Well after a devastating loss this weekend handed to the Eagles from the Miami Dolphins, the Impact Play of the Week goes to Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz. It wasn't just one play that earned Schwartz this shame, as he refused to adjust the defense at all when a team with one of the worst offenses in the NFL kept moving downfield easily.
Schwartz kept playing man coverage plays, leaving the cornerbacks to fend for themselves against DeVante Parker, who was playing like a man possessed. Leaving the cornerbacks out to dry swung the momentum in the Dolphins favor, allowing them to come back from a two-score deficit. Parker ended up having the most receiving yards (159) and receiving touchdowns (2) in his career in Sunday's game.
Parker's biggest play came off a fourth-down situation towards the end of the first quarter. He was able to time his jump for the ball perfectly to come down with a catch and managed to stay in bounds for a 43-yard touchdown. It was one of the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen.
In truth, the Eagles defense played pretty well in the first half -- they even intercepted Ryan Fitzpatrick on the very first play of the game and allowed the Eagles offense to take a quick 7-0 lead.
In the first half the defense was able to get pressure on Fitzpatrick. He was sacked three times in the first half alone, but things went south for the team in the second half -- Fitzpatrick wasn't sacked any barely even pressured. He had all day to make plays (and he made plenty of them).
One of Schwartz is biggest problems since arriving to Philadelphia is making in-game adjustments. He did not make any adjustments for the defensive line to try to create more pressure, and he didn't adjust his secondary when Parker started to take over the game. Every step of the way all of Parker's biggest plays were on man coverage. I doubt double coverage ever even crossed Schwartz's mind, which probably could have helped stopped a lot of the big plays that were given up.
With this game comes a lot of criticism, which is bringing some finger-pointing to try and find someone to blame. So blame the players all you want for this loss, but when it comes down to it they were set up to fail by not being put in the best position over and over again. That's why Schwartz is this week's impact play, by not making an impact to even try to find an answer to the problems that were set in front of him. So thanks Jim (and the rest of the coaching staff for that matter) for the most embarrassing loss ever.
Comments