the aggressive, blitzing defenses that Spagnuolo - a Jim Johnson acolyte - employs.
The Rams blitzed significantly less as the season wore on and the Eagles blitzed slightly more, so it may be possible to find some common ground. One Eagles defensive player, however, said recently that the wide gaps on the line make it easier for quarterbacks to read when blitzes are coming.
There are other quirky problems with the wide nine - such as times when cornerbacks can't press against receivers in the slot because the defensive ends are so wide they get in the way of the corners.
But devotees of the wide nine would say those are small prices to pay for the pressure it creates on quarterbacks. And that was what Washburn was lured from Tennessee to do: Beef up the pass rush in a league that is becoming increasingly pass-oriented.
The Eagles finished with 50 sacks and first in the NFL in sacks per pass play. Forty-six sacks were generated by Washburn's linemen a year after they totaled 31.
But the gains made up front because the linemen no longer were required to read run first were offset by not having linebackers and safeties equipped to handle the run.
"I don't think it fit the back [seven] because everybody was trying to get used to running the defense," defensive end Juqua Parker said Monday. ". . . We had problems here and there."
There weren't as many problems during the four-game winning streak that ended the season. But the improvements - the defense allowed just 11.5 points and 265 yards a game in that stretch - may not be enough to save Castillo.
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