Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz (9.26.24)
Myles (Garrett) said he’s going to give it a go, which is not surprising. How limited did he seem to you, Jim? I mean, he was still doing his thing out there in the second half last week and kind of fighting through all of that.
“Yeah, still managed to put a lot, he didn’t get any sacks, but he put a lot of pressure on the quarterback. Just in general, our pressure rate, our quarterback hit rate was really high in that game. We just didn’t do a good job of winning the coverage when we did get that pressure and we weren’t able to finish some of them with sacks. But he’s a warrior. He’s going to go out there and give it everything he has. He’s been limited. I mean, last year he got limited a little bit with the shoulder as he went down the stretch. But anything he’s able to do, he’s going to go out there and do it when he’s on the field for us, he provides a big boost.”
What do you guys have to do to get off to a faster start?
“I thought we did in that game. We went three-and-out on the first drive and then intercepted the first play the second drive and then we started shooting ourselves in the foot. We get the penalty on the interception, which is a penalty all day long. I mean, he hit the guy in the head. I mean, you got to lower your strike zone on the quarterback, we talk about it all the time, but make that play. I mean, it’s a huge, huge difference. And then in those next couple of drives that we gave up touchdowns, we had multiple opportunities to be able to stop those drives and we just didn’t make them. You’re not going to make every single one in this league, but we got to start making more of our fair share, particularly some tackles on some second and longs that could have turned into third and longs. We had them, whatever it was, second and 17 and we miss a tackle, it’s going to be like third and 12, third and 13. Good chance you’re getting off the field with no points on that drive. Same thing on the backed-up drive. It’s second and long, they throw a pass behind the line of scrimmage, we whiff on the tackle. All of a sudden, they’re out of jail and we have to take advantage of more of those opportunities. But it wasn’t so much the starting fast. Probably my biggest disappointment in that game was our drive right before the half. Our offense turned the ball over, they’re in field goal range, but they have a new kicker and we need to go out and cover our offense with that and get off the field, hold them to a field goal attempt and it was like, completion, completion, completion, five plays, touchdown. And whether it was our attitude wasn’t right – when you take the field after that sudden change, that’s when you really need the rise. And when we had a second chance to do it in the fourth quarter, we executed that about as well as you can execute. They’re already in field goal range, hold them right there, they try a field goal, and the guy missed a field goal. I mean, he makes that field goal, games out of reach there completely. So, tackle better, our tackling in the first half — anytime you don’t tackle well, your defense isn’t going to look very good and we’re probably about twice the rate of missed tackles that we normally are in a game. You’re not going to – again, it’s the NFL, you’re not going to make every single one. But our rate was too high, particularly in some critical situations and I think that had a lot to do with where that game was before were able to right ourselves in that game.”
I know you have a lot of trust in all your cornerbacks, but what is the schematic advantage in just playing right and left cornerback?
“Well, there’s some stuff to indicators that the offense uses, right? There’s so much the offense does to try to discern whether it’s man or zone, different formations, slot formations, things like that. And generally, if you’re right and left, you’re not given those man indicators, right? And teams get into man beaters and things like that. Other ways you can combat it is you can give them man alignments and play zone. We have both of those. But also, when teams do tempo quick, particularly (Dallas) Cowboys, that was a big thing, just trying to find guys and go one side or the other. In that game, a significant portion of the second half, Denzel (Ward) was trailing Malik (Nabers), but there’s also times where you can’t do that. Like they get in bunches, if you try to lock one guy in a bunch, you can set yourself up for a lot of picks and a lot of things like that and line up at number three. It’s always sort of a little battle against the offense and battle sort of how you’re going to play it into how much you’re going to show, what you’re showing and how settled your guys are and we try to balance all those in the game. He made a couple plays in the second quarter. It wasn’t every time in the second half, but Denzel matched him a lot more in the second half. We were able to come up with some stops.”
Last year, I think Gardner (Minshew) completed like 15 passes but still threw for over 300 yards in that Colts game. Just what do you see from him? Is he kind of the same quarterback that you saw last year Indianapolis?
“Yeah, made a couple plays with his feet. I think that was probably the big thing. He bought some time on some passes and made a couple plays with his feet and we have to guard against both of those. He hasn’t been designed running very much this year, but, everybody we face this year has that component. We have to be ready for that because he does have good mobility. Generally, ball’s coming out either really fast or he’s holding it a long time. We have to take advantage of the opportunities when he gives us chances. In that (Indianapolis) Colts game, he gave us a couple chances and were able to capitalize enough to get some turnovers, which ended up flipping the script in that game. But holding down the explosives, keeping him from moving the sticks with his feet on third down and buying time on first and second down to make big plays down the field. All that goes into consideration. He’s one of those guys, he can get hot and we have to keep him from getting hot.”
How about Davante Adams, same thing with him. He can go off in any game, right?
“They’re going to make a concerted effort to get him the ball more. They struggled on offense the last game, and when that happens, you sort of circle the wagons and say, ‘Okay, let’s get the ball to our playmaker a lot more.’ We’ll expect that. Really good. I mean, just a pro, like you can make clinic tapes of his route running, his releases at the line of scrimmage, some great catches down the field. And probably the other thing is he draws a lot of DPI penalties, too. He’s good at leaning into guys and creating a little bit of contact that can draw some fouls. And they move them around. This is probably the most shift motion, multi-formation team that we’ve faced. I mean, Pittsburgh did a lot last year, but these guys, it is a lot of shift and motion and things like that just putting all those guys at different spots. So, good wide receiver corps. Jakobi Meyers, I got a lot of respect for that player. That guy blocks, he does the dirty work, he can make plays for them. He’s a good receiver and number 11 (Tre Tucker) has got some big-time speed and he’s made some big plays for them. So, those matchups are important in this game.”
What about the tight end? (Brock Bowers)
“Yeah, I mean, there’s a reason they drafted him in the first round. He’s fast, he’s a good route runner, he’s a willing blocker. Again, all over the place. Use him as wide receiver, use him in the backfield, use him as a tight end. Competitive blocker. Certainly not afraid to go in there. But it looks like — really all their tight ends. But (Michael) Mayer is a good player. They drafted him high. And then Harrison (Bryant) is there and fills a good role for those guys. So, tight ends, wide receivers, good playmakers there, good challenges for us. I like our safety group, like our corner group. So, we’re going to have good matchups.”
With Myles (Garrett) being somewhat limited last week, is that a big adjustment for you as the play caller, because he’s not out there all the time and because he’s not maybe the same guy he normally is?
“I wouldn’t say either of those. I mean, he was out there quite a bit for us. I mean, maybe not every single snap and his snaps were down a little bit. But, you don’t really call it any different when he’s out there. I mean, he was given a lot of pressure in that game. It was, in my mind, it was similar to a lot of stuff late in the year where you get good pressure, you can’t always determine if the ball comes out quickly or not to be able to make the sack. But sometimes, you get pressure, it’s third down, they throw too quick and you’re off the field to win for the defense. And, he continues to do that for us and has played the run really well for us, too.”
You know Jordan Hicks pretty well, obviously. How has he done in these first three games? It kind of looked like he was everywhere.
“Yeah, he’s 1-2 in the first three games. I mean, I’ll press that button every time you guys give me a chance to press it. But Jordan brings a lot to us. He’s a great communicator, he’s played physical, he’s made plays for us, he’s made sacks, tackles for losses, gives us a lot of energy on the field. Wasn’t able to finish the game last week but when he’s been out there for us, he’s been a difference maker. Very reliable in his tackling. I mean we didn’t tackle very well but Jordan’s been, and Jeremiah (Owusu-Koramoah) too, they’ve been really good on the inside of the box stuff. I mean Jeremiah played such a good game, missing that tackle backed up. You’re not going to make every single play in the game, but I was disappointed for him because he had played so well in every other fashion.”