Louis Riddick, who works Monday’s Dolphins game, remains one of their biggest believers

When the Dolphins play Tennessee on “Monday Night Football” on ESPN, they will have one of their biggest advocates in the booth.

Louis Riddick, the former Eagles and Commanders personnel man, has been bullish on the Dolphins since the offseason. And that continued that last week, as he prepared to call Monday’s game with Chris Fowler and Dan Orlovsky.

Asked on “First Take” if he trusts the Dolphins or Ravens more, Riddick said: “I trust the Dolphins more.

I think Miami is coming along in that. They’re not all just flash and dash. This is not a finesse football team. This is not a team that just wants to throw bombs to Tyreek Hill. Watch how they are progressing, especially on the offensive line right now, especially the running game. Throw on the tape.

“Watch their run game execution on the offensive line against Washington. Watch how they’re knocking people off the football and putting them on their back. This run game is starting to really resemble what San Fran tries to do. Austin Jackson may be one of the best stories in the NFL that nobody talks about at right tackle. They’ve totally changed the arc of this man’s career.

“If they can run the football, with the way they are explosive in the passing game, I’m telling you right now: They are going to the Super Bowl. They are going to the Super Bowl. I’ve watched the past five games in preparation for this game.

I absolutely believe they can beat Kansas City. I expect them to win convincingly on Monday night. When they play at Baltimore, that will tell me finally how I feel about this football team.

I said they would win the East anyway. They will be in the AFC title game… The running game is hitting now.

“This defense will pressure you in every way imaginable. Jalen Ramsey is healthy.

I’m not saying they’re better than the Ravens. I’m saying who I trust. You know why I trust Miami? Miami can sit there for 55 minutes and mess around and not have things go their way, [and] they have people… who can take some side of you and in the blink of an eye and flip the game just like this.

“They’re also developing a mentality that says we can also grind it out and play big boy football with you.

“I may be wrong. Baltimore may stomp them up there in Baltimore, but I doubt it. It think it’s going to be a knockdown, drag-out type of fight. And Miami is going to be there in the end. Trust me, Miami is going to be there. All the critical areas of the game, they are improving. It starts up front.

Riddick’s sentiments are in line with what he said before the season.

In June, he said the Dolphins are one of the two teams best positioned to challenge Kansas City’s AFC supremacy in the next five years.

“A team other than the Bengals that can really challenge Kansas City [over the next five years] has to be Miami because they have got firepower on offense,” Riddick said during the off-season. “They have got a fantastic defense that is going to take a step up.

Here were more of his comments in June:

“I understand every time I bring up Miami’s name, people say ‘Well, Tua [Tagovailoa] can’t stay healthy.’ I get that. I get what his track record is. I would assume this year offensively, they are going to [change a bit] philosophically to the point where the run game -- as you saw it last year when it was really dialed up — it was something that could take pressure off Tua. It could slow down opposing pass rushers and help their offensive line.

“If Mike McDaniel emphasizes that, they have got weapons coming out the ears. Defensively, they have a young nucleus of guys who are QB hunters as well as any team in the AFC, or NFC for that matter, who can get after Patrick Mahomes. This team is uniquely positioned to make a run and can start doing it this year. The quarterback position obviously has to be on the field.”

MNF PLANS

The NFL and ESPN discussed flipping the two Monday night games - and putting Dolphins-Titans on ABC and Packers-Giants on ESPN — but ultimately decided to stick with the original plan, even though neither Green Bay nor New York has a winning record.

This is the third and final time this season that ABC and ESPN will carry different Monday Night Football games, a dynamic that ESPN was granted in its MNF contract.

But this is the first time that the two games kick off at the same time, as opposed to staggered starts. Why didn’t the NFL start one game at 7:15 and one at 8:15, as it did in two such instances in September?

NFL executive Mike North said the league is experimenting with different strategies — including staggering the starts or starting games at the same time — to see what approach works best and draws the largest audience.

“I’m sure we will try again with 7 and 10 [p.m.] and get six consecutive hours,” North said. “The fans will tell us what they’re interested in.”

NFL executive Hans Schroeder said that if the Dolphins-Titans game hadn’t been placed on Monday night, there’s “a good chance this would have been a game going to regional [audience] on CBS on Sunday afternoon.”

On ESPN2, Peyton and Eli Manning will talk over video of both games.