BALTIMORE --The only thing needed was the pose.
After Quintin Demps' 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 1:37 remaining in the first half, the rookie ran to the sideline looking for his draft classmate, wide receiver DeSean Jackson. When the two found each other, they folded their arms and leaned back as if they were posing for a picture.
It's a scene we've seen before. We saw it in the season opener against St. Louis. We saw it in the preseason against New England when Demps and Jackson each had a return for a touchdown. Photo Gallery : PHI vs. BAL 11-23-08
Demps provided the reason for the celebration on Sunday after he took the kickoff from Steve Hauschka at the goal line, raced up the middle before breaking wide to the left where he cruised in for the Eagles' first points of the afternoon.
"Any time you can get a kickoff return for a touchdown, you hope it can be a spark for your team. It was a big-time play, and I hoped it would get us going," Demps said. "I just trusted my blocking. Then, I picked up my knees and ran hard. I just hit the hole and went. At about the 50-yard line, I knew that I was going to score. I made one move and that was all I needed."
The fourth-round pick out of UTEP appeared to be due for a big return. This season, Demps has had a return of at least 40 yards in five games including Sunday's. His previous long was a 63-yard return at San Francisco.
"I was confident that it would happen sooner or later," Demps said. "But, I would gladly trade it for a 'W.' Making a play like that would have felt a lot better if we won the game."
It's been quite a while since the Eagles reaped the benefits of a kickoff return for a touchdown. Demps was a 16-year-old at Roosevelt High School in San Antonio when Brian Mitchell took a 94-yard kickoff return to the house against at Arizona on Nov. 4, 2001.
Demps' return was the longest by a rookie in Eagles history and tied the fourth-longest in the franchise's annals. Timmy Brown's 105-yard return against the Browns in 1961 is the record-holder.
It's ironic that the return also set the record for the longest allowed in Baltimore Ravens' history. Head coach John Harbaugh was the Eagles special teams coordinator from 1998-2006 and had the team ranked No. 1 in the league four straight years from 1998-2001.
