The Eagles will face the Lions this weekend, which gives defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz a chance to try to beat the team that once employed him as a head coach.
The last time that happened, Schwartz wound up being carried off the field by his Bills players after they got a win against Detroit. A lot of time has passed since that game and Schwartz said Thursday, via Philly.com, that he wasn’t feeling much motivation to get a win as payback for being fired.
Eagles players are saying the same when asked about last year’s 45-14 loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving. As Schwartz’s presence on the staff illustrates and safety Malcolm Jenkins pointed out, there are too many differences between those teams and the ones that play on Sunday to make this a revenge game.
“I think this is a different team,” Jenkins said, via NJ.com. “They’re a different team. It’s not one of those games where we’re looking for revenge. Damn near every player in the secondary [has changed]. It’s different personnel. We’re playing a different scheme. We’re playing really well up front. Getting pressure. Stopping the run. At that point last year, we couldn’t stop the running game. We couldn’t stop Calvin Johnson. Obviously, those match ups are a lot different this year. They don’t have Calvin Johnson. Stafford can still throw the ball all over the place. But, this year, we feel like our match ups are a lot better.”
Winning on Sunday might not check the revenge box, but it would do a lot to further distance the Eagles from the team that got ransacked on their last trip to Detroit.