Three Lessons UFL Teams Can Learn From How the Eagles Won the Super Bowl
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The results of the Super Bowl tend to bring about hot takes and overreactions based on what teams did to win - or lose - the game. Part of that is because it’s the biggest game of the year and part of it is because so many people are watching. Still, are there things teams - and even UFL teams - can learn about how the Philadelphia Eagles won the game, and how the Kansas City Chiefs lost it? Of course. Let’s dig in to find out more.
Games are still won in the trenches
For all the criticism that football has become “basketball on grass,” or whatever other pejorative phrase is thrown out there, the Super Bowl proved just how important play among the big uglies along the line still is. Philadelphia was able to disrupt the playmaking ability of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes by constantly pushing the pocket into his lap. They sacked him six times and were credited with 11 QB hits on 32 drop-backs. Famously, the Eagles were able to do this by just rushing four, not once sending a blitzer.
By comparison, Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was subjected to just three QB hits. In San Antonio’s upset of Birmingham in the UFL last year, the Brahmas showed the importance of winning with your front four without needing to use blitzes, stunts, or games. In spring football, where there tends to be a dearth of quality offensive linemen compared to defensive linemen, the team that can protect its QB the best gives its offense the best chance to succeed.
The devaluation of the running game continues
In some ways, 2024 was a renaissance for running backs in the NFL. As defenses played more two-high safeties to take away big plays in the passing game, offenses adjusted by running the ball more often against lighter boxes. The team with the highest percentage of pass plays in the NFL this past season was Cleveland at 62.8%. That was the lowest percentage to come in first since 2017. Saquon Barkley nearly ran for the most yards in an NFL season in history and was in the MVP conversation, ultimately finishing third in the voting.
However, in the biggest game of the year, Barkley was largely a non-factor. In 25 carries, he rushed for just 57 yards, a 2.3 yards per rush average, with a long of 10 yards. Philadelphia still managed to put up 40 points against the fourth-ranked scoring defense during the regular season. It’s reminiscent of what happened in the XFL in 2023, when the D.C. Defenders rode RB Abram Smith to the championship game amid his league-leading rushing season. Once they got there, Smith still managed 90 yards on the ground and two TDs. Like the Super Bowl, that one too came down to quarterback play, regardless of how well Smith played as an individual.
Struggling spring football offensive lines often stunt run games, forcing more of the responsibility onto the shoulders of the QB. There are not the high-level QBs in spring football historically that scare coordinators enough to invite the run the way NFL defenses have done. If a UFL team can find the magic in the run game that few have, and the way Barkley did with the Eagles, it will relieve a lot of pressure on the QB. Just don’t expect it to carry a team to a league title.
Mobile quarterbacks matter
The leading rusher in the Super Bowl - for both teams - was the quarterback. Any offensive coordinator will tell you that it’s not how they’d prefer to operate, but sometimes it’s a necessity. Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes both averaged over six yards per rush, a combination of scrambles, designed runs and RPO calls. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady may have been two of the best QBs in NFL history, but they may have also been the last of a dying breed of pocket-only quarterbacks to reach that level of success. The top-tier players at that position currently in the NFL, including the two in the Super Bowl as well as the top two finishers in MVP voting, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, often make plays with their legs.
This is not a new concept for UFL fans. The Birmingham Stallions rode the rushing ability of Adrian Martinez all the way to a third straight spring football championship in 2024. Martinez was also the league’s leading rusher - as a QB. More and more, players coming out of college are better athletically than the generation that came before them. That will trickle down to the UFL, where quarterbacks of the future for these teams will be more Allen and Jackson than Brady and Manning in terms of playing style.