Carucci Take 2: Bills make huge statement in humiliation of Dolphins

Hi, everyone. I'm Lindsay Moppert here joined with our NFL and Bills Insider, Vic Carucci Vic. The Bills are coming off a 31 to 10 victory over the Miami Dolphins just continuing a level of domination that they have shown throughout the years. Although there are many ways that we could start our discussion here today. Let's start with the most recent news we heard from Sean mcdermott and the coordinators earlier today over Zoom Sean mcdermott stating that Terrell Bernard who left the game last, last night, early in the first quarter will be out for multiple weeks. And he also stated that there are still some internal conversations going on whether or not he will be placed on Ir I guess just your thoughts on his impact on this Bill's defense on the surface. It looks like the best possible outcome because you think about players who have suffered pectoral injuries and it often is a season ending type of injury in this case, perhaps it isn't. And there's where the optimism lies. Look, Terrell Bernard, one of the, the best defensive players. This team has a steady performer, a captain, a true leader, a guy who does so much to help get people in the right place for sure. Uh, you'd miss him, but I will say bay inspector filled in quite nicely for him. I did not see a major drop off when Specter came into the game and Vic, we're gonna get there in just one minute to talk a little bit more about Specter. Um Johnson, also, Tran Johnson was another update given by Sean mcdermott stating that, you know, he was not placed on IR which is another positive for this Bill's defense and he does hope that he can come back um, before that four week mark, of course, again, kind of stating that gotta take it day by day practice by practice, things like that, but now I kind of want to move into that next man mentality that you sort of alluded to there. Mcdermott is always, you know, emphasizing the importance of having that mentality and last night was really just another example of it paying off. There are multiple examples of this on the and specifically you can talk about Jamarcus Ingram and his role that he's played in the first two weeks of this Bill season last night with two interceptions and one pick 61 of them being a pick six, excuse me. Um Just what did you see from Jamarcus Ingram this week and also, you know, just bringing that momentum in from last week as well. Yeah, you go back to that opener against Arizona. He makes a game saving play at the end that's clutch time. And he responded for a guy who has not had that experience that playing time and responds in a big moment and does the same thing under the bright lights of prime time football. Uh, he rises to the occasion. Look, the Bills end up getting a lot of from, uh Tu A Toga AOA to the tune of 17 points counting that pick six. But I, I was so impressed with the way this team responded with its depth. Uh Bale inspector stepping in, of course for Terrell Bernard, but then Cam Lewis taking over for Tyron Johnson and you think about Tyran as one of the very best uh nickel backs in the league and all pro for sure, doesn't have a lot of peers and yet Cam Lewis comes in and holds his own. This game had to be all about the Bills secondary holding up against some of the most dangerous weapons in the receiving game that you can have and they more than did that. They, they put a blanket over Miami's offense and vic, I guess just what does that say about this group and this defense as a whole, as you mentioned, you know, the big thing about Miami's offense is just how explosive they are and to not only come out of this game with a win but to come out with a win like that, I mean, what does it say about this group at, at this point last night? No, Milano. No, Terran Johnson. No, Terrell Bernard, three of those top names in the defense. And still they're able to come out with a performance like that. Look, it's only two weeks into the season. Obviously, there are going to be many more tests and to say that the bills have solved all the issues that have resulted from injury would probably be overstating things, but it's impressive to see how they have responded in these two games. And it, it certainly paints a bright picture for the future that the depth is there. That whole next man up mentality isn't just a cliche. They have people who can be the next man up and be credible in the role. This team is shaping up as one that has a solid defense physical they played with such a purpose, such, uh you know, such outstanding speed that you had to see match the speed that Miami brought. But with that, the hitting that, that whole idea that if you're going to get any yards against the Bills, you're going to pay a price because they are physical and yes, they had some problems. Uh I thought in the run game and the run defense, but the Miami could not get enough going there. And the reason Miami resulted in the run game as much as they did was because the Bills did such a good job neutralizing their passing attack and kind of going off of that point sticking with the defense. We did get to see another sack out of Von Miller. Josh Allen after the game kind of saying, yeah, you know, he's, he looked like Von Miller out there, I guess your projection or maybe just what you've seen out of him so far again, very early. We're only through week two but, you know, week 11 sack, week two, another sack, we're already off to a better start than we were all of last season. Yeah, the, the pass rush, uh to me obviously was one of the biggest questions coming into this season. Not entirely sure. I'm gonna say that it's so that they, that they know that they have a better pass rush than before. Uh but you, you can't discredit or ignore the kind of production that's been there, Greg Rousseau with the three sacks the first week and then seeing what Von uh did obviously against Miami and what I think is happening in many cases in most, in, in both cases is the matchups. Uh The offensive lines of both the Cardinals and the Dolphins had their issues and the Dolphins were dealing with injuries on their line uh in the course of the game and they just did play well. I mean, yes, I want to credit the bills for being dominant there, but I'd like to see how this front, this defensive front matches up against better offensive line play. But look, you can only play who is on the schedule and you got two teams here that offered up an opportunity for the Bills to get some pressure and to win a lot of those battles at the line and they did and vic, I wanna touch on um something that we had seen um one of the Dolphins players say last night after the game and kind of get your perspective on it a little bit. Do you feel like there is a little bit of a mental aspect to the dolphins? Just not being able to beat the Bills last night. Offensive lineman Austin Jackson said in the last room, you know, I'm sick of it. I know other people are sick of it at the end of the day, we just need to execute. Um So as you were saying, you know, do you feel like this is maybe a little has, has a bit of a mental aspect to it going into it, knowing all those stats that are getting thrown out there for how long it's been or, or you know, how many games the Bills have over the Dolphins. It's fair to, to look at it and say maybe some of it is a self fulfilling prophecy that you talk about this enough as a team or think about it enough as a team when you're on the wrong side of that domination and then perhaps when you get out there, uh the bad things just multiply uh when you, when you see that the adverse uh the, the adversity comes up against an opponent that you struggle to beat and, and maybe just psychologically you can't get over that barrier. But I I that to me also can be a lot of psycho babble. I'd rather focus on the football part, which is the matchup. I think the Bills match up really well against these guys. And in particular, what is Miami's strength? It's that dynamic speed, uh especially in their receiving game with Tyreek Hill, with Jalen Waddle with their backs. Um And they've made, that's how they've made a living as a club. That's why they were the team that people looked at and said, maybe this is the year that they overtake the Bills in the AFC East, but there's one thing, not just the record of Bills domination, it's look at the stats. The Bills routinely do a great job against Hill and Waddle. They're defense shuts it down and credit to Bobby Babich along with Sean mcdermott, of course, for putting together a defensive scheme that had that too deep coverage or four, whatever it was, they, they took away, of course, everything that was deep, everything that could allow them to get burned by the Dolphins receiving speed and kept everything in front of them and they can consistently did that throughout the game that takes, of course, the the, the physical skill to do that, but it also takes the planning and preparation and know that, ok, don't get fooled by all that pre snap motion. Don't get uh psyched out by the fact that this guy is such a burner uh hill when he crosses the line of scrimmage and, and they, you know, it wasn't just this game, they've done it over and over again. And vic, I kind of want to turn our attention now to the Bills offense. Last night. A guy certainly standing in the way of the Dolphins changing the narrative. Uh, last night was, of course James Cook. He had three touchdowns in the first half alone, I guess in the post game interviews, a lot of players and his teammates and coaches kind of just talking about how he's really grown into his role. How do you see him growing into that role and just kind of continuing on that path this season? I think the growth was showing up last year. I, I think we needed to see more of James Cook last season. I it's, I don't know that, you know, it should be considered a revelation, but it kind of feels like that and credit Joe Brady for being able to pull him to pull James Cook into the offense in a larger role. It felt like under Ken Dorsey, uh he was more of an afterthought or he was a guy that, yeah, when, when we need a little bit of a run, a change up. We'll, we'll do that. Well, it's not that way. Now, Joe Brady sees him as an integral part of what the Bills do offensively and you can see the pattern in, in only these two games. But I'm, I'm positive this is how this will unfold that the run game is going to play a larger part of setting up what the deal, what the Bills do pass wise. It had been a case and, and not that you can knock it because the Bill certainly had great success with it under Brian Day ball. And then Dorsey is offensive coordinators of just, you know, let Josh Allen throw it, let Stefan Diggs catch it or others catch it, but it's not that case anymore with Diggs gone, of course, and gave Davis gone. Uh It's more of an attack that is gonna rely again on the run most times. A and then b the, the receiving game, however it emerges and, and there really isn't that star guy catching the ball the way that this team once had. It's a, it's, it's a committee of people but that they will get their chances as those chances open up via the run and vic again kind of early just two weeks into the regular season. But how do you feel about that offensive mindset? I guess Joe Brady's mantra of everybody eats how we, we've seen it play out some guys we haven't seen at all and then other guys have big games and, and show up in those moments, which is pretty much how it was described to us, you know, in the preseason during camp and things like that. But how have you liked it or what have you liked of this kind of offensive mantra this season? I, I'm not sure, I'm going to describe myself as liking what I see it. Uh It would be much better if the Bills could identify and knew who truly are the, the numbers, one or two, maybe even three targets on a consistent basis. Yes, Khalil Shakira, the only holdover at the receiver position. The only guy who caught a pass from Josh Allen last year in this group, um is, is off to a good start but doing the Khalil Shakira thing, steady, consistent, uh you know, discipline route runner, all of that is, is fine. Uh But in terms of a game breaker at the receiver position, I don't see that. I think the Bills offense would be stronger if they had that guy. I'm not sure who that guy will be. I know they've tried with Marquez, uh Valdez Scanlan to uh a couple of times those deep shots that Josh has taken with him and they have yet to figure out how to get on the same page. So whether that's something that's going to result from practice or whatever, uh, we shall see, but at the moment, what I do like is that Joe Brady isn't, uh, married to any singular thing and I think he goes with a proprietary approach offensively tailoring it around what the defense is going to pose week by week. And that will progress. I think that will take better form as the season goes on because you're going to know more about the opponents. The, the book on each opponent gets thicker as the season progresses. And vic another topic that on, on the offensive side of the ball last night was really or something that we saw or maybe something we did not see was really Josh Allen putting on that superhero cape kind of like he had to in, in week one and, and get the job done. Why was that possible in last night's game down in Miami? Well, I, I think the biggest reason for the way the game unfolded and flowed was the gifts that Tu Auna Vallo gave up when you're turning the ball over three times and the opponent is cashing those in for 17 points including a backbreaking pick six. when you're unable to get anything going, your scheme, uh isn't working at all because the opposing defense is shutting things down. At least the essence of the scheme, the passing game again, the Dolphins tried running. But when you're putting yourself in that early hole, a run game generally isn't gonna get you out of it and it didn't get the Dolphins out of it. So all of that resulted frankly in the Bills, uh not needing to lean so heavily on Allen and on any dynamic work by him. Uh, uh he, he was efficient as he could be, but um was, it was a good thing, I think for the Bills given the fact that he had that left hand injury and you, you know, wanting him to handle the ball a whole lot as a runner, probably not the best thing. And my sense is that that was something that was intentionally minimized, but it's a lot easier to minimize what you have to do offensively when your defense is producing 17 points for you and Vic. Uh now just kind of on the Dolphins front of things. I, I do wanna talk about what was a pretty scary situation for Tua to AOA last night, you know, going down, uh late in the game and, and being declared with another concussion players like Josh Allen Dion Dawkins expressing um, their thoughts and prayers for him. I guess just your thoughts on that situation as this now is his third concussion. Um, in his NFL career, the situation with Tua Toga V AOA has so many layers to it. Obviously, this is his third diagnosed concussion as a pro, but it's four times in five years. If you count the time that he was diagnosed with a concussion at Alabama, that is something that can't be ignored. And the topic of head trauma and player safety when it comes to blows to the head concussions is of course a predominant one in the NFL for the league, for the NFL Players Association for players themselves. And Tua is sadly, uh, sort of the poster child of the whole discussion over these last couple of years. And, and of course, the, the injuries that he has suffered two times have involved the bills. Now, where does it go from here? He's in concussion protocol. That could be a matter of weeks, uh, maybe longer. Uh, and he could be cleared. The question to me isn't whether or not he'll clear concussion protocol, even though I'm, I'm not gonna talk about that from a medical standpoint, but from a personal standpoint when the discussion happens with his family, right, with his parents, with his wife. Um, he, he's, he has a lot of people who love him and who I'm sure are concerned for his well being. Uh, and does that discussion reach any point where he thinks about his future as an NFL player? Uh This is a guy who recently got a, you know, a AAA generational uh contract, I mean, from a wealth standpoint and to walk away from that obviously is not easy. But the question that I think he may or may not ponder or maybe others will discuss with him, we've certainly heard any number of former players and analysts, you know, saying that the best thing for you to do is walk away. Well, that's their opinion. But in terms of Tua, does he stop and think about where he'll be at age 40 you know, what will life be like for him as an older adult? And that's where I think this could be something that in the discussion with family, with friends, uh could, could influence what he does or he just might say, hey, look, everyone else thinks, you know, I can't hold up in this game. I'm gonna press forward. So it's gonna be fascinating to see how that goes. One point I wanna make. It wasn't lost on me that the contact that Tua had that led to that latest concussion was when his helmet met the chest of DEMAR Hamlet. And my immediate thought as much as I thought about Tua going down and, and obviously your eyes are, are there and you know that fencing pose that he had with his hands that, that raised that concern, but I'm looking at Hamlin and making sure he's getting up because you, your head goes right back minded right back to that scene in Cincinnati, that horrible scene uh where, you know, the contact with the chest. So, um I, I, I'm happy to say that of course, with DEMAR that he survived that as well. Uh And then you just hope for the best for Tua. Yeah. Beck and Mike mcdaniel Dolphin's head coach. Spoke, uh, with the media over Zoom this morning and pretty much just said when he walked off the field, he had a second to kind of go over to him and say, you know, you are the quarterback of your family, as you said, that, that family aspect ha having to talk to them and, and really just focus on his health. So we'll have to wait, um, a bit on an update on that for now. The Bills uh, have a little bit, they, it's a, a mini buy before they host the Jacksonville Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence on Monday, September 23rd. That game time. A little weird 730 at night. So they'll have a bit of time to get some rest for now. I'm gonna leave you with these stats. Josh Allen now 12 and two in his career versus Miami. The, the Bills winning 12 of their last 13 games against the Dolphins. So for now for Vic Carucci, I'm Lindsay Moppert for channel two sports.