Philadelphia Eagles: 5 Possible replacements for Jim Schwartz in 2021

Could Marvin Lewis recapture some magic with the Philadelphia Eagles?

If you know anything about the NFL, you know what the knock on Marvin Lewis is. Some of you have children who grew up watching this man coach the Cincinnati Bengals, but there’s no defense for the blemishes on his resume. In 16 seasons as Cincy’s head coach, Lewis never won a playoff game despite appearing in seven of them.

You know what? Maybe it’s in that where we find the defense. Marvin Lewis made the Cincinnati Bengals matter. They weren’t important before he showed up. They haven’t been a factor or in the hunt for the postseason since Lewis left, so how bad was Marvin Lewis really?

Before becoming a head coach, he was the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator, and under his leadership, the Ravens built the biggest and baddest defense this side of the Steel Curtain or the 1985 Chicago Bears. You couldn’t move the ball on them. That Baltimore team won a Super Bowl despite fielding an offense that couldn’t score with any regularity, and though no one can prove it, had Kimo Von Oelhoffen not rolled up on Carson Palmer‘s leg on January 8th of 2006, that playoff game might have turned out differently.

Lewis isn’t Wade Phillips. He actually is a head coach, and if Philly, particularly Doug Pederson, wouldn’t be threatened by having an assistant of Lewis’ pedigree on the sideline, this is a hire that can lead to great things. At least we know that Lewis cares about finding good linebackers.