"Niners running back Brian Westbrook is making life without Frank Gore look a lot like it looked before Gore's season-ending hip injury - lots of screen passes and plenty of yards from scrimmage. Westbrook broke a tackle to turn a 5-yard dump-off into a 62-yard touchdown pass, the longest of his Pro Bowl career, to highlight Sunday's 40-21 win over the visiting Seahawks. It was the former Eagles' longest play since a 71-yard run against the 49ers in 2006. His 30th career scoring catch is the most by any active running back. It came on a hot read in which Westbrook recognized the blitz and adjusted his route just the way quarterback Alex Smith anticipated. "Both him and I see the same things," Smith said. "Brian came up the edge, clicking up his route, we hit. Those are good things to see." One play that was just as impressive didn't show up in his 110 total yards of offense. On the third play of the game-opening touchdown drive, Westbrook picked up a blitzing linebacker to give Smith time to get off a 22-yard check-down pass to tight end Vernon Davis. For weeks, the coaching staff said Westbrook couldn't play because he didn't know the pass-protection schemes. Westbrook played 26 of 30 snaps in the first half before sitting the blowout portion of the game." Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/13/SPG81GPO5K.DTL
