Sam Donnellon: Birds' Castillo in no-win situation

OK, POP QUIZ everyone. If the Eagles' defense succeeds in 2012, it will be because:

A) New secondary coach Todd Bowles is really calling the shots;

B) The star-studded secondary, the one gashed for one big play after another in the first 12 games of last season, will have a full training camp and a much better secondary coach;

C) Casey Matthews will evolve into a premier NFL linebacker and/or the Eagles will acquire a proven elite linebacker and/or the Eagles will have a brilliant draft in which they address holes at middle linebacker and safety;

D) Juan Castillo will have figured out what he did wrong for much of 2011 and will become the great defensive coordinator Andy Reid knew all along he could be.

If you chose D, you must be one of those fans Andy Reid was talking about Tuesday, when he said every time he leaves his NovaCare offices to mingle with us, he is overtaken with well-wishers.

Really? Perhaps there is a confusion in the term well-wisher.

"We wish you would go jump in a well and take Lurie and Banner with you" may not be the show of support he thinks it is. It's kind of like, oh, well, telling everyone that Juan Castillo is "a leader of men" during the same press conference in which you admitted losing out on acquiring Steve Spagnuolo to usurp - I mean share - in that leadership.

As bad as it was to be Juan Castillo last season - and only the calloused among us didn't feel for the guy - this season is an absolute no-win for him. If the Eagles' defense turns around, he will get little credit for it, even if he should. If it bombs again, he will likely be out of a job along with his boss.

There was even this spin about Jim Johnson's old staff, which included three future head coaches, and how you can never have too many future head coaches. That's true, of course, but it's hard to imagine any of them telling Johnson when to blitz or who to start, just as it's hard to imagine Reid running up to Mike Holmgren and saying, "I want us to pass more" when he was the quarterbacks coach in Green Bay so many moons ago.

This is spin, people. Like when they all admit the end of the season was fool's gold, then laud the progress made. Or like when Reid analyzes the ugly start of the season and it somehow comes back to Michael Vick's health and Michael Vick's mistakes with the ball.

"I think Michael will tell you this: You look at the last four teams that are playing in the playoffs and all four quarterbacks didn't miss a start . . . So you limit your contact points that he had."

Here's what Michael might also tell you: Eli Manning stands 6-4, Tom Brady is 6-4, Joe Flacco is 6-6 and Alex Smith is 6-4. You hit them, sometimes you get hurt.

Vick might remind you that he is 6-foot. He might also remind you that the concussion that forced him from the Atlanta game came when he was tackled in the pocket and banged his head against the knee of Todd Herremans, who was playing his second game at a new position.

He broke his hand against the Giants when he was hit late completing a pass to Jeremy Maclin, again from the pocket.

Vick ran 11 times for 97 yards in 31-13 victory over the Rams in the season opener. The next week, he ran six times when he was concussed in the 35-31 loss to Atlanta; the offense badly stalled in his absence and ignited the Falcons' 14-point fourth-quarter rally to win. He ran seven times, did not fumble once, and threw only one of the Eagles' three interceptions in the Game 3 loss to the Giants. He had to throw 46 times against the 49ers and twice drove the Eagles to what could have been game-clinching field goals had rookie kicker Alex Henery not missed field goals of 33 and 39 yards in back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter.

Other than growing 4 inches or acquiring the love potion Brady sprinkles on NFL officials before each season, it's hard to figure how it's on Michael to stay healthy for the entire 2012 season.

Truth is, this 8-8 was less about Michael Vick's health or play than it was about bad drafts, personnel decisions and, of course, playcalling. The Eagles got off to a 1-4 start because there were two rookie offensive linemen learning how to block in front of Vick, because there was a rookie at middle linebacker, and maybe because their high-priced free-agent shutdown cornerback was asked to play a system that leaned heavily on zone coverage.

Oh, and also because Reid replaced a first-year defensive coordinator with an offensive-line coach who had no experience.

Castillo got that experience last season. Maybe it meant something. Maybe it didn't. The only certainty after the maneuvers of this week is that no matter how it plays out next year, we still won't know.