Asomugha Critical of Castillo’s Fourth Quarter Blitzes (AUDIO)
Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha thought about whether he wanted to give an answer that was an indictment of the performance of Juan Castillo, his defensive coordinator. For about five seconds, Asomugha looked down and considered his options.
After three quarters of using minimal blitzing and holding the Lions to six points, superstar wide receiver Calvin Johnson to one catch for 28 yards and star quarterback Matthew Stafford to 7-of-21 passing for 91 yards and an interception, it all fell apart. Castillo began dialing up blitzes and the Lions went off for 20 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Johnson caught five passes for 107 yards in that span, seeing a bigger variety of defenders after Asomugha held him in check for much of the game, and Stafford completed 15-of-24 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown, while running for a touchdown as well.
Asomugha had indicated that the Eagles coaching staff was mixing things up to avoid letting the Lions get used to what they were doing. But, would he rather have kept doing the same thing until the Lions proved that they could beat it?
Here's the audio of what Asomugha had to say on the topic - starting with an earlier question about what changes they made in the fourth quarter and my follow up about whether the game plan had called for fourth quarter changes. The final two questions were from later in the interview, but it is all left in context.
Ryan Messick covers the Eagles for 97.3 ESPN FM. Follow him on Twitter.