Lammey: The 3 biggest lessons the NFL learned from Super Bowl LII

Super Bowl LII certainly lived up to the hype.

The Philadelphia Eagles were considered huge underdogs to the New England Patriots, and the world waited to see future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady capture his sixth NFL championship.

But this game did not come with that storybook finish.

Instead, the Eagles won its first Super Bowl in franchise history, taking down the defending champion Patriots, 41-33.

The Eagles were able to pull off the upset for multiple reasons, which could be valuable lessons for every team across the league to learn from and implement in the future.

Here are the three biggest lessons that can be taken away from their victory.

Having a good backup QB is a must

We’ve seen too many teams lose their way during a season when their starting quarterback goes down. The Eagles lost a young, rising star when quarterback Carson Wentz suffered a knee injury in Week 14 against the Los Angeles Rams.

Enter journeyman backup Nick Foles.

A third-round pick of the Eagles out of Arizona in 2012, Foles lasted three seasons with the team, bounced around to two other squads (2015 – St. Louis Rams, 2016 – Kansas City Chiefs), then returned to the Philadelphia in 2017.

He’s had his chance to start many times, finding great success in 2013 before getting benched for Case Keenum when he was with the Rams in 2015.

It seemed like Foles was destined to be one of those “what might have been” players. In fact, it seemed like Foles was just going to hold a clipboard for the rest of his pro career.

But he didn’t see things that way and kept preparing for his chance at redemption. Winning the Super Bowl LII MVP with 28-of-43 passing for 373 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception should provide plenty of redemption for Foles going forward.

During the trophy presentation after the game, Foles said, “I felt calm. I mean, we have such a great group of guys, such a great coaching staff. We felt confident coming in and just went out there and played football.”

The old saying goes: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” And Foles fits that bill.

After failing to impress with other teams, he swallowed his pride and continued to make preparations for his return.

Often, a backup quarterback is seen as an afterthought. This is why the Broncos don’t need just one quarterback (the starter) but two, as their current backup options aren’t good enough to get it done in case of emergency.

Stay aggressive with the lead

Getting too conservative with a lead is a common occurrence in the NFL. We saw that last year with the Atlanta Falcons when they blew a 28-3 lead against the Patriots and ended up losing Super Bowl LI.

The Eagles played with a lead for most of the game yet did not fall prey to that same trap.

Philadelphia head coach Doug Pederson is known for his aggressive play calling, and he did not shy away from some gutsy calls in the biggest game.

Running back Jay Ajayi said being aggressive was the team’s desire entering the game.

“We wanted to be aggressive tonight,” Ajayi said. “We understood that this is a team that does not quit, that we were playing, that four quarters, and we were going to have to be able to be aggressive all game long, and we showed that tonight.”

Had the Eagles gone into a shell, there’s a good chance they would have created a deficit they couldn’t come back from. Instead, they kept firing on offense and stayed with their bold mindset through the ups and the downs of the game.

Running the ball is a must

Yes, the air was filled with footballs at U.S. Bank Stadium, but it was the ground game that kept both offenses churning in the biggest game of the year.

It may come as a surprise to some that haven’t perused the box score, but Philadelphia rushed for 164 yards on 27 carries as a team on Sunday night. New England also rushed for more than 100 yards as a team (22 carries for 113 yards) in a defeat.

Too often in 2017, we saw the Denver Broncos struggle to have a consistent offense. Toward the end of the year, when they began to run the ball with more authority, the offense looked better and had more cohesion as a unit.

In 2018, the Broncos may upgrade their running back corps, as this draft class is incredibly deep and talented. Whether they keep C.J. Anderson is up in the air, but regardless this team needs to show more commitment to the ground game.

No matter who Denver adds as the starting quarterback this offseason, running the ball will be a calming influence on the offense while also wearing down opponents.

Follow @CecilLammey