Defensive coordinator Juan Castillo looks at the team's current situation as a test.
The Eagles have lost three straight games, all games they led in the fourth quarter. The Eagles allowed the 49ers to rally back from a 23-3 second-half deficit on Sunday and escape Lincoln Financial Field with a 24-23 win.
After allowing the 49ers to score a touchdown in three of their final four possessions (minus the last one to run out the clock), Castillo said that his troops are going to rebound.
"We've all been tested in our lives before. This is a test and we're going to come out and get it done," Castillo said. "You'll see. We'll get this turned around just like we have before then they can be happy that I did do the job.
"We're going to go back and look at the tape from the last three games. We have the ability. We have the talent. We have to do a better job of putting guys in better positions to make plays. We're going to get it done. Right now, we all hurt. We've got to go and turn it around. I think we've turned the tide around here before. We've been in this situation before. We'll get it turned around."
Without looking at the tape, the one thing that stood out from Sunday's game was the big plays that the 49ers generated. The Eagles allowed five plays of 30-or-more yards and four of them came in the third quarter. 49ers quarterback Alex Smith was under duress the entire first half, but bounced back by going 13-of-17 for 201 yards and throwing two touchdowns in the second half.
Castillo understands that big plays will happen from time to time. The important thing, Castillo noted, is to not allow the after-effects of them to snowball.
"I think they're human. That's the part when you give up a big play, but we have good athletes," Castillo said. "That's where we have to come out fighting, all of us."
The path for the Eagles doesn't get any easier with the Bills in Buffalo next Sunday. The Bills entered Week 4 with the third-best offense in the league in terms of yardage and will be hungry after suffering their first loss of the season to the Bengals.
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