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November 26, 2007

Little Wes Welker Comes Up Huge For Patriots

BY JIM DONALDSON
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO – Little Wes Welker continues to come up, not just big, but huge, for the New England Patriots.
The Pats would not still be undefeated this morning if not for what Welker did last night in a surprisingly tough, 31-28, victory over the Eagles in which New England trailed heading into the fourth quarter, and Philly had the ball inside the Patriots’ 30-yard line in the final four minutes.
Although he didn’t score a touchdown, Welker made six catches in the second half for first downs – three of them on the Pats’ game-winning drive.
With the Patriots passing on almost every play throughout the game, the Eagles blitzed Tom Brady almost as often.
Forced frequently to get rid of the ball quickly, Brady repeatedly threw to the quick and elusive Welker, who consistently found open areas in the Philadelphia secondary.
It wasn’t just that the 5-9, 185-pound Welker had career highs in both receptions (13) and yards (149) that was most impressive, it was the situations in which he caught them.
Of his seven catches in the second half, six of them were for first downs, and four of those came with the Patriots throwing on third down, needing a completion to retain possession.
“I found him a bunch,” Brady said. “He did a great job of getting open.”
Welker’s performance was reminiscent of another undersized Patriots receiver who has made clutch catches throughout his career – popular veteran Troy Brown, who has been on the Physically Unable to Perform list throughout this, his 15th season in New England.
“They’re very similar-type players – great quickness, great awareness, smart, great hands,” Brady said last night. “They’re both great leaders.
“They have a lot of similar qualities. They’re both 5-7, or 5-8, or whatever they are. They’re very nifty in the slot, very comfortable. It’s a great matchup for us.”
Actually,.Welker against the Philadelphia secondary was more of a mismatch.
His 13 catches tied the club record for receptions in a non-overtime game. Deion Branch had 13 at San Diego in 2002 and Terry Glenn caught 13 at Cleveland in 1999. Brown holds the team mark for catches in a game with 16, set in an overtime win over Kansas City in 2002.
What Welker lacks in height, he more than makes up for in quickness and savvy. He knows how to get open, rarely drops a ball that’s thrown his way, and has a knack for eluding tacklers after making the catch and picking up extra yards.
He’s also modest. Rather than talking about his own considerable accomplishments last night, Welker preferred to talk about the way Brady threw the ball in the face of repeated blitzes by the relentless Philly pass rushers.
“They gave us a lot of different looks,” Welker said. “You have to hand it to the Eagles, the way they played. But Tom never loses his poise. He’s always on top of things.”
The Eagles were determined to put as much pressure on Brady as possible.
“We blitzed quite a bit,” said Philly’s defensive coordinator, Jim Johnson. “At times, we covered well and, other times, we didn’t cover as well as we would have liked. But at least we were getting pressure.
“They went a lot with four wide receivers. We felt that, anytime they did that, we would pressure them. Basically, that was our game plan. We felt that, every chance we had, we had to bring pressure. Even if we didn’t get to (Brady), we had to throw off his timing and move him around in the pocket.”
The Eagles did that, but Brady still was able to find Welker, threading his way through the Eagles’ secondary.
“He’s tough on all that underneath stuff,” Philly head coach Andy Reid said of Welker. “He’s got great quickness.”

jdonalds@projo.com / 401-277-7340

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