PFT: Jason Babin says Eagles made the right decision in keeping Castillo

[Hitman21ST]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...juan-castillo/

During the 2011 regular season, Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo was widely criticized for the Dream Team’s failures, and the “wide nine” alignment he employed was mocked.

But there are some strengths of the wide nine, including the way it frees up outside pass rushers. So it’s not surprising that Eagles defensive end Jason Babin is speaking out in favor of keeping Castillo and keeping the wide nine.

More at the link

Of course you want to keep the Wide Nine, Jason. It lets you get sacks at the expense of leaving the rest of the defense out to dry and winning games. But then again, you were never really about winning games, were you. Let you get yours, and the rest of the team be damned.

[skinfan2k]

If u watched the eagles defense in the 2nd half of the season, they were really good. their first half skewed their stats and kept them out of the playoff race

[Hitman21ST]

If u watched the eagles defense in the 2nd half of the season, they were really good. their first half skewed their stats and kept them out of the playoff race

It's not like they played offensive juggernauts the second half of the season. From their bye week on:

vs Dallas 34-7 W
vs Chicago 30-24 L
vs Arizona 21-17 L
@ New York Giants 17-10 W
vs New England 38-20 L
@ Seattle 31-14 L
@ Miami 26-10 W
vs New York Jets 45-19 W
@ Dallas 20-7 W
vs Washington 34-10 W

Teams in bold are the "offensive-minded" teams.

I would expect their defense to pick up in the second half with a schedule like that. Even the teams they played before the bye week weren't all that stellar offensively. Atlanta and Buffalo are the two teams that stand out as offensively driven. Babin has never been one to worry about the team though. He's all about #1.

[skinfan2k]

Besides the Chicago game, their defense played damn good. Vick didn't play the Giants/pats/seahawks stretch. After the bye week with Vick, they gave up 21 only twice

[scyber]

Isn't the "wide nine" a Jim Washburn thing? its the same alignment he used in Tennesee, right? If so, I never understood why Castillo was getting so criticized for it. I understand he is the DC and is ultimately responsbile for the D, but the Eagles brought in a very good D-line coach and he brought his very successful system along with him. So it makes sense that Castillo would incorporate that into his plans.

[Hitman21ST]

Isn't the "wide nine" a Jim Washburn thing? its the same alignment he used in Tennesee, right? If so, I never understood why Castillo was getting so criticized for it. I understand he is the DC and is ultimately responsbile for the D, but the Eagles brought in a very good D-line coach and he brought his very successful system along with him. So it makes sense that Castillo would incorporate that into his plans.

He's criticized because in Tennessee, they had the right personnel to run it. You need good LBs to successfully run the wide 9. It puts a lot of pressure on the LBs to shed blocks and make tackles, and it essentially takes the DEs out of the equation on run plays.

Philly doesn't have the linebackers to run it well.

[dockeryfan]

Babin was a liability against the run last year. But for sacks, this is the system for him. Of course he's going to say the system is great.
Football Outsiders did a little piece on him at the end of the year.
"Jason Babin may rank second in the league with 18 sacks, but he's not generally thought of as one of the league's elite."
http://footballoutsiders.com/under-p...cking-pro-bowl

[MR2Drift]

What player wouldn't stand up for his coach?

[Son of Gadsden]

"18 sacks, 30 tackles!"

[HAIL-STORM]

it would be awesome if they could accomplish the exact same thing this year too

[Dirt]

Isn't Babin the ******* who likes to injure people? **** him.

[RiggosMohawk]

You'd think that a defense designed to generate QB pressure without blitzing would be able to hold a 4th quarter lead.

Oh well... maybe it works better when they're always behind late.

I also think they made the right decision to keep Castillo... for our team. We'll get another season of very talented CBs giving lots of cushion, and not knowing what the **** is going on.

[pointyfootball]

You'd think that a defense designed to generate QB pressure without blitzing would be able to hold a 4th quarter lead.

Oh well... maybe it works better when they're always behind late.

I also think they made the right decision to keep Castillo... for our team. We'll get another season of very talented CBs giving lots of cushion, and not knowing what the **** is going on.

I think Philly's defense, assuming no major onslaught of injuries, is going to be very good this year. Keeping Castillo was probably the only option, unless another high-profile DC would come in and run same defense. Very few defenses, or offenses, are good their first year. It takes time, especially if new players are also added to the team.