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NFL’s final four this season show Raiders different paths to success

By Khaled Abdallah

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - OCTOBER 10: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs is sacked by Maxx Crosby #98 of the Las Vegas Raiders during the 1st quarter of the game at Arrowhead Stadium on October 10, 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - OCTOBER 10: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs is sacked by Maxx Crosby #98 of the Las Vegas Raiders during the 1st quarter of the game at Arrowhead Stadium on October 10, 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – JANUARY 1: The San Francisco 49ers stop Josh Jacobs of the Las Vegas Vegas Raiders on fourth down during the game at Allegiant Stadium on January 1, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 49ers defeated the Raiders 37-34. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – JANUARY 1: The San Francisco 49ers stop Josh Jacobs of the Las Vegas Vegas Raiders on fourth down during the game at Allegiant Stadium on January 1, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 49ers defeated the Raiders 37-34. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) /

NFL’s final four this season show Raiders different paths to success

The path to success for the NFC finalists

On the other side of the bracket, you have two NFC teams that are doing things very differently compared to Kansas City and Cincinnati. The San Francisco Niners have the best defense in the NFL and even though they traded a ton of stuff to get Trey Lance, they have been winning with seventh-round rookie Brock Purdy.

Their opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, features a quarterback taken in the second round who has been excellent at times but has not had to be the driving force in their victories. The Eagles’ defense is incredible, but they also have perhaps the best offensive line in the NFL and have built their identity around a powerful running game.

The 49ers currently have the best defense in the NFL and the Eagles are not far behind at third with Cincy and KC at 7th and 12th respectively. San Francisco built up their defense over years of smart draft picks and using the majority of their first-rounders on the defensive line. They rarely sign big-money free agents on that side of the ball and get plenty of value out of their late-round picks there as well.

Philadelphia has built up its defense through the draft but was also not scared of taking swings in the trade market by acquiring guys like Darius Slay and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to bolster the back end. They also drafted heavily on the offensive line and built an incredible unit around future Hall of Famer Jason Kelce in the middle.

Both teams are at the top of the NFL in rush percentage as they run the ball around 50% of the time on offense, good for just outside the top five in the league. They use misdirection and positional versatility to maximize their rush offense and Philadelphia has the added variable of using Jalen Hurts as a runner.

While Kansas City and Cincinnati are heavily dependent on their QBs for success, the Eagles and Niners have shown that they would rather overpower their opponent with the run game than air it out. Both of these formulas have gotten these teams in the final four this season and they show once again that there is no singular path to success in the league. Now the Raiders have to decide which path they want to follow.

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