As I watched Sunday’s Eagles win over the Bucs, I couldn’t make up my mind if I should be happy or furious.
It has nothing to do with the fact that the dramatic, last-second win orchestrated by rookie QB Nick Foles may have hurt the Eagles’ draft position. No, I instead was haunted by something that I’ve talked about before.
Call it the Curse of Jim Washburn.
It didn’t take long to see the dramatic difference the absence of Washburn and his Wide 9 defensive alignment had on the Birds' defense. For maybe the first time this season they looked like a cohesive unit. Suddenly receivers weren’t running wide open in the Eagles secondary as guys with green jerseys on pointed fingers at each other.
And, of course, we didn’t have Jason Babin rushing mindlessly upfield to kick around either.
I tweeted this out during the game yesterday and I haven’t changed my mind.
If Washburn had not been around this year, it says here this team is fighting for a playoff spot right now. Instead, they are playing out the string, looking to take solace in last-second wins that snap an eight-game losing streak.
Which brings me back to the real issue around Washburn. Who hired him in the first place. And who exactly thought it was a good idea to hire a defensive line coach - in this case the controversial Washburn - before hiring a defensive coordinator?
With Washburn and his Wide 9 defensive philosophy already on board, Reid suddenly found all the leading candidates he was looking at for defensive coordinator no longer interested in the job. Read between the lines and you can see none of them especially wanted to deal with the caustic Washburn. Now we know why. Apparently Washburn thought nothing of castigating those who did not agree with him. That would include referencing Juan Castillo as Juanita and griping about it when Reid cut his guy Castillo.
With his leading candidates all backing out, Reid suddenly found himself in a lurch when it comes to defensive coordinator. In what can only now be described as a panic move, he turned to Castillo, his offensive line coach who had not coached defense since his college days. Pretty much everyone ridiculed the move. Reid held firm in his usual stubborn way.
In maybe the most unfair thing that has happened in this franchise for years, Reid put his pal Castillo’s head on the chopping block after two come-from-ahead losses earlier this year. Even Reid now admits it should have been Washburn.
But even that is not the real question here.
If in fact it was Reid’s call to hire Washburn before he had his defensive coordinator in place, he deserves to go. Hell, even if he didn’t he likely still needs to hit the road. But if Washburn was hired by someone else and forced on Reid, it puts the whole thing in a different perspective.
The whole Washburn-Wide 9 debacle remains the biggest mistake of Andy Reid’s 14-year reign.
It turned the last two years into the team's very own version of the fiscal cliff.
I think fans deserve an answer as to how exactly hit came about.
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