It is absolutely difficult for me to watch the Philadelphia Eagles defense this entire season. The man in charge, defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, has been an abject failure. The experiment of moving him from the offense to the defense has combusted right in Andy Reid’s face.
I wrote an article in the preseason entitled, “Juan Castillo: Flying Under the Radar”. Here were my thoughts just three games into the preseason, initially explaining why Castillo was hired:
“The arrogance was that Andy Reid acted that the choice was part of his grand plan all along. This is how the Eagles organization is: they know better than you. It is frustrating this perception is not known nationally.
Lets fast forward. The Eagles have played three preseason games. The defense has no real identity. In all of Castillo interviews, he stresses he wants to simplify the defense and play fast. OK, big deal. Every NFL team covets speed. Lately, the trend in the NFL has been to balance speed, with size. Castillo is dealt with personnel that is undersized, so the only quote you really get from him is, “to play fast, you can’t be thinking.”
Only time will tell if Castillo is the right man for the job. I know he is passionate. Passion is only a small part of winning. The key is to have the proper schemes that match the weekly opponent. What is curious is that Castillo can make a statement as ludicrous as, ““The linebackers will be ready to win the Super Bowl”, and get away with it.
With all the free agent acquisitions hogging the spotlight, Juan Castillo must revel in being a human ‘stealth fighter’.”
The Eagles have given up 28+ points in six of their eight losses. That stat alone is abysmal. A team that once prided itself on a stingy defense is now giving up points hand over fist. The Eagles have given up more points (282) than they have scored (271). That is astonishing considering the Eagles were supposed to be an offensive juggernaut.
I also wrote an article three weeks into the season call, “Juan Castillo’s On The Job Training Is Costing Eagles Games”. Here was my take three weeks in:
“In their last two games, the Eagles have given up six consecutive redzone touchdowns. Six. Former defensive coordinator, Sean McDermott, was fired for this exact reason. Last year the Eagles were historically bad defending in the redzone. Now, nothing has changed, except the fact the Eagles have better personnel this year.
Why is Casey Matthews still on the field? He is a third round draft pick. You benched your first round pick, Danny Watkins, saying “he’s not ready.” Kurt Coleman made a couple bad plays and you bench him. He is probably your best safety. Castillo brings in Nate Allen and what does he do? Stinks up the joint.
I am not shore what the Eagles can do at this point. Juan Castillo has the job and is learning on the fly. I hope the adjustments are made to sure up this defense. Maybe the Eagles can bring in an advisor or something. Maybe Juan can buy some cliff notes.”
Andy Reid made the decision to hire his former offensive line coach so he must make the decision to end ties with Castillo, immediately. If Andy actually did this, it would send a message and shake things up in the organization. That is exactly what the Eagles need right now, someone to throw the “holy hand grenade” to rattle cages.
The once blitz hungry Eagles are now last in the league sending extra pass rushers. The vaunted secondary sits back and plays zone, allowing any quarterback to pick them apart. The linebackers and safeties are so bad they allow any running back to stomp a mud hole in them. Who is the architect, the master mind behind all of this: Juan Castillo.
The Eagles need to pull the trigger and end the defensive misery that is Juan Castillo. He has had more than a test, rather an exam, and has failed.
contact:
Buy Philadelphia Eagles Tickets | Buy Philadelphia Eagles Apparel
Agreed and they also need to get rid of Washburn and his wide 9. In fact, I’d say it’s Washburn that has caused more harm than castillo. As bad as Castillo is, it’s the wide 9 that is the main culprit with this defense. We’ve got guys like Babin who couldn’t care less about anything but getting sacks, and he’s admitted as much on numerous occasions. That foolish mentality is a product of Washburn, not Castillo. This team is not taking a big picture view on defense. They are focusing only on getting to the QB and they are accomplishing that at the expense of the running game and short passing game. It’s a disaster. Castillo is the head man, and he’s obviously overmatched, but Washburn’s scheme is just plain bad football. Both coaches need to go.
It’s not the Wide 9. Other teams run the Wide 9 with no problems (see Detroit). The problem is that a) we run it in run situations (Castillo) and b) we don’t have the LB and safety talent to run it:
Fokou – 7th round pick
Rolle – 6th round pick
Chaney – 7th round pick
Jordan – undrafted
Coleman – 7th round pick
Allen – 2nd round pick (with a bum knee)
Page – 7th round pick
You see the problem? They are young, slow, bad tacklers, and not playmakers. Buddy Ryan couldn’t put these guys in a successful scheme. I like some of them, but there’s a reason they were drafted when they were. And I blame that on Reid.
Firing Castillo is the right thing to do, but I don’t see what good there is to it unless you have a replacement to audition (or you want to send a message). This is Andy Reid and Howie Roseman (and Heckert’s) fault.
I would seek to retain April, Mudd, and Washburn. If Reid saw the error of his ways and addressed the problem (which he won’t), I’d give him another shot.