Eagles' Schwartz might be Pederson's Jim Johnson

LATE IN the Eagles' 17-0 preseason victory at Pittsburgh last Thursday, a short pass intended for new Eagles wideout Dorial Green-Beckham fluttered just beyond his reach. It wasn't particularly well-thrown, but it was the second time in as many tries that different backup quarterbacks had failed to connect with the enigmatic receiver, and you couldn't avoid thinking, already, that this guy would not exactly save Doug Pederson from a rough first season as the Eagles' head coach.

But here is who might: Jim Schwartz.

Jim Schwartz could buy this first-year head coach the same kind of breathing room that Jim Johnson once bought for Andy Reid, allowing for the natural maturation of the franchise quarterback Pederson hopes and believes will establish his NFL credentials in the years to come.

Remember the receivers of Reid's first season as head coach? Neither do I, so let's look 'em up, shall we? Among wideouts with more than two receptions, Torrance Small played 15 games, Dietrich Jells and Dameane Douglas played 14 apiece, Na Brown was in there for 12 and Charles Johnson played 11.

Only Small was taller than 6-foot.

It's an odd case of deja vu, especially since Pederson was, back then, the quarterback tasked to find these guys out there in the flat somewhere, the NFL version of whack-a-mole, I guess.

Only twice in their first nine games of Reid's initial season did the Eagles score 20 points in a game. But six of those nine games were decided by less than a touchdown thanks largely to Johnson's defense, and the Eagles finished their season with two consecutive victories and a new quarterback, scoring 62 against the Patriots and Rams - the eventual Super Bowl champions.

The following season the Eagles won 11 games and reached the playoffs - despite averaging less than 22 points per game. Johnson's defense, ranked fourth that season, allowed an average of 15.3 points.

For all its apparent downfield flaws, the offense at Pederson's disposal as a first-time coach is far more formidable than the one he was given as a first-time first-string quarterback. Sam Bradford, Ryan Matthews, Zach Ertz, Darren Sproles and Jordan Matthews - there are enough playmakers to believe they are capable of scoring more than they have this preseason, once flavors are added to the vanilla.

Of course it's also unlikely their defense will be that dominant, or that the big plays that bailed them against a no-name quarterback last Thursday will be there when the name guys are in there during the regular season. Still, the early returns from pairing a well-established coordinator with a first-time head coach are encouraging, and you wonder if Chip Kelly's narrative here might have gone differently had he gone this route.

In three seasons under Kelly and Davis, the Eagles' defense never finished higher than 17th in points allowed, or 28th in yards allowed. This created additional pressure on Kelly's hurry-up offense to execute, his offense often lacking the unending pressure his Oregon teams put on defenses. But Kelly, to his credit and ultimate detriment here, stayed loyal to Billy Davis, providing him the longest opportunity of his career to establish his credential as a coordinator. In the end, the numbers suggested that in San Francisco, Arizona and here, the coordinator was a greater problem than the players used to employ it.

We already know that's not the case with Schwartz. And it should provide some reassurance, if not immediately, in the seasons to come. Like Johnson did with the likes of Brian Dawkins, Troy Vincent and Jeremiah Trotter, Schwartz has inherited some nice pieces from the previous regime. Fletcher Cox, Connor Barwin, Malcolm Jenkins, Vinny Curry and lest we forget the ultimate X-factor, Jordan Hicks - there's a core here. Yes, it was just a preseason game against an unknown quarterback, but still how exhilarating was it to see Nolan Carroll jump a route for one interception and free-agent corner Aaron Grymes actually run a post route better than the receiver did to haul in a diving pick in the corner of the end zone?

Afterward, Carroll said he recognized the route through film meetings.

Fun stuff. Even in August.

From 2000 to 2007, Johnson's defenses tied for first in the NFL with 342 sacks, and ranked second in the league in third-down efficiency (34.3 percent) and red-zone touchdown rate (43.0 percent), and fourth in fewest points allowed (17.6 per game).

In Johnson's first season in 1999, the Eagles led the league in turnovers with 46, five of which were returned for touchdowns. He knew the offense needed some help. He took risks. Two seasons later, in 2001, the Eagles became only the fourth team in history to keep every team they played from scoring more than 21 points.

"This whole Eagles-Andy Reid regime here that's taken place wouldn't have been possible without Jim," Reid said after Johnson passed away in the summer of 2009.

No one knows yet what kind of era we are embarking on here. And it is impossibly unfair to expect Jim Schwartz to match Johnson's legacy. Still, the best evidence so far that Doug Pederson was a smart hire is that he doesn't feel the need to be the smartest coach in the room.

Last time that happened around here, Jim Johnson was in that room.

@samdonnellon

Columns: ph.ly/Donnellon