Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Building the Perfect Beast

Posted February 4th, 2025 | 1 Comment »

Teams don’t get to the Super Bowl by accident. The Chiefs are shooting for a three-peat because they have multiple Hall of Fame players, all-time great coaches, and a talented overall roster. The Niners have made multiple Super Bowls because they have one of the best play-callers in the league and a roster with multiple all-pro players.

The Eagles are on their third Super Bowl in eight years. This all starts at the top. Jeffrey Lurie empowered the man who built these rosters. After the Chip Kelly years, Lurie could have gone for a total change of leadership. Instead he put Howie Roseman back in charge and the results have been great. Lurie hired the two coaches who got the team to the big game. He’s spent money to allow Roseman to maximize cap dollars, unlike a certain owner from Texas. You have to also give Lurie credit for embracing risk, in terms of coaching/personnel decisions and gameday decisions. One of the reasons the Eagles are right on some key decisions is that they aren’t afraid to be wrong.

I remember Jimmy Bama and I having a discussion in Mobile one year about how teams have to be a bit creative. If all 32 teams have the same mentality, it is incredibly hard to rise to the top. You have to figure out ways to be different and possibly better. The Eagles tried that with the Chip Kelly hire and all of his cutting edge ideas. Kelly didn’t work, but some of the ideas proved to be useful. Doug Pederson wasn’t a red hot assitant when he got the job. Nor was Sirianni. Those risks did work.

Howie is worth a full article.

Here is Dave Zangaro – Why Howie Roseman is the perfect GM for the Eagles

Here is Brooks Kubena – How GM Howie Roseman rebuilt the Eagles in two years to return to the Super Bowl

Here is Jimmy Bama – Eagles are the NFC’s most accomplished team of the last decade, likely with a bright future

Howie is getting a ton of praise right now and he deserves it all. His recent drafts have been incredibly good. His pro moves have been outstanding, with an exception or two. The 2024 offseason is proving to be one of the best of all time. Don’t take my word for it.

Mike Sando wrote a piece explaining just how great the offseason was and putting it into historical context. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. This isn’t a team of destiny. This is a team of talent. Howie assembled a roster full of incredible players and they have done great things since the bye week.

All that talent only gets you so far. You need the right coaching staff to get the most out of them. Vic Fangio was given talented players and he delivered the best defense in the league. You can’t ask for more than that. Jeff Stoutland has delivered the best OL in the league and that has turned Saquon Barkley from star RB to a 2,000-yard rusher and household name. Kellen Moore has embraced the run heavy style and tried to keep the passing game where it needs to be. It looked great in the win over Washington so hopefully that bodes well for Sunday.

And of course we have to give Nick Sirianni credit for creating the right culture for these players to perform at their best. That is easier said than done. His message has set the tone for the season and the players have really bought in.

Let’s hope he has the right words for the team this weekend.

Time will tell where this team and this era fit into football history. For now just enjoy the ride. These are good days. The team wins and watching Saquon is like a video game that came to life.

Sunday could be a special day.

*****

If you like stats, Deniz has you covered.

Make sure you follow him on Twitter. He is a great source of information.

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One Comment on “Building the Perfect Beast”

  1. 1 The Linc - The key to Jalen Hurts success in Super Bowl 59 - SportSourcio said at 11:00 AM on February 5th, 2025:

    […] Building the Perfect Beast – Iggles Blitz […]