Eagles

Jim Schwartz Says Eagles Need to “Put a Lot of Hats” on Zeke Elliott

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Dec 17th, 2019 · 2:16 PM EST

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Is Jim Schwartz’s job on the line Sunday?

Sounds like a hot take, but I don’t think it’s outrageous to say that. The Eagles are playing for a division title against their biggest rival this weekend and Schwartz’s defense has given up 37, 17, and 27 points over the last three weeks to the Dolphins, Giants, and Redskins, respectively.

Those teams are not offensive juggernauts, and it was baffling to see how the defense came out in Miami after two great games against the Seahawks and Patriots. Dallas, meantime, finally beat a team with a winning record, improving to 7-7 after putting up 475 yards and a season-high 44 points against the Rams.

Zeke Elliott went for 117 yards in the win, his first 100+ yard rushing performance since November 4th. He put up 111 in the first Eagles game and Schwartz says it all starts with bringing Zeke down:

“He’s a good, strong running back. They’ve got a good offensive line and good blocking tight ends. They’ve got a quarterback that’s mobile, that will run the ball also. They run some option type stuff.

But he’s a strong contact runner and we’re gonna have to put a lot of hats on him. It’s not gonna be one-on-one tackles, it’s gonna have to be gang-tackling and team defense in order to limit his yards and limit his effectiveness.”

Elliott went for 151 and 113 in the pair of wins against the Eagles last year. In 2017, he missed the home game due to suspension, but played in the meaningless 6-0 jawn at the end of the year.

Here’s what else Schwartz said Tuesday at his midweek press conference:

• there were some moments Sunday where pursuit was poor, thought Adrian Peterson was contained and should have been brought down
• his biggest disappointment in the first Dallas game was that the defense couldn’t hold for field goals after the early offensive turnovers
• he also mentioned two big penalties that resulted in first downs at Jerry World
• Fletcher Cox is playing at a “7-7” level right now (he always says this about players who have been somewhat underperforming
• Kamu Grugier-Hill played fewer snaps because of Washington’s personnel, it wasn’t discipline related (Doug said this Monday) 

Full video:

Watch live as Jim Schwartz and Mike Groh meet with the media. https://t.co/nbmZiL5ZRU

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 17, 2019