Eagles show trust in Ronnie Brown
THE LAST TIME Ronnie Brown got the ball near the goal line, he fumbled himself to Detroit. This time, on Monday night, Brown blasted through the Bears defense from 4 yards and tied the game at 17.
THE LAST TIME Ronnie Brown got the ball near the goal line, he fumbled himself to Detroit.
This time, on Monday night, Brown blasted through the Bears defense from 4 yards and tied the game at 17.
If the Eagles' season continues to crumble, Brown's infamous goal-line incident in the second quarter against the 49ers on Oct. 2 surely will be the moment that crystallizes its ineptness.
On third-and-goal at the 49ers' 1, Brown, already in the arms of Parys Haralson behind the line of scrimmage, attempted a pass that went backward. The Niners recovered. The Eagles lost by one point.
Brown did not touch the ball for the next two games, after which he was traded to the Lions for Jerome Harrison. The trade was voided, however, when Eagles doctors discovered that Harrison had a brain tumor.
Brown returned, and, Monday night, got a chance at redemption.
"It was good to get in the end zone," said Brown, who last scored Dec. 26 for the Dolphins.
With the Dolphins, he was part of a wildcat attack in which he went to the Pro Bowl after the 2008 season. In Miami, he started 16 games last season. He is LeSean McCoy's backup in Philadelphia.
A month ago, it seemed unlikely he would ever get another significant carry as an Eagle, much less a chance at the goal line.
"For them to trust me in that situation and to give me an opportunity, that was big."
Da bomb
The last time the Eagles and Cardinals met, DeSean Jackson burned Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie for 62-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles a one-point lead on the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals came back to win, but DRC, now an Eagle, certainly is aware that Jackson's touchdown will be highlighted this week.
"That was a long time ago," DRC said yesterday.
Have his teammates revisited the moment?
"To this day," he said. "Always."
DRC is known for his speed - he ran a 4.29-second 40-yard dash at the draft combine - but then, Jackson, who ran a 4.29 at his pro day, might be the fastest man in the league.
Now that they're on the same team, some sort of race is in order, no? And, if it happens, who would win?
"I'm going to say me," DRC said. "I know he's pretty fast. That's a race I'm looking forward to, if it ever happens."
He should be. He lost the last one.