For the next few months, all you are going to hear the same narrative over and over again – That the Rams and Bengals showed that if you do not have a QB, you have no shot in winning a Super Bowl.
In Super Bowl LVI, however, the message to take away had nothing to do with the QB.
I’ve mentioned a while ago how the QB position has become so overinflated to the point that fanbases expect their signal-caller to make something out of nothing at all times, and if he’s unable to do it, then it’s worth starting over.
The Rams only further proves that point.
They paid a king’s ransom for Matthew Stafford and it resulted in the team’s first championship in LA since the 1940’s. But what gets lost in all the bravado and lure of the QB position is that the Rams won that game, not because of Stafford, but because of the basic premise the Eagles have ignored for the last few years.
Defense. Wins. Championships.
The Eagles are in an extremely flexible position this offseason. Their defensive needs match up with the talent level in free agency and the draft. This is a loaded free-agent class at safety, while the draft has some excellent edge rushers and linebackers.
Many Philly sportswriters will be demanding that the Eagles should go QB hunting for the likes of Wilson, Watson or even Carr. This would be a monumental mistake and show that the true message of Super Bowl LVI was ignored.
The team should not go QB hunting as long as the weaknesses around the QB still remain. You saw how poor Stafford looked when OBJ left the field to an injury. It took the Rams almost two and a half quarters just to get something going offensively after that injury.
You’d be hard-pressed to say that Matt Stafford outplayed Joe Burrow in that game last night. In fact, both QB’s weren’t exactly throwing darts all over the field. For most of the game, both offenses couldn’t get out of their own way and the QB’s didn’t do much to help at times. For the Rams, the game was turning into an offensive nightmare.
But the defense kept them in the game thanks to an enormous pass rush, and a lock down secondary when it mattered most.
One thing Howie Roseman has always mentioned is the importance to build a team in the trenches. He’s absolutely right, and it’s a reason the Eagles have always been in the hunt for two decades. But the team has gone away from that the last few drafts and off-seasons due to poor offensive drafting. You saw how important it was for the Rams to have their front seven dominate the line of scrimmage. Aaron Donald, Von Miller, Leonard Floyd and a group of Rams defenders totaled seven sacks in last night’s game.
That doesn’t just magically happen. The Rams winning the Super Bowl happened because they heavily invested in the defensive line, and it paid off. If the Eagles were to invest heavily this offseason on the defensive side of the football, it will put their full roster in a position to make a deep run at the playoffs.
The Eagles are not a QB away from a Super Bowl. And it’s time we stopped thinking that the Rams won last night because of Stafford.
If Howie Roseman wants to see the Eagles back on Super Bowl Sunday, he will need to re-invest back into the position group, and side of the ball that faltered the most this season.
Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire
