Six Teams Whose Bad Decisions Helped Eagles Win Super Bowl LIX

NEW ORLEANS – The Eagles Super Bowl LIX title is a testament to many things. One, perhaps overlooked, is the help they received from some other franchises for some poor decisions that allowed general manager Howie Roseman to pounce.

Remember these poor teams when you’re watching the championship parade on Valentine’s day and the part they played in helping the Eagles win another Lombardi Trophy.

New York Giants. How incompetent did Saquon Barkley make that organization look for wasting six years of his career by failing to put anything around him? One winning seasonsin that time? That’s criminally incompetent.

New York Jets. Maybe because they share a stadium with the Giants, the incompetence is contagious, but not figuring out that, hey, maybe we should give Mekhi Becton a try at guard, was short-sighted thinking.

New Orleans Saints. Speaking of short-sightedness, why didn’t the New Orleans Saints figure out that maybe that Zack Baun guy was more than a special teams guy? Maybe the Saints will redeem themselves by hiring Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore because Moore has all the tools to be a successful head coach, though their quarterback situation is muddled.

Pittsburgh Steelers. Speaking of quarterbacks, to think the team that shares a state with the Eagles could’ve had Jalen Hurts has to sting. Mike Tomlin loved him, but why they veered off and didn’t take him with the 49th overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, and that is haunting them. Not only because of what Hurts has done, but because the Steelers wasted their pick on receiver Chase Claypool, who spent 2024 out of the league after reaching an injury settlement with the Buffalo Bills.

Meanwhile, the Eagles were only too happy to see the Steelers bypass Hurts. They took him four spots after Pittsburgh was duped by Claypool.

Tsk, tsk, tsk…

The Steelers shouldn’t be let off the hook for giving up on Kenny Pickett, either. Hurts’ backup helped the Eagles win the NFC East when he stepped in against the Cowboys and helped Philly win. Pickett even got into the Super Bowl for seven snaps in mop-up duty.

With such failed decisions, there’s a reason the Steelers are in QB hell.

Miami Dolphins. How do you think many of their players feel after crying about Vic Fangio last year for working them too hard, for being out of touch, for the insufferable heat and humidity of South Florida – basically everything? All they had to do was look in the mirror to see the fault wasn’t with their DC but themselves. The Eagles defense bought into everything Fangio was selling, and the result was a masterclass in defense by the DC and his players in shutting down the Kansas City Chiefs to win it all.

Washington Commanders. Washington basically handed Cooper DeJean to their NFC East rivals by giving Philly the 40th overall pick last spring in exchange for the Eagles’ picks at 50 and 53. Other picks were included in the deal but it was a win for Philly.

Washington got some decent players at 50 (Mike Sainristil) and 53 (Ben Sinnott), but DeJean's pick-six Super Bowl moment was a Hollywood ending to a rookie season that was so good he was a finalist for the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year.

As a bonus: The Eagles traded for the Commanders' Jahan Dotson. He had a quiet regular season, but the receiver had a touchdown catch in the playoffs and in the Super Bowl set up the Eagles’ first TD with a 27-yard catch to the 1-yard line and ended with two receptions for 42 yards in the Big Game.

More NFL: When Eagles Kellen Moore Is Named Saints Head Coach, Who Does He Take With Him?