After being completely flusterated (no, it's not a word, but somehow it fits) by the sports media pundits lack of respect for the 2004 Eagles sans Terrell Owens, I was very happy to hear that Mike Tice (head coach of the Vikings) described the Vikings' approach on defense as "Where's Waldo?" with Brian Westbrook being Waldo. Tice knew that if the Vikings were to be successful stopping the Eagles offense, they would have to stop Westbrook (which just proves that even a mediocre NFL head coach knows way more about football than any sports journalist). And as Philly.com's Paul Domowitch described, it proved to be no easy task:
See him split out wide to the left. See him split out wide to the right. See him in the left slot. See him in the right slot. See him in motion to the left. See him in motion to the right. See him as a one-back. See him as an "I" back. See him as a split back. See him over on the sideline in Vera Wang cheerleading threads.
Westbrook seldom lined up in the same place twice in his team's 27-14 playoff win over the Vikes. He took advantage of the mismatches the movement and different formations created to average 6.9 yards per touch, notch 117 rushing and receiving yards and rack up his ninth touchdown in his last seven starts.
Twice he toyed with Vikings middle linebacker E.J. Henderson, who tried in vain to cover Westbrook on a 24-yard completion in the first quarter that set up the Eagles' first touchdown and a little later on Westbrook's 7-yard touchdown catch that put the Eagles up 14-0.
"Throughout the whole season, I've been matched up against linebackers and safeties," said Westbrook. "As a team, we've got to exploit those matchups when we have a better athlete on linebackers and safeties."
Those Westbrook-on-a-linebacker matchups are what coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Brad Childress live and scheme for.
And while Westbrook was certainly a concern for the Vikings defense, so was Jim Johnson (defensive coordinator extraordinaire), Jermiah Trotter, Jevon Kearse, and the Sheppard/Brown/Lewis/Dawkins secondary, for the Vikings offense (Len Pasquerelli, ESPN.com):
The man most integral to much of what Johnson drew up in the week of preparation, prodigal middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, came up with one of the best games of his recent career.
The seven-year veteran, signed almost as an afterthought just before camp commenced this summer and following his unceremonious release by the Washington Redskins, had seven tackles, one-half sack, an interception and two passes defensed. A big-time game, indeed, for a player who didn't even move into the starting lineup until midway through the season, when Johnson tired of seeing his run defense gashed and trashed.
Trotter had two hits against the run that resulted in gains of zero yards. Against the pass, with Culpepper forced to dump the ball (by unofficial count, 11 of his 24 completions were on screen passes or swing passes), Trotter also made a pair of concussive stops.
He was hardly the lone standout, though, on a defense that sacked Culpepper three times, notched two interceptions and consistently forced the explosive Minnesota offense into 11 third-and-six or more situations. On six of those occasions, the Vikings faced conversion situations of third-and-10 or longer.
Kearse (five tackles, two half-sacks and three passes defensed) and right end Derrick Burgess, returning from an injury that had sidelined him the final month of the regular season, were superb. Linebacker Ike Reese, who played in nickel situations and also logged a few more snaps because of Simoneau's absence, had two tackles, an interception and another pass defensed. And, as usual, the secondary was stellar, with strong safety Michael Lewis collecting six tackles, and Sheppard registering four passes defensed for the afternoon.
Truly a total team effort.
Next up for the Eagles: their fourth consecutive NFC Championship contest, this time against the Atlanta Falcons, otherwise known as the Michael Vick-TJ Duckett-Warrick Dunn Track Team. My initial concerns about the game involve stopping that combination. The Eagles defense is very aggressive when they get into the opposing team's backfield, and my fear is that Kearse, Trotter, et al will overpursue and the Falcons runners will be long gone.
I'll just keep reminding myself, In Jim Johnson We Trust.
