ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky has been hearing about it from NFL fans all season long regarding his thoughts on Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
Orlovsky has long argued that Allen deserved the NFL MVP this season over Jackson, and his insistence on that point has ruffled the feathers of many Ravens fans and others. So intense was the negative feedback he’d been receiving that when he called the Ravens’ game against the Cleveland Browns in early January and the crowd started chanting “M-V-P,” he couldn’t help but think it was partially being directed at him.
Cut to Sunday’s epic game between the Ravens and Bills. Like so many NFL fans, Orlovsky watched as the two AFC powerhouses punched back and forth until an ill-fated two-point conversion pass from Jackson to tight end Mark Andrews fell to the ground, dooming Baltimore and allowing for Buffalo to advance to the AFC Championship Game.
In the moment, Orlovsky was in awe of the game he’d just watched. However, he must have scrolled a little too much as he would soon send a message to those attacking Jackson and Andrews over the failed conversion.
Some agreed with that sentiment. Others disagreed. Statistically, Jackson outdueled Allen, throwing for way more yards and touchdowns. However, he also turned the ball over twice, part of an uncharacteristically sloppy performance that has unfortunately come to be his calling card in the playoffs.
On Monday, Orlovsky put the focus on Allen and the Bills for winning the game instead of blaming Jackson for losing.
“If you’re gonna blame last night on Lamar, I think, respectfully, you’re a loser,” he said, reiterating his prior stance. “But we do have to praise Josh Allen.”
Orlovsky again broke out his “respectfully, you’re a loser” line during a visit to Unsportsmanlike before explaining that Jackson needs to figure out how to evolve in the playoffs the same way Allen and Patrick Mahomes have.
Perhaps emboldened by the outcome of the game and his long-running stance, Orlovsky took to X Monday afternoon to send a message, presumably to those who had spent the last few months attacking him.
“The bloggers and haters have been mighty quiet today oddly enough,” he wrote in a post that was only up for several minutes before he deleted it (though not before Prime Video’s Andrew Whitworth asked a pertinent question).
We’re not sure which bloggers and haters Dan was reacting to specifically, but we’ll take a look around our mothers’ basements to see if we can confirm.
Ultimately, Orlovsky might be proven right in his initial assessment that Allen will get the MVP nod over Jackson, who has previously won two of them. And when you’re in his position and thrown down on a take that catches a lot of flak before coming true, it’s understandable you might want to take a victory lap or two. We’ll find out on February 6 if he comes out on top of the haters, bloggers, and losers once more.
