McLane: Schwartz's decision is costly for Eagles
DETROIT - If disciplining Nigel Bradham was the reason, the decision to utilize a linebacker rotation in the nickel defense in the first half Sunday might have made some sense.
DETROIT - If disciplining Nigel Bradham was the reason, the decision to utilize a linebacker rotation in the nickel defense in the first half Sunday might have made some sense.
But Doug Pederson said that wasn't the case after the Eagles' 24-23 loss to the Lions, and his response passed the sniff test because otherwise why would Jordan Hicks have also come off the field for Mychal Kendricks and Stephen Tulloch?
"No, not at all," Pederson said when asked if Bradham's curtailed playing time had anything to do with his latest scrap with the law. "We definitely wanted to get Tulloch some more reps tonight early in the game and keep Nigel and Jordan fresh and healthy as the game went on."
Maybe Bradham's stellar play after the break came as a result of playing less, but it's doubtful that defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was looking to spot the Lions three touchdowns on all three of their possessions at the expense of resting the linebacker who has arguably been his best this season.
There were a number of fingers to point following the Eagles' first loss, but Schwartz's inexplicable decision to play Kendricks and Tulloch in the nickel - when he hadn't done so in the first three successful games - was as culpable as Ryan Mathews' fumble, Carson Wentz's interception and 14 overall penalties.
Schwartz decided before the season that Bradham and Hicks were his two best linebackers in the nickel. They had played the most of the group in the first three games - Bradham 96 percent of the time and Hicks 85 percent - and they had performed at a high level.
What did Kendricks do in the first three games to earn more playing time? Tulloch? Not much. The same could be said of their first-half performance against the Lions. Kendricks was beaten by Theo Riddick on Detroit's first touchdown and he missed two tackles on crucial downs. Tulloch didn't even show up on the stat sheet.
To Schwartz's credit, he saw the error of his ways and stayed with Bradham and Hicks in the nickel after the half. It was as if there were two Eagles defenses on Sunday. In the first half, it allowed 21 points and 199 yards on 32 plays (6.2 average), and in the second, it held the Lions to three points and surrendered only 45 yards on 25 plays (1.8 average).
The Eagles had all four of their sacks and their lone turnover after the break.
"It wasn't personnel," Hicks said. "It was buckling down."
Hicks is a leader and he's not about to throw Kendricks and Tulloch and, of course, Schwartz under the bus, but there was only one explanation for the turnaround. Bradham played like a man possessed in the second half. He had five tackles - three for losses - and recovered a fumble.
"Maybe it was because we were down," Bradham said of Schwartz's decision to abandon the nickel rotation. "I have no clue."
Bradham was arrested last Sunday after a concealed Glock 40 handgun was found in his backpack by a Miami airport X-ray machine. He said he had forgotten to remove it and police agreed that there was no criminal intent. But it was his second arrest - he's facing felony charges for allegedly assaulting a Miami hotel employee - in about two months.
"You do enough dumbass things," Schwartz said Thursday, "pretty soon you're going to be labeled a dumbass."
Pederson said he wouldn't discipline Bradham, at least while both cases were in due process. But the Eagles practiced the entire week with both nickel packages, according to the linebackers. The early plan, Hicks said, was to rotate on every third drive.
"From what I was told," Bradham said, "they just wanted to work the other guys in as well."
Kendricks had Riddick out of the backfield on second and goal at the 1 on the Lions' first drive. But he was slow to cover - it was, to be fair, a difficult assignment - and Detroit had its first touchdown.
Two series later, quarterback Matthew Stafford checked down to Riddick on third down and 11, but Kendricks whiffed well short of the sticks, and the running back picked up 10 yards. A play later, Stafford converted the fourth down with a sneak.
Kendricks would later take a bad angle on receiver Golden Tate's catch and run down to the 1 and the Lions scored on the next play. He didn't talk after the game. He hasn't been the same since he signed a four-year, $29 million contract before last season, and playing in a rotation hasn't seemed to help his psyche.
But there was plenty of blame to sprinkle around. Defensive end Fletcher Cox, defensive tackle Destiny Vaeao, safety Rodney McLeod and cornerback Nolan Carroll took costly penalties in the first half. The pass rush wasn't pressuring Stafford enough and Riddick picked up far too many yards on the ground.
The Eagles were also surprised by two Tate runs out of the pistol that later set up a 17-yard touchdown on a misdirection screen to Riddick out of the same formation.
"We didn't see that on film," safety Malcolm Jenkins said.
But Schwartz, who has declined to answer questions after games, adjusted. He pulled all the right strings in the first three games, but his mistake on Sunday wasn't the pulling as much as it was the strings he initially opted to pull.
"It was strictly rotational," Hicks said. "We don't have any control over that. Obviously, that's coaching stuff. They've got an idea of what they want. . . . We have a lot of trust in everybody at this linebacker corps."
It's unlikely Schwartz will lose any of the players' trust at this point. The former Lions coach rode off on his players the last time he returned here, but he left Ford Field with a significant piece of the Eagles' defeat on his shoulders.
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