The 2024 season has officially come to a close after the Philadelphia Eagles destroyed the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX 40-22. They brought home their second Vince Lombardi Trophy and prevented the first-ever three peat in Super Bowl history.
Each time a team wins the Super Bowl, there are a lot of copycats that try to duplicate the process. It’s not always that simple, as each team, scheme, and organizational structure are different. However, the general sentiment and blueprint is worth looking at.
What is that blueprint? There are a few main takeaways from how the Eagles and general manager Howie Roseman built their roster.
Never stop investing in the trenches
The Eagles are one of the more interesting franchises when it comes to the NFL Draft. Nearly every year, the Eagles are drafting someone in the trenches. Just in the last four years, the Eagles have taken the following trench players in the first three rounds:
2021: OG Landon Dickerson (2nd round), DT Milton Williams (3rd round) 2022: DT Jordan Davis (1st round), C Cam Jurgens (2nd round) 2023: DT Jalen Carter (1st round), EDGE Nolan Smith (1st round) OG Tyler Steen (3rd round) 2024: EDGE Jalyx Hunt (3rd round)
Five of those players are starters with Hunt and Williams being key rotational players who both got sacks during Sunday’s game. Continuing to invest in the trenches is a vital practice on an overall level. The game is won in the trenches and it’s just as important to invest resources as it is to hit on those picks.
The Vikings have invested in the trenches. Brian O’Neill, Christian Darrisaw, Garrett Bradbury, and Ed Ingram are all in the top 62 picks. Plus, they just spent major resources on the defensive line with the edge group in the last offseason. Hitting on those players is really important
Coaching is important
This is the element that the Vikings just don’t have right now. Having great position coaches is a huge factor in the success of the Eagles. The Vikings have a really good coaching staff, but there is one element that they don’t have: Jeff Stoutland.
The Vikings have a solid offensive line coach in Chris Kuper, but Stoutland is one of the best offensive line coaches in history. He is a major factor in the success of the Eagles’ team. You can try and do the same thing, but as we saw with Ed Donatell trying to run Vic Fangio’s defense, it’s never as good as having the real thing.
Players who can win one-on-one matter
The major factor in how the Eagles won was on the defensive trenches. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio didn’t blitz a single time against the Chiefs and they were still dominant against Patrick Mahomes, causing incredible mayhem, including six sacks and two interceptions.
When you don’t blitz, you need to have players win in one-on-one situations. Carter, Smith, Sweat, and Williams all showed the ability to win one-on-one with some consistency. The Vikings have one guy who can do that consistently in Jonathan Greenard. Other than that, Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner have shown some ability, but they rely too much on creative pressure packages and stunts to get the job done and not asking them to just win one-on-one.
Find value
The Vikings have done a really good job of this, something that the Eagles have done as well. Players like Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Carter, and Smith were all drafted lower than most believed they would be. Plus, they have found value in signing players like Zack Baun to minimum contracts which has been a huge factor in making things happen.
The Vikings have also done a good job with this. They haven’t hit on enough draft picks (which is a big factor), but finding players like Ivan Pace Jr. and signing players like Blake Cashman to value contracts compared to the rest of the position is something that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah can hang his hat on.
The reality is simple
The Vikings can learn multiple lessons and using them can make a major impact on the future of the franchise. However, it’s not a simple instruction manual from IKEA that you can just follow to a T and it will work.
In reality, the Vikings are not the Eagles, nor were they the Chiefs from the last two years. They need to fortify their own roster in ways that will help them. What they can do is start incorporating things that worked for the best teams in the National Football League and use it within their process. Each Super Bowl team is different, but using these lessons can help take them over