NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
As Associated Press football writer Barry Wilner framed it this past weekend: "They're back, probably better than ever and just as hungry to stay on top.
"The third Super Bowl in four years is anything but old hat for the New England Patriots."
"You never get tired of winning," Troy Brown said. "It comes down to the willingness to win and I want to win them all if I get a chance."
Complacency?
It's an approach that appears to be completely foreign to the Patriots.
"Not a chance," Brown said when asked about being satisfied. "We don't think that way. There's no comfort level, no comfort zone at all.
"There are some guys on this team -- Corey Dillon is one -- who have not won a Super Bowl. I've got two rings, but I want to go out and play well and give a guy like that the chance to win one. You play your butt off for him to win one, too."
Not surprisingly, considering their regularity in this game -- the Patriots seek to become only the second franchise, behind Dallas of the 1990s, to win three Super Bowls in four years -- the Pats were relaxed and playful with the media hours after touching down in Jacksonville.
Willie McGinest, a native Californian who apparently has quite gotten used to frigid New England, welcomed temperatures in the mid-50s. Brown kidded about earning more than one ring because he's played receiver, defensive back and on special teams this season. ...
Meanwhile, Tom Brady threw 28 touchdown passes this season, barely more than half the 49 Peyton Manning threw for the Colts in setting an NFL single-season record.
But as AP writer Dave Goldberg suggested, the only numbers the Patriots care about are these: Brady has two Super Bowl rings going on a third; Manning has never even gotten to the game.
And the key for the Patriots is that he's not paid like a modern superstar.
After New England's first Super Bowl victory in 2002, the Patriots redid a contract that had paid the sixth-round draft choice a six-figure salary -- giving him a deal worth $28 million over four years.
It was redone again to help the Patriots adjust to the salary cap, but Brady remains a bargain. Manning got $34.5 million as a signing bonus alone last summer as part of a seven-year, $98 million deal.
The Colts quarterback justified it by setting an NFL record with those 49 touchdown passes. But his team lost 20-3 to the Patriots in the second round of the playoffs, and still needs to get much better on defense because it spends more than 70 percent of its salary cap money for offense.
No such problem in New England, where the money is spread more evenly.
In his 12th season with the team, offers further proof that players in New England tend to put the team's needs ahead of their own.
Brown had 198 catches in 2001 and 2002, but just 17 this year as he doubled as a defensive back to help replace the injured Ty Law and Tyrone Poole. He is making $760,000 this season and is the kind of guy who might take a cut from the $2.5 million he'll get next year to help the team.
Unselfish players are part of the profile developed by head coach Bill Belichick and personnel maven Scott Pioli, who are given total personnel freedom by owner Robert Kraft -- another key to a winning franchise.
But of course, now that we're down to a single-game season, Belichick will be the first to tell you that a winning tradition isn't the primary concern. The primary concern is beating Philadelphia.
The primary concern for the Eagles?
While containing Dillon will certainly be critical, Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson claims Brady as the biggest worry.
"There's no question about it," Johnson said last Thursday when asked what impressed him most about the Patriots. "It's Tom Brady and how big he is and how he stands in the pocket tall. He's 6-5, but it seems like he's 6-9 back there. Nothing bothers him. That's probably the most impressive thing. He knows exactly what he wants to do. He's playing at a high level."
In other words, Brady offers an entirely different set of problems than the Eagles faced against the fleet-footed, but passing deficient Michael Vick the week before last.
According to Courier-Post Online staffer Don Benevento, the goal against Vick was not so much hitting him with pressure, but surrounding and containing him. In Brady's case, the Eagles will try to get to him before he has time to sit back and pick apart the defense with his arm.
"They're two different quarterbacks," said Eagles defensive end Derrick Burgess, who sacked Vick twice last week. "Vick is a tremendous athlete; Tom Brady is a great quarterback. We're going to have to get pressure on him, regardless of what he does."
Johnson expanded on that assessment.
"He's not a scrambler," he said of Brady. "The last thing he wants to do is run the football. He's a little bit evasive, but he gets the ball downfield. He's got a strong arm like Daunte Culpepper and Vick, but he'll stay in the pocket a lot longer than those guys.
"He has a knack for finding the second and third receiver. All the time. He finds the people who are open."
During the course of the regular season, Brady completed 288 of 477 passes (60.8 percent) for 3,692 yards with 28 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He had a quarterback rating of 92.6.
In the two postseason games this season, he's improved his completion percentage to 66.7 percent with three touchdowns and no interceptions and a rating of 108.9.
But those are just numbers. What Brady has done as well as anyone in this early part of his career is find ways to win, and that's especially true in big games -- as the playoffs, where he's 8-0 including the two Super Bowl wins.
"No. 12 has a knack to win games by any means necessary," said Eagles defensive end Jevon Kearse. "Whether it's finding the open guy or not making a mistake; he just does whatever it takes to win."
The Eagles' challenge will be to try to rattle a quarterback who has, to this point in his career, been pretty much unshakable.
They will have to find a way to break him out of his rhythm or he will find a way to pick apart the secondary, even if there are three Pro Bowl players defending against him.
Even though the Eagles have seen Brady in short bursts in a couple of preseason games, they have faced him only once during the regular season, and the results were not good.
On Sept. 14, 2003, Brady led the Pats to a 31-10 victory. He completed 30-of-44 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns.
However, the Eagles played that game without safety Brian Dawkins and cornerback Bobby Taylor, both of whom were injured, and young corners Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown were still untested.
"We hung in there for a while, and then they got a couple of play-action passes against us," Johnson said. "We didn't play good. We gave three touchdown passes against them."
The Eagles know they will have to raise their level in the rematch. ...
Dillon heads into his first Super Bowl after a pair of solid playoff outings, rushing for 73 yards -- including a 25-yard touchdown -- against the Steelers and a 144-yard outing against the Colts.
But as the Sporting News suggested this week, since Jeremiah Trotter moved into the middle linebacker spot during the season, Philadelphia has been solid against the run.
TSN went on to suggest the Eagles need to hold Dillon under 80 yards to have a chance at victory. ...
Other notes of interest. ...
According to Providence Journal sports writer Tom E. Curran, Tom Brady Sr. confirmed that his son was "really sick" the night before the Conference Championship. He also told Curran that tight end Daniel Graham needed three IVs and that Mike Vrabel also was in a particularly bad way during the Pats' win over Pittsburgh.
Sports Illustrated first reported yesterday that Brady had a 103-degree fever that Saturday night in Pittsburgh. He ate soup and took IVs to prepare him for the game the next night.
"It stuns me (they were able to play so well), said the elder Brady. "Tommy was sick Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Saturday night he was sick as a dog. Typically, we get into a conversation the night before the game that lasts for 5 or 10 minutes. This lasted 30 seconds before he said, 'I just feel awful.' We just cut it short intentionally."
Brady Sr. said he could tell his son was still feeling the effects of his sickness when, after throwing a 60-yard touchdown pass to Deion Branch in the first quarter, Brady headed for the sidelines immediately, forgoing the normally raucous end zone celebrations he gets into with his receivers.
"He just didn't have the energy to celebrate," said Brady Sr., who also marveled that Vrabel was able to chug downfield and get a block on Ben Roethlisberger during Rodney Harrison's 87-yard interception return. Harrison, meanwhile, "didn't have anything," and had to check himself out of the game briefly in the third quarter not because of injury but because he was so spent.
"It's all character," said Brady Sr. "And the fact is, nobody cares if you're sick or not. Either you perform or you don't perform. ..."
After returning from Pittsburgh and convening for a 4 a.m. team meeting, the Patriots were given three days off to rest their weary minds and bodies after a very physical win over the Steelers. They began preparations for this week's game last Thursday.
"We just played the toughest game of the year," Belichick said. "Now is the time to recover and bounce back. There was a lot of energy and a lot of work put into that game (against Pittsburgh). I think that we left it out on the field. I think it took a lot out of us, but that is the way it should be. I'm glad we left it all on the field and we are not saving it and sitting here saying, 'I feel great.' We don't want to feel good Monday. We want to put all of energy into the game and that is what they did.
"I'm sure we will be ready to go when we tee off again here. Some of the players are in working out already and that is a credit to them and really a mark of the attitude of the team that even on their days off, they come in and still maintain the workouts and their conditioning. We are getting ready for another game and some of them have already begun that process."
As noted by the Sports Xchange, Richard Seymour has been sidelined for almost five weeks and the star defensive lineman remains questionable for Sunday's game.
But after an extended absence, Seymour would likely have to practice with the team all week to warrant any playing time against the Eagles.
Harrison was banged up in the Steelers game and left briefly with what appeared to be a shoulder injury, but he re-entered the game a few plays later and remained on the field for the game's duration.
He will play against Philly. Harrison has also been a featured part of the kick coverage team, a role he was asked to fill when the Patriots were struggling in kick coverage. ...
Sunday's game will be the last for Belichick and his two coordinators, Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel. Weis is headed to Notre Dame to coach the Fighting Irish while virtually all reports have Crennel headed to Cleveland to take over as the Browns head coach.
"That kind of hit me after (the Steelers) game," Belichick said. "Well, it has hit me before that. From my standpoint, and I don't want to speak for them, but I think we all pretty much all are coming from the same place. We have put a lot into this. We are in it together. We are going to work hard to finish what we started. ...
As the Xchange noted last week, Belichick's five-year winning winning percentage, including the playoffs, in New England is .693.
That's 136 percentage points higher than the second most successful Patriots coach, Raymond Berry. Belichick also has a .777 winning percentage (56-16) since 2001, which ranks just ahead of Philadelphia's Andy Reid (54-19; .740).
And finally. ...
According to Boston Herald beat man Michael Felger, coaches like backup quarterback Rohan Davey, but the hard truth is that the third-year pro has shown no hints of being able to play quarterback in the NFL.
His intangibles -- work ethic, intelligence and leadership -- are solid. It's on the field where he struggles, as Davey's footwork is still poor and his accuracy in the short passing game remains inconsistent.
The Pats have already signed veteran Chris Redman for next year and may look for further upgrades this spring. As it stands, Davey is a poor insurance policy for Brady.
The All-Pro receiver took part in less than one-third of the team's 30 plays. Just last week, Dr. Mark Myerson, the surgeon who operated on Owens' right ankle in December, said he would not clear him to suit up against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
"We limited what he did and he did it well and he did it with the team," head coach Andy Reid said Monday. "He moved around pretty well. We'll see how he continues, see how he feels tomorrow and the rest of the week."
In his first season with the Eagles after eight years in San Francisco, Owens led Philadelphia with 77 catches for 1,200 yards and 14 TDs.
Myerson inserted two screws in Owens' ankle and a plate on the outside of the ankle three days after he was injured against Dallas on Dec. 19. Owens was told after surgery that he had only an outside chance of returning for the Super Bowl, which was six and a half weeks away at the time. But he rehabbed vigorously, hoping to help Philadelphia win its first NFL championship since 1960.
The final decision on Owens' status will come down to the player, Reid and the team's medical staff.
"Could the same injury occur? Yes," Reid said. "But he won't damage it any further than he already has."
Owens wasn't available for comment.
"He looked pretty smooth out there," tight end L.J. Smith said. "He's not trying to push it. He's getting his timing down and he caught a couple balls."
The injury to Owens was a devastating blow for a team that dominated the NFC and clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference after just 14 games. With him, the offense was extremely potent, averaging 25.4 points in 14 games. After Owens was injured, the Eagles lost the last two regular-season games in which most starters hardly played and others were rested.
But the Eagles are 2-0 without Owens in games that matter. While the offense hasn't been dominant without Owens, they've scored 27 points in each of their playoff games against Minnesota and Atlanta.
As for whether he actually makes it back onto the field for this one, the consensus among those who follow the team closely says he will.
As Philadelphia Inquirer staffer Shannon Ryan noted Monday, Owens has been walking without a limp and with a swagger recently.
A local NBC outlet advised viewers that sources claimed Owens was running as fast, if not faster, last week than he had before his December ankle injury.
"He's ready. He's going to play," said tight end Chad Lewis, who won't play. "He's full of speed, 100 percent, ready to go."
According to ESPN's Sal Paolantonio, the team plans to use Owens as the third receiver this weekend.
Those plans are contingent on the star receiver not suffering any setbacks in his rehabilitation from leg injuries, as was Owens' vow to ESPN's Michael Irvin -- made last Thursday -- that he definitely will play when the Eagles take on the New England Patriots.
Todd Pinkston and Freddie Mitchell are expected to be Philly's first two options at receiver even if Owens gets the go-ahead to play.
Further T.O. fodder came from local reports published over the weekend.
According to the Delaware County Times staff writer John Nalbone, a "highly placed source close to the organization" told him that Owens will play in the Super Bowl.
Nalbone went on to point out that when questioned as to whether he is preparing a game plan with the availability of Owens in mind, offensive coordinator Brad Childress said, "Always."
Phillyburbs.com beat man Reuben Frank was even more definitive.
In an article published Saturday, Franks wrote: "He's playing.
"Period. ..."
Franks went on to advise readers that two Eagles assistant coaches told him that Owens is definitely playing against the Patriots.
"There's not even a question anymore," one coach said. "He's playing. And he's not just going out there for four plays. He's playing and he's going to be a big factor in the game."
"T.O. told one of the trainers, ‘Unless it's a matter of life and death, I'm playing,'" another coach said. "You have to remember, this guy has been in the NFL nine years and has never been to a Super Bowl. This is all he has left. He's not going to miss it. ..."
We shall see. ...
Meanwhile, Mitchell and the rest of the Eagles' receivers clearly are tired of hearing about Owens.
"We got there without T.O.," Mitchell said. "He's going to be a great addition if he comes, but we're going to stick with our guns. When he comes back, he'll be a huge help for us because he's one of the best receivers in the game.
"Until then, let's talk about Greg Lewis, Todd Pinkston and Freddie Mitchell, the receivers who are here and won the NFC championship. ..."
In case you missed it. ... Mitchell offended some Patriots when he dissed their secondary in a television interview.
Mitchell, a starter only because Owens is hurt, said he just knew the numbers -- not the names -- of New England's cornerbacks. He singled out Rodney Harrison, saying he "has something" for the veteran strong safety.
"It just shows he doesn't have respect for us," Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel said Friday, responding to Mitchell's comments from a day earlier.
"You have so many young guys nowadays, so many young guys that don't have respect for the game," Harrison said. "Some people are just immature. Some people really haven't experienced certain things."
"Freddie Mitchell is a guy who is getting time now because Terrell is hurt," Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest said. "We don't worry about what he's saying. He will have to deal with that on the field.
"All I can say is, Rodney Harrison is the wrong guy to mention, especially if you're a receiver. [Mitchell] is not humble. He hasn't done enough in this league to be on TV talking about that. Philly has a lot more class than that. It's just one guy."
Mitchell's response to the Patriots' reaction?
"I was joking. I don't care. It'll all be solved on Sunday," he said.
A first-round pick in 2001, Mitchell hasn't lived up to his potential in four seasons with the Eagles. He had five catches for 65 yards and two touchdowns, including one on a fumble recovery, in Philadelphia's second-round playoff win against Minnesota.
"I'm a special player," Mitchell said after the win against Minnesota. "I want to thank my hands for being so great."
But he caught just two passes for 20 yards in the NFC championship game against Atlanta. ...
Moving right along. ...
As Philadelphia Daily News staffer Paul Domowitch put it early this week: "Maybe Terrell Owens will play Sunday and maybe he won't. Maybe he'll be close to his old Pro Bowl self and maybe he won't.
"The Patriots aren't going to spend a lot of time this week worrying about maybes. They're going to spend a lot of time worrying about a guy they know will be there on Sunday. Though they're not exactly sure where 'there' will be."
With or without Owens, the Eagles will make it difficult to keep track of versatile running back, Brian Westbrook, moving him all over the field in search of coverage mismatches.
Westbrook has notched eight straight 100-yard rushing/receiving performances, including 135 yards in the Eagles' 27-10 NFC Championship Game victory over the Falcons. He's averaged 6.6 yards per touch in those eight games.
"Westbrook just jumps out at you when you watch them [on tape]," McGinest said. "A guy like him, I don't think you can actually stop him. He's a really good athlete. The only thing you can do is try to contain him. We're not going to go crazy and just change everything up for one player. But we'll try to defend him.
"The reason they move him around is to try to create matchup problems. Get him with a linebacker or something that can't really cover him. They usually take advantage of that. What we have to do is try to figure out how we can run the defenses we like to run and do some stuff we like to do. But at the same time, not be overmatched by him."
Westbrook played sparingly in last season's 31-10 Week 2 loss to the Patriots. He was coming off a preseason knee injury and had just seven touches.
"We have to make sure we know where he's at all the time Sunday," Harrison said. "He's going to make his share of plays. But we can't let him take a screen 60 yards to the house. We have to be able to tackle him and swarm and have more than one guy around him."
"He's very dynamic," outside linebacker Mike Vrabel said. "He has the ability to turn a 5-yard gain into a 35-yard gain in a hurry, just by making one guy miss a tackle that you think is a sure tackle. It will be important for us to know where he is at.
"He's very similar to [Marshall] Faulk. He's a bounce-out type of runner. Watch him in the passing game. Look at the way he runs his routes. They're not just throwing the ball because he's out there. He's getting open like a receiver."
Westbrook amassed 812 rushing and 703 receiving yards this season. The former Villanova standout also led the NFL in a subcategory called "yards per touch"; he had 250 touches for a 6.1-yard average. Tiki Barber of the Giants was second, at 5.6 yards.
But New England head coach Bill Belichick suggested that Westbrook's ability to move all over the field and get mismatches was a major concern for him. He even wondered whether the Eagles would use him on special teams. Westbrook's role in that department was downplayed significantly this season; he returned just two punts.
"He is a tremendous receiver," Belichick said. "He is a threat with the ball in his hands. We've seen him return kicks in the past. He may or may not be called on to do that next week; I don't know. But we've seen him before, and he has been very productive doing that."
According to the Sports Xchange, Westbrook may indeed be used as a punt returner against the Patriots. ...
Of course, it's worth noting, the last time the Eagles' offense came face-to-face with a 3-4 defense -- in Pittsburgh, it wasn't a pretty sight.
As Inquirer beat man Bob Brookover reminded readers this week, the Eagles finished that disastrous afternoon at Heinz Field with just 113 yards in total offense and were 0 for 8 on third-down conversions. Donovan McNabb was sacked four times, hurried several more and inexplicably threw a momentum-altering interception with Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans hanging on his back.
The week before against Baltimore's 3-4 defense, the Eagles put up just 15 points. It was just one of four games in which they failed to accumulate more than 300 yards of offense. They went 2 for 11 on third-down conversions.
After the Pittsburgh game, several people suggested that the Eagles' offensive line had been manhandled by the Steelers.
According to Brookover, "That implication in the visitor's locker room immediately following the lopsided loss to the Steelers was about as popular as Barry Manilow in a biker bar.
"Men who stand well over six feet and weigh well over 300 pounds don't appreciate it when you question their physical prowess, and the five members of the Eagles' offensive line fit that description."
"I don't think the physical thing of the 3-4 defense was the problem," offensive tackle Jon Runyan said. "I think if you're out there and you're trying to guess and you're wondering where you're at, it's going to look like you're out-physicaled because guys are getting leverage on you. It's knowing where you're supposed to be and knowing what they're going to throw at you."
All of which, as Brookover pointed out, brings us to the New England Patriots, the defending Super Bowl champions with the genius head coach whose team has mastered the art of playing the 3-4 defense.
But it isn't the scheme that necessarily wins football games, it is the players who execute it. And the Patriots executed it quite well against the Eagles the last time the teams played a game that counted -- in the above-mentioned Week 2 contest in 2003.
"I can't even remember back then," Childress said. "I don't think I have recall from that. That was a five-turnover game."
Childress proved his point. It was actually a six-turnover game.
When the Eagles faced the Patriots a year ago, Westbrook was one game removed from becoming the explosive weapon he is today. The following game against Buffalo, he had 12 touches and more than 100 yards of offense. Since then, the Eagles are 22-1 when Westbrook handles the ball at least 10 times on offense.
"We had to find something different," Westbrook said when asked about the loss to the Patriots. "We had lost our first two games and we had to find something fresher and a different way of going about things. I ran the ball a little more the next week and we started on the road that we went on last year."
It's interesting to note that the Patriots will not find much video footage of Westbrook going against a 3-4 defense. He carried six times for 29 yards against them last season, an impressive 4.8 yards per carry, but he did not play against Atlanta last season or Baltimore this season.
The Steelers did shut down Westbrook -- six carries for 17 yards and three catches for 4 yards -- but it was his first game back from a cracked rib.
Brookover went on to suggest that center Hank Fraley is always one of the men who has a difficult job against a 3-4 defense because it's the only time he has a gigantic defensive lineman consistently planted right in front of his face. In the Patriots' case, they go with 340-pound Keith Traylor and 325-pound rookie Vince Wilfork.
"Those guys are two typical noseguards," Fraley said. "They cause problems, especially in the run game. It's definitely a personal challenge even though it's a team game. They're both good athletes even with as big as they are. You can see that on film. ..."
Of course, McNabb also needs to be at his best. Belichick and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel can pull out their entire assortment of blitzes because neither Mitchell or Pinkston poses a serious threat at receiver.
Even if Owens plays, he will not be close to 100 percent. New England's strength on defense is the linebackers who flood the middle and underneath zones. Tedi Bruschi, McGinest and Vrabel will make sure that Westbrook is covered at all times out of the backfield.
That puts the onus on McNabb to shoulder a heavy burden.
He will need to scramble for first downs to keep one of the linebackers occupied. The Eagles lost Lewis, an effective red-zone option due to injury, in the NFC championship game. Smith is their best pass-catching tight end, but he matches up against Harrison, perhaps the league's best strong safety.
And as Houston Chronicle columnist John McClain noted last Sunday, if the Eagles have a prayer of beating the Pats, they must continue to protect the ball. McNabb has not thrown an interception in two playoff victories. He has thrown 528 passes and been intercepted only eight times, or one every 66 attempts.
McClain also noted that Philly running backs have not lost a fumble in 612 carries dating to Oct. 26, 2003. ...
For what it's worth. ... The Eagles have five players with Super Bowl experience: Running back Dorsey Levens (Green Bay), tight end Jeff Thomason (Green Bay), linebacker Nate Wayne (Denver), defensive end Jevon Kearse (Tennessee), and Runyan (Tennessee).
Levens, Thomason, and Wayne won the big game.
The 35-year-old Thomason spent the 2000-2002 seasons with the Eagles, but hasn't played since. He was added to the roster last week, after doctors discovered a Lisfranc tear in Lewis' left foot -- and injury suffered on the second of his two scoring catches against the Falcons.
He has been working as an assistant project manager for Toll Brothers Construction in Chesterfield, N.J., which is about 50 miles northeast of Philadelphia. Thomason has two weeks vacation coming from Toll Brothers, and probably will use it to play in the Super Bowl.
Besides starter Smith, the Eagles have another tight end on the roster, Mike Bartrum. But he doubles as the club's long-snapper.
Lewis had been the backup long-snapper. The Eagles are reluctant to use Bartrum much without a backup snapper. The advantage of signing Thomason is that he's familiar with the Eagles' offense as well as their special teams schemes.
"I have 10 years in this offense (he played with the Packers before he came to the Eagles) and I'm pretty familiar with all of [special teams coordinator] John Harbaugh's special-teams calls," he said. ...
Reid said on Monday that Thomason will play about 15 plays Sunday. "We'll see how it works out. ... That's usually what our second tight end gets," the coach explained.
Also on the injury front. ...
Linebacker Mark Simoneau, who missed the Eagles' first two playoff games with a high ankle sprain, practiced Wednesday, but his status for Super Bowl XXXIX remains unclear. If he's not anywhere close to 100 percent, Keith Adams will start in his place on the weak side.