In Super Bowl LIX, the Philadelphia Eagles proved, in spite of facing off against one of the all time greats in Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and head coach Andy Reid that the better TEAM can and will win. And for the Eagles, their win can be attributed to the most basic of football fundamentals, winning in the trenches. The Eagles offensive line held their own against the Chiefs defense and OC Kellon Moore stuck to his game plan of feeding Saquon Barkley the ball, despite only 2 or 3 yards here and there. He made the Chiefs respect their run game which only opened up opportunities for Hurts to get the ball out to Brown and Dotson. Defensively, the Eagles front 4 was able to generate 16 pressures on 42 drop backs and produced 6 sacks of the elusive Mahomes. And the Eagles blitzed a total of ZERO times. And all of those pressures on Mahomes resulted in 2 in pick 6s against arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. So what lessons can the Miami Dolphins take from the Eagles win? Well first and foremost, Chris Grier needs to study Eagles GM Howe Roseman in how to manage a team. The Eagles draft fantastically and they aren’t afraid to move on from players. When you look at the Eagles defense, they only have 3 returning starters from the appearance in Super Bowl LVII. The Eagles probably placed more emphasis on drafting g and building the OL and DL than any other team in the league. Remember when Grier said we were more worried about the offensive line than they were? Well that didn’t age very well. Bottom line, if the Dolphins need a blueprint on HOW to win, you need only look to Roseman’s methodology.
Eagles also got lucky. They were #30 in defense last year and #2 in defense this year. It's rare to see that kind of sudden improvement. In large part that was because they did something highly unorthodox by selecting 2 CBs as their first 2 picks, both of which panned out. Chances of that being replicated are low. There are many ways to win a SB, and what's most impressive is the Eagles did it with a RB as the centerpiece of their offense. That really hasn't been done since Terrell Davis in 1998, though let's not forget Hurts did end up with a 103.7 rating this year, so it's not like they didn't have elite QB play. Main question now will be can they repeat.
It's never been a secret that football is won and lost in the trenches. For a few seasons now Philly has drafted in the trenches and it's paid dividends. Another trend, Philly has 6 active players from Georgia and 6 from Alabama, powerhouses that are known for winning in the trenches. These are not coincidences, they're building a system of recruiting developed players from elite programs.
Let’s not forget the main reason the Eagles won the Super Bowl, and that is the New York Giants. If those bumbling idiots hadn’t made the biggest mistake of the season by keeping Jones, then Barkley would never have signed with the Eagles, and the Eagles would never have gone as far as they did without Barkley.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Yfnbof/ Would you look at the smirk on Schoen’s face? What a moron - should have been fired for that move alone.
So now it's just luck, lol. They draft well and they built a great team all around including the trenches. Having Fangio back this year after he got away from the **** show here in Miami was also a big reason why their defense jumped to #2. Quit looking for excuses, as I've said a million times our problem is Grier. They have a great GM, we don't.
I didn't say it's "just" luck. But there's no denying luck in involved in hitting on two CB picks like that. No GM can hit on players like that consistently. Also, this has nothing to do with Grier. I was just talking about the Eagles.
Of course there is luck involved but the Eagles probably have one of the best if not the best GM in the game atm, it’s more good work than luck when you look at that franchise the last decade or even more.
More skill than luck to build a strong team yes. But more luck than skill to go from #30 to #2 in defence in a single year and get over the hump to win a SB through 2 rookie CBs.
I think Fangio played a big part as well, yes they got lucky that both CBs panned out, but like you stated, a lot more skill than luck when it comes to Eagles GM.
If they were starters for perennial powerhouses (Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State) then there's a better chance they're the real deal. These programs pride themselves on grooming NFL players since it pays huge alumni and recruiting dividends. Other schools just don't have the top to bottom roster of the top-5 schools in the nation.
"Better chance" is still very low. It's still a crapshoot at the top of the 1st round for top caliber players, much less hitting at positions 20 and 44 in same the NFL draft at a position that turned out to be critical for the SB run. That's mostly luck. If you don't think so, why isn't that happening year after year for the Eagles, or anyone else?
I agree with you, and the reason why it doesn't happen more often is because there's only so many studs to draft from a handful of schools. And sometimes you can't draft a DT or a LB in round one, you need a QB or a receiver. But focusing on the trenches and skill positions from the top 3-5 schools is a very good path. The Eagles have been DOMINANT for the past three years. Last year, injury ravaged their defense but they still should have gone all the way. This year, they absolutely blew out teams in the playoffs. And a very large part of that was drafting Georgia's defensive line and linebackers. People don't realize how truly special Philly was in that super bowl, rushing 4 and generating so much pressure against one of the best QB's ever. Nobody has ever come close to doing that before.
I wouldn't say they're dominant. In the Hurts/Sirianni era (last 4 years) they won 1 SB, lost 1 SB, lost two WC, and came in 2nd twice in their division. That's not dominant. You want dominance? Look at KC. In the Mahomes era (last 7 years) they won 3 SBs, lost 2 SBs, lost 2 Conference Championships, and finished 1st in their division all 7 years. KC is halfway to being one of the great dynasties in NFL history if they can keep this up (they're chasing SF and NE who were dominant for almost a 2 decade period). Philly did great. But let's not blow this out of proportion. It's one SB win. If they can do what KC has done, then they'll have shown the NFL you can win consistently with a dominant line and a great RB. But if this is just a one year thing, it will be an anomaly more than anything else.
Fair enough, if you're judging this in Super Bowl appearances (which is as good of a metric as any). The Eagles have been dominant in the regular season and somehow fizzled out in the playoffs recently, which elite teams aren't supposed to do. They have been a very good team though.
You are just focusing on the 2 CBs, but the Eagles draft well in general, much better than we do. You are supposed get good players who contribute right away at 20 and 44. It's not luck It's good talent evaluation and good drafting. It's also good philosophy about how to build a tough physical complete team to win a championship instead of a soft bunch of ******* who are only good for some regular season highlights against bad teams which is what we have here in Miami.
Of course it's luck. It's not normal to hit on players that good in the first 2 rounds. We're not just talking starters, we're talking high level players crucial to their SB win. And their GM has had some notable busts in the 1st round too, like Jalen Reagor. You shouldn't expect any GM to hit on their first 2 picks like that. Also, if their GM is so good why were they #30 in defense last year?? And don't try some kind of injury argument. Buffalo in the past few years has had so many crucial injuries to their defense and they still played elite despite them (look at 2022 where they ended up #2 in defense despite a rash of key injuries). And how do you go from #30 to #2 in defense in one year? It's certainly not Fangio. On past teams he's improved their defensive ranking the first year he was DC by 12, 14, 11, 3 and 2 spots. This was a 28 spot jump. Of course it's luck. That's all separate from noting they have a good GM, obviously better than ours. But this is not about the Dolphins, this is about the Eagles.
Not luck, good scouting, good drafting, and good coaching. It was not Fangios first year with the Eagles defense, he was working with them as a consultant and built their defense to be ranked 7th in 2022 when they also went tl the SB, then they dropped to 30th in 2023 when fnagio came to Miami, then he went back to them in 2024 and shot up the rankings again and won the SB. Good drafting and good coaching by Fangio is why they improved so much and won the SB. Not luck.
No consultant has so much influence that him leaving drops a defense 22 points in ranking. Just think about how ridiculous that kind of argument is. The things you're ascribing to skill are statistically too unlikely to occur. The only explanation that really works is luck, specifically hitting on two high level CBs, sudden and vast improvement in the defense and winning the SB, obviously not in building a good team (that part is skill).
A lot more skill than luck. That season their D sucked was after a Super Bowl loss, losing their D coordinator, change of D coordinators during the season and injuries and after Patricia took over things were done, so it‘s a little more than injuries the Eagles had to deal with that season. Sure they got lucky that they got Fangio and those two CBs but Eagles been good for quite a while now so the luck thing is only a little part of the equation more good work unlike our franchise…
Changing DC almost never results in a drop like that. And injuries are no excuse if you're going to give the GM credit. See my post above on the Bills. Massive injuries and still #2 defense. Can't have it both ways. Can't say it's skill when things go well but dismiss it when they don't. Point is, the SB run was more luck than skill. Building a good team was more skill than luck.
Every year it’s the same thing after the SB. However that team won is the ONLY way to win in the future. Lol
As I pointed out already, Bills in 2022 had a huge number of key injuries to their defense and they were still #2. So injuries are no excuse. Being ranked that low is an indictment of their GM and coach. Can't give credit when things go well and not assign blame when things don't go well.
Who said they're bad? I'm just saying, give credit where credit is due and blame where blame is deserved. Similarly, anything statistically too unlikely to occur is best ascribed to luck than skill. They have a good front office over there, but let's not act like they're superhuman.
Lesson it taught me was I probably should have not of eviserated Fangio last year like I did. Holland being the man cancer on this team
If your offensive line has major liabilities, it will get exposed eventually. A stout defensive line makes your secondaries' job much easier (and much moreso than the reverse imo). Being able to generate consistent pressure with 4-5 is a monstrous advantage. Having a running game is crucial and can dictate to opposing defenses. You need to have a few elite, killer drafts getting plays up and down the board.
Not to mention having a division rival gift wrapping one of the top 2 difference makers at his position for you in the offseason, especially considering it was in favor of a qb that guaranteed said rival would remain at their previous level of suckitude.
