Opportunity knocked...special teams answered

Started by PhillyGirl, October 23, 2005, 10:07:02 PM

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PhillyGirl

QuoteOpportunity knocked, special teams finally answer

By Shannon Ryan

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Every week, the Eagles special teams practices for an opportunity that never happens.

This afternoon, it did.

Quintin Mikell blocked a field goal and Matt Ware returned it 65 yards for the winning score in the Eagles 20-17 victory over the San Diego Chargers.

"An opportune moment," special teams coordinator John Harbaugh said later in the locker room. "Praise God."

Harbaugh also had plenty of praise for Mikell and Ware.

Mikell saw a weakness in the Chargers' field goal protection and approached Harbaugh in the third quarter. Harbaugh said if not for Mikell, the opportunity may have gone unseized.

Mikell slipped between the tight end and the wing and extended his hand to block the 40-yard attempt by Nate Keading, who was perfect on field goals this season. He made the block look so easy that Harbaugh was asked many times if the Chargers had only 10 players on the field.

Juqua Thomas and Rod Hood pulled helped open the gap for Mikell.

As Ware put it, the ball took "a super nice bounce" and landed in his hands. The speedy backup cornerback sprinted untouched into the end zone with 2 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the game.

"I grabbed it up and tried to get to the end zone. I had to go all the way, Ware said.

"I thought, 'Man, this is it.'"

Mikell said he thought he had a shot at picking up the ball, but was happy that it landed in Ware's waiting arms.

"I'm glad it went to Matt because he's probably the only person who can outrun everybody," Mikell said.

The experience seemed surreal to Ware.

"It seemed like the crowd kept getting louder and louder," he said of running down the sideline toward the end zone. "I was just trying to take the energy and hoping that nobody would catch me and embarrass me or something."

There were only accolades after.

The Eagles had never returned an blocked field goal for a touchdown. Harbaugh said in his years of coaching he's never experienced it. Mikell's never blocked a kick. Ware had never scored an NFL touchdown.

That practice for something that never happens made something happen. That's the lesson Harbaugh preaches.

"You never know when getting your hand up a guy's going to kick it into your hand," he said. "You never know when a guy's not going to execute his technique just perfect and you're going to be able to slip through there. The one time you don't come hard, they don't do it right and you don't get the block you could have had."

Mikell and Ware, who are good friends off the field, play mainly on special teams, trying to prove themselves in a defense full of experienced all-stars.

They have only five combined years in the NFL, but on special teams they are veterans. They took the responsibility of correcting the many recent woes of special teams seriously.

"We're the veterans in the group so basically everything going down is on our shoulders," Mikell said. "We've got to make plays. We went into the game just trying to be physical and aggressive."

The play was reminiscent of Brian Westbrook's 84-yard punt return to win the game against the Giants in 2003. That play turned around the Eagles season.

"Hopefully, we have the same effect with this this year," said defensive end N.D. Kalu.
"Oh, yeah. They'll still boo. They have to. They're born to boo. Just now, they'll only boo with two Os instead of like four." - Larry Andersen

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