Apparently, Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni read The Federalist.
OK, perhaps that statement is a slight exaggeration. But before the 2023 NFL season, I wrote in these pages how creative coaches willing to experiment with innovative offenses could make running backs great again. One year later, Roseman, the Philadelphia Eagles’ general manager, and Sirianni, the team’s coach, helped deliver one of the best seasons by a running back in pro football history.
Saquon Soars
Roseman signed the running back in question, Saquon Barkley, away from the Eagles’ division rival, the New York Giants, over the past offseason. And in his first year in a Philadelphia uniform, Barkley eclipsed 2,000 yards rushing in the regular season, becoming only the ninth running back in NFL history to do so. With just 30 yards on the ground in Sunday’s Super Bowl, Barkley would eclipse Terrell Davis’ record for most rushing yards in a season, including the playoffs.
Barkley’s feats have helped revitalize interest in running backs and demonstrated a level of explosiveness that many football “experts” had long reserved for wide receivers catching deep passes. His seven touchdown runs of 60-plus yards set a new NFL record. And the combination of power and speed has dazzled teammates and opponents alike — witness Barkley’s now-famous backward hurdle over a Jacksonville Jaguars player earlier this season.
Ever a teammate, Barkley has readily shared credit with the Eagles’ offensive line, the largest ever to play in a Super Bowl. That offensive line helped key the Eagles’ ground game success in more ways than one, meeting with Sirianni during the team’s bye week in late September and asking to emphasize the run game more heavily. The offensive tweaks resulting from that meeting turned the Eagles into a run-focused team, allowing Barkley’s talents to shine.
My column 18 months ago notwithstanding, I will confess some initial skepticism upon learning of the Eagles’ signing of Barkley in March. I had followed Barkley’s career for years — he grew up 10 miles from my Pennsylvania hometown and played his college ball at Penn State University — but did not know whether he represented a major improvement over his predecessors.
In recent years, the Eagles have had good running backs, among them LeSean McCoy, D’Andre Swift, and Miles Sanders, Barkley’s Penn State teammate, who helped lead the team to the Super Bowl two years ago. But Barkley has demonstrated the effects of signing a great running back. The combination of his talents and a powerful offensive line has made the whole much greater than the sum of the parts and left Barkley on the cusp of winning his first Super Bowl title — on his 28th birthday, no less.
Andy Reid, Grounded
But to capture the crown, Barkley and the Eagles will have to overcome a familiar face on the opposing sideline: Andy Reid, the Kansas City Chiefs’ head coach, who previously spent 14 seasons coaching the Eagles. Ironically, Reid holds franchise records for coaching wins for both the Eagles (130) and the Chiefs (143 wins entering the Super Bowl).
Another irony of Andy Reid’s career: He spent his tenure in Philadelphia combatting allegations that he “couldn’t win the big one.” His Eagles teams won four straight division titles and reached four straight conference championship games (which earn a team a berth in the Super Bowl). He won only one of those four conference title games and lost to the New England Patriots in that subsequent Super Bowl appearance.
But two decades later, Reid and the Chiefs stand on the verge of history, should they become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. (The Green Bay Packers achieved two separate “threepeats,” but those came in the pre-Super Bowl era.) The explosiveness and elusiveness of Chiefs quarterback, and near-certain Hall of Famer, Patrick Mahomes, coupled with a stifling defense, have already allowed Reid to win the Super Bowl titles that eluded him in Philadelphia.
But when facing the press early in Super Bowl week, Reid made clear his focus. Dwelling on past glories, or looking ahead to the “call of history,” provides an easy trap that can become one’s undoing. Staying fixated on the present represents the only way to overcome past obstacles and achieve a brighter future.
Andy Reid also understands the importance of faith in his life. He noted that he attended Brigham Young University for a reason and has valued his religion as a source of stability in family turmoil. But he was quick to observe that those on the opposite sideline have similarly strong beliefs, and he should not and would not invoke the Almighty over something like a football game.
A player who has revitalized the importance of the running game in modern football on one side and a coach and a team pursuing history on the other — these are just two of the major storylines heading into Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX.
Jesus Christ is King
