Eagles Super Bowl Win a Testament to...
Eagles Super Bowl Win a Testament to Roseman’s Work The Super Bowl was another example of all the outstanding moves made by Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman.
This season Roseman was voted executive of the year by the Pro Football Writers Association and it was a well-deserved award.
Since last off-season Roseman has been on a roll. First off he also signed Joe Douglas as vice president of player personnel and that was an invaluable addition. Douglas played a huge part in several of the key offseason moves.
Signing Nick Foles to a two-year deal as the backup quarterback turned out to be the Eagles most important offseason move. Some wondered whether it made sense to bring Foles back to Philadelphia.
Of course that was answered by Foles’ stellar postseason performance, capped by an off-the-charts Super Bowl showing where he completed 28 of 43 for 373 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and a 106.1 passer rating. In addition, Foles caught a one-yard TD pass for one of the best clutch performance in Philadelphia sports history.
The Eagles also signed undrafted rookie Corey Clement, the pride of Glassboro High and Wisconsin University. Clement picked an opportune time to have the best game in his young career during the Super Bowl. While he rushed for just eight yards on three carries, Clement caught four passes for 100 yards, including a 22-yard TD pass from Foles.
Alshon Jeffery, an off-season free agent signing, caught three passes for 73 yards and a spectacular 34-yard touchdown (over former Eagles cornerback Eric Rowe) in the Super Bowl.
Yet another offseason signing, Torrey Smith, had five receptions for 49 yards in the Super Bowl.
The Eagles first round draft choice, defensive end Derek Barnett recovered Tom Brady’s fourth quarter fumble that was the Eagles biggest defensive play in the Super bowl.
Another underrated signing was veteran safety Corey Graham, who in the Super Bowl had eight tackles, second on the team to Jalen Mills, who contributed nine.
Cornerback Ronald Darby, acquired in the preseason from the Buffalo Bills, had four tackles and two passes defended in the Super Bowl.
Defensive tackle Tim Jernigan, acquired from Baltimore, had two quarterback hits in the Super Bowl.
And of course LeGarrette Blount keyed the Eagles ground game in the Super Bowl, rushing for 90 yards and a 21-yard touchdown on just 14 carries.
Another off-season acquisition Chris Long, made his presence felt in the postseason. He has two quarterback hits in the Super Bowl. Long turned around the NFC championship game, by hitting Vikings quarterback Case Keenum and forcing an interception that was returned 50-yards for a touchdown by Patrick Robinson (another key off-season addition, who had three Super Bowl tackles).
That tied the score 7-7, turned the game around and was the beginning of 38 unanswered Eagles points. He also recovered a red zone fumble against the Vikings.
Long also brought tremendous leadership to the team.
These were just the moves that Roseman made this past year. That doesn’t include engineering the trade to draft Carson Wentz, which remains his best addition.
So Roseman had a dream season as an executive and it led to the franchise’s first Super Bowl win, while also setting up the Eagles to compete for more down the road.
Photo credit: dean bertoncelj / Shutterstock.com
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Author: Marc Narducci
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