The Eagles, the Underdogs, and the Power of Listening: A Playbook for Engineering Leaders

At the start of this NFL season, the Philadelphia Eagles were struggling.

Sure, they had talent. A strong roster. A promising quarterback. But something wasn’t clicking. The offense was out of sync. The game plan wasn’t working. And in a league that increasingly worships the pass, a league that has decided running backs are relics of the past, little more than highly replaceable cogs the Eagles found themselves at a crossroads.

Then, something unexpected happened. The offensive line, the unglamorous giants in the trenches, spoke up.

They told their coaches:

"Let us run the ball. We can win this way."

Now, let’s be clear. This was the kind of suggestion that defied modern football wisdom. The analytics nerds, the stat crunchers, the entire direction of the sport said the future was in the air, not on the ground. Teams were investing in arm strength, deep threats, and spread offenses. Running backs had become the NFL’s equivalent of disposable tech. Use them, discard them, draft a new one. (ESPN: Why Star Running Backs are Devalued)

And yet, the Eagles listened.

They trusted their front line. The very people who do the dirty work that rarely makes the highlight reels. They committed to the ground game. And just like that, their season turned around. The running game became their identity, their superpower, their defiant answer to a league that had written off this strategy as outdated.

And where will they be this Sunday? In the Super Bowl.

Because their leaders listened.

Your Team’s Super Bowl Moment

Now, let’s talk about you and your engineering team.

Where are you today? Maybe your team is grinding through a project, feeling the weight of industry trends that say “this is the only way forward.” Maybe the data suggests one direction, but your gut, and your frontline engineers, see another path.

For us, our "Super Bowl" is building an observability data lake.

Conventional wisdom says to lean on existing solutions, follow the market, and not reinvent the wheel. But guess what? Some of the best ideas we've had, the ones that will set us apart, came from the engineers in the trenches, the ones who see the daily battles, the inefficiencies, the opportunities no one else notices.

Just like the Eagles' O-line, your team has insights that don’t always align with the playbook everyone else is using. And that’s exactly why they matter.

What You Can Do Today

So how do you, as a leader, tap into the kind of thinking that changes seasons, maybe even changes the game entirely?

1. Listen to the Front Line – Your engineers are your offensive line. They see the problems before anyone else. Make space for their ideas, even if they go against the grain.
2. Challenge Conventional Wisdom – The Eagles rejected the notion that passing is king. What outdated assumptions are you operating under? Are you blindly following trends, or are you questioning them?
3. Run the Ball – Some ideas might not be flashy. They might not fit the narrative the industry is selling. But if they solve real problems, if they create real value, then lean in. Commit.

The Takeaway: Trust Your Team’s Instincts

At the start of this season, no one thought the Eagles' running game would be the difference-maker. But here they are, one win away from a championship, because they believed in their own strengths instead of what the league told them mattered.

Your team deserves the same shot. Give them the space to challenge assumptions. Listen. And when they see an opening, when they spot the play no one else is running, have the courage to let them go for it.

Because that’s how you win your own Super Bowl.