| 20 December 2011
that game in San Francisco had to be cancelled or postponed...
Fortunately (or UNfortunately according to the law of Brizer), the lights came back on and the MNF game was completed, allowing us now, thanks to the up-to-date reporting of T-Boner, to present the winner of the EEB Brisuksegg Fancy FF League:
AMPUTATOES (JerkedUp) 187, NUT CHOKERS (JB) 103....
JerkedUp wins the Charmin Trophy after a steady run through the regular season and the playoffs, largely riding on the arm of Drew Brees. The Nut Chokers behind Tony Romo most of the way almost got JB to the promised land after a slow start in the regular season. JB barely missed winning his second Charmin Trophy in the same sason, as he had already won the MACH 10 Challenge Tournament this past Spring.
Nick Fierro gets a great sound byte with Juan Castillo
As we observe the improvement of the Eagles defensive management over the past few weeks and have commented a lot on it here, it's only fair to give DC Juan Castillo a chance to speak for himself. Thanks to a great interview Castillo gave to Nick Fierro of the Allentown Morning Call--- which I stumbled upon after receiving a Tweet from Fierro---here's Castillo responding to the "late bloom" theory of his defense:
"I think initially I started too fast," Castillo admitted, "and what I found out is I had to go backwards with some of those guys because they had missed [the minicamps because of the lockout] and we were making some mistakes just on fundamental stuff.
"You know, now as we understand all of our packages we're able to add as we keep going. And there is still a lot to add, but the first thing we have to understand is how to handle our fundamental packages."
Though head coach Andy Reid was a bit uncomfortable with that subject during Monday's day-after press conference, he did say that "it's just a matter of getting to know your guys and putting them in the right position and being more familiar."
Castillo's words are more than just coach-speak. They're really an extremely candid and honest admission of fact, which is rare to receive from any coach at any level in the NFL during the active part of a season. As Brizer would say, "Spies everywhere!"...
In the case of rookie linebacker Casey Matthews, for instance, Castillo's initial instincts about his ability to contribute were correct. But it took until the Miami game to get Matthews, who had been limited mostly to special teams after struggling as a starter for the first three weeks, into a nickel package where he could begin to flourish. Matthews made at least three big-time plays against the Jets, first stuffing LaDanian Tomlinson on a screen pass in the first quarter; being the second guy in on a strip tackle of Santonio Holmes that produced a 47-yard fumble return for a touchdown by defensive end Juqua Parker; and finally stopping Tomlinson 6 yards short of the marker on a third-down pass, forcing the Jets to settle for a field goal right before halftime.
Win or lose, if the Eagles' defense can maintain this level for the next two games, it might just be worth it to stick with Castillo and Reid into next season to see if they can complete the massive defensive rebuilding project that began last winter."You learn more each game with our defense," said cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who although banged up gets labeled the Eagles' biggest disappointment. "There are some calls that we've been doing since the beginning of the year that we've gotten better at, and there are some calls that we weren't doing in the beginning of the year that Juan is confident calling. He's doing different things and he's learning. I think with each game, he learns what works, what doesn't work."
"A few of the things we were doing at the beginning of the year, we don't do as much — some techniques and some coverages that guys just weren't used to and didn't really know. ... We would give up some big plays on those things. Now he'll blitz every now and then, but he also has some basic coverages that we've known since high school. Since we know them, we can just go out and play them confidently, so it's helped."
Castillo's defense has been dominant in the last two games, romps over Miami and the New York Jets.
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Injury Update from Andy Reid's presser:
"[WR] DeSean Jackson has an elbow contusion and is a bit sore today, but should be OK," Reid said. [T Todd] Herremans, who had an ankle sprain, did well through the game. [WR] Jeremy Maclin did well through the game. [CB] Asante's [Samuel] hamstring strain doesn't look like it's too bad. He's getting treatment and working on that. [QB] Michael Vick made it through well, other than just normal soreness. He feels better than he did last week, than he did after the Dolphins game. [DT] Trevor Laws has knee tendinitis, and we'll just see how he does here."
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