MIAMI GARDENS — The Super Bowl had good news for the Dolphins — this was the second consecutive season that a non-Hall of Fame quarterback won the title. On Sunday, defense and run game won the Super Bowl. That confirms there’s more than one way to win in the NFL.

I trust that Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley got the message.

We can all agree that there are a few ways to interpret Seattle’s 29-13 win over New England in the Super Bowl.

There’s always a Super Bowl lesson for the Dolphins whether it’s from last year or the year before that or the year before that. The lesson could be about your team’s GM.

To me, the biggest offshoot from Sunday is that Seattle’s win should ease the pressure on the Dolphins to find a Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback this year or even next year.

The pressure should be on finding a quarterback who can lead you on a path to improvement. Sometimes defense and special teams can take care of the rest. The Dolphins seemed to get that message during their coaching search. Perhaps it’ll carry through.

Consider what we’ve seen in the past two Super Bowls. On Sunday, Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold was under center as the Seahawks won the crown this year.

Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts was the quarterback last year when the Eagles dismantled Kansas City, 40-22, in the Super Bowl.

But defense, not strong quarterback play, has won the past two Super Bowls.

And defense has played a bigger role for the league’s top teams in each of the past two seasons.

Are we seeing the start of a trend?

Perhaps.

Here’s what we know from the last two seasons — you don’t need a Hall of Fame-level, Tom Brady- or Patrick Mahomes-type quarterback to win a Super Bowl.

In fact, some of the league’s best quarterbacks (Mahomes, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow) missed the playoffs in 2025.

The NFL remains a quarterback-first league, make no mistake.

Life is much easier when you have an elite quarterback.

What we’re seeing now, however, is that teams can have big one-year or two-year turnaround with a less-than-elite quarterback just as teams such as Seattle and Philadelphia can win a Super Bowl with a less-than-elite quarterback. 

You want some names of the non-elite quarterbacks scheduled to hit free agency on March 11 (all won’t hit free agency)? Green Bay’s Malik Willis. Indianapolis’ Daniel Jones. Russell Wilson of the New York Giants. Pittsburgh’s Aaron Rodgers. Washington’s Marcus Mariota. Jimmy Garoppolo of the Los Angeles Rams. Trey Lance of the Los Angeles Chargers. Baltimore’s Tyler “Snoop” Huntley. Buffalo’s Mitchell Trubisky. Miami’s Zach Wilson. Las Vegas’ Kenny Pickett. 

You want some names of non-elite quarterbacks the Dolphins could draft in the first three rounds (this could change after the NFL scouting combine and pro days)? Alabama’s Ty Simpson. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier. Miami’s Carson Beck. Penn State’s Drew Allar. 

It’s not a pretty picture.

But it’s not a hopeless picture.

Quarterback play was suspect throughout the playoffs.

Darnold was good, not great. He ended with five touchdowns, no interceptions and a 102.4 passer rating despite completing just 61.5% of his passes (56 of 91).

How was New England’s Drake Maye, the MVP runnerup, in these playoffs? He finished with six touchdowns, four interceptions, seven fumbles and an 82.2 passer rating.

Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams, the league MVP? He finished the playoffs with six touchdowns, one interception and a 94.4 passer rating while completing just 55.5% of his passes, a number that wouldn’t have ranked him in the top 50 for the regular season.

Want more? Buffalo’s Josh Allen had four touchdowns, two interceptions and a 99.8 passer rating to go along with three fumbles. He had four turnovers (two interceptions, two lost fumbles) in Buffalo’s 33-30 overtime loss to Denver. 

Denver’s Bo Nix had three touchdowns, one interception and an 87.1 passer rating while completing 56.5% of his passes in the playoffs.

Much to the dismay of NFL marketing, you can make the playoffs, advance in the playoffs and win a Super Bowl even if you don’t have a Hall of fame-caliber quarterback.

Sullivan and Hafley can start their rebuild from any position they’d like. The key is not forcing themselves to fall in love with a quarterback they merely like instead of a quarterback they love.

If Sullivan and Hafley have conviction about a quarterback, perhaps Willis, then OK, make a move.

They shouldn’t, however, make a two- or three-year commitment to someone just because they think they must find a long-term answer at quarterback this year.

Again, the recent trend shows you don’t need an elite-level quarterback to win a Super Bowl or make a big turnaround.

This is the Dolphins-specific takeaway from this year’s Super Bowl and the last two seasons. We’ll see if they’ve received the message.