The Reid McNabb combo has been in Philadelphia for just over 11 seasons and had produced 5 NFC East Championships and 1 Superbowl appearance. They have undoubtedly had the strongest combination in Philadelphia history and McNabb is hands down the best quarterback in franchise history. These are inarguable facts.
Here are also some inargueable facts. As of week 17 of the 2009 season McNabb has a career 86.5 career QB rating and has thrown 100 interception to only 216 touchdowns and has not made a pro-bowl since 2004.
Funny stats considering in the NFL the average career last from 2-4 years. Obviously quarterbacks have a longer career streak, maybe around 5-6, which would explain why he hasn't made a pro-bowl since 04.
Listen I will not claim to know football but I do know sports statistics and with a player that has dropped off like McNabb did after the 2004 Superbowl most teams would cut ties and run for the hills. But ladies and gentlemen this is Philadelphia and we tend to think with our hearts more then our minds. This city is infamous for holding onto washed up players praying for another chance of glory. We think that because they have done it in the past that somehow they will do it again. For McNabb this is not the case.
He was sacked 35 times for a loss and lost his team 264 yards because of his legendary happy feet. Everyone blames this season on his offensive line and yes that does have merit. They were banged up and never gave McNabb protection so that he could have the time in the pocket he typically needs to be productive.
Beyond that it was not the season you would expect for an 11 year veteran. You would expect a guy that would be willing to put the team on their shoulders and win games themselves. (something that has never been his strong suit.) The thing that deceives most Eagles fans is their record this season. Yes they made the playoffs and yes they has a winning record but has anyone really taken the time to look at their record and look at the teams they played. After I looked at it there are a few things that stand out:
1. No wins against playoff teams: Average record teams they beat was 7-10
2. 4-of-5 losses were against playoff teams: All but the Raiders (hehe) are still playing after the opening round.
3. The Eagles beat 1 winning team: Atlanta (9-7)
Just like last year when they made an incredible run the Eagles did not belong in the playoffs and were ousted just like they should have been by a far superior Cowboys team. (even for me that was hard to write).
After 11 years in Philadelphia I am hoping that fans will finally start looking at the numbers and realize that Donovan is not getting any better as time goes on. Fans need to realize that for the last two years this team has not deserved to be in the playoffs in the first place and they have been lucky to get in. The only thing this team is doing by holding onto this glimmer of hope with McNabb is hurting them salary wise. Right now this team is building with a lot of young talent that sooner or later are going to have to pay to keep around and with 5 in the lineup it is going to get harder and harder to hold onto.
The team needs to find a way to start over. Hell for two games this season the guy they drafted as McNabb's eventual replacement dropped 391 & 327 yards respectively. Yes Kolb played two terrible teams but guess what so were the Eagles.
In sports there is a time of average turnover when a team needs to assess their future and move forward with their goals. The team has done a good job with this in the draft with pics like Maclin, Jackson and McCoy. The team is building an offense of the future yet for some reason they are oblivious to the fact that they already drafted a future quarterback a few years ago. Why they don't do anything with him I will never know. For those of you that look at this situation they say that they don't know what they are getting with Kolb and that's why they don't want to get rid of McNabb look at other teams and think about how they handled the situation.
The Favre Factor:
I think everyone in Philadelphia will agree that Brett Favre is a lot better of a quarterback then Donovan McNabb. Favre is a guaranteed hall of famer and can still get the job done. The Packers (looking toward the future) drafted Aaron Rodgers as Brett's eventual replacement and let him sit on the sidelines from 2005-2007 then when they felt it was time they made the move. They could have held onto the glimmer of Favre but they decided to look towards the future and give the ball and the reins of Packer nation to Rodgers.
Now lets look at how that has worked out for them. In two years as the starting quarterback Rodgers has thrown for over 4,000 each year and took his team to the playoffs this year. Yes they lost to the Cardinals last weekend but it was a lot better of a showing then the game the birds put up.
Listen I am not saying this is what is going to happen but just like anything you never know until you try.
The Andy Reid Era / Bill Cowher Factor:
Now I don't want to blame the current situation of the Eagles on Big Red cause frankly I like the guy. He seems very down to earth to me and I really think that he could bring a Superbowl trophy to Philadelphia.
Reid has been here for 11 seasons and among NFL coaches has one of the longest tenures. Since 1990 there have been six coaches to lead there teams for over eight seasons. Among those coaches are Jeff Fisher (Tennessee), Bill Cowher (Pittsburgh) and Tom Coughlin (Jacksonville).
Out of them only Bill Cowher has won a Superbowl. Jeff Fisher has gotten close with the Titans and it took Coughlin until he went to the Giants to win the Superbowl. Cowher is an interesting story because he was only the second coach in Steelers history.
Also he took the reins after Chuck Knoll left in 1992 and it took him until 2006 to finally win the big game. Now Cowher had many different qb's at the helm and it was not until he took a young kid to reinvigorate his team to finally win the big game.See where I am going with this. I like Andy Reid and I would be completely fine with him staying around for a while. Hell he is still under contract until 2013 so why not get our monies worth. I really feel as an outside fan that Reid could do it for the Eagles but, just like Cowher, I feel that it will take a change at qb to finally get it to happen.
Final Resolution:
Donovan McNabb is the best quarterback in Eagles history. He has lifetime numbers but has never won a Superbowl and frankly he will never do it for this city. Just like many players it may take a big move to make it happen. Before Donovan came along many people argued that Randall Cunningham was the best Eagles quarterback ever yet not many people realize that he had some of his most successful season away from Philadelphia.
For a player to win a Superbowl the stars need to align and the right player needs to be in the right situation. Donovan McNabb is not in the right situation in Philly, and Andy Reid won't win one with McNabb under center. This is my plea as a non eagles fan to make a change for the future.
-b.chan
Love it or hate it let me hear it. Eternal Mulligan Email
-b.chan
Love it or hate it let me hear it. Eternal Mulligan Email
i'm not even a big football fan but i enjoyed this a lot
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