Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham says recently fired defensive coordinator Juan Castillo ran a predictable defense that opposing offenses had figured out, resulting in blowing a lot of fourth-quarter leads -- and ultimately resulting in Castillo’s dismissal.
“I think we started running the same stuff over and over and not switching it up as much,” Graham told CSNPhilly.com. “A lot of time we ran the same coverage, stuff like that. I listen to the calls every play – ‘Coach, what do we have this play? What do we have this play,’ and it was always pretty much the same stuff.”
Graham said Castillo’s replacement as defensive coordinator, Todd Bowles, told the players their defense is going to keep offenses guessing.
“That’s what he talked about, not being predictable in the fourth quarter, because by the fourth quarter everybody knows what we’re going to do, and that’s how we get beat,” Graham said. “I think Coach Bowles, it’s going to be fun to see what he’s going to be doing, because I think everything we run in practice we’re going to actually really run in the game.”
If the Eagles’ defense can shut down the Falcons and win on Sunday, Bowles will get a lot of credit. If not, the blame may shift from the coaches to Graham and his fellow players.