Does Eagles winning it up front bode well for Chris ‘Build the Trenches’ Ballard’s Colts?

This year’s Eagles success reinforces some of the longtime roster-building philosophy of embattled GM Chris Ballard.

The Philadelphia Eagles beat the 2x reigning Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, 40-22, in quite convincing fashion to hoist a Lombardi Trophy of their own on Super Bowl Sunday.

The Eagles exorcised a number of demons from last year’s meltdown, as head coach Nick Sirianni’s squad redeemed itself by capping off a strong season (14-3) with an elusive NFL title—and got revenge from the 2022 Super Bowl against the Chiefs when it was runner-up.

I don’t want to oversimplify it because Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has built one of the most talented and complete rosters on both side of the football in all of the NFL—and even at the expense of longtime Colts general manager Chris Ballard.

However, one of the ways that the Eagles surprisingly manhandled Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs is up-front, where Philadelphia’s front-four got to the league’s undisputed top quarterback early and often—with 6.0 sacks and 11 total QB hits on the game’s biggest stage:

The Colts have been no stranger regarding reinforcing the defensive trenches, as under Ballard’s tenure, the Colts have invested a number of first rounders: DeForest Buckner (*trade), Kwity Paye, and Laiatu Latu in trying to dominate up front, as well as big money (see veteran Grover Stewart, along with Buckner’s high cap hit).

The individual players still have to actually produce beyond their money and draft pedigree, but could that philosophy finally pay off soon for Indianapolis?

The Colts finished with just 36.0 total sacks (tied for only 25th most last year), but are a year removed from having an Indianapolis franchise record of 51.0 just a year before respectively.

Could they rediscover their formidable form under new Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo again—especially with him playing a more aggressive scheme at times up front?

That’s not to say that like the Eagles, the Colts will suddenly morph into a bona fide Super Bowl contender next year (some big Philly additions through the draft and free agency certainly paid off last offseason too, including NFL Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley).

However, the Colts theoretically have some foundational building blocks already in place to potentially make a playoff push—including within the defensive trenches:

It’s just a matter of accumulating more talent and advancing the roster forward elsewhere—and especially at premium positions, that will ultimately prove to be the difference.