How the Eagles’ Title Shows the Lions Are On the Right Path
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The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t just prevail in the Super Bowl, they absolutely hammered the Kansas City Chiefs. If Sunday’s game in New Orleans was a boxing match, it would’ve been a Round 2 TKO.
The Chiefs were thought of by many to be invincible in their quest for a three-peat. To lose in the manner that they did was stunning. But it didn’t just allow Philly to celebrate, it also gave hope to the Detroit Lions in a postseason that might otherwise be a low point.
There is a long list of reasons as to why the Eagles took the crown, and near the top is their ability to draft and develop talent. While Vic Fangio’s defense was led by veterans like cornerback Darius Slay and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, they also had a wealth of young talent on what was the NFL’s youngest defense.
Rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean were massive contributors in the secondary all year. Mitchell, in his first year, showed so much promise that Kansas City hardly looked his way on Sunday. DeJean, the versatile cornerback/safety hybrid, had a Pick 6 on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes that put the Eagles up 17-0. Defensive lineman Jalen Carter has to be mentioned as a serious candidate to be the next Aaron Donald. The list of names goes on and on. General manager Howie Roseman has identified talent early in the draft and the Eagles have developed it.
It’s easy to find parallels with the Lions.
The offense gets a ton of the credit, but if not for the myriad of injuries, the Lions’ great, deep, young defense might have stolen the show. In the same draft class where Detroit grabbed Jahmyr Gibbs in the first round, it also selected linebacker Jack Campbell six picks later, and later safety Brian Branch. The year before that, they took both Aidan Hutchinson and Kerby Joseph, and Alim McNeill in 2021.
These aren’t just nice contributors, or even good starters. They’re a collection of three All-Pro/Pro Bowl players — cornerstone-type pieces.
And the defense isn’t an outlier. You know Gibbs, you know Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta, and Jameson Williams. Sure, you can talk about how Hutchinson was a No. 2 overall pick, or how Sewell was taken seventh overall. But the Eagles got their own pair of top-10 picks in Carter (No. 9 in 2023) and DeVonta Smith (No. 10 in 2021).
You still have to crush on those early picks, and like the Eagles, Detroit turned their opporunities into monsters. Also like the Eagles, they’ve been able to find high-end players in the second, third, and fourth rounds.
Brad Holmes and his front office have shown time and again that they can identify the correct talent, then develop said talent into top players. Good luck finding two teams that have had a better pipeline from the draft to game days.
Especially when it comes to two teams that have drafted so heavily in the trenches. Detroit’s offensive line has been phenomenal in recent seasons, the same can be said for Philly, whose line survived even the retirement of six-time All-Pro center Jason Kelce. On the defensive front, the Eagles have several players that can win one-on-one consistently. Hutchinson and McNeill can do the same.
There will be plenty of “What Ifs” torturing the minds of Lions fans after seeing what the Eagles just accomplished, and it’s hard to argue it could’ve been Detroit lifting the Lombardi, had it not been for all the injuries.
But that’s exactly why Detroit doesn’t need to make drastic changes in the offseason.
There is something to be said about the Eagles pursuing an “all-in” move with running back Saquon Barkley. Might Detroit push its chips in with a move to acquire Myles Garrett from Cleveland or Maxx Crosby from Las Vegas? It’s possible and the price would be steep. The big difference is Barkley was a free agent addition, Philadelphia didn’t have to part with a ton of draft capital to acquire the superstar back.
Detroit has a tremendous blend of young talent built for the long run and veterans who can help solve the puzzle now. There’s stability for the present and the future in place. Philadelphia’s dismantling of the Great Mahomes-led Chiefs showed that you can dominate with a full roster, a draft-and-develop strategy, even if you don’t necessarily have an All-World quarterback.
Fear not: Detroit is on the right path.
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