ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky on the Dolphins’ Super Bowl chances, MVP talk and more

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky has long been an advocate for Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

As a consistent presence on ESPN’s programming, the former NFL quarterback has provided breakdowns and insight throughout the season, highlighting what has made Tagovailoa one of the league’s best signal-callers and Miami one of the most innovative offenses.

Orlovsky was on the call for Miami’s Week 9 game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Germany. He will provide color commentary for the Dolphins’ home “Monday Night Football” game against the Tennessee Titans on ESPN, alongside Louis Riddick and Chris Fowler. Ahead of the matchup, he spoke with the Miami Herald about where the Dolphins rank in the AFC, the perception of Tagovailoa and more.

The Dolphins currently hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC, but the top teams are all closely packed together. As it stands, how do you rank Miami in the conference?

I still would probably put them [No. 2] behind Kansas City. Not that Kansas City is untouchable or unbeatable. But because of how highly I think of their defense and obviously Patrick [Mahomes] and Andy [Reid] having been there [and] done that. Now they’ve got issues. I’ve got concerns about their offense now. And obviously their game in Germany, one play is the difference in the football game. So I probably put the Miami at two. I want to see how Miami plays defensively versus a team that is relatively good on the edges offensively and can protect a little bit. We’ll see how much the loss of Jaelan [Phillips] is felt. But I think Baltimore and Miami probably sit at two-ish. And then you’re looking at backup quarterbacks after that.

Miami has been extremely good at home. Undefeated this season and they have only lost two games dating to the beginning of last season. But have you seen enough right now to be convinced that they could go on the road and win one or multiple road playoff games?

Yeah, I think so. Now, I think that they’re the one team that benefits the most from the one seed. There is a reality that Patrick has never played a road playoff game. We don’t know how that would go. We have a pretty darn good feeling that he’ll be fine but [it] just never happened. But I think for Miami, yeah, they can go and play on the road and win on the road and specifically the style of ball that they’re playing on offense right now. Everyone’s going to continue to talk about Tua and weather and I think that’s the case for most quarterbacks, not just Tua, but I think because of the way that their run game is reliable, a just absolutely explosive element of Tyreek [Hill], no reservations believing that they could go on the road and win.

What has impressed you the most about the evolution of this Dolphins offense in Year 2 with Mike McDaniel?

I think No. 1, the quarterback has gotten to a point where he inherently trusts the play call and the coach. I would go back to Week 1, and I said that no quarterback is seeing football faster than Tua, and this year, that has not wavered. You don’t play and see things that fast unless you inherently trust the design of the play and what you’re told to see. And I think that’s probably a massive step that’s happened. Tua has always been an anticipation thrower.

I think that their addition of [De’Von] Achane as a — he’s become a little bit of a do-it-all type of football player for them. They don’t just hand it off to them. They don’t just motion him. They don’t just use him as a decoy. They kind of do everything with him, and I think that addition, not only the speed but that kind of piece versatility has evolved their offense a little bit. I think that their consistency in getting the run to the perimeter — they’ve got to be one of the top two or three teams as far as they run the ball on the outside. So I think the consistency that they’re capable of doing that with is probably the three biggest areas.

The MVP discussion has been really interesting this season because I don’t know if any quarterback is having a year that is completely distinguishing themselves from their peers. And then you have some quarterbacks who are having great seasons, such as Tua Tagovailoa and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, but they’re being knocked because of their supporting cast and scheme. What would you say to that?

I would say find me any quarterback that has had a really good year in the history of football and I will show you how good they’re supporting cast was. No quarterback has ever been really good, played top-10, top-12-level football, MVP-level football and never had a good supporting cast. So, they always have and always will go hand in hand.

I can say this definitively: Tua and I would say Brock Purdy are two quarterbacks who are playing at a certain way and level that no one else in the NFL can just step in and do. I think as good as, like, Dak Prescott’s playing, other guys would be playing that good. Josh Allen may be in that conversation as well. Lamar [Jackson is] playing awesome. Other guys would play awesome in Baltimore. But the way and how these guys are playing, I think is very singular to that.

The Dolphins’ defense has been trending upward in recent weeks and especially since the return of Jalen Ramsey. With Vic Fangio leading that group, what is making it so hard for opposing offenses to move the ball consistently?

A little bit of the numbers jump is partly because they haven’t really played anybody offensively elite. And in the AFC, they may not have to. But I do think there are a couple of reasons. No. 1, and this is a Vic DNA thing: Vic very rarely gives you completions. He just doesn’t. It’s very rarely easy completions. Some teams will give you completions schematically. Miami won’t give you completions.

I think two, they’re so committed to coverage that so many of their sacks or pressures are because of the coverage rather than an attacking defense. That’s not philosophically who Vic Fangio is and I think they do a nice job of even in their four-man rush, creating one-on-ones for their edge guys. Part of it is because Christian [Wilkins] in the middle, you’ve got to single him up, he’s tough.

When teams play Miami, they get consumed with trying to score points. So, they chase points. And there’s not this hard commitment to running the football, because I do think that two ways to get after their defenses, you’ve got to run it really consistently and well. And you’ve got to be able to throw to your [running] backs against their [line]backers and it’s hard to do that when you’re down 14.

Finish this statement for me: The Dolphins will be in the Super Bowl if?

I think No. 1, if Andrew Van Ginkel continues to play at a high level. No. 2, the interior of their offensive line continues to play downhill plus Mike being hard-headed about running the ball. Three, they don’t have to play from a deficit.