Jason Babin to the Rescue

 Before we set the scene and explain our thought, let us just say that by this we mean “Jason Babin to the Rescue… For Juan Castillo”.

I was worth the money. Thats for sure, Nnamdi...

Let’s set the scene appropriately here.

The Eagles just finished an 18 play, 80 yard drive that spanned 8 minutes and 51 seconds for a go ahead touchdown strike from Vince Young to the unlikeliest of heroes, Riley Cooper. A once maligned defense was coming back on the field to try and do what they had not been able to do so many times the rest of this disappointing season: hold a 4^th quarter lead. However, on this day, there seemed to be a different feeling in Philadelphia. After the way the midnight green defenders had flown around the field for the last 47 minutes and 15 seconds of game time, the fans held on to a thread of hope that the defense could come through where they had failed so many times before. After a couple of completed passes by Manning, the Giants faced a third and 3 from their own 32, and this is where the dream evening almost became a nightmare. After the Eagles pass rush had generated a lot of pressure on Manning and his subpar offensive line all evening, Juan Castillo made an almost fatal mistake. He decided to try and catch the Giants off guard with a cornerback blitz from Manning’s left. Instead of surprising him, the only thing that happened was he exposed our defense and left Victor Cruz wide open. He took that pass 47 yards to the Philadelphia 21, and put the Giants in prime position for the tying touchdown. The next play Superman, AKA Jason Babin, saved the game for the Birds and Juan Castillo by doing what he has done so well all year, never stop hustling. The rest, as they say, is history. The Eagles rode the legs of their workhorse, Lesean “Shady” McCoy to another victory without Jeremy Maclin or Michael Vick.

Now that the scene has been set, lets break down the problem with this scenario: the blitz. It has been a play that has been largely forgotten because of the heroic effort of Jason Babin on the very next play. But what if Jason Babin hadn’t made that play and the Eagles had lost? We would have been questioning that call up and down, but the final result should not blind us from the call that almost cost us a victory. Up to that point in the game, the defense had pressured Manning and really shut down the entire Giants’ offense. Aside from the abysmal 29 yards rushing they had given up, the ferocious front four held Sheli to just 18/35 for 249 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Along with this, our boys had recorded 2 sacks and 10 QB hits. Those numbers are impressive considering how well the G-Men have played offensively this year. So with all of this defensive success, why did Juan Castillo go against what had made us successful and decided to blitz? We’re not even sure that he knows why. He took a chance that should never have been made and could have cost us the game. He chose to put us in a bad position and it cost us in a big way, but because of the talent that surrounds him, Jason Babin and the Eagles defense saved him (Of course we shouldn’t forget the solid coverage downfield that made him hold the ball and have to scramble).

This brings up two questions:

1.     Does he really know what he is doing or is he just guessing?

The second one which may be even more heart wrenching and important is this:

2.     What may this season have looked like if we had a different defensive coordinator leading our group of talented defensive backs and lineman into the season?

We may never know the answer to either of these questions, but it does not stop the intrigue that goes into these questions. The season may never be regained, and because of that reason, we may be left wondering the universal questions until 2012: What if?