Back in the offseason of 2002, Warrick Dunn was a free agent who was not headed back to Tampa Bay, and the Eagles were interested in signing him – very interested.
“We did talk to him at one time,” Philly coach Andy Reid said. “Warrick is a heck of a player; he is a good person, too.”
That good player and good person went to play for Atlanta and on Sunday gets to show the Eagles what they missed out on when the Falcons arrive at Lincoln Financial Field for the NFC Championship game.
The Eagles hardly are bemoaning the fact Dunn got away. Their offensive attack, especially with Terrell Owens out of action, centers around Brian Westbrook, another smallish running back with extra-large impact.
“They are very similar,” Reid said of Westbrook and Dunn.
Now you see them, now you don’t.
Westbrook is the focal point of an unconventional running attack. He led the Eagles in rushing with 812 yards, missing three games, and he caught 73 passes for 703 yards and six touchdowns. He was typically busy in last week’s 27-14 playoff victory over the Vikings with 70 rushing yards and five catches for 47 yards, including a touchdown.
Surprisingly, the Eagles this season attempted fewer running plays (376) than every team in the NFL other than the Raiders (327). The league average was 451 rushing attempts. It’s not that Philly is pass-happy, it’s just that Westbrook’s talents prompt a different approach. He’s a poor-man’s Marshall Faulk, able to line up in the backfield or at a receiver’s position and run precise routes that pose problems for opposing defensive backs.
“They make a concerted effort to get the football to their backs with their screen game, their check-down game, and then taking a guy like Westbrook and bringing him out of the backfield and using him as a receiver,” Atlanta coach Jim Mora said. “I’ve seen quotes from Andy Reid in the past and he’s said that a screen pass to them is just like a run, so I think you have to take those screen numbers and put them with their run numbers to come up with an accurate total.
“He just finds very creative ways to use his backs out in space on linebackers where they can work the field, probably as well as anyone that you’ll find in the game.”
An emerging player, Westbrook was a point guard at perennial power DeMatha High School in Maryland and broke the NCAA Division I-AA record for career all-purpose yards at Villanova. Playing down the road from the Eagles, Westbrook was a third-round draft pick in 2002. He missed last year’s playoff run because of a torn triceps tendon in his left arm; this is his first championship test as a prominent player.
One of the key decisions for the Falcons will be whom to stick on Westbrook when he lines up in unconventional places. He was successful in isolating slower Vikings linebackers last week.
“I think that some teams change up their coverage based on our alignment, if I’m lined up in certain places in the backfield or certain places as a wideout,” Westbrook said. “When I line up at wideout they change their coverage and things like that, but it’s hard for a team to stop everybody. Once they change up so many things to stop one person on the offense, then other people are going to be open and other people will have the opportunity to exploit defenders.”