By ERNIE PALLADINO
The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News

PHILADELPHIA - John Harbaugh has one basic philosophy. Whatever you do, do it at full speed.

Maybe that's why the Philadelphia Eagles head into Sunday's NFC Championship game with the Tampa Bay Bucs confident that if the game comes down to the field position battle, they'll probably win it going away.

No slight against Tampa Bay, but the Eagles have all sorts of weapons on special teams. Starting with placekicker David Akers, continuing through kick returner Brian Mitchell, and following up with coverage people such as Barry Gardner, Ike Reese, Dameane Douglas, and Jeff Thomason, Philadelphia has one of the best special teams in the league.

Tampa isn't far behind. But the presence of Mitchell and the aggressive philosophy of the 40-year-old Harbaugh has put the Eagles at or near the top in several catagories.

Unlike some special teams units that practice at half-speed most of the time - the New York Giants come to mind immediately - every one of Harbaugh's drills goes at full speed. And he credits that with much of the game-day success.

"You've got to have a lot of energy in this part of the game," Harbaugh said. "If you're walking through things in practice, you can't expect to turn it up in a game.

"We practice everything at full tempo. I want our "look" team - I call them the orange hats - to be running at game tempo, but if there's going to be any big contact, back off."

The yield has been bountiful. The Eagles ranked first in the conference with an average start off kickoffs at the 31.1-yard line, just over a half-yard less than the league-leading New York Jets. And when it came to defending kickoffs, they ranked fourth with an average start at the 26.6-yard line. They forced opponents to start 18 times inside the 20, the second-best total in the league.

And he's done it in a most traditional manner, using backups most of the time. Tampa Bay, which finished .1 yards behind the Eagles in kickoff defense, sprinkles starters around its coverage units.

"You see Derrick Brooks on the punt return team a lot," Harbaugh said of the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year that has helped Tom Tupa to a 35.4-yard net punting average, eighth-best in the conference. "He's been a factor there. They're dangerous and they're talented."

But the Bucs don't have the across-the-board talent the Eagles do. Akers has one of the strongest, most accurate legs in the league. He was deadly in hitting 30 of 34 field goals, and finished with a franchise record 133 points.

Akers is also the backup punter to 18-year veteran Lee Johnson, who took over in Game 13 after fellow 18-year punter Sean Landeta's torn calf muscle ended his season.

"He goes out there with Lee and they punt," Harbaugh said. "They just have a contest and they go back and forth and see who can punt the furthest. Fortunately, (Johnson) has been winning most of those battles. David is tremendously competitive."

Their biggest weapon, though, is the talkative Mitchell. In addition to supplying a never-ending stream of bulletin board material for opponents, Mitchell also provides field position on a regular basis for Donovan McNabb. The 13-year veteran, in his third season with the Eagles, holds the league career record with 13 kick returns for touchdowns, nine off punts, four off kickoffs. He also ranks second behind Walter Payton with 22,001 net yards that includes a record 12,897 yards worth of kickoff returns.

"Maybe I'm a little biased, but I think he's the best right now at what he does, as well as being the best ever," Harbaugh said. "He not only makes big plays, and he's not as flashy as some of the guys, but he makes great decisions. He does not turn the ball over, knock on wood. And he runs really hard. I don't see a better guy."

Gardner, a backup linebacker, leads the return and coverage units. Harbaugh hands out production points that represent tackles, blocks, first man downfield in coverage, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, and big plays. He finished with 204 points, far ahead of the next two on the list, Na Brown and Thomason.

The players have bought into Harbaugh's philosophy full bore, and have produced accordingly.

"Everybody here's a hard worker," Douglas said. "You look at a guy like Mitchell, special teams put him where he is now."

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