Today, Brian Westbrook of the Philadelphia Eagles made one of the smartest plays in NFL history, a play we’ve discussed a number of times but no one ever thinks to do. Even today, my guess is only Westbrook thought of this, and the coaches didn’t tell the team to do this prior to the play. This again points out the failures of coaches.
With 2:19 to play, Philadelphia up 4, and Dallas out of timeouts, Westbrook broke a run and could easily have scored a touchdown. Instead, he stopped at the Dallas 1, waited for tacklers, and then went down. As a result, the Eagles could and did take a knee three times to run out the clock. Had he scored, the Eagles would have been up 11, but Dallas would have gotten the ball. They would have had a chance to run back the kick or score quickly, get an onside kick, and score again to win. Although the odds of this aren’t high, they would still have had a chance. By Westbrook going down at the 1, the Cowboys had no chance.
Announcers and others called this play “bizarre,” “strange,” and other things, when all it was was the ONLY play he should have made. It’s only bizarre and strange because coaches don’t understand this and don’t tell this to their team prior to these plays.
1. Anonymous on December 18th, 2007 5:17 pm
What should the Dallas defenders have done?
2. Larry on December 18th, 2007 11:43 pm
The Dallas defenders had a problem, and I’m not sure if there is a league rule regarding this. In theory, if the defenders don’t touch him, the play doesn’t end, and the clock would run out and they would lose. In that case, they have to touch him. I’m not sure the refs would allow him to just sit there, so they might call the play dead because he’s making no attempt to advance the ball. In my opinion, Westbrook, by doing what he did, guaranteed his team the victory regardless of what Dallas did or didn’t do or what rules might exist for this situation.
3. lion fan on December 19th, 2007 4:18 pm
Jon Runyon, an offensive lineman, and a University of Michigan graduate (of course) told Westbrook, prior to the play, to do this….
4. Ray on February 25th, 2008 7:48 am
If an offensive player gives himself up the play is dead. This prevents a defensive team from letting the clock run when the offense is playing catch up.