Yet another fourth quarter meltdown for the Eagles defense can only leave us to wonder is Juan the right man for the job. Other than the Cowboy game, where he called a brilliant game every other game has been a complete mystery.
I don’t think there’s any question that defensive coordinator Juan Castillo has been incompetent in his performance this season. The fact that he remains in place without any changes says to me that Reid is willing to suffer this year, figuring that he, Castillo will do a much better job next season. That would mean that Reid has been assured that he will be back.
Or maybe Reid has decided that he’s ready to move on after this season and is willing to give Castillo, a long-time assistant for him some experience so that he, Castillo will be prepared to get a job some where else in the future.
Why was a rookie safety, Jaiquawn Jarrett matched up with one of the best receivers in the game, Larry Fitzgerald with the game on the line? Andy defended the reason by saying this, “We had a pressure there and we were trying to blitz them, so that is the match-up.”
They did Cardinals head coach and play caller Ken Whisenhunt a favor by making it easy for him to get the matchup, he wanted Jarrett on Fitzgerald.
With a Cardinals team who is struggling to win on the road and with out their starting quarterback and former Eagle Kevin Kolb there is no excuse for the poor defensive performance that this ‘dream team’ put out on the field yesterday. Kolb has played poorly and backup John Skelton is even worse.
Not only did the defense play poorly they were on the field entirely too long. Arizona called 73 offensive plays. They also converted 6 of 16 third down conversions which most NFL games come down too.
Skelton had himself a career game passing for 315 yards and completing 21 of 40 passes while throwing 3 touchdown passes two of which went to Fitzgerald who caught 7 passes for 146 yards. Although the rush defense did improve in this game, the pass defense was nowhere to be found in clutch situations.
This team has a lot to change if they want to at least salvage this season but time is quickly running out on not only this season but maybe on Andy and Juan’s jobs.
Yesterday at his Monday news conference, Reid was asked a number of questions about Castillo.
Was the hiring of defensive coordinator Juan Castillo a long term project:
“No. I feel comfortable with Juan.”
Will Castillo continue to be the defensive coordinator:
“Yeah.”
Will Castillo continue to call the defenses:
“Yes.”
9 Games into the Season with the Playoffs almost impossible to make at this point, what else is Coach AR going to say “Castillo is overmatched and I made a bad decision right there”… Changes made during the season rarely amount to any big difference and will not accomplish anything at this point and probably just exascerbate the teams meltdown… I do believe Castillo will be relieved of his duties after the Season is over. But with 7 games let to play and Coach AR’s little knowledge and experience himself handling that side of the ball, what is he going to say or do but ride it out at this point.. .
Andy has shown his defense of Juan is a two deep zone.His first mistake was the early termination of Jim Johnsons disciple Sean ,and then replacing that move with his hand picked Juan.Stubborn tendencies on both sides of the ball,has been a long standing theme with Andy.Marty who fails to dial up runs when in the fourth quarter ,is a form of hurry. Up offense,in that it hurries the offense off the field ,exposing the vaunted defense to protect that which it can not .The results are fourth quarter meltdowns one win in it’s last eight at home and a team who cries out,desperate for a new vision.Jeff Lurie I’ll assume isn’t pleased to see his defenseless toothless team erode and implode at the Linc .The Rocky theme needs be replaced with the theme from Philadelphia story,as we as fans watch the erosion and slow death of our beloved franchise.Accountability and failure to do a better job,should be replaced with ,I apologize for the job I’m doing and tender my resignation as I’ve had ample time to x this mess which lies at my feet.happy holidays and hoping you buy Eagle merchandise for those you love .Andy and Jeff
Man, I never thought I would actually long for last year when we had Sean McDerrmott as our DC….but I actually do.
Believe it or not, if he had been give these players and Washburn as a DL coach we would be in a whole lot better place.
I NEVER thought I would say that.
“Reid Continues To Stand Behind Castillo”
good, he can stand beside him in the unimployment line too
To be honest, McDermott and the Panthers Defense has struggled quite a bit too and rank low in all Defensive Categories, now obvisouly they don’t have the talent and depth the Eagles do and have sustained 3 Season ending injuries to key defenders (LB J Beason, LB T Davis and their starting Dt whose name escapes me)
They ranked 20th Overall in Team Defense, Give up 26 Points per game, have 17 Sacks and created only 10 Turnovers…
The Eagles Rank 13th Overall, giving up 23 points, and have created 14 Turnovers and has 26 Sacks…
Eagles biggest issue I believe with the Eagles Defense is in the Red-Zone, they just cannot stop anyone and the Secondary plays too soft and not physcal enough and the Safeties have been a revolving door for the last 2-3 Seasons which doesn’t help.. (it’s actually been this way since Dawkins left and Samuel Arrived in my opinion and is going on 3-4 Seasons of not being able to stop anyone from scoring TD’s..)
Paulman…I agree personnel is an issue. Not being able to cover TEs or stop the run has been a persistent problem throughout Reid’s adminisration. All stems from valuing under sized quick linemen and not valuing LBs. Think about some consistent issues. WILL has always been an issue. In fact we have one of our suck ass WILLs is now coaching the LBs. SS was always an issue until Mikell with the very brief exception of M Lewis for a couple years. DT has always been a trouble spot. Lack of more than one consistent pass rusher was forever a problem until this year. Kearse and Burgess may have been one exception in ’04. They didn’t put up huge numbers but Sam Rayburn didn’t have six sacks because he was alone in there. Themes that run for 13 years are a problem that clearly is not being addressed.
Further let’s look at the illustrious career of “one of the best O line coaches in the NFL.” What has Castillo done for the organization to hold him in this regard? Tra Thomas, John Runyan, Shawn Andrews all sure things coming from college or FA. What other PB player did he develop? What fourth round pick did he ever turn into something with his genius? Fat Jack? Good but not great. How did he do with MJG? Winston Justice? Herremans is probably the one long shot he developed. This guy had no pedigree as an O line coach and they thought he was such a terrific coach and teacher that he could coach defense because he used to eat lunch with J Johnson? Personnel is a problem but JJ would have this defense in the top 5-6 with this personnel. We never gave him anything to work with except a good set of corners, Dawkins and one pass rusher.
I think we can all agree that the hiring of Castillo was a bad decsion and thats not hindsight speaking. The lionshare of Eagles fans believed this hiring to be assinine from jump street. With that being said, could we please examine the “talent” on this roster that I hear so much about. It seems after every loss, I’m bombarded with how could the “D” look this bad with SO much talent. Let’s take a look at this “talent” shall we.
DE- T. Cole- undersized end, with high motor. Gets engulfed in run game and fizzles out by about week 11, every season. Nice player.
DT- M. Patterson- undersized. cannot hold point of attack. Average to below average at best. 1st round bust.
DT- C. Jenkins- Very solid player had it not been for injury history would likely still be in GB, where I’m sure he wishes he still was. Versatile can play DT or DE. Great FA signing.
DE- J. Babin- 31 yr old, undersized stat hound. Subtract 2010 and he is an epic 1st round bust. Has one move, the outside speed rush and gets completely swallowed up on running plays (see Chicago game). Glorified 3rd down speed rusher. Nice tattoos though.
OLB- M. Foike- Seriously. What he lacks in size, he has less in ability. Would be a good special teamer, which is what 7th round picks are supposed to be.
MLB- J. Chaney- Undersized- Good attitude and motor – servicable- makes tackles, unfortunatley they are 5 yards past the line of scrimmage. Overachiever, another 7th round pick.
OLB- B. Rolle- severely undersized though I like his play- attitude and willingness to be physical. A nice surprise who may be a player. Time will tell, another late round pick.
CB- N. Asimoughi- Had the Eagles watched him play in OAK its likely they would have noticed he is a press cover corner and not a zone corner as they like to cast him. Has ability- but is being severely miscast. Cant tackle, period.
CB- A. Samuel- Great route reader, anticipation etc. Falls for double move often. Cant tackle, period.
S- J. Jarrett- A reach in the 2nd round- physical player, but slow of foot and to recognize play. Not ready for NFL spotlight.
S- K. Coleman- Another overachiever, does some things ok. Misses tackles trying to deliver the big hit- Probably a great special teamer/back-up. 7th round pick.
So, with the exception of Jenkins, Nnamdi (whos been awful) and possibly Cole, what overwhelming talent are we speaking about here. This defense is a mix-mosh of undersized guys, late (7th) round picks and noone that can tackle to speak of. Yes, Castillo has failed and his system makes Nnamdi look awful, but Reid picks the players. Despite being bashed over the head weekly with “all the talent” these guys have, this defense stinks equally because of Castillo, but also because of the rotten players that Reid chose.
Great Analysis Everz and spot on…
Against strong running teams like Cowboys,Giants,Bears, and as they will see with Dolphins,Jets, and even the Seahawks who all prefer to run the ball than pass.. I was hoping to see the Eagles utilize Jenkins more at DE (on 1st & 2nd downs) to help stop the run, an then use Patterson/Landri at DT or even Laws.. The Wide Nine Scheme works well with the outside speed rushers of Cole & Babin on obvious passing situations but that’s about it..
It actually hurts the rest of the Defense due to smallish and inexperienced LB’s the Eagles have and after losing their best Run Stuffer (DT Antonio Dixon for the year) they should have scrapped that except for Passing situations.. Recipe for disaster and I don’t even have to mention the Secondary which is 4-5 players doing their own thing which none of it is working, no one playing in unison,, It’s embarassing to watch this Defense to be honest with you and reminds me what the Indy Colts Defense has been over the Manning era which is Small, fast and but not real physical and is very likley to get pushed around as games get into the 4th quarter and towards the end of the season as they wear down.. They will get you some sacks, but at the expense of failing to stop anything else on a consisitent basis….
Everz, great, intelligent, well analyzing post. I agree with everything, but you should of added that Asante is a bum, & overrated.
@Everz – agree with you 100%….. the Eagles have a bunch of 2nd day draft picks who would NOT be 2nd string let alone starters on the Colts playing 1st string on the Eagles….
The Eagles need to add size to the line and playmakers at LB and S.
However, it will not change with Reid and Roseman running the team…. they need to clean house
they need to draft someone like Vontaze Burfict of Arizona State to lead the defense.. he is a Ray Lewis clone.
@DCar – i hate Samuel…. the guy makes picks but doesnt tackle and or play team defense…
The Eagles play the wide nine which requires that you have good linebackers. How stupid are the Eagles? Dumber than dirt. They have the number one runner and pass more than they run even without Desaun. How dumb are the Eagles.
Dumb as dirt. What a crock we were fed before the season from the Rat toothed Banner and Stove-piped armed Roseman. They should be selling diamonds on Jeweler’s Row not screwing up NFL football.
And Reid will be standing behind him in the unemployment line, too!