ESPN analyst explains why Tagovailoa must play with a ‘defensive’ mind-set. And media notes
A six-pack of media notes on a Thursday:
▪ ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, whose analysis of Tua Tagovailoa has consistently been among the most insightful on network television, recently summarized how Tagovailoa has significantly been impacted by something that’s understood to be true but never acknowledged in any Dolphins news conference: the offensive line’s shortcomings.
“When I watch the [Dolphins offense], it makes me think of the Princeton basketball team with [former coach] Pete Carril,” Orlovsky said. “Constantly moving. There’s never a moment where they snap the ball and everyone is standing still. It’s shrunk-down formations. People are full-speed motion. You’ve got [one player] going this way, a fake handoff [that] way. Like some form of an RPO [run-pass option] this way.
“I hear the conversation that Tua gets the ball out so quickly because he has to or he’s not good enough. That’s not the case. Tua is getting the ball out so fast, and the ball isn’t traveling far downfield, because that offensive line stinks. He has to mask it. The ball has to come out so quickly.
“You play in such a defensive posture if you’re Tua. I can’t hold the ball. I can’t push it downfield. It has to get out of my hands. I have to see this defender to my right, that defender to my left. I’ve got to make sure I read the RPO right, inside out. It’s another example of how well Tua is playing given how poorly the five guys up front are.”
Tagovailoa is releasing the ball in 2.5 seconds, second fastest in the league. The Dolphins are last in pass block win rate at 45 percent.
Because the Dolphins rely a lot on RPOs, ESPN’s Mina Kimes asked Orlovsky if he worries if Tagovailoa is not developing as a drop back passer.
“My answer is yes,” Orlovsky said. “When they do call drop back passes, he is so focused on getting the ball out. It’s almost like I’m kicking it to the flat now, because if I try to get to a second or third [read], I’m going to get hit and then we’re playing in a second-and-13, and they can’t play that way. He’s so worried about what’s best for the team than his own individual growth.”
NFL Network’s Kurt Warner said “there are a lot of people who will look at Tua’s game and say he’s not doing this enough or he’s not throwing the ball downfield enough or his arm is not strong enough. I don’t care about all that stuff.
“Can you lead your team to wins? Can you make the plays you’re supposed to make? They’ve won five in a row, and it’s because of the way this young man is playing and leading this team and making the right plays at the right time.”
While Orlovsky and Warner have been complimentary of Tagovailoa, others — including NBC’s Chris Simms — have been critical.
Tight end Mike Gesicki notices it.
“I watch ‘SportsCenter’ every day,” Gesicki said, adding that the wide range of options expressed about Tagovailoa “are not a big deal. It’s how sports fans are. The thing that’s frustrating... is the people who are negative and positive and then negative and positive.... Oh he’s so great, oh he’s not. Pick a side.”
▪ Peyton and Eli Manning won’t work the Dolphins-Saints “Monday Night Football” game. They agreed to do ESPN2 cablecasts of 10 games this year and they have done eight.
Their ninth will be Cleveland-Pittsburgh Jan. 3 and their 10th will be ESPN’s wild card game.
So Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick will provide the only TV call of Miami-New Orleans.
▪ A few other NFL media notes: CBS is sending Dolphins-Jets only to Miami-Fort Lauderdale (which includes the Florida Keys), West Palm Beach, Naples/Fort Myers and New York City. Greg Gumbel and Adam Archuleta call the game...
Beginning this season, ESPN will have two games the day before the final Sunday of the regular season. The matchups — to be determined after Week 17 games — will be at 4:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Levy/Griese/Riddick will call the night game, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit the earlier game...
There will be Saturday NFL games three of the next four weeks, including Cleveland-Las Vegas and New England-Indianapolis this weekend (both only on NFL Network) and Cleveland-Green Bay and Indianapolis-Arizona on Christmas.
▪ Local notes: WSVN-Fox 7 lead sportscaster Josh Moser returned to the air last week after missing a month with injuries sustained when — according to Moser —- he “was hit head-on by a person driving the wrong way” after leaving the station’s North Bay Village studios.
Late last year, Moser left a TV job in Wisconsin to replace the retired Steve Shapiro as WSVN’s lead sportscaster....
Jonathan Zaslow, who doesn’t have much play-by-play experience, capably handled Heat radiocasts this week while Jason Jackson was in COVID-19 protocols...
NBC-6’s Ruthie Polinsky won a Suncoast Sports Emmy in the talent/sports category.
▪ Here’s some Heat/ESPN feedback:
Jeff Van Gundy made an interesting point on last week’s Heat-Bucks game, noting that Kyle Lowry “used to be able to get to the line more often. That’s not going to happen for him [at 35] and with these rules” that have reduced fouls called on jump shooters…
ESPN’s Zach Lowe, after the Bam Adebayo injury: “Depth was the obvious issue for the Heat going into the season. Their rotation collapses into pretty big unknowns after guys number seven and eight. The Heat are built for the playoffs. They have a real chance to make the Finals if they have their whole team intact. Their only goal is just don’t slip into the play-in tournament.
“And I said before the season, they are one injury away from being in danger of slipping into the play-in tournament. This is the injury. This is a really tough injury for them to withstand. This is a really thin team. Jimmy Butler has missed games. Kyle Lowry has missed games. Tyler Herro has missed games. They’re going to have to fight and scrap in the East. It’s not a lock that Miami stays in the top six if they suffer a big injury and this is a big injury.”
Offensively, “they’re going to need more from Jimmy Butler,” Lowe added. “They’re going to need more from Kyle Lowry, who has really been a distant fourth option with this team. They’re going to need him to become Toronto Kyle Lowry. And Duncan Robinson who just got this huge contract is shooting [33.7] percent from three. That’s his only job, to make threes. He’ll start making more shots, but the Duncan Robinson/Bam two-man game - it’s a beautiful two-man game -... it gets the Heat into a lot of their best stuff. Without Bam’s passing as a hub at the elbow, it will be interesting to see how they adjust.”
▪ One of ESPN’s sportscasting couples — NBA analyst Jalen Rose and “First Take” host Molly Qerim — announced last week that they’re divorcing. They married in 2018.
“After being separated for almost a year, Molly and I have officially decided to go our separate ways,” Rose wrote on Instagram. “We both agree remaining friends and colleagues is the best course of action for our relationship going forward. Please respect our privacy at this time.”
Connecticut court records, first obtained by TMZ Sports, indicated that Rose filed for the divorce on April 30, months after the couple starred in a Gatorade commercial together. Rose said in court documents the marriage broke down irretrievably after Qerim moved to Connecticut.
Rose, 48, has been the one constant on ESPN’s NBA studio show since 2012. Qerim has moderated Stephen A. Smith’s show, “First Take,” since 2015.
Among other sportscaster couples, Dan Hicks and Hannah Storm have been married since 1994, and Joe Buck and Michelle Beisner since 2014.
America’s most famous original sportscaster couple — Dick Stockton and Lesley Visser — married in 1983 and divorced 26 years later. Both subsequently remarried. Stockton retired from broadcasting earlier this year.
Here’s my Thursday Dolphins piece on a significant change made by the organization.
Here’s my Thursday Dolphins 6-pack, with news on the 2022 schedule, the NFL’s altered COVID protocols and how it could affect the Dolphins, more on Tua and injury news.
This story was originally published December 16, 2021 at 5:38 PM.
