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On Tuesday we began another round of approval polls to mark this moment in Eagles history, with the team sitting at 4-4 and last place in the NFC East. We’ve asked you about Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman, and Doug Pederson, all three of whom saw their approval ratings drop precipitously from our late September inquiries.
Today we have our final entry in the series, with defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz taking the stand. The last time we asked you what you thought of Schwartz’s defense, the Eagles were coming off a 34-3 thrashing of the Steelers. No one holds the Steelers to three points, we all thought! What a guy Schwartz must be! His approval rating hit unreal numbers: only 43 of 4,826 polled voted anything other than yes.
Five games later, a little dose of reality is needed, in large part because the Eagles’ defense has allowed a steady stream of teams to essentially get whatever they want against Schwartz’s unit in terms of scoring points.
They’re still not too shabby, ranking sixth in points allowed in the league, and their eight interceptions are also sixth-best in the league, while the 15 turnovers they’ve forced ranks fourth. However!
Even including the Vikings game, in which the Eagles’ defense dominated an absolutely embarrassing offensive line, the Birds have allowed 23.6 points per game over the last five weeks, along wit 356.2 yards of offensive per game.
It doesn’t help Schwartz’s cause that he’s been missing Bennie Logan for the team’s last two games, or that with Ron Brooks (an already replacement-level corner) out for the season, the team’s cornerback corps is mediocre at best, bad at worst. He can only do so much with his personnel.
And the pass rush, while maligned for a good bit of the season, still ranks fifth in the league with 23 sacks.
All things considered, Schwartz is doing the best he can with middling talent at a few key positions. He has eight games to whip the unit back into its start-of-the-season form.
Are you confident in Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles? Vote now in the poll below and leave your thoughts in the comments.