Jim Schwartz returns to Detroit with resurgent Eagles defense

When Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz travels to Ford Field on Sunday, it will be his second trip back to the place where he was head coach for five seasons.

His last trip was as defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills in October 2014, about 10 months after he was fired by the Lions. Now, nearly three years removed from his job in Detroit, Schwartz still has plenty of ties to the team that handed him a pink slip.

“I think you guys would probably be surprised how much I root for the Lions,” Schwartz told reporters this week. “As long as it’s not in direct conflict with the Eagles, I want those guys to win every week. I’ve got too much blood and sweat in that building, and there’s a lot of guys there that mean an awful lot to me.”

Specifically, Schwartz named quarterback Matthew Stafford, tight end Brandon Pettigrew, and linebacker DeAndre Levy as players he wishes success for. But right now, it’s Schwartz finding success.

While it has only been three games in Philadelphia, the Eagles defense looks like it could be a special one. Opposing offenses are averaging nine points per game — a number that will certainly go up — but for now, is easily the best mark in the NFL. Among the victims were the Pittsburgh Steelers, held to just three points against the Eagles, despite averaging 35 points in three other games.

These performances are coming from a defense that allowed 26.9 points per game in 2015 (No. 28 in the NFL), and was No. 28 against the pass and dead last against the run. It’s a monumental turnaround and has vaulted Schwartz right back into talk as a head coaching candidate.

“He’s just got a way about him; you can tell he’s been around the block. He’s very comfortable in his own skin. Well-spoken,” Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich said of Schwartz. “Yeah, he’s got a little bit of that ‘it’ factor. A little bit of charisma.”

That charisma wasn’t enough in Detroit, where he finished with a 29-51 record. But it would be unfair to ignore the fact that Schwartz took over the Lions in January 2009, less than a month after the team finished an 0-16 season in 2008.

The team selected Stafford and paired him with young receiver Calvin Johnson and the offense slowly took off, eventually leading the Lions to the playoffs in 2011. But the rebuild on defense took more time and was the NFL’s worst in Schwartz’s first season.

As the Lions acquired talent, the defense climbed to No. 15 in the NFL in points allowed by his last season, but he wasn’t around when it finally became a top 10 unit in his absence in 2014. But the slow build crumbled quickly and the Detroit defense is again in the bottom half of the NFL.

Meanwhile, Schwartz took the tools given to him in Philadelphia and seemingly created an elite unit. His other stop — one season as the defensive coordinator in Buffalo — was successful too, as the Bills finished No. 4 in both points allowed and yards allowed in 2014. But he was let go by the team after Doug Marrone resigned and Rex Ryan elected to bring in his own staff.

In the time since the Lions fired Schwartz, he has made a strong case as one of the NFL’s best defensive coaches, and the team that fired him has crumbled into a 1-3 team that doesn’t do much well aside from pass the ball.