Dave Hyde | Miami Dolphins Columnist, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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Shop in store or visit Ashley.com today. We're pleased to welcome Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, a columnist who covers these dolphins. Big picture day through two games. What are a couple takeaways for you? Well, the big picture is first they won two games on the road, coast to coast, LA and New England.

So, just start there. That's the big picture. They went on two long trips, two big games and come out with two Ws. The first one was all offense. The second one, the defense really saved them in a lot of areas on Sunday against New England. They were putting a few spots there by block field goal, by the decision to go for a field goal with a 55-yarder there in the end, which gave New England the ball at the Patriot 45. There were a lot of spots where the defense had to come through Sunday night.

Like everything else at this point, two weeks are still a work in progress, but it's a pretty good work in progress when you look across what they've done. No doubt, and thinking about this AFC East matchup with the Patriots a couple of times, there are reviews on plays either third down or fourth down, and we're talking about a couple of inches, including the very last offensive play for the Patriots that includes a lateral. Yeah, it was almost a few years ago when Adam Gase was a dolphin coach, they had the lateral down the field to kick off to win it when Gronkowski of all players was the safety for the Patriots. So, it was almost like revenge of the lateral here. That was a pretty smart play by Mike Kisecki to throw the lateral.

Unfortunately for them, in a way, Cole Strange, the guard caught it and came up. It looked like it was going to be a great finish there, because it looked like he got the first down and the drama would be building there in the final seconds. But all of a sudden, they reviewed the mark, called him an inch short and games quickly over, just like that. So, the dolphins made just enough big plays.

It looked like it was going to be a real comfortable game for them for a while. And then, you know, there in the end, the Patriots came on. How did the Patriots manage to limit Tyreek Hill, who was coming off a game in which he had more than 200 yards receiving?

When Tyreek Hill was with Kansas City, he had one catch, I think, for 28 yards in a championship game, AFC Championship game against New England. So, Belichick has some history of, okay, how are we going to deal with Tyreek Hill? And they came out playing three deep safeties, saying, okay, you dolphins led the league with big plays in the opener against the Chargers.

We're not going to allow any big plays. And there was some message in that, I think, that McDaniel and Tua couldn't be patient and just think and dunk and take what the defense has given them, that they're going to have to throw the big play and we'll be waiting for that. And, you know, Tyreek Hill was part of that. He's been dominant receiver since the time he stepped on the field with the dolphins. And the fact he had four catches, or was it five catches for 40 yards, I believe. It doesn't measure his impact on the game in that the Patriots paid so much attention to him. There was one drive where, a touchdown drive, Tua's big passes were to Braxton Berrios and River Kraycraft, which told you who they were going to allow beat them and who they weren't. So, you know, I think both of their game plans worked. Belichick took away Tyreek Hill and the big plays, and yet the Dolphins were smart enough to take what the defense gave them this game. In this game, it was Raheem Mostert with 120 yards and a couple of touchdowns on 18 carries. The Dolphins able to run the ball effectively, which is certainly a great weapon if they're trying to protect Tua.

So let's talk about Tua, Dave, because this has been the major storyline coming into the start of this season. What have you seen with the quarterback so far? Well, he's not getting touched. He's been sacked once in two games. The Chargers had two quarterback hits in the first half Sunday. He wasn't touched.

Nobody hit him. Part of that is that he's really getting the ball out quickly by play design and by his own ability to throw to the open spot rather than waiting for players to get open. So it's a fascinating offense. The Dolphins are running them quick.

Everything's fast. Not just the players are fast, but so are the decisions and his ability to get the ball out, which, of course, keeps him safe. But you saw him in the opener throw all over the field and you saw Belichick take away things and demand to do some different things in Sunday night's game. It says something that the big Dolphins problem in two games is the exchange from center to quarterback. They had three drops on Sunday. They had a costly one that made them kick a try a 55-yard field goal that was missed and the Patriots get the ball back. So, but, you know, through two games, two has been pretty much everything you would hope for. We're spending a few minutes with Dave Hyde, who covers the Dolphins for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. So the Dolphins obviously have a lot of promise trying to build on last year's playoff spot in which they used multiple quarterbacks, but it's not just two. Where else have you seen the Dolphins over the past couple of years really build up this roster so that it's befitting of a team that can challenge for a division title and a playoff spot? Yeah, the surprise so far, to be honest, is the offensive line that came in.

Everybody in South Florida was like, oh my God, they play in the back. You know, Tron Armstead's been hurt pretty much all offseason and through two games. Kendall Lamb, their backup.

Who is this guy? They brought in Isaiah Nguyen to play a backup, a tackle, but they had to move the guard because they were having issues there. You know, their story is pretty much every team's story on the offensive line. The problem is, for the Dolphin family, for the past 20 years, they've never been able to put together a good offensive line, and yet through two games it's been really good. I mean, Tua didn't get hit in the first game hardly, and then, as you said, Mostert ran for 121 yards and then 43 yard touchdown.

He was untouched going through a hole between the center, Connor Williams and guard Robert Hunt. If there's anything that says, okay, maybe the Dolphins are really for real right now, it's just that. A lot of the questions have gone away through the first two games. One of the things that appeals to me about the Dolphins is that they can beat opponents a variety of ways. So, as you point out, they had so much offense in the opener.

Tua passed for 466 yards. There was this incredible air attack where they were able to just get up and down the field, but it's a little more rough and tumble in this game against the Patriots being able to win on the road. The only black mark is the kicking game and the special teams, and yet it seems like the Dolphins really can match up a variety of ways with whomever steps on the field against them. The other team is going to have to have some firepower too, and that was sort of missing from the Patriots.

There's really nobody you feared could beat you quick. The Patriots set up, out of fear, how the Dolphins can have a quick strike. It seemed like they had the ball a lot of times on the Dolphins' side of the field, and yet they're having to beat you with 10,000 paper cuts, little passes.

So, I think as this progresses, as you said, the Dolphins can win through. They showed in the first game through a lot of points and throwing the ball over. They can win a more physical matchup, as this game was. Their defense turned the ball over three times tonight, which is something that Vic Fangio's defense isn't a finished product yet, but you start to see a lot more signs in the Patriots game than the Chargers game, what he wants it to be. You're seeing guys emerge like an Andrew Van Ginkle, finding a bigger role in this defense. They seem to be just what a lot of us thought when coming into the year, very talented, and these two wins say something. Vic Fangio's a former head coach in the NFL, obviously has had some success.

What is the focus, or what is the primary objective of his defense as it comes together? Well, the Dolphins were 24th in third down defense and red zone defense last year. Let's start there, Vic Fangio, the two stats that stand out with his defense, very good on third downs and very good in the red zone. It'll be interesting to see how this all works out because the last few years, under Brian Flores' style of defense, the Dolphins led the league in blitzes and they led the league in man-to-man and press coverage. Fangio goes the complete opposite way. Typically, he has played zone defenses and not blitzed much.

You talk to Jevon Holland, he says it's 180 degrees difference for him. I think there's a process, a learning curve for everybody here and maybe part of that also is Fangio has to decide, maybe I should blitz more with some of the people I have. It's not a finished product, but it saved a lot of people tonight. Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun Sentinel with us following Sunday Night Football. Dolphins now 2-0 on top of the AFC East.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. Let's talk about that because the AFC East, even in these first two weeks, has seen a whole lot of twists and turns. What are your impressions of the East now with everything we've seen in the first couple weeks? It's the Dolphins or the Bills. I think the Dolphins have the better roster. If Tua can keep healthy and keep playing as he is, I think they'd be the team to beat in the AFC East. It's hard to imagine that after the run the Bills have. Josh Allen has to be this guy.

He was Sunday all the time. He was great against the Raiders. As bad as he was against the Jets is as good as he was against the Raiders. Can Josh Allen carry the torch in the AFC East again?

I really think the Dolphins have a more complete roster. Tua obviously went through not just some physical but some mental challenges coming out of last season. I think what I've been impressed with so far is how easy going he seems.

There really isn't any fallout. Even his story this week about Terron Armstead and not stopping for him on the side of the road when he was going to the facilities and his car was broken down. He just seems very comfortable.

Have you seen any fallout at all from everything that happened last season? He's been pretty honest from the time he came to the Dolphins. Even when things weren't going great for him obviously with Brian Flores and everything. I remember asking him when all the reports which were true of the Dolphins going after Deshaun Watson came out. I remember asking him after a game if he didn't feel wanted by the Dolphins and he said, I don't feel not wanted. He's always been very candid.

It seems like to us on this side of the questions up front. Obviously he's responded really well to Mike McDaniel handing the keys to him saying he's a really good quarterback when there were questions if he was. It's paid off for both of them. McDaniel came in here and he had two jobs to win and as importantly to find out who Tua was last year and he did both of them.

But as far as Tua's health that's going to be an ongoing story. It has to play out this whole year before anybody can say maybe that's moving behind him. So far so good. Dolphins look good.

They've got two road wins and they're sitting on top of the division. You can find Dave Hyde on Twitter at DaveHydeSports a columnist for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Alright now there's a lot to talk about with the Dolphins. It's great to catch up with you again Dave. Thank you so much and happy football season. Yeah thanks Amy.

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