GETTING DEFENSIVE ABOUT THE COACHING STAFF.

ANDY Reid is coming back. His track record, the fact that the team is clearly still behind him, and the very real fact that everyone out there who wouldn't mind replacing him, already has a less impressive body of work than Reid does.

If Juan Castillo is back next year my guess is he will take over his old post on the O-line. His defense has rallied this year, but they still look like individual pieces doing what they did elsewhere. And that's a problem for every player on this team who wasn't traded for, or signed as a free agent. Name ONE defensive EAGLES player who had a breakout year in 2011 and makes you think he'll be a Pro-Bowler next year...(That noise you hear is crickets.)

Howard Mudd will be gone if there is any justice in the universe. It was neat that LeSean McCoy got so many rushing yards this year, but lost in all of this was how much of it was reliant on him creating miracles. Close your eyes and think back to all the times this year he got trapped in the backfield with two or three defenders converging on him. 4 games of under 40 yards rushing. 27 carries against the Dolphins for 38 yards. You can't put those numbers on McCoy. That's your O-line not moving bodies. That's not playoff ball. Add to that Michael Vick getting his ribs broken TWICE in one year. BOTH TIMES IN THE POCKET. There is no way to fairly hold Castillo accountable for coaching poorly something he was a novice at, while NOT holding Howard Mudd just as accountable when he was billed as a guru.

Jim Washburn should be thanked for playing, given a nice parting gift and also his freedom. I do not like the Wide 9. Trouble is I don't know whether or not we get stuck with Jason Babin if we stop using it. It would be weird to say they released the NFL sack leader, but if you watch the EAGLES play, you get why they should. However it's not like Brandon Graham (remember him?) has given you reason to be confident if they did release Babin. Last week me and Bigfoot were discussing how rare Brandon Graham sightings are anymore.

Mike Caldwell. In the pre-season they mentioned that Greg Lloyd was on the staff working with Linebackers. I was stoked. Turns out he was only one of those intern type guys. So the perennial Pro-Bowler was an intern, and the guy who was the Akeem Jordan of his day is the actual position coach. So I guess the reason our LB's were nothing special this year may have to something to do with the novice DC, the eccentric D-Line coach, and the career back-up at position coach. We have to do better than Caldwell next season.

Mike Zordich. You could see his influence in the way the Safeties threw their bodies at ballcarriers this year. Particularly Kurt Coleman. You could also see his influence in how much coverage space they gave up between the hash mark and the sideline. Hash to hash the Safeties played solid ball, but in giving deep help behind the corners they (being nice) "struggled". Zee ended his career here at SS. He's played FS and CB as well. He was never a ballhawk and did more run support and clean-up than anything else (if you remember). He was good at his role, but our Secondary wasn't very good in itself. Whether we're talking Jarrad Page, Nate Allen, or Coleman, you saw guys playing that Zordich style this season: intermediate centerfielder/seek and destroy, as opposed to guys playing downfield blanket/pass contesters. In short the EAGLES Safeties didn't force short passes. A more established DC may want Zee to challenge his guys more to get that result. I am clearly biased here, but I want to see if Zee can do it.