Rest Westbrook
We have all seen this movie before.
Rest Westbrook
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
And with this: Brian Westbrook and his broken ribs really should not play this weekend in San Francisco.
They need to get Westbrook right. They do not need him playing at 70 percent, grimacing in pain with every hit, avoiding contact in order to survive. And if they really do need him that badly, given those circumstances, then this thing has a chance to go down in a very big way.
They are incredibly Westbrook-centric as an offense. That is the current reality. Part of it is by design and another big part of it is because of injury. When you don't have your top receiver (Kevin Curtis) and you don't have your only All-Pro offensive lineman (Shawn Andrews), you are going to have to lean on the biggest remaining pieces. That is Westbrook, mostly.
But they need to get him right. A week off here, followed by the bye week, will give him 21 days between suffering the rib injury and the first game after the bye. It is their best chance, that kind of extended rest. It is their best chance of Westbrook being able to be Westbrook when this team traditionally starts to find its stride.
In the meantime, they have to go to San Francisco with a simple mindset: win ugly. That means giving the ball to Correll Buckhalter more often and trying to win 17-14. Normally, I'm very much in favor of the Eagles throwing the ball because I really do believe it is the way the NFL works in 2008. The only time I think they need to dial it back is when they're having trouble protecting Donovan McNabb. But that isn't the problem now. It is that, without Curtis and especially without Westbrook, well, desperate times call for, etc.
Win ugly. That should be the Eagles' mantra this week. Their problem has always been that they aren't really built for that -- or, rather, that they really aren't built for it now. They don't have a real fullback or a tight end who can block. They don't have Andrews. It's going to be hard.
The people who say that the Eagles should play that way all the time miss the point. You do need to throw to win in the NFL, and throw a lot, and throw as a means of establishing the rest. It is an entirely realistic plan of attack. The problem, though, is the handful of games every year when you need to go to Plan B, when weather or injuries or whatnot prevent you from executing all of the pretty little drawings in the playbook.
Rest Westbrook. Win ugly. That should be the new plan.
At this point does it matter? What's the good of going say 9-7 (which would be luck for the Eagles at this point)? It would be like a weird "Groundhog-Day Season" where it always looks like they're turning it around but never do. No, better they lose the rest of their games because a) It will force Lurie to act b) At worst it gets them a decent draft choice But going 8-8, 9-7, 7-9 (which they've done now over the past few seasons) is just sustained mediocrity. I'd rather they win or superbowl or stink. The current situation is untenable.— fmMD- Hofmann, Your wrong, if they rest him now, the record will probably fall to 2-4 then the season will be over, before they even get a chance to play the defending champ Giants; they are up a schedule crunch with two losses already in the division; this means they have no flexibility. he must play thru the pain; Westbrook is a warrior and he knows this is true; this is why he is going to play; take a massive painkiller shot and play thru the pain; after the game he has a bye week to heal up before the Giants. fractured/bruised ribs take about a week to heal, broken ribs take 8 weeks.— sdeens
- Although it won't happen, I would love to see Tony Hunt get a chance to be the featured back in a run first gameplan vs SF.— JBP
- Rest Westbrook and McNabb. Season if over. Why? Cause our coach mails it it every week. He's been resting on his laurels for years. He know the local media stays away from him, and are scared to press him.— Nezhy
- At this point who really cares? To all intents and purposes, the season is already over. They are three loses back of the Giants and only 1/2 gane better against the Skins and Boys. After the opening flurry last sunday, they just went flat. The offense (?) was pathetic and reminiscent of the past few seasons. Ths team has some good players, but not enough. In addition the Reid offensive approach still doesn't work. He just does not have a clue of how to sustain an efficient offense and has not "improved" or "put the players in a better position" UGH!!..If you have any doubt, just go back and review how thoroughly Jim Zorn outcoached AR this past sunday...it was a joke...AR had a Sarah Palin-like brain freeze...i.e. no matter what was called for, he returned to the same old message...it is like what was said about an Eagle coach many years ago.."he saw that it would work and abandoned it"...so true....but again who cares? the Phightins are the real deal...— jachanin
- I forgot, one additional observation. Doesn't McNabb remind you of Hamlet? There he stands on the sideline, full of angst, muttering over and over "TD or not TD, that is the question".— jachanin
Comment removed.- I guess the draft day deal to get Booker didn't work out so well. You are correct 726, they pass up on the first round of the draft because of money. Yet, they pay big bucks to losers like Clemmons. Has he actually played. They play cheap, but in the long run its expensive. Its kind of like the Phillies have done with free agent pitchers. They pay millions for two damaged products (Garcia and Eaton), instead of using that money to get a quality pitcher. Again, what is cheap is often exepensive.— GANick
- Im not sure if you know this or not but Andy Reid mentioned something last week that he "needs to put his players in a better situation to succeed". The way I look at it is that now he knows the problem and he will fix it as promised. Thank God we wount need t oworry about that anymore!!! (That was sarchasm in case anyone was wondering). However, the season is not over as doomed as people say. They need to rest Westbrook through the bye and give Buckhalter 20-25 carries a game for him to really be successful. That is what big backs need to get warmed up and into the game. The only thing else needed is to have dogs like Jamall Jackson and the guards to step up and start doing their jobs.— rvb2321
- Do you honestly and realistically believe they will give Buck the ball 20-25 times? Hell, they don't give Westbrook the ball that many times and he is one of the top 5 players in the league.— billro3
- I know that they wont but that is what they need to do. The offense is so deflated right now that the line needs a game where they destroy their opponent. This takes pressure off the QB and a receiving corps that is average at best (sorry Andy but the truth hurts).— rvb2321
- C'MON PEOPLER YOU KNOW THE CHANT-----"WAIT UNTILL NEXT YEAR!!!!!" '— almar169
- C'MON PEOPLE YOU KNOW THE CHANT-----"WAIT UNTILL NEXT YEAR!!!!!" '— almar169
- rich, i disagree with your assessment that those of us who want the eagles to run more don't want the eagles to pass or to stop passing...yes, I agree this the NFL 2008 and not 1988, so it is very hard to win without passing and the days of grinding out 13-7 wins are behind us, however that doesn't mean you stop running altogether or you don't have to call (some) runs to establish a running game...this goes back to andy simply not willing to make adjustments to his almighty system..last year when McNabb was recovering from injury and it was patently obvious that he simply wasn't full recovered Reid refused to make any changes for his injured QB and after the season when he could have said that he, the coach, made a mistake he STILL stood by his ridiculous position and said he did the right thing--despite their 8-8 record and the Eagles missing the playoffs...if one refuses to learn from one's mistakes then one is condemned to repeat them over and over again....— xatsmann
- This yr. could be already over. So rest him, play Booker and see if he can do anything. Play ugly? Even the 49ers could beat the Birds. So if the Eagles win, they will be going for an 8-8 season. That is about what it looks like now. And let Donnie run Andy. It is the Marty-Andy play calling that has killed them so far.— KGKoons
