Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz (9.25.25)
So, John Morton just said in Detroit when he was asked about your run defense, he said, “I don’t think they’ve seen a running game like ours yet.” Any comment?
“I mean, we’ve faced some good running offenses. I mean, Green Bay was running the ball really well, so was Baltimore. Cincinnati was more of a pass game offense. So, you know, it’s one of the major things we have to do is stop the run. Two different running backs, you got to protect your edges. You got to defend all 53 and third, particularly with (Jahmyr) Gibbs. And then there’s a lot of passes that are just extensions of the run game. A lot of screen game, a lot of quicks. Even the checkdowns are sort of an extension of the run game. So, our ability to play run defense, our ability to tackle in the open field, you know, that’s a major part of this game plan going forward.”
Jim, what, if anything, changes when a team has two backs that they use a bunch as opposed to last week or even the week before?
“Yeah, you know, it’s probably just each guy has a little different style. They run sort of the same plays with both guys. You know, there’s really not a tendency there. Some people have guys they exclusively use in certain plays, but not the (Detroit) Lions, so it’s just really just an awareness of which guy is out there and sort of what his style is.”
Kind of going back to that initial question, the types of runs that you see on film from them, is that different anyway from what you’ve seen the first three weeks? Like, it seemed like on Monday night, they were doing a lot of duo and what not.
“I mean, Green Bay ran a lot of duo. Baltimore runs a lot of duo. You know, the base runs that Lions run are duo and by its own, which, you know, they’re not unique plays. They just have really good players. They have good blockers up front. The tight ends are good. The running backs are good. And one of the things that’s impressed me with the Lions is how tough their wide receivers are as blockers. You know, all their guys, are known as sort of key wide receivers. And a lot of times, you know, those guys will sort of accentuate the route running and things like that. All these guys will go dig out safeties; they’ll block the backside. They’re really good blocking corners and all that other stuff. So, you know, we gotta do a good job getting off those blocks too. But that’s really impressed me with the Lions.”
Back to the (John) Morton comment, you’ve always seemed a little less likely to engage in, for lack of a better term, that kind of trash talk, at least publicly. Why is that?
“I mean, does it really affect the game? I mean, maybe it makes things nice for you guys or for people to say stuff or whatever. I don’t play the game. I’m just out there trying to put a good plan together. I’m trying to put our guys in position and turn the game over to them. So, anything that I think or anything that I would engage in my mind just is distracting from what our job is. So, we’ll just keep it, we’ll keep it there. The players on the field will decide the game, not anything else.”
Jim, coupled with their running game, (Jared) Goff is one of the best play fakers, I guess in the league. So how does that affect your preparation to train your guys not to bite on them?
“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of different things you’re looking at. Not often are you looking at the quarterback, right? You know, you’re looking at a tight end or a blocker or receiver, the edge man, you know, so we have to, number one, do a good job with their keys. But so much of their, you know, what they do is run and then play action. You know, a lot of under center stuff where a lot of that, you know, are where a lot of those play actions come from. And I think that another layer to neutralizing the play action game, like I talked about, the checkdowns that come after it, you know, you play deep and then all of a sudden (Jahmyr) Gibbs has got the ball with some air in there. That’s a tough situation. But generally, the play action game is dependent on the run game being effective. And you know, just to go back to the original thing, if we can neutralize the run game, then I think that does have a little effect on neutralizing the play action game also. But runs, play action screens, they’re probably the leader in the NFL when it comes to combining all three of those things on first and second down. So, you know, want to take away what they do best and everybody’s going to be a battle. They got a lot of playmakers, lot of different positions, good quarterback, good offensive line, you know, it’s a lot of work cut out for us.”
The fact that Detroit goes for it so much on fourth down, where they’re just like an aggressive team in all phases. I think they’re at seven-for-eight on fourth down. Does that change your approach, and how important is it from a mental standpoint for players to realize that even when you get that third down stop, you might not be getting off the field?
“Yeah, I mean, it definitely plays into it. Just because, you know… make it third-and-10, you know, usually you give up eight yards and punt team is coming off the field, right? These guys, it’s not the case. And it’s not just in the plus territory. I mean, the NFL is trended toward a lot of teams going for it on fourth down in plus territory. These guys will go for it in their own territory. They’ll go for it midfield, they’ll go for a little bit longer for it, fourth downs. So just knowing that going in, it layers your calls just a little bit different, you know, really doesn’t change. It really doesn’t change our attitude with the play. But, you know, maybe what you’re willing to give up on a third down might not be the same this week as in other weeks.”
I know you said that it has a lot to do with the players, but do they do a little bit more of some of the deception and trickery and creative little motions and shifts and things like that more so than anybody else, or is it just that they’re executing it really well?
“I would put it more on the latter. You know, we see about every shift in motion. Green Bay was really, I mean, very intricate with theirs, you know, and that was a major part of what we were trying to do was, you know, to adjust to all those things and, you know, whether it was man or zone and how you know, blitz and all those different things, it puts a lot of stress on you. Detroit’s no different that way. But, you know, like I said, I mean, Green Bay had good players in positions. Baltimore’s had good players in positions. I think back when I was in Tennessee and Norm Chow was in his first year in the NFL. After about three or four weeks, he came to me and asked, ‘when do we get to the weaker teams on the schedule?’ And I was like, ‘look, bro, they’re all tough in the NFL.’ But we certainly had our work cut out for us. You know, just one good offense after another. So, you know, we’re sort of used to it. We know who their playmakers are and we got playmakers of our own.”
Jim, obviously a special teams play, but Denzel (Ward), the way he can come around the edge to almost block that kick, get a finger on it, whatever, before Shelby (Harris) blocks it. Like Bubba (Ventrone) said, the way he moves allows him to be so versatile. Just how have you seen that in your few years here?
“I mean, Denzel’s the best corner I’ve had, and I heard a long time ago somebody said you can tell the effort of your team/defense on how they rush field goals and PAT’s. And it’s not just when the games on the line the way Denzel’s was, watch PAT’s in the first quarter, he rushes the exact same way. So, he’s not a guy that just turns it on in a particular time. You know, he brings it hard all the time, and lays out – like when you lay out like that, it’s like being in a car wreck when you hit the ground. But he’s willing to do that for our team, for his teammates, and he does a lot of good things in coverage, but that might go a little bit below the radar as one of his contributions.”
Jim, their interior offensive line is relatively new. Just what have you seen out of those three guys in the middle and just how they’ve looked over the first three games?
“Yeah, well, the strength of their offensive line has been tackles, and there has been some changeover. But, with the way they run the ball, good in their pass protection and things like that, it’s hard to point to anything as being a step back for those guys. You know, just like any team, they put new guys in and expect them to contribute the same way. Heavy double teamers, which there’s a lot of different things that are involved in that. Your defensive line, your linebackers have to fill gaps, you know, all that different stuff. It’s a physical offensive line, so it’s going to be a good matchup.”
Last week you talked about Mason (Graham), and how you’re looking for more in the pass rush. Did you see that against the (Green Bay) Packers? You know, his first half sack.
“Yeah, maybe. Did it work? Yeah, I mean, I’m not one to send messages to players, I know where they are, I can talk to them at any time. But it was just being honest, we just needed to see a little bit more, and Maliek (Collins) has been very effective. But I think part of what we’re seeing with Myles (Garrett) and Maliek and some of our other edge guys like Zay (Isaiah McGuire) and Alex (Wright) is it’s opening up more opportunities, and Mason’s been taking advantage of those. So, he’s trending in the right direction. He’s been playing the run really well. But I thought our interior pass rush against Green Bay had a lot to do with us being able to sort of neutralize their offense and keep the score down and keep us in that game.”
I saw Matt LaFleur saying that they did some things to try to keep Myles from getting back on the field when he was not on the field. So, is that something that you’re going to have to contend with going forward when teams see that at all?
“That’s not new. You know, a lot of teams do that. A lot of teams on offense, and not many guys…I mean, first, Myles has been clean, clicked up just a little bit in his number of snaps, trying to play just a little bit more. You have to balance that with keeping him fresh for the fourth quarter, and over the whole season and things like that. But he’s put such a big commitment into playing more, and we certainly respect that. But probably every offensive coordinator has a little box on their big Chinese menu that they use that says, number 95 not in the game. You know, whether it’s how they’re going to try to run the ball, like ‘hey, like they don’t like running at him, or they don’t like running away from him’. But now that he’s not in the game, ‘hey, let’s try this’, or like, ‘hey, pass without a chip’. They all have that little box, and there’s a lot of people that will try to keep him off the field when he’s not on it. The biggest challenge is probably when you’re on either end of the field. It’s pretty easy to get him going off the field, even on third down when you’re in the middle of the field, because he’s generally running in for a defensive end, that’s pretty close. When you get down in the red zone, or down in a backed-up situation where we have one, hard to get him out on the field. So, that’s something that we see every week. That’s not something new.”
Did you learn anything from the Detroit-Green Bay game or is that just game one one off?
“No, I thought Green Bay did some really good things. I mean, they were able to pressure the passer. I thought that was a big thing, they swarmed, they flew around. I mean, it was impressive to watch the way that they pursued to the ball. Like I said, you don’t need all 11, because some of those running backs can break tackles or make you feel miss in the open field. Their pursuit was really good in that game, and I thought they did a really good job of leveraging in vice and check downs, and they didn’t get, Detroit didn’t get a lot of yards off of those. So, I mean, that’s not a news flash, try to pressure the quarterback, tackle well in the open field and don’t give up chunks on check downs. You know, football 101. But easier said than done, you know? Easy for me to say, easy in theory, difficult in execution. Particularly when you have playmakers like they do.”
What did you learn from your time in Detroit?
“Oh, a lot of things. I really enjoyed my time there, my family did. I loved the players, I love the city, really loved the organization. I’ve been back a couple times since. Now that I’m in the AFC…and when I was with the (Philadelphia) Eagles, it was hard to root for them when you weren’t playing them because, like, they’re in the same conference and you don’t want any of those NFC teams to win. Now that I’m here, you can root for them. I admire what Dan’s (Campbell) done with the team. You know, they’re in his image, they play tough, they play physical. So, it’ll be fun to go against them. It’s been a minute, I think maybe ‘16 or ‘17 was the last time I played in Detroit, so still got a lot of friends there, very grateful for my time there.”
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