Hardly any other unit will be as much in the spotlight at Super Bowl LII (Sunday, from 11.45 pm on in German or optionally with original US commentary live on DAZN) as the Philadelphia Eagles’ Defense. She faces the mammoth task of putting the dreaded offensive of quarterback legend Tom Brady in check. She relies on a quite simple but concise philosophy, which comes directly from defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.
The Eagles’ Defense may be the main reason why the squad is back in the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2004 season. Many still have the big plays in mind in the regular season as well as in the championship game against Minnesota, but especially after the season’s end of quarterback Carson Wentz it was clear that this unit had to jump into the breach to make the “underdogs” successful in the playoffs as well.
Throughout the entire season, Philly’s aggressive and athletically savvy defensive style is sure to impress with a deadly attack on the run and an extremely effective pass. The bottom line is that the Eagles Defense 2017 occupied 5th place in the Defense DVOA after this unit resembled a ruin before Schwartz took office in 2016.
The reason for the turnaround seems pretty simple, if you believe your players:”He always puts us in a great position to make plays,”says Safety Malcolm Jenkins, one of the stars of the team.
A motto that comes to mind when you are intensively pursuing the NFL as such. Likewise, his approach of using players according to their strengths and not forcing them into roles they don’t like. Both are very much reminiscent of a certain Bill Belichick, a man about whom Schwartz had already signed with Detroit Lions as head coach in 2010, and said:”In principle, he owes my entire NFL career to him.
Belichick had given Schwartz his first NFL job. From 1993 to 1995, Schwartz worked as a so-called Personnel Coach for Belichick in Cleveland, where he was essentially active as a scout. And Belichick also has great respect for his former protégé “He is one of the smartest people I know. He’s very talented. Look, I just couldn’t say anything bad about Jim Schwartz,”Belichick said at the Super Bowl Opening Night.
Schwartz didn’t want to hang his past with Belichick too high, let alone make team meetings on the topic:”That’s the last thing we’ll think about in preparation. Do you think any of our players would be interested to know that I was hired as an unpaid intern in 1993?”
Since arriving in Philly, Schwartz knew how to turn the defense to the left. Away with the 3-4 system introduced by Chip Kelly and back to the classic 4-3 front in cover-3 principle, i. e. with single-high-safety and a lot of zone coverage. Irrespective of what has been made possible by personal upgrades this season, the transition has in itself made it possible from the outset for various players to suddenly advance from runners to top performers.
A Brandon Graham, who was simply wasted as an outside-linebacker, stabilized and developed into an effective 5 Technique Defensive End with a new career record of 9.5 sacks. Mychal Kendricks, who used to play Inside Linebacker under Kelly, now works as an Outside Linebacker and has a wider field of activity, and can also be used more variably against the run and in coverage.
Another important factor is the cadre depth in the front. The Defensive Line in particular can be equipped as many times as you like, since each of the positions is now double staffed. Important for this rotation were the commitments of ex-patriot Chris Long and first-round pick Derek Barnett, who allowed Graham and Vinny Curry to rotate on the exhausting edge positions again and again, keeping everyone fresh. A possibly decisive factor for the Super Bowl.
In general, Schwartz stands for dominant pass rush. In 2014, during his trip to Buffalo, where he was employed as a defensive coordinator, he ensured that the Bills led the league with 54 sacks. Defensive End Mario Williams alone had 14.5 sacks and played his last really good season until today.
The key to this: Although he hardly flashes at all, i. e. he releases more than the usual four D-Liners to the quarterback hunt, he is putting pressure on the QB. In 2017 Philly only managed 38 sacks, which was not even enough for the top 10, but seven players had a pressure ratio of at least 20 percent – a strong result.
In 2001, Belichick had tried to bring his former co-worker to New England, but Schwartz eventually stayed with the Titans, where Jeff Fisher had quickly promoted him to Defensive Coordinator. A role he held until 2008, before he eventually became head coach of Detroit Lions.
However, Schwartz had learned a lot under Belichick. In the past, he revealed some of these lessons. For example, the fact that one should attack lines with five men against rather weak offensive lines in order to force the O-Liners in one-on-one situations, which the own Pass-Rusher can then exploit. Or how difficult it is to defend a good receiving back.
In Minneapolis on Sunday, both James White and Dion Lewis are known for their ability as reliable and agile pass receivers. However, Philadelphia’s Defensive Coordinator does not want to focus specifically on the two of them – or any other – in preparing for Super Bowl LII.
Instead, Schwartz said:”No player stands alone. In the NFL in general, but especially for the patriots it’s true that you can’t align your scheme with a player alone. If you do that, then they have a lot of other players who can make lay-ups. You have to do a good job against your entire offense and you can’t concentrate on one single player.”
Somehow, however, this is also in keeping with the style of his former classmate, journalist Mike Freeman from Bleacher Report, who recently put it this way:”He’s kicking your ass and outwitting you while you’re at it”.
“We must come up with a good plan. We have to take him out. We have to remember where our strengths lie and keep our matchups and the like in mind. And if we do a good job with all of this, then we are able to win the game,”Schwartz states as the marching route for the big game.
While the physical part now has to be played by his players, the Super Bowl is more than ever dependent on the super-brain of Schwartz. So that he can find a way against the super-brain of his former teacher.