Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is like the relentless sharp in your fantasy league who always seems a step ahead.

Roseman has once again built the NFL’s best roster, and it dominated Sunday’s NFC championship game in Philadelphia.

Powerful and deep, the Eagles caused four turnovers, scored a touchdown after each takeaway and overwhelmed the Washington Commanders, 55-23. They will now play in their third Super Bowl under Roseman, who launched his NFL career by mailing hundreds of letters to an Eagles executive as a recent graduate of Fordham Law School.

In the Caesars Superdome, the Eagles will seek their second Super Bowl win in eight years, and first since losing to the Chiefs two years ago.

Big plays Sunday came from several of Roseman’s additions who arrived last offseason.

Back then, the GM was attempting to fix problems that had contributed to a late-season decline and an ugly wild-card-round defeat at Tampa.

Running back Saquon Barkley, signed as a free agent in March, turned the offense’s first offensive snap into a well-blocked 60-yard touchdown run and a 7-3 lead.

The Commanders never caught up, in part due to three takeaways authored by three Eagles defenders Roseman obtained last spring.

Derailing Washington’s potential go-ahead drive, a first-quarter fumble near midfield was caused by linebacker Zack Baun and cornerback Cooper DeJean.

Roseman got Baun, an ex-Saint, for just $3.5 million in free agency and saw him become a first-time All-Pro this season. The GM landed DeJean by trading up to draft him in the second round out of Iowa.

Roseman’s first draftee last April, cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, intercepted a fourth-quarter pass in the end zone to ensure that Jayden Daniels, the Commanders’ impressive rookie quarterback, wouldn’t engineer a comeback like the one that beat the Eagles in December.

For Mitchell, a Toledo alum, it was second interception of the postseason.

The game’s best was the Eagles’ offensive line that Roseman strengthened in March by signing ex-Jets tackle Mekhi Becton and slotting him at right guard, where he’s had a career-best season.

Despite losing an all-time great center, Jason Kelce, to retirement last offseason, the Eagles’ line had another dominant season. It’s one of the reasons why Barkley, the ex-Giant, produced one of the best rushing seasons in NFL history.

Surprising no one, Eagles blockers — assisted by a collision between second-line Commanders defenders — ensured Barkley wasn’t touched on his first carry until he was several yards downfield.

This season, Barkley ranked first in yards before contact due to bully-ball blocking, smart play designs and the running back’s rare explosiveness, agility and vision.

Accentuating the mismatch, Washington’s defense had finished last in average yards allowed before contact by running backs, per Pro Football Focus.

Compared with most NFL GMs, Roseman came from a non-traditional background as an expert in salary cap machinations and contract negotiations. As such, Roseman can outmaneuver many of the numerous GMs who primarily come from scouting backgrounds, in the often-stated view of Andrew Brandt, a former player agent who also was an executive with the Eagles and Packers.

“He brings a competitive advantage. … We’re not living in the 1990’s or the 2000’s anymore,” Brandt told Philadelphia radio station 94WIP two years ago. “The idea of GMs being only scouts is really passe, even though some teams still have that. Howie has taken advantage of the scouts/GMs over and over.”

The Eagles executive who gave Roseman his NFL start as an intern, Joe Banner, has said Roseman’s fearlessness sets him apart.

Roseman was quick to move on from quarterback Carson Wentz soon after giving Wentz a large contract. It was the right move. Roseman built a second Super Bowl team around another quarterback he drafted, Jalen Hurts.

Banner said Roseman also was receptive to data-driven approaches the Eagles had evolved in game strategies.

One fundamental taken into account, Banner told PHLY’s YouTube show last week, was the reality that nearly 80% of NFL games are won by the team that leads at halftime. So, figure out how to start fast. And, more so than any position other than QB, invest in the defensive line, so that pass rushers can make it almost impossible for opponents to rally.

The biggest personnel development Sunday for the Eagles was Hurts showing good mobility and passing form, seven days after suffering a left knee injury in the third quarter of the Eagles’ six-point win over the dangerous Rams.

Hurts played a clean, crisp game.

A second-round draft pick of Roseman’s in 2020, Hurts tossed a perfect fourth-and-5 pass to A.J. Brown, the wide receiver and former Padres draftee, some 30 yards down the left sideline in the first half. Hurts also ran for a 9-yard TD.

The QB was concussed in the first quarter of last month’s loss to the Commanders. But since he returned to open the postseason, he has no turnovers in Philadelphia’s three playoff games. Sunday, in yanking the passing game out of an uneven month, he was 20 for 28 for 246 yards and a touchdown.

The Eagles appear near peak form as they prepare to win the franchise’s second Lombardi Trophy in five attempts. It would be their first Super Bowl victory in two tries under coach Nick Sirianni, a former San Diego Chargers offensive assistant.

Originally Published: January 26, 2025 at 5:55 PM PST