Report: Eagles will retain Juan Castillo as Defensive Coordinator

The Juan Castillo experiment will continue for at least another year.  According to Jeff McLane of the Inquirer, the Eagles are going to hire Todd Bowles as their defensive backs coach and keep Castillo as the defensive coordinator.  Bowles, who was the interim head coach for the Dolphins for the final 3 games last season, brings more than a decade of NFL experience as a secondary coach and should help the talented Eagles secondary live up their potential.

As for Castillo, once the Saints hired Steve Spagnuolo, it seemed inevitable that he would be back as D.C.  I am of two minds when it comes to Castillo; on the one hand, he awful in the beginning of the season as the defense looked unorganized and confused; on the other, the defense was awesome down the stretch and Castillo showed real improvement in his game-planning.  Sure, the offenses the Eagles faced were terrible in the final few games but Castillo had the defense clicking in December.  Hopefully, given a full training camp to prepare, Castillo can get the defense rolling starting in Week 1.

It's telling that Andy Reid's job is on the line this season and he is willing to keep Castillo around as the defensive coordinator.  This could either be something that costs Reid his job or a move that makes him look like a genius.  At least the Eagles defensive coordinator in 2012 now has actual experience coaching defense.

Stick a fork in 'em: Eagles embarrassed by Patriots

What started off promising quickly turned ugly as the Eagles blew an early 10-0 lead and got blown out by the Patriots, 38-20.  Here are a few of my thoughts on yet another poorly played game by the Eagles:

-The Patriots have a world-class offense but the Eagles defense was nothing short of terrible today.  From botched coverage to bad play-calls to undisciplined penalties, the defense wasn't even close to slowing down the Patriots attack.  It all starts with Juan Castillo, who somehow forget to come up with a game plan to stop Wes Welker, or any other Pats receiver for that matter.  Castillo is in over his head and completely overmatched by opposing offensive minds and needs to be fired ASAP.  Who would have thought that an offensive line coach wouldn't make a good coordinator?

-On that note, it's beyond clear that Castillo never should have been moved to the defensive coordinator spot.  The man responsible for that hiring has to be held accountable, as well, so it's finally time for Andy Reid to go.  Reid might yet be a great coach again but this team needs a fresh voice in the locker room.  They also need someone who will make a better play call on a 4th and 1 at the goal line.

-DeSean Jackson played yet another terrible game, dropping at least two touchdowns and failing to make big plays in big spots.  Jackson has cost himself millions of dollars with his terrible play and has basically played his way out of town.  He simply doesn't do enough on the field to be worth the headache.

-Vince Young was actually pretty respectable, throwing 400 yards as the Eagles went into catch-up mode in the second half.  He did have a few bad throws and an interception but Young filled in admirably for Michael Vick.  There is definitely no quarterback controversy, however, as this is Vick's team when he is healthy.

-Only 14 touches for LeSean McCoy?  Come on, Andy!

-The season is now over for the Birds.  No miracle Wild Card birth.  No miracle playoff run.  It's time to face reality, this team needs to hit the reset button.

Eagles blow yet another 4th quarter lead

Different week, same story.  The Eagles once again were unable to hold onto a 4th quarter lead against an inferior opponent, this time blowing a 7 point lead to the Cardinals in a brutal 21-17 loss.  Here are just a few thoughts on another terrible effort from the Eagles:

-I'm not usually calling for coaches heads after losses but I've seen enough of Juan Castillo as defensive coordinator.  He has a ton of talent to work with yet guys are constantly out of position and receivers are repeatedly left open.  How about actually hiring a defensive coach to coach the defense?

-As for Andy Reid, if things continue like this for the rest of the season, he needs to go, too.  While he can't be blamed for everything, if you have this much talent to work with yet can't get them to play up to their ability, that has to be a reflection on the coach.  If Reid isn't reaching his players, he isn't an effective coach.  I would give him the rest of the year to spark something with this team or show him the door.

-Michael Vick had a brutal, brutal game.  Sure, he was without DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin for much of the game, but Vick repeatedly made bad decisions with the football and struggled to get anything going through the air and should have been picked off 4 times.  He has definitely come back to earth this season; I wonder if the Eagles regret giving him that big contract.

-We have established that LeSean McCoy is a beast.  Why isn't he getting more carries in the 4th quarter?  That he only had 17 touches in this game is completely the fault of the coaches.

-John Skelton threw for 315 yards against the Eagles "dream" secondary. Yep, that's John Skelton, Kevin Kolb's backup.

This season is definitely over now, Eagles fans.  While they still have the talent to beat nearly every team on their schedule, this team just doesn't have the will to get it done.

Eagles embarrass Cowboys on Sunday Night

There is nothing like the Eagles crushing the Cowboys, especially when it is on national television for all the country to see.  The Eagles basically played a perfect game in downing Dallas, 34-7, and are now 3-4 and find themselves right back in the thick of the division.  Here are my thoughts on the game:

-LeSean McCoy was clearly the best player on the field.  McCoy juked, jived and motored all over the Dallas defense, rushing for 185 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries.  McCoy seems to be getting better an better every week and is turning the Eagles into a run-first team, quite an accomplishment with Andy Reid at the helm.  I'm not sure there is a better running back in the NFL.  To think, this is just his third year in the league and he could get even better.

-Michael Vick played a nearly flawless game, completing 21 of 28 passes for two touchdowns while rushing for 50 yards.  While he nearly had a fumble in the third quarter, Vick didn't turn the ball over and didn't make a bad pass all game long.  When Vick has plenty of time and makes quick decisions to either throw the ball or tuck it and run, he is at his most dangerous.  This was probably his best game since the Monday Night massacre against the Redskins.

-The Eagles first 6 possessions all ended with a score touchdown or a field goal.  Zero punts until the 4th quarter.  Remarkable.

-Take out the long touchdown by the Cowboys in the 4th quarter and the Eagles defense also played a nearly flawless game.  A lot was made of how the Wide 9 wasn't working but the adjustments Juan Castillo and the defense made all seemed to work perfectly.  While DeMarco Murray did have success on the ground, any time Tony Romo dropped back to pass, Trent Cole and Jason Babin were both bearing down on him.  Combine a potent pass-rush with great coverage and you have an unbeatable combination.

-Dez Bryant and Miles Austin combined for just six catches, with most of them coming in garbage time.  Much of the credit goes to the Eagles pass rush not giving Romo enough time but the All-Star secondary certainly played up to expectations.

-Andy Reid had TWO correct challenges in the game.  Has that ever happened before?

-Speaking of Reid, his perfect record after a bye continues.  With all the negatives against the Reid, give this man time to prepare and he makes the necessary adjustments to get his troops ready.

Your Eagles are now tied for second place in the NFC East with a 3-4 record.  With the Giants facing a brutal November schedule, the division race is far from over.  Bring on the Bears!
(Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Season over: Sloppy Eagles fail once again

Another week, another disappointing performance by the Eagles.  This time, the Eagles made a tremendous comeback but still had a critical turnover that led to a 31-24 loss to the Bills.  Here are some of my thoughts on the game:

-Juan Castillo has to go.  Now.  The defense was unable to stop the run, put any pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick or make any plays in the secondary.  The defense is loaded with talent and guys that have made plays in the past so there has to be an issue with Castillo and his schemes.  The one thing this group did well in the last few weeks was get to the quarterback and they couldn't even do that this week.

-Jason Avant had one heck of a game statistically, catching 9 passes for 139 yards, but he made two terrible plays that cost the Eagles the game.  When a sure-handed guy like Avant can't hold on to the ball you know things just aren't going your way.

-Michael Vick doesn't deserve much of the blame for this one.  Of his 4 interceptions, only one was a truly terrible pass.  Vick is doing everything he can with what little time he is given and scrambling for his life when there is nothing open downfield.  He can't be blamed for tipped passes becoming interceptions and for the inept line in front of him.  What he can be blamed for is his terrible mismanagement of the clock at the end of the first half.  How does that happen?

-How about giving the ball to LeSean McCoy more often?  Only 15 touches for Shady, who still managed over 100 total yards.

-I'm so glad Juqua Parker was healthy enough to suit up this week so he could make a boneheaded play a the end of the game to seal the loss for the Eagles.

-By my count, Jamar Chaney made the first play by a linebacker all season long when he picked off Fitzpatrick.

At 1-4, this season is effectively over for the Eagles.  Sure, they could rattle off a few wins and find themselves back in the NFC East title picture, but does anyone see any reason to think that this team is going to magically start playing well?  This is clearly a broken team that has talent but can't seem to put all of the pieces together.  All that is left to play for this season is Andy Reid's job.

Eagles downward slide continues in choke against Niners

We have a disaster on our hands, Eagles fans.  After making a number of mistakes in the first half and still building a 20-3 lead, the Eagles allowed the Niners to score the final 21 points of the game to win, 24-23.  Here are my thoughts on a brutal loss for the Eagles:

-Were do we place the blame for that loss?  On the defense that still can't stop the run?  On Jeremy Maclin for not protecting the football?  On the rookie kicker who can't make a chip shot?  On the defensive coordinator who is clearly overmatched?  How about on the coach who put this mess together?  I've never been a "fire Andy Reid" guy but something has to give after what happened today.  The pieces are all there but this isn't working.

-I don't have a clue how to fix this defense with the current personnel.  You have to be able to stop the run, which they can't do.  You also can't let Alex Smith throw for 291 yards.  How you can have three of the best corners in the game and let the Niners crop of mediocre receivers be open all game long is a complete mystery.

-One guy who is giving his max effort on defense is Jason Babin.  He was disruptive all game long and picked up three sacks.  The d-line continues to consistently create pressure but the rest of the D is letting them down.

-Another guy I can't blame for this loss is Michael Vick.  He had a few bad throws here and there but at least he was busting his butt on every play.  With the offensive line still barely able to block anyone, Vick made the most out of what he was given.  His career high 416 yards passing and 75 yards rushing only added up to 23 points, though, and that just isn't enough.

-How about giving LeSean McCoy more than 9 carries?

-David Akers must be dying of laughter right now.  Alex Henery is a rookie and games like this will happen but he had two chances to put the game away and couldn't do it.  Akers missed one, too, but a million bucks says he doesn't miss that 4th quarter attempt from 33 yards.

-I almost forgot about Ronnie Brown.  What the heck was he thinking?  That could have been the worst play I've seen a professional football player ever make.  Even high school kids don't do that.

Something has to give with this team, something has to be changed.  Someone needs to get fired or this is all going to keep happening.  I'm not looking forward to the game against a good Bills team next week at all.  At least we have the Phillies!

Guest Post: Trying to make sense of the Juan Castillo promotion

Guest Poster Mark Trible gives his thoughts on the Eagles curious promotion of Juan Castillo:

Andy Reid’s vacation-long decision was announced, as the Eagles’ Offensive Line Coach became their Defensive Coordinator on Wednesday. Sounds shocking, I know. And, for those of you out there that heard the news, I’m sure the opening sentence of this piece is helping you digest the move again. I couldn’t quite digest it either.

Juan Castillo is as qualified to run an NFL defense as Rex Ryan is to run a humility clinic. With a few years of high school coaching and a brief USFL stint as a linebacker as the only key points on his résumé, the move brings about bewilderment to Eagles fans everywhere.

How did it come to this? It’s really quite amusing to try to come up with an answer. Of course, this all started with the tragic loss of Jim Johnson to Cancer in the off-season prior to the 2009-10 season. Johnson gave the franchise and the fans an identity for the defense. His impressive blitz packages were eccentric, beautiful and for the opposing offenses, bewildering. There seemed little harm in promoting his assistant at the time, Sean McDermott to replace him. Wrong.

McDermott’s unit struggled when he was in charge, and after a disappointing playoff exit, the heat was on Reid to make a move. He made that move by firing McDermott. Reid then brought in Jim Washburn to coach the defensive line, a move that was applauded by everyone in the NFL community. So as it came down to a few linebacker and secondary coaches in the Super Bowl for the job, it became apparent that the Eagles would grab a solid coach coming off a successful season.

Wrong again. The reason this move is puzzling goes far beyond the fact that Castillo has been an offensive coach. It goes beyond the fact that his offensive lines haven’t been great lately. The most puzzling part about the move is that Andy Reid needed to get the heat off his back. Step one was clearly to fire McDermott. Step two was to hire a defensive mind that would restore credibility. Reid didn’t exactly use the second step.

There’s little doubt that the reviews of Castillo’s work ethic are accurate. I’m sure he will be in the Novacare Complex all day and night, if for no reason other than to save his boss’ you-know-what. I believe Leslie Frazier when he says that Castillo is a great football mind, and when Ron Rivera raves about his preparation. But, I don’t believe for a second that the team can move forward with Castillo and Washburn without going outside of the franchise for a secondary coach and a linebackers coach.

Perhaps, the plan was to throw a ton of money at Washburn, throw a ton of money at a linebackers coach like Green Bay’s Winston Moss. Then, throw a ton of money at a secondary coach like Minnesota’s Joe Woods, who was interviewed earlier in the week. For Eagles fans everywhere, they had better hope that’s the plan. Because when the team goes looking for a starting cornerback, I would highly doubt the fans want to lean on what two line coaches feel is best. And, it goes without saying that fans aren’t interested in what Reid thinks is best on the defensive side of the ball.

The hiring of Washburn does give hope to the fans that the team will spend a good amount of money putting together a stellar defensive staff. If they can’t do that, Castillo will be on less than a short leash with those in Philadelphia. In a city that remembers the great defenses of Buddy Ryan and Jim Johnson, he has big shoes to fill. There will be no ‘grace period’ for him to find his footing.

McDermott found that out the hard way, and he had nine more years of NFL defensive coaching on his résumé.

Follow Mark on Twitter (@Mtrible) for more great Flyers and Eagles thoughts.

Andy Reid was one BIG kid

Holy cow, Andy Reid was one gigantic 13 year old. Look at the size advantage he had in this Punt, Pass and Kick competition:

I don't know how he couldn't win considering he was twice the size of the competition.

Post bye-week champs: Eagles edge Colts

Andy Reid's perfect post bye-week record remains intact! Despite the best efforts of the referees, the Eagles held on to edge the Colts, 26-24, giving Reid a perfect 12-0 record after a bye.

Michael Vick deserves much of the credit for the win as he was the best player on the field for most of the game. While Vick didn't put up great passing numbers (17 of 29 for 218 yards), he was a serious weapon with his legs, repeatedly gouging the Colts for big yards on the ground. Vick also continues to be nearly unstoppable on third downs, even converting two 3rd and 10's late in the game when the Eagles were trying to melt the clock. At this point, I think we can safely bury the Eagles quarterback controversy. The difference between the Eagles offense in this game and when Kevin Kolb was behind center is night and day; Vick makes the offense look explosive while things seem to plod along with Kolb.

The Eagles defense also should get a lot of credit for having to overcome some terrible calls by the refs while managing to slow down the Colts offense. After the Colts offense hit its stride in the second quarter, the Eagles defense responded in the second half by nearly keeping them off the scoreboard entirely. While Peyton Manning was still able to put up some solid numbers, the Eagles did hurry and hit him often, even forcing him to throw a pair of interceptions. The Birds young secondary deserves a ton of credit for not allowing any big plays by the Colts receivers.

One of the biggest stories in the game will inevitably be about how the refs nearly stole the game from the Eagles with two very questionable calls. First, there was the legal hit by Kurt Coleman that was flagged in the second quarter, then there was the ridiculous roughing the passer penalty called on Trent Cole for barely batting the back of Manning's head with his hand late in the game. While the Coleman hit on Collie happened so fast I could see why it was called, there would have been hell to pay had the weak call against Cole cost the Eagles the game.

All in all, what a huge win by the Eagles in a game everyone had penciled in as a loss since the day the schedule came out. The Birds really needed this one, especially after the way they collapsed against the Titans. Suddenly, with a record of 5-3 and a second half schedule that looks not nearly as difficult as it once did, the playoffs seem like a very real possibility. If Michael Vick stays healthy and they continue to play like they did today, the Eagles might even win a round or two.
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)