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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Ground Control

Posted February 3rd, 2025 | 1 Comment »

The Eagles have played in four Super Bowls and they have a record of 1-3 in those games. The Eagles lost the rushing battle in three of those games, all of them were losses. This isn’t to say the team that runs for the most yards is guaranteed to win, but it sure helps.

If you think back to SB LVII, the ground game was the difference. The Eagles rushed for 115 yards, but 70 of that was Jalen Hurts. Miles Sanders had a nightmare game, running for just 16 yards on 7 carries. The Chiefs ran for 158 yards and averaged just over 6 yards per carry. They were the more physical team and they won the line of scrimmage.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that this is a different team. The 2022 Eagles were 16th in run defense. The 2024 Eagles finished 10th in run defense. The 2022 team allowed 4.6 yards per carry. The current team allowed 4.3 yards per carry. You have to factor in that the defense struggled against the run early on before Cooper DeJean got on the field and the overall unit was adjusting to the new scheme/coach.

The Chiefs finished 22nd in the league in rushing. They were 29th in yards per carry. This isn’t a great run game. Injuries played a big part in that so the overall numbers are a bit misleading. Still, the Chiefs only ran for 50 yards against Houston before going for 135 in the win over Buffalo. KC will not have an easy time running on the Eagles defense.

As for the Eagles offense, they just set a franchise record for rushing yards. Saquon Barkley is having one of the best seasons ever by a RB. He ran for more than 2,000 yards in the regular season and is averaging almost 150 yards per game in the postseason. Barkley is healthy. Jalen Hurts is healthy. The OL is pretty healthy. The run game should be ready to go on Sunday.

The Chiefs played the run well for most of the year, but they have struggled recently. They have given up 139 or more yards in 5 of their last 6 games. Buffalo might have beaten KC if they didn’t get away from running the ball. The Eagles should be able to run the ball. The question will be whether the Chiefs try to load the box and risk giving up big plays or stay back and risk giving up 5 to 6 yard gains.

If the Eagles win the ground game, it will help their chances of winning the overall game.

*****

The Chiefs don’t have to run to win. They have that Mahomes guy, who is kinda decent. The Eagles have the best pass defense in the league so throwing the ball on them won’t be easy.

KC loves to throw short. Even that will be a big challenge.

The Eagles keep things in front of them and then attack. Quickly. And they fly to the ball as a group. You don’t see a lot of tackles with only one defender. Eagles defenders hustle to the ball. That cuts down on missed tackles.

By playing a lot of zone and keeping multiple defenders back, the Eagles take away deep throws. That forces offenses to throw short. The Eagles know that is likely to happen and they play accordingly.

Stylistically this matchup is better for the Eagles than the previous SB meeting.

The 2022 team lived and died with pressure. This group plays good defense regardless. The defense becomes overwhelming when they are able to get to the QB.

*****

The Eagles seem to have the right mindset this time around. They aren’t just happy to be in the Super Bowl.

Getting there is good. Winning is legendary.

Stay hungry.

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