CAN HEAR CLEARWATER CALLING
Our take on Brian Westbrook's five most memorable plays with the Eagles:
1. The game: Oct. 19, 2003, vs. New York Giants at Giants Stadium
The setup: The Eagles trailed, 10-7, with 1 minute, 16 seconds to play and the Giants were in punt formation.
The play: Westbrook caught a Jeff Feagles punt and scampered down the left sideline 84 yards for a touchdown. The Eagles won, 14-10.
What it meant: That play was largely viewed as turning around the Eagles’ season. The Birds were 2-3 and headed toward a 2-4 start. They eventually lost to Carolina in the NFC Championship Game.
What he said: “That just motivates me more, when I hear someone saying I’m too small, or whatever.”
2. The game: Dec. 16, 2007, vs. Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium
The setup: The Eagles led, 10-6, with 2:19 left and had the ball on the Dallas 25-yard line.
The play: Westbrook took a handoff and went off right tackle to the 1-yard line, where he took a knee.
What it meant: Dallas was out of timeouts and the Eagles took three kneeldowns to close out the victory.
What he said: “I got a stern talking-to by Jon Runyan right before that play. He said, ‘Listen, if you get down to the 1, take a knee.’ I was like, ‘Ahhh ... ' He said, ‘Take a knee, Westbrook, take a knee.’ ”
3. The game: Jan. 4, 2009, vs. Minnesota Vikings at Metrodome in NFC wild-card game
The setup: The Eagles led, 16-14, midway through the fourth quarter. It was first-and-10 for the Eagles on their own 29-yard line.
The play: Westbrook caught a short pass out of the backfield from Donovan McNabb and ran around and through the Vikings’ defense for a 71-yard touchdown.
What it meant: The Eagles beat Minnesota, 26-14. They eventually lost to Arizona in the NFC Championship Game.
What he said: “The offensive line does a great job, and for me, I just have to find some wiggle room to try to make a play.”
4. The game: Jan. 7, 2007, vs. Giants at Lincoln Financial Field in NFC wild-card game
The setup: Late in first quarter, Eagles had ball on Giants’ 49-yard line.
The play: Westbrook ran 49 yards for a touchdown behind great blocking from Shawn Andrews and receivers Donté Stallworth, L.J. Smith and Reggie Brown.
What it meant: The touchdown helped the Birds win, 23-20, as did his four runs down the stretch that gained 34 yards and helped set up David Akers’ 38-yard winning field goal. Westbrook finished with 141 yards on 20 carries.
What he said: “It was a critical situation and big-time players step up when you need them the most. Coach put the ball in my hands and I leaned on the linemen so much,” Westbrook said about his runs down the stretch.
5. The game: Nov. 11, 2007, vs. Redskins at FedEx Field
The setup: The Eagles trailed, 25-20, with 3:29 to play.
The play: On a Redskins blitz, Westbrook caught a screen pass from McNabb and ran 57 yards for a touchdown, giving the Eagles the lead for good.
What it meant: The Eagles won, 33-25, but this did not turn around their season. They finished 8-8. The day before Westbrook attended the funeral of an uncle in his native Washington.
What he said: “That screen was really a play that showed how much of a team game this is, and how much this team wanted it."
To read our earlier coverage on Brian Westbrook, click here.
Les
Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News
since 2002.
Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les
only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no
penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite
what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News
from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much
lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their
two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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