Tag: Jim Schwartz

Breaking down why Ryan Fitzpatrick has looked elite against Jim Schwartz led defenses

Ryan Fitzpatrick dominates Jim Schwartz again in Dolphins 37-31 win over the Philadelphia Eagles

Ryan Fitzpatrick is one of the streakiest quarterbacks in NFL history and if every team had Jim Schwartz as their defensive coordinator, it would be “Fitzmagic” and not Tom Brady as the GOAT.

Fitzpatrick has had an up and down NFL career, but anytime he faces the Eagles and mainly defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, he takes his game to another level.

Fitzpatrick has been in and out of the Dolphins lineup this season, but on Sunday, he gouged the Eagles secondary for a season-high 365 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to DeVante Parker, who looked like an All-Pro against Eagles cornerbacks Ronald Darby and Jalen Mills.

After the Dolphins 37-31 upset of the Eagles in Miami, Fitzpatrick is now 4-0 against Schwartz, with a 106.1 passer rating. Over his last eight quarters played against Schwartz led defenses, Fitzpatrick has accounted for over 750 yards of total offense.

In those meetings, Fitzpatrick has nine touchdowns against four interceptions (106.1 passer rating) in those games.

Last year with Tampa Bay, Fitzpatrick went 27 0f 33 passing for 402 yards and four touchdowns in a 27-21 win over the Eagles.

In breaking down Fitzpatrick’s dominance of Schwartz, it appears that the Eagles defensive coordinator tends to get overconfident and complacent in battle. Against any other opponent, Schwartz tends to blitz about 23.2 percent of the time this season.

That 23.2 percent of blitzing is the highest of Schwartz time with the Eagles. When he faces Fitzpatrick though, he tends to dial up the pressure even more.

Last season during the loss to Tampa Bay, Schwartz dialed it down, blitzing on seven of his 35 pass plays.

On those blitzes, Fitzpatrick went 6-for-7 for 152 yards and a touchdown. Fitzpatrick gets rid of the ball quickly and as you saw all day Sunday, he gives his wide receivers an opportunity to make a play on the football.

Fitzpatrick doesn’t know any better and loves to take deep strikes down the field. That, unfortunately for the Eagles, is Philadelphia’s biggest weakness over the past two seasons.

Report: Giants chose Pat Shurmur over Jim Schwartz due to control demands

The New York Giants reportedly chose Pat Shurmur over Jim Schwartz due to Schwartz’s demand for personnel control.

If you want to be the head coach of the New York Giants, that will be the extent of your job. Some great football minds have walked out the door and shied away from East Rutherford because they wanted full control.

That is ultimately what led the Giants to choose Pat Shurmur over Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for their head coaching position after the 2017 season.

Schwartz was the defensive mastermind behind the Eagles’ Super Bowl run that led to Philly’s first NFL championship since 1960. He was in the mix for the Giants’ head coaching job, but there was that one catch that kept him from getting it.

He wanted more of a say in the choosing of personnel, and when it comes to the Giants, coaches don’t have much equity in the process. They never have.

That’s what ultimately led to Bill Parcells’ departure in 1991 when he clashed with then-general manager George Young. Parcells had other reasons for leaving, but ultimately it was over control, an issue he had in several of his next few destinations as well.

“If they want to cook the dinner, they should at least let you shop for the groceries,” Parcells would go on to say after he left New England as head coach in 1997.

From NJ Advance Media:

Under (Schwartz’s) operation, the Eagles’ defense has ranked 4th, 5th, 15th and, in 2019 thus far, 9th in defensive DVOA, according to Football Outsiders.

Ultimately, though, there was at least one sticking point for any potential Giants-Schwartz marriage — control.

Per the Philadelphia Inquirer, Schwartz told the Giants that he required “personnel authority” if he was going to be their coach.

That is not going to happen, especially as long as Dave Gettleman is in the house. The Giants have maintained the traditional GM/coach organizational structure they’ve been using since Young was hired to straighten out the franchise in 1979.

Shurmur was chosen as the coach because he does not have as much of a desire to dabble in the scouting and personnel end of the business, although he claims he is a part of many of the decisions.

Shurmur has been doing a lot of the legwork for Gettleman, who has had health issues. Shurmur has been very visible at rookie pro days and other workouts and has been joined by a consortium of Giants’ scouts as well as Chris Mara, senior vice president of player personnel.

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