Philadelphia Eagles: Jim Schwartz’s worst debacle comes before kickoff

What if you were told the Philadelphia Eagles’ worst move came before kickoff?

Call it billboard material, giving another team a competitive advantage, or just being plain dumb. Call it whatever you want, but despite one of his unit’s better performances of the 2020 NFL season, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has to be credited with one of the worst coaching performances in his long career.

His scheme was decent. He, for once and more often than not, placed the players on his unit in the best positions to be successful, but while most would have placed Darius Slay on DK Metcalf if they were in Schwartz’s position, Philly’s D.C. made one of the worst judgment calls by any coach on any team this season.

He fired the Seattle Seahawks’ best wide receiver and one of the NFL’s best wide receivers up with a few pregame comments.

Let’s get you caught up if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan and you missed this.

Now, get this. Metcalf is an all-world talent. Schwartz’s unit has been inconsistent all season. Metcalf already has a chip on his shoulder because he had been passed on by every team at least once in 2019’s NFL Draft. Why on Earth would a coach with as much experience as Jim Schwartz give someone like Metcalf extra motivation by insulting him with some pregame comments.

If you haven’t heard, here’s what happened. Schwartz in a conversation with the second-year star said that, in essence, Metcalf is no Calvin Johnson. Here’s a clip of Metcalf’s postgame presser, courtesy of the Seahawks official YouTube channel, and a transcript of that part of the conversation. Sometimes, things hit home when you can read and see something.

Again, just in case it flew by you, here’s what was said.

"Q: What’s your mindset going into a game when you know or you feel like you’re going to see a lot of an opposing team’s No. 1 cornerback?METCALF: I’m happy. I’m getting a little respect, but I’ve still got work to do. One of the defensive coaches came up to me and he kind of made me mad that he was like ‘I was in Detroit with Megatron (Calvin Johnson) but you’re not there yet.’ In my mind, I’m not trying to be Megatron. I’m trying to be me. So I had a little chip on my shoulder the whole game.Q: Was that Jim Schwartz?METCALF: Uh, yessir."

Philadelphia Eagles fans are still scratching their heads about this one.

Let’s get something straight. Jim Schwartz had nothing to do with how great Calvin Johnson became, and if you believe anything to the contrary, you’re fooling yourself. Here’s what’s also interesting. Schwartz was probably trying to be complimentary, but it wasn’t taken that way.

Oh, and how did the game work out? Metcalf went on to see 13 targets in Week 12. Ten were catches. The result was 177 yards receiving. With that being said, let’s do some inventory.

This Eagles team is struggling on both sides of the ball. This team’s best cover corner may not be the ‘shutdown corner’ that everyone keeps crediting him for being, and on top of that, the man that he’s assigned to for the duration of the evening gets what equates to a pep talk by the Eagles defensive coordinator?

If you feel lost or feel like you’re missing something, don’t beat yourself up too badly. It’s okay. You’re not alone. There are a lot of Eagles fans that are scratching their heads right now. This NFL season can’t end fast enough.