Eagles had crowd support

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. » Alltel Stadium looked a little like Lincoln Financial Field yesterday.

Green jerseys everywhere. E-A-G-L-E-S chants early and often. Even some trash talking. All that was missing were the cheesesteaks.

It was clear that Eagles fans were well-represented at the Super Bowl, visibly and vocally outnumbering fans of the defending champion New England Patriots.

"It's about 80-20 Eagles fans," said Kevin Sorin, a 28-year-old construction worker who was born and raised in Philly.

But Eagles fans left the stadium much as they ended each of the last three seasons: quiet and dejected.

Brown's finale?: Patriots receiver Troy Brown might have played his last game.

Brown reiterated after the game that he may retire after a 12-year career and three Super Bowl rings.

"I'm going to give myself a good three to four weeks. Not right now," he said. "I want to enjoy this with my team. I'm going to take some time off, I'm going to chill out with my family and clear my mind. We'll see how it goes from there."

Brown has been a receiver for most of his career, but he willingly stepped across the line to help the secondary this season. In the Super Bowl, he was a backup receiver, second on the depth chart at right cornerback and the team's top punt returner.

Thomason's troubles: Eagles tight end Jeff Thomason was one of the most-experienced players on the field. But he made a rookie mistake.

Thomason had a holding penalty on a kickoff return that cost the Eagles 22 yards in the second quarter. Instead of having good field position after New England tied the game at 7, the Eagles were inside their 20 to start the drive.

The Eagles signed Thomason as a replacement for Chad Lewis, who was injured in the NFC championship game. Thomason had been out of the NFL for two years, working as a project manager for a construction company when the Eagles called two weeks ago.

Interesting stat: The Super Bowl in Jacksonville was the 405th postseason game in NFL history, but only the third playoff game in which the score was tied at the end of the first, second and third quarters.

The other two games were the 1948 NFL championship game (Chicago Cardinals vs. Philadelphia) and the 1978 AFC wild-card game (Houston vs. Miami).

Double duty: Eagles running back Brian Westbrook and All-Pro cornerback Lito Sheppard were back in a familiar spot on special teams.

Westbrook returned three punts for 19 yards and Sheppard had two fair catches. Both had just two punt returns during the regular season, but the Eagles were hoping one of the speedsters would break a long one against New England.

It didn't happen.

Westbrook returned two punts for touchdowns in 2003, but wasn't used in that role after he became the Eagles' primary running back.