Philly Sports Post - Home of the PSP Podcast

It’s a scene in American TV and film that we’ve all seen a hundred times. A couple, or group, is out at a restaurant enjoying a meal and conversation, they all seem to be getting along just fine until something changes everything. Something peculiar happens, or somebody says something out of order, and the dinner comes to an abrupt ending, punctuated with the punch line, “Check, Please!” Well, I’ve been out on the town, so to speak, with Donovan McNabb for 10 years, it hasn’t always been ideal, but for the most part it has been a positive experience. This week’s news that Donovan doesn’t want to stay long-term unless the Eagles add more weapons to the offense has me pushing back from the table, wiping my mouth clean, tossing my napkin over my plate, and snapping to get the waiter’s attention. “Check, please!”



I’m done now. I no longer want Donovan as my quarterback, because he obviously doesn’t have a grasp on what the situation is in Philly. When we did our initial podcast we talked about the Eagles, and the overriding opinion about Donovan was that he’s the best option you have for 2009, but we’re not overjoyed with him as our starter. I always supported McNabb despite his annoying habits both on and off the field, and I think most Eagles fans felt the same way. We wished McNabb wouldn’t paint himself the victim so often, and we wished he was a more accurate passer and better in the two-minute drill. Now Donovan has lain out an ultimatum that accentuates both of those flaws, Donovan’s comments are dripping with his ‘woe is me’ mantra, and they are way off target. McNabb acts as if he’s been undermined by the front office, as well spreading the blame for the Eagles’ shortcomings to all the players who aren’t ‘playmakers’ and to the front office for not upgrading them.

Why can’t McNabb ever take sole responsibility for the team’s failures? As an over-zealous fan base, we’ll get around to figuring out who does and who does not deserve the actual blame, but when the press asks Donovan about a loss, whether five minutes or five months after the fact, he never puts its on himself. Taking the hits when the chips are down is what great quarterbacks do after a loss. Brady, Manning and Favre, Donovan’s three best contemporaries all absorb a loss as their fault, because as competitors they know that there was always room to improve in a defeat, and if they would have seized those opportunities, then any other flaws in their team’s performance would have been nullified. They just wouldn’t start listing what those flaws were.

Donovan has threatened not to resign, and there are rumors he may demand a trade, if he’s isn’t satisfied with the upgrades we make this off-season. Well I have an idea for an upgrade, let’s get a starting quarterback with an attitude of “the buck stops here.” The quarterback is supposed to be a leader, and the team’s first representative to the media and fans. What Eagles player from last season wants to follow McNabb now? The defense that he openly remarked didn’t do a good enough job against Arizona, or maybe the offensive players who need to be upgraded so they stop holding him back. McNabb has jumped the shark in his own locker room.

When you make a threat, you better be sure of two things; first you better be able to follow through on your threat, and you’d better be sure the threat’s outcome would be negative for whomever you’re threatening. I don’t know who would be all that heart-broken by McNabb’s departure. The Fans? The fans are already mixed on Donovan, and I think the sentiment that he’s the best option for ’09 shouldn’t be confused for a sentiment that he’s the only option for 2009. There is an army of Eagles fans that are very anti-Donovan, some turned after he struggled at the end of the Super Bowl, some had their fill after the several instances of racial politics that Donovan interjected over the years, and some decided McNabb had suffered a few too many injuries. The end result is still that I’m not sure how much popularity Donovan has left, and I’m not sure the fans are worried that he may leave. In fact, if it would get the Eagles a third first-round pick in this year’s draft I think most fans would welcome a trade.

I’m not convinced Andy Reid wants Donovan McNabb back wholeheartedly. I think Andy was going to take a long look this off-season at making a change under center, but had his hand forced when Banner announced that both Andy and Donovan would be returning for 2009 just minutes after the team fell short in Arizona. I feel like Andy bristles when Donovan is brought up, especially when it involves the benching, or when he’s made comments about personnel. Andy Reid takes as much grief as Donovan in this town, yet Andy absorbs that punishment and takes pride in it. Reid almost views the direct criticism as a badge of honor, that he takes the fall for his guys and nobody takes a hit in public but him. I think Donovan’s public doubts about the defense’s performance and the offense’s ability really goes against Andy’s concept of a team, and against what Andy wants from his on-field leader.

McNabb’s threat to leave implies that the team would be worse without him, and that he could end up with a team that has a better chance of winning a Super Bowl than the Eagles; otherwise his comments don’t make sense. The problem is that neither of those things is definitely true. What teams would be willing to trade for McNabb? The list of teams that would probably kick the tires and ask about the price involved are: Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, San Francisco, New York Jets, Buffalo, and Kansas City. The NFC North is wide open, so either the Vikings or Bears would be a nice landing spot, but everywhere else has trouble written all over it, and why would the Eagles trade McNabb to an NFC team anyway? They would almost certainly make a deal similar to what the Packers did with Favre, sending him away for conditional picks and an agreement that his new destination can’t send him back to the NFC.

Where would the Eagles stand in a world without McNabb? If Joe Flacco can ride a great defense and an average offense to an 11-5 record and a trip to the playoffs for Baltimore, why couldn’t Kevin Kolb manage to do that here in Philly? If the Eagles plan to address WR, TE and RB this off-season anyway why couldn’t these upgrades offset the initial downgrade from McNabb to Kolb? The Eagles schedule looks like it can be managed into another playoff berth based just on the strength of our defense. Unless Kolb is a flat-out bust, then the Eagles can weather this storm, and be stronger for it in the long run.

What weapons would Donovan have us acquire? Do we need another running back? I actually think we do, but I think that because I want to spell Westbrook so he can be fresh at the end of games, and hopefully Westbrook can help end our late game woes. Is Donovan advocating a running back so that he’s has to do less? Adding a big back and committing to the run would change what the McNabb Eagles are. A run-first game plan would be a dynamic shift in offensive philosophy akin to the Phoenix Suns acquiring Shaq last season. Yes, what the Eagles do has repeatedly failed in the playoffs, but can they even get there playing a more traditional style. Would Steve Nash ever have advocated taking the ball put of his hands and slowing down the pace of that offense? If the Eagles go that way, we had better be prepared for it to fail, just look at Elton Brand and what his methodical game did to a once entertaining Sixers squad.

Does Donovan instead want a better wide receiver? I want another wide-out as well, but it would also be useful for Donovan to hit people in the hands during crucial drives. Hank Baskett and Greg Lewis may be below average, but you need to put the ball in place where they can make a play, and Donovan fails to do this far too often. In the NFC championship, Donovan played well overall, but the missed throw to Baskett could have positioned us much better to convert that final failed drive. The throw to Lewis could have rendered the last drive meaningless. And yes, a better receiver catches that ball, but to be fair, a better receiver wouldn’t have gotten man-to-man coverage without any safety help. Critical throws in big games being on target is probably the first improvement that needs to happen in the Eagles passing game, then we can look at better receivers.

So it comes to this, a call for unproven Kevin Kolb to assume leadership of the Eagles. The reason it’s time to make a change is for just that reason, leadership. After the Baltimore game Kevin Kolb didn’t say he was undermined, or put in a bad situation. Kolb said “What frustrates me is once I got in a rhythm and we went down the field, I made a mistake at the end there that basically cost us the game,” he also added, “It's difficult, but that's your job. As a second-string quarterback, you're one play away. Everybody knows that. You've got to prepare for that, and you've got to go in and do a better job than what I did." That Baltimore game wasn’t Kolb’s fault, and the only guy who will tell you it was is Kolb himself. That’s what I want from my quarterback, straight-talk and the stones to man up and assume responsibilty even when you don’t deserve it.

Greg