Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz (12.12.24)
Jim, they’re incredible on third down. Is it as simple as they have Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, or what is it about what they do on third down that makes them so successful?
“I mean, it starts with the quarterback because he’s a guy that if you play zone, he can find spots in the zone. He’s quick release and very accurate thrower and if you play man, he can extend plays and guys can uncover. So, it puts stress on you in a couple different ways. And then you continue to Kelce, who’s a big target, but he has good athletic ability, and he’s just really, really instinctive when it comes to finding spots in zones. I mean, there’s a lot of plays that, you know the route was drawn up a little bit different, but he’ll see a spot in zone and he’ll set down in that spot. Like, the call actually sort of took care of the pass, but it didn’t account for Kelce just seeing what the quarterback saw and sitting down in zone. So, it just puts a lot of pressure along the way. I mean, we’re going to have to rely a lot on our pass rush to make sure the plays can’t get extended and work in combinations of zone, man and pressures. But that’s a huge matchup in this game is the ability to win on third down and they’ve done a good job all season.”
Will Cameron Mitchell kind of take over for Greg (Newsome), who’s out? What have you seen in his skill set? What do you like about his skill set?
“Cam has been a good player for us. I think the biggest thing, this year, he’s had about three key missed tackles for us that have extended drives or allowed touchdowns or stuff like that and needs to put those in his rearview mirror because he is a good tackle. He’s a physical player, he just hasn’t shown it all the time this year. But he’s been very reliable in coverage, so we look forward to — he’s played in spots at different times this year, whether it’s just been by personnel package or it’s been by a guy needing a series or a guy having an injury and stuff like that. So, he’s got big shoes to fill and we need him to step up and fill those roles for us.”
Can you talk about the need to pressure Mahomes? When you look at your pass rush, are you getting enough outside of Myles (Garrett)? I’m just think that one play last week, he was blocked by three different guys and Russ (Russell Wilson) still has time to pick up the third down.
“Yeah, I’d say just in general, over the last maybe four or five games, we haven’t done a good enough job of rushing the passer and creating pressure. I mean, Myles still sees a lot of the tricked-up schemes that he’s always seen, but when teams take the approach of taking one player out, it just puts more of a spotlight on the other guys to go win those one-on-ones. I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of about a month ago that we were I think number two in the NFL in third down and our percentage wasn’t very far off of last year when we were one. And then really in about the last month that’s significantly dropped. I think we can be better in all aspects. We’ve given up a couple plays because of miscommunication in the back end or busted coverage in the back end, but for us it always starts with our pass rush. That’s the way we’re built and I think depending on how it goes, maybe the ability to get a Michael Hall back can have some effect in there, but we have to do a better job in a lot of those other areas to buy a little bit of time. Sometimes you can negate the pass rush by throwing quick, but you have to do a better job in coverage. Other times you do a good job in coverage and we need to be able to up our game. Just in general, over the last month our third down defense has been very disappointing, and we need to get back on track over this last month of the season.”
Do you anticipate maybe still thinking about using Mike (Hall) a little bit outside if he can play this week?
“Yeah, yet to be seen. Don’t want to show our cards on any of that stuff, but he has the ability to be able to play inside and outside. We’ll just see where the game plan takes us.”
What’s most important for him over these last handful of weeks, just considering all the time he’s already into this?
“Just be healthy. I think that goes a long way into it. We’d like to get him back on the field, but we’d like to get the healthy version of him back on the field. So, we just have to be careful that he can go do the things that we’re asking him to do and if that’s the case, then we’ll be on a good track.”
How have you seen Isaiah McGuire kind of grow, especially with this role where he’s getting more opportunities on that edge?
“Yeah, his role increased when we traded Za’Darius (Smith). He’s still a young player and there’s still improvements that he’s making, but he’s done a good job, particularly in the run game of creating some plays. He had the forced fumble last week, against the (Las Vegas) Raiders he had the forced fumble. Zay’s (Isaiah McGuire) got good size, he’s got really good instincts, he’s still a developing player. We look forward to him making plays for us going forward.”
You mentioned Mahomes beating man and beating zone…
“Yeah, there’s not much left for you to do after that.” [laughter]
I guess what makes him one of the all-time greats when you’re watching that film?
“I think it starts with his arm talent and his ability to throw from so many different arm angles, which you see a decent amount of time, now, in the NFL. But he was sort of at the forefront of that. I got to see Matt Stafford do a little bit of that in Detroit and at the time people were like, ‘Boy, you’re letting him get away with bad mechanics.’ Like, ‘That sidearm throw across his body and he’s not looking at the guy he’s throwing to, that’s…’ But Mahomes really made it his own, the ability to threaten all parts of the field. He’s got some spider sense when it comes to escapability. Can make plays with his legs, he’s not a Lamar Jackson with his legs, but he’s very efficient when he uses his legs and just has a really good awareness of when plays break down. His ability to create. There’s a lot of guys that, in the history of the NFL, that if you took it away, the way it was drawn up, they struggled to make plays off schedule. There were another batch of guys that couldn’t really complete it the way it was drawn up, but they could make plays off schedule. He sort of combines both of those with big-time arm. He can move left, he can move right. There’s been quarterbacks that if you made a move to the left, they were ineffective. It’s not that. Plus, he’s got a good scheme around him and he’s had playmakers around him. (Xavier) Worthy has really stepped up for them and become a guy that gets the ball. They got D Hop (DeAndre Hopkins), who’s a veteran player, experienced player. (Justin) Watson, those guys. JuJu (Smith-Schuster), big guys that are physical, good running backs. I mean, they just do a good job with their scheme and he has playmakers in there. Also, it’s not just a one-man show. But when it’s all said and done, that connection between Kelce and Mahomes is… when it’s all said and done and you write the story, you write the story of Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison or… A lot of the guys have, like that guy that’s, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, those kinds of things. I think this will be one of the tandems in the NFL that sort of go down in history, but hopefully not Sunday. We got to do a good job on Kelce, we got to do a good job staying after the quarterback and we got to be able to plaster coverage across the whole back end.”
In your time in the NFL, is there anyone better with the ball in his hand with a minute to go to win a game?
“I don’t know. Peyton Manning was a pretty tough customer that way too. But I think that the thing that Mahomes has the ability, and I think if you look at a lot of those comebacks, some of them are spurred by a great scramble. Some of them are spurred by just making an off-schedule play. Some of them are spurred by just ripping the ball down the field and taking what the defense gives him. So, I just think… I’m old enough to have seen Joe Montana do that stuff and all those different guys. I mean, I’m sure all of Cleveland would beg to differ when it came to John Elway with the late drive and things like that. Let’s just put it this way, he’s right up there with those guys, Tony (Grossi). I think that probably gives him the respect without disrespecting other people.”
Did you see Bill Belichick taking over at North Carolina?
“You know, just knowing this about Bill, Bill will be successful in anything he does. I mean, if he was going to coach Pop Warner, it would be an efficient operation. If it was going to be high school, it was… He’s going to have a unique style; he’s going to be extremely organized and I’m excited for him. I’m excited for University of North Carolina. It’ll be fun to sit back and watch that.”