It’s no secret that the cornerback position of The Eagles could certainly use an upgrade. The team lacks a shutdown corner, and opposing offenses have certainly exploited that. The Eagles also have some talent in their secondary with their 2 pro bowl safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McCloud. Mills is average, Darby is ok, and yes some good young corners like Crevon Leblanc and Avonte Maddox are simply injured. That being said Jim Swartz has always played with average to decent at best corners with the mentality that his defenses furious pass rush will get to the quarterback hence making the secondary look much better than it actually is. This plan worked to perfection when The Eagles won the Super Bowl during the 2017-2018 season. Last season you could even forgive Swartz a little because the team made the playoffs.
(Left image: Jim Swartz when his defense played extremely well during the teams Super Bowl Run.) What is the big problem this year? It Swartz’s stubbornness to stick to his defensive gameplan even when it’s not working to put it kindly. This year’s team simply is not getting after the quarterback like us Eagles fans have grown accustomed to. Our starting defensive ends are solid. Brandon Graham will be a hero In Philly forever and Derrek Barnett is playing well (not as well as he is capable of playing, but well.) For a good amount of teams in the NFL that would be an ideal situation. The Eagles under Jim Swartz, however, like to rotate their defensive ends and defensive tackles. Here’s the problem there really is not much in the way of playmakers after Defensive Tackle Fletcher Cox and our starting defensive ends.
(Right Image: scrub defensive end simply is not Chris Long.) You have guys like Josh Sweat, Dashon Hall, and Hassan Ridgeway playing valuable minutes. Sweat, in particular, is a player that Swartz has put way too much faith in. The second-year player has one sack all season long to his name. Why the heck haven’t the Eagles called Pro-Bowl defensive end Chris Long out of retirement? Heck, I would rather have Connor Barwin rotating in than Josh Sweat. The heavy rotation is not working this year. Swartz should keep his starters in for 3 and a half quarters a game along the defensive line. He won’t. The man’s stubborn. In years past when corners would struggle to go up against top tier wideouts like say I don’t know Stephon Diggs Swartz would get creative and put safety Malcolm Jenkins on said wideout. Instead this year he’s letting his young corners get burned for big gains time and time and time again. The creative game planning that I once saw from Swartz seems to simply be gone. What is my biggest pet peeve of Swartz’s so far this season you ask? That is oh so simple. It’s his lack of pressure with a 4 man rush on key third-down situations. I’ve watched every Eagles game this year and I cannot help but find myself wondering nearly every single game…where the heck is the blitz? Why not at least send a 5th guy? The answer is painfully simple. Swartz is a very proud man who seems to have lost his creative edge. When his gameplan is not working he simply sticks to it. Maybe the Eagles make a splash and finally trade for a corner or two, or perhaps a good backup defensive lineman to rotate in and actually make some big plays. Maybe that will save Swartz. Make no mistake Jim Swartz should be on the hot seat. Opposing offenses have figured him out and he is unwilling to change and be more creative out of pride. Pride often comes before a fall. Let me just say this first before I end this article: No matter what ends up happening I will always be grateful to Jim Swartz for helping my Philadelphia Eagles win their first Super Bowl over the Patriots in February of 2018. Now for my final statement regarding Jim Swartz for a while. If the Eagles miss The NFL Playoffs this season I want Jim Swartz gone, and a more creative DC hired before next season. Here’s hoping he can finally make some adjustments on his side of the ball and that doesn’t need to happen.
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