3. It’s simple. The Philadelphia Eagles’ defense must create turnovers.
Schwartz’s defense has forced just 37 turnovers over the past two seasons. That’s all. If you’re looking for a comparison, you won’t find any that you’ll enjoy.
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Philly’s 37 takeaways over 2018 and 2019 are one less than the Pittsburgh Steelers forced in 2019 alone. It’s also one more than the 36 the Patriots forced during their 2019 run. In other words, the best defenses in the league are almost doubling what Philly’s defense is doing.
More takeaways don’t necessarily guarantee a championship. The Steelers didn’t make the playoffs, and the Pats couldn’t make it past game one, but this Eagles defense needs to up their total number of takeaways. The target number on defense is 28. Super Bowl champions have, on average, forced 28 turnovers a season.
Is asking the Eagles to force eight more turnovers than they did last season too tall a task? It shouldn’t be, especially with the changes that they’ve made on their defensive coaching staff. Let’s dig a little deeper on this point and wrap this conversation up.