Report: Why the Raiders Could Copycat Philadelphia Eagles

The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eages gave the Kansas City Chiefs a lesson in trench warfare down in New Orleans.

In doing so, the Eagles taught that lesson to the rest of the NFL, too. It was a reminder to the league that have a strong line on both sides of the ball was vital to winning football. Pressure the quarterback and stop the run while making sure your own quarterback and ground game are thriving.

It's easy to point out, difficult to execute it. As Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer put it, the Eagles did it by feeding "their lines with investments in draft capital, cap space and real dollars, building strength on strength" over "two-plus decades."

One offseason won't make that kind of impact (most likely); but when it comes to finding impact players in the trenches to begin a culture of dominant, front-line savvy football, this offseason could see teams around the league, like the Las Vegas Raiders, play copycat.

"And the idea isn’t just to get good players up front," wrote Breer. "Everyone wants to do that. It’s to leave nothing to chance in that pursuit, and to keep the pipeline steady, even when it may not seem to need any more juice. That’s how the Eagles were ready with not one (Cam Jurgens), but two (Landon Dickerson) players capable of replacing Jason Kelce when he retired. It’s how, similarly, they had Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams lined up when Fletcher Cox walked away. It’s why they committed to keeping Jordan Mailata on the roster as he learned to play football, and how they were so ready when Jason Peters’s anointed successor, Andre Dillard, didn’t wind up being what they envisioned him to be at left tackle. It’s also how they could strike out on an edge rusher in free agency -- missing on Bryce Huff -- and still have that spot wind up being a game-altering factor in the Super Bowl, with Josh Sweat, Jalyx Hunt, Nolan Smith and Brandon Graham manning the position.