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Then it changed numbers, to 26. And it switched teams, too. And changed names.
Against the best run defense in the league, Redskins back Clinton Portis ran 29 times for 145 yards and a touchdown as the 4-1 Skins shrugged off a 14-0 deficit in their 23-17 win, their fourth in a row.
Tight end Chris Cooley served as Jason Campbell's security blanket – eight catches, 109 yards and a touchdown – but it was Portis' day. Eventually.
Brian Westbrook returned from a one-game absence, his ankle healthy enough to let him touch the ball five times in the Eagles' opening, 12-play scoring drive. He gained the first 17 yards on a center screen and the last 9 on a touchdown run that gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead midway through the first period.
Westbrook missed the Eagles' loss in Chicago last week with a sprained ankle, which appeared to flare on him. He missed the Eagles' second series.
A pumped defense needed just 32 seconds of game time to force a punt, to the delight of rookie returner DeSean Jackson. He reversed field and returned the kick 68 yards for a touchdown, the first Eagles return for a TD since 2003, accomplished by – who else? – Brian Westbrook.
The lead might have moved to 17-0 except David Akers, Mr. Consistency, missed his ninth straight field goal attempt from 45 yards or longer when his 50-yard drew wide right.
With clear dominance in the trenches, a patient Redskins attack wore the Eagles down.
In a stunning reversal, after a promising start, the comeback was made possible by the inability of the Eagles' defense to get off the field.
Three Redskins field goals in the first half – including a 50-yarder by Shaun Suisham with 2 seconds left – cut the score to 14-9.
The 'Skins were 0-for-2 on third down in their first two possessions but they quickly solved that problem. After their first two series, the Redskins went 6-for-8 on third down, which led to the field goals.
They then converted third-and-9 on their 75-yard touchdown drive that made it 16-14 midway through the third quarter, culminating in an 18-yard end-around option pass from Antwaan Randel El to Cooley.
A 15-yard penalty on Tank Daniels, who hit Randel El out of bounds on a punt return, gave the Redskins a short, 43-yard field. Portis runs accounted for 40 of them, including the last 4, for a 23-14 lead.
In a flashback to a week before, when the Birds were stymied four times on the Bears' 1 without Westbrook, the Skins stopped Westbrook twice, from the Skins' 2, and forced them to kick a field goal.
The Eagles fell to 2-3, heading into next week's game at San Francisco.
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