For a team that now stands at 3-9 and has lost eight straight, the Eagles continue to mesmerize the football-crazed Philly fans.
We’ll tune in again this week when the Birds face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to see how the defense performs with new line coach Tommy Brasher in place and no longer confined by Jim Washburn’s ‘Wide 9’ defensive alignment.
Then there’s the talk that defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, elevated when Juan Castillo was shown the door, could be a candidate for the head coaching job at his alma mater, Temple, now that Steve Addazio is headed to greener pastures at Boston College.
But there remains one burning question about this team and their travails that I would like to see answered. I think it holds the key to the Eagles’ descent from one of the NFL’s elite to one of the league’s laughingstocks.
Who hired Jim Washburn?
For some reason, the Eagles saw fit to hire Washburn, his abrasive personality, and unorthodox defensive alignment before they actually had a defensive coordinator in tow. With the prickly Washburn in place, the Eagles suddenly found most of the top candidates for the coordinator’s job not interested in coming to Philly. It may not have been stated, but it appears most of them wanted no part of Washburn and the Wide 9.
That left the Eagles and Andy Reid in a lurch. The result? Juan Castillo, a good offensive line coach who had never coached defense at the pro level, was hired to do just that. Most people simply shook their head at this latest bit of hubris on the part of Reid and the Eagles. This is the same organization who consistently told us they know better than the rest of us. They didn’t need a top-flight wide receiver. They didn’t need a standout linebacker. Now Reid haughtily dismissed those who questioned the appointment of Castillo. That was two years ago. The Eagles have not been the same since.
So who pulled the trigger on hiring Washburn? Was this Reid’s call. Was it G.M. Howie Roseman? Owner Jeff Lurie?
If it was Reid, then he deserves to be shown the door, as many believe will happen as soon as the Eagles walk off the field in their final game against the Giants on Dec. 30. But if this was a move forced on Reid, that puts everything that has gone on the past two years, including the woeful performance of the Eagles’ defense, in a new light.
Reid all but admitted this week that the Washburn hiring was a mistake, that he probably should have canned him and kept his loyal pal Castillo.
Finally, Reid comes around to something most fans tried to tell him two years ago.
It's just the latest soap opera in a team that seems to thrive on them. Except that they usually managed to win while dealing with the headlines. That hasn't been the case now for two years. The Eagles are a mess, and the Washburn hiring is at the center of it.
So, who hired him?
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