thought Ollie Gordon, I'm a big fan of his anyways,
00:13but I thought he just keeps getting better and better.
00:17I thought the line up front did a great job of just controlling the game
00:21and controlling the line of scrimmage and playing keep away from the Jets.
00:26You know, that was – yeah, they've been getting close,
00:28but the way that they did it, taking care of the football,
00:32running the football, controlling the clock,
00:34I thought that was a great victory for the Dolphins.
00:37Yeah.
00:38No, no, listen, and so great.
00:39It'll be good to see you down there.
00:40We'll get a chance to talk a little bit.
00:42By the way, you are the best.
00:45And I know you live up there.
00:47I'm curious, what did the Eagles say?
00:49They should agree on that effort from that defense on your breakdowns
00:54was just phenomenal.
00:57Joe, I mean, I couldn't help it.
00:58Like, I don't want to just trash teams, you know.
01:00Like, it's not my thing.
01:01But, you know, they spent $400 million on that defense, Joe.
01:08$400 million.
01:09They couldn't get – like, you know, that was a Monday night at home.
01:13They didn't have a quarterback hit.
01:15They didn't have a tackle for a loss.
01:17They didn't have a sack.
01:18They literally did nothing in the game.
01:21They couldn't tackle.
01:22I mean, they made the Cowboys look like they were a Super Bowl contender
01:25in that game.
01:26Yeah, that was something.
01:28Vic Fangio, I couldn't help but just thinking about Vic Fangio
01:32in that first film study with those guys.
01:35And here he is.
01:37He's been doing this a long time, and effort is just something.
01:41I mean, it's one thing if you're a little banged up.
01:43But, like you said, guys standing up was not ready to go when the ball was snapped.
01:47You got no shot.
01:50Hey, speaking of that, that leads me right to the other one.
01:52And the Colts are – they're jumping on it early.
01:55NFL trade deadline November 10th.
01:57And DeForest Buckner and now Quentin Nelson, two really good players,
02:00a defensive tackle and left guard.
02:02I don't know if Nelson's going to play right guard going to the Seahawks.
02:06But what do you think of the moves, boy?
02:08The Colts not messing around.
02:11They're not messing around.
02:12I would think that Jonathan Taylor's going to be next.
02:14I mean, what's the point?
02:15You've already given up on the season.
02:17Quentin Nelson's been one of my favorite players in this league.
02:20Like, he's going to help out Seattle.
02:22I was on a station in San Francisco yesterday, and I told them.
02:25I go – they said, well, what do you think the 49ers should do?
02:29I go, well, I think it's going to be the arms race in the NFC West.
02:32You better load up.
02:33And they go, well, who would you take?
02:35I go, well, if you talk to DeForest Buckner,
02:37he would start walking to San Francisco from Indianapolis, you know,
02:41to get there, to get reunited with the team that he was drafted by, you know.
02:44So, like, that's the league right now, Joe.
02:47If you're a bad team and you – it's one thing if you're bad and you've got older players.
02:53If you're bad and you've got younger players and you think, you know,
02:56the younger players are going to improve, like Cleveland, Miami,
02:59like you just stay put and you just keep building.
03:01But if you're a bad team with older players, I mean,
03:05good teams are going to come and raid your players.
03:07They're just going to – you know, I mean,
03:08if you get a second and fifth round pick for Quentin Nelson who's as good as anybody in the league.
03:12Amazing.
03:12That's a steal for Seattle.
03:14Yeah, no question.
03:15Hey, so you expect this to be a busy trade deadline over the next week and a half?
03:20Yeah, I do.
03:21Because, you know, you've already seen it, Joe.
03:22It's the league of have and have-nots right now.
03:25So, if you're a have-not and you've got older players and you're like,
03:28what's the point of sticking – you know, holding on to these guys?
03:31I think it's going to be busy.
03:32I think you're going to see a lot of main players that we know are going to move
03:37between now and the deadline.
03:38Hey, Baldy, I'll tell you a tough one, man.
03:40And we've been talking about this.
03:42And, of course, Fernando Mendoza's from down here in South Florida went to Columbus High School.
03:46Kirk Cousins – by the way, maybe a guy surprised me more than anybody how good he's been on that
03:52team.
03:52But they've lost four straight games.
03:54So, Kirk Cousins is going to start.
03:56I see Kubiak already said he's going to start.
03:58But how long – if they keep losing, especially I think they've got the Jets this week
04:02before Fernando Mendoza takes over, or is it for the other guys going,
04:07wait a second, Cousins has been really good.
04:09It's not his fault.
04:10What do you do?
04:12Well, the defense was awful last week, Joe.
04:14Like, they couldn't get off a block.
04:16They couldn't do anything against the Rams.
04:17The Rams played three tight ends the whole time, Joe.
04:20You would have loved it.
04:20And, like, all the tight ends, they made all the catches, touchdowns.
04:23Like, they just dominated them.
04:25And they seemed like they were helpless to stop it.
04:28But, you know, I mean, Davis Allen is not exactly a household name.
04:33He's catching two touchdown passes.
04:34They didn't guard him in the end zone.
04:36They've got a lot of issues on defense right now.
04:38And you could really question some of the effort that you're seeing.
04:43As long as the defense is a sieve and the Jets can – you know,
04:46they've got talented players.
04:47They lose to the Jets.
04:49I don't see the point of hanging on to Cousins.
04:52I would just play Fernando and start building.
04:54You know, I'm glad you said that.
04:56It is amazing.
04:57Every week, we saw Cincinnati use not three, but four tight ends.
05:01They used them all.
05:01And they were spreading them out.
05:02They were getting them all involved.
05:04You see the Jets now.
05:05They're playing, obviously, two, three guys at a time.
05:08I'm seeing more and more sets of tight ends.
05:11And not that they're all playing together,
05:12but they're rotating and playing a lot of different guys.
05:15We're seeing more and more of the tight end position really come back.
05:19No, no doubt.
05:20I mean, you saw Mason Taylor, you know, catch two touchdowns.
05:23Great game.
05:23Two-point conversion.
05:24You know, Sadiq is a first-round pick who's talented.
05:27They didn't get the ball to him much.
05:29But, you know, when you saw Cincinnati get Siki, the former Dolphin,
05:33you know, he just caught a touchdown pass last week
05:35in that comeback against the Ravens.
05:37It is literally becoming a tight end-driven league.
05:41And teams are playing three of them for protecting the quarterback,
05:45if they can figure out some matchup issues
05:47where they can get the ball to them right now.
05:49You know, that's league-wide right now, Joe.
05:53The good teams are playing three tight ends.
05:55They might be dressing as many as four.
05:57The Jets dress four tight ends.
05:59And so, you know, that's the trend right now.
06:03And it's for good reason.
06:04There's a lot of good philosophy behind it right now.
06:09Yeah, yeah.
06:10No, and they are finding ways to get different guys
06:12and playing them together, as you said, and totally agree.
06:15I'll tell you, another one of the great stories is Vikings are 6-0
06:19with their quarterback play.
06:21It's incredible.
06:22That's how good they're – and we saw it firsthand.
06:24They're special teams and what they do on special teams
06:28and that defense with Brian Flores, man, they are getting after people.
06:32But what about the quarterback?
06:34Can they keep this thing rolling with what they're getting out of the QB position?
06:40You know, he's just making a couple of plays.
06:43But he didn't turn the ball over last week against the Colts.
06:45That was a big deal.
06:47He seems to be a little bit limited, even though there's great talent around him.
06:52But, you know, as long as the defense, you know, keeps sacking quarterbacks
06:57and Harrison Smith gets another interception last week,
06:59I mean, Flores has basically got the blueprint for this whole thing right now.
07:03And everybody's taking a little piece of it, but nobody –
07:06You know, Brian started this defense down in Miami when he was here,
07:09and it's now caught fire.
07:12Like, everybody's taking a page of it.
07:14But I really remember when he was at Miami, Joe,
07:16talking to guys on the Dolphins' defense, and I'm like, what can I learn?
07:22He goes – they go, well, good luck because it changes every week.
07:25And so teams haven't caught up to it at all.
07:28And so I think as long as the defense is keeping the score down
07:31and they're the number one-ranked defensive football,
07:33they're going to have a chance to win 13, 14 games regardless of how the quarterback plays.
07:38Odyssey NFL insider Brian Baldinger here with us on QAM.
07:42Baldy's Call is brought to you by Nationwide.
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07:52Baldy, we've got an interesting one in L.A.
07:54is the Chargers and Rams, who share the same building, will be playing.
07:59The Chargers off a bye week, 0-6, all this speculation.
08:04I don't think Herbert, by the way – I have people tell me Herbert,
08:07they're going to trade or get rid of Herbert, and I'm saying I think Herbert stays.
08:11I think the head coach and O.C. are the big ones that are going to be in trouble
08:14if this thing doesn't get flipped around.
08:15What do you think?
08:18Well, I don't think they're going to trade Justin Herbert,
08:20and I don't think they're going to fire Jim Harbaugh.
08:22I mean, the guy won 11 games in back-to-back years.
08:25I mean, maybe the general manager needs to go because it's not a well-built team.
08:29They're playing four rookies on the offensive line.
08:31At least they were the last two weeks, Joe.
08:33One of them, I think, is going to be a really good player, though.
08:36It's just not a well-built team, and, you know, Harbaugh's taking the brunt of it.
08:40But I don't know that Mike McDaniel – you know, you're around Mike.
08:44Like, he's not for everybody, Joe.
08:46He just isn't.
08:48That's nicely put.
08:49I like that.
08:50Yeah.
08:50Yeah.
08:51You know, he's not everybody's favorite flavor.
08:54And I don't think it's a good fit with him and Justin right now.
08:56I mean, with Tua, it was a good fit because of the run game
09:00and getting the ball out quick.
09:01And that was Tua's game.
09:03And that's not really what Justin Herbert's game is.
09:05He's got a big arm.
09:06Tua didn't have a big arm, never had a big arm.
09:08They didn't try to – you know, they had fast receivers.
09:10He could just throw it, you know, into an open patch of grass
09:14and let those guys run under it.
09:15But it's not a good fit right now.
09:17I can see them making a change there at the coordinator position.
09:20But they've got to gut it out.
09:22Maybe they can find a way to win a few games
09:24and get a little bit competitive in the second half of the season
09:27because the season's over.
09:28So now it's a question of is the team going to play hard for Jim Harbaugh
09:32or are they just going to kind of throw up their hands?
09:35Hey, Baldy, I think the word is Tyreek Hill's going to be coming back
09:39the next few weeks.
09:41Where do you see him going?
09:44Do you see him going back to Kansas City or somewhere else
09:46that might need a receiver that can still run?
09:50Kansas City looks like, especially in that loss to Seattle,
09:53you watch it Sunday night, they look like they could use Tyreek Hill.
09:57They lost their speed receiver Tyreek Thornton,
10:01and he contributed quite a bit to that offense.
10:06And without him, they don't look very explosive right now.
10:08I could see Andy Reid was able to handle Tyreek Hill.
10:12And so I feel like that's a good landing spot for him right now.
10:16If he's healthy and he's got all kinds of issues out there,
10:20like just on a personal thing, if those things are taken care of,
10:24I can see him going back and playing with Mahomes and Andy Reid.
10:28Baldy, we're about halfway through this season, man.
10:31It's flying.
10:32Who's the best team that you think right now in the NFL or two teams?
10:38Who would they be?
10:41Well, Seattle looked like they made a big statement on Sunday night.
10:44That defense is healthy.
10:48They shut down Kenneth Walker.
10:50They looked like they were on a mission.
10:51He was leading the league in rushing, averaging 135 yards a game, Joe.
10:55He had like 37 yards rushing.
10:57They just shut him down.
10:59I think Seattle is still going to be dangerous.
11:02They just upgraded with Quentin Nelson on the offense line.
11:05It tells you they're going to get their two running backs back healthy.
11:08Like I think Seattle is a team that you have to contend with.
11:11If San Francisco gets the receivers back, Mike Evans and Shribling
11:15and some of these receivers, I can see them making a play.
11:19So I can see, you know, the NFC West making a representative here.
11:23I would never, you know, just take the Rams out of it
11:26because they're going to get, you know, the pass rusher back right now.
11:31They're probably going to have a good second half of the season.
11:33I can see one of those three teams be the factor.
11:36I can see Green Bay be the factor when Micah Carson comes back.
11:40Yeah, they got Josh Jacobs back last week.
11:42They had some terrible calls go against him.
11:44The officiating, Joe, is just terrible in some of these games.
11:48I thought it cost Green Bay the game on Sunday against Detroit.
11:52Yeah, no, it has been.
11:54We had a shaky team that couldn't figure out if the team was accepting penalties or not.
11:59It was like 20 seconds later, like they were chanting, like, holy God, what is going on here?
12:06All right, so you got Patriots-Dolphins.
12:08Good to get a chance to see you.
12:09Tell me about the Patriots playing a lot better here recently
12:12and starting at that quarterback position, but overall pretty good.
12:17What are your thoughts on the Patriots right now?
12:20Well, they look like a well-coached team, Joe.
12:22They just do.
12:24You know, defensively, they don't make a lot of mistakes.
12:26They have some great individual players, but they play very well together.
12:31Their front is hard to run against, and you will look at this young kid in Gabe Ackes, number 50.
12:37Like, I think he's going to be a really good pass rusher in this league,
12:39but they've got big boys inside, man, that just, you know, that play the run really, really well.
12:45The two linebackers, you know, are really good.
12:49They've got great players on defense, and they play well, and they keep the score down,
12:54but offensively, you know, when Drake May doesn't make mistakes, that offense is pretty good.
12:59They put up a good number, and I feel like they're back on track right now
13:04to compete with Buffalo for that division.
13:07A.J. Brown, every time I watch a highlight, he's dropping balls right now.
13:11Is that, you think, rust, or what's going on with, I know he's been out for a while.
13:15What do you think?
13:16Yeah, he did miss it.
13:18I think he dropped two or three in his return after that hamstring injury.
13:22So maybe it was just rust.
13:24I think he's a good player.
13:26They believe in him.
13:27He loves playing for Rabel because Rabel's not afraid to get on him when he doesn't do something.
13:31So maybe he just said, you know, maybe he said something to him, you know,
13:35after those drops the other day.
13:36But I feel like A.J. is going to help this team in the second half of the season.
13:40Well, Baldy, it's going to be good seeing you, man, on Sunday down here.
13:44You can come back home a couple days, hang out, maybe get a day to go out in the boat.
13:48And I tell everybody, not go fishing, but maybe, you know, go and dive in a little bit, right?
13:55Yeah, I'd love to see some lemon sharks out there, Joe.
13:58That would, like, float my boat.
14:00Maybe if the winds die down, Joe, maybe I'll, you know, the water will calm down and clear up.
14:06Maybe I'll get out there.
14:07All right.
14:08Hey, Baldy, thank you, man.
14:09Appreciate you coming on.
14:10All right, Joe.
14:11See you Sunday.
14:11See you Sunday, buddy.
14:12You got it.
14:13Yep, take care, man.
14:14Brian Baldinger, Odyssey NFL Insider.
14:16See you Sunday.