Schwartz’s ‘D’ must put effort behind his words

Whatever the motivation, Eagles coordinator Jim Schwartz took a risk blaming himself and his game plan for the poor performance of his defense in a 37-19 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

It was the second straight week the unit was humbled, the Eagles surrendering 27 unanswered points in a 27-17 loss to theWashington Football Team in the opener.

Taking accountability is one thing. Doing it very publicly is quite another, even if the veteran coach is trying to use it as a rallying cry for a defense that has a lot of new parts.

What does Schwartz say the next time the defense is overmatched? His bad again? It’s on the players? HowieRoseman didn’t give himthe right guys?

The last time we looked the Eagles were scheduled to play at San Francisco (which may get quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo back), at Pittsburgh, where Ben Roethlisberger is warming up and against the Baltimore Ravens, where the odds of containing league MVP Lamar Jackson are slim and none.

Eagles players appreciated Schwartz’s apology.

Head coach Doug Pederson, on the other hand, did not go that route when asked about the struggles of the offense. That would seem to point the finger at Carson Wentz, who has turned the ball over an NFL-high five times in two games, including four interceptions.

Wentz had thrown at least one touchdown pass in 20 straight games, the longest active streak in the league entering the game with the Rams.

This week Wentz hopes to begin another.

*** The Monday Night Football game sends the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs to Baltimore to take on the Ravens (8:20, NBC-TV).

Unless we’ve totally missed something, this is the early version of Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Fla.

No NFC team is going to havemuch of a shot of taking on either of these AFC behemoths with two of themost electric quarterbacks in the game.

It alsomarks the first time that league MVP’s under the age of 26 have faced each other in a game. Jackson of the Ravens is 23 while the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes is 25.

*** Anybody else looking forward to seeing Bills quarterback Josh Allen (six TD’s, no interceptions) matched against Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey (no interceptions) Sunday in Buffalo?

Ramsey, to his credit, backtracked this week after welcoming Allen to the NFL by calling him “trash” before he’d played a game. The remark was made in a Gentlemen’s Quarterly interview. Several quarterbacks were ripped including Super Bowl MVP’s Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco.

This week Ramsey dubbed Allen “talented.”

Allen has thrown 21 scoring passes against just two picks in his last 13 games.

Like they say, somebody’s ‘0’ is likely to for the Bills and Rams both are 2-0.

*** The league-wide passer rating of 96.2 is the highest ever after the first two weeks of the season.

The same with the 66.4 completion percentage.

CarsonWentz’s rating and completion percentages through two games - 64.5 and 58.8.

*** Russell Wilson’s streak of playing every game in a career that began in 2012 will hit 131 when the Seahawks take on the Cowboys.

Wilson began the streak at age 24. He leads the league with nine TD passes and can become the only NFL player to throw four TD passes in each of his first three games.

The only longer streak for a quarterback is by Philip Rivers, now with the Colts, who starts his 228th game in a row, Sunday against the Jets. That skein began in 2006 when Rivers, 38, was 25 years old.

*** The Steelers have a streak of 59 straight games with at least one sack, the longest active stretch in the league.

They top the NFL with 10 sacks, and they’ll add to the total against Deshaun Watson, as the Texans’ passer is second on the circuit with eight sacks, matching the total of Wentz.

The game marks the reunion of the Watts brothers. T.J. Watt of the Steelers has 37 sacks in 49 games for the Steelers, who lead the league with 1-0 sacks. J.J. Watt of the Texans recorded 37.5 sacks in his first 50 games.

J.J. Watt is six years older than T.J. and has five years on Derek Watt, who plays fullback for the Steelers.

*** Read zone: Tight ends have caught four TD passes against the Eagles in two games, TylerHigbee getting into the end zone three times for the Rams last week. That was the most paydirt for a Rams tight end since Damone Johnson’s three-spot in 1988. The Eagles are unlikely to get a break next week as George Kittle (Niners) has returned to practices … Cam Newton is the only quarterback to rush for two TD’s in a game eight times. With 4,928 rushing yards, he needs one yard to pass Randall Cunningham for second on the all-time list topped by Michael Vick. The Patriots entertain the Raiders … Quarterback Derek Carr of the Raiders has thrown 235 passes without an interception. He’ll be tested by Devin McCourty, who has one pick this season and 27 in his career … Roethlisberger is one game from becoming the all-time leader in games played for the Steelers. Big Ben and the late Mike Webster have played in 220 games.