McNabb no longer able to cover for coach.
The Eagles last-second loss on Sunday drops them perilously close to playoff elimination. Most of the blame appears to lie on the shoulders of QB Donovan McNabb, and he deserves his share of it. The red zone inefficiency is as hard to ignore as it is to believe. But coaching issues that have existed for far too long are now costing the Eagles victories that the talent level of the players, most notably the QB have compensated for in the past. After McNabb led the go ahead TD drive, the Eagles got the ball back with about 5 minutes left. Running out the clock has not been a specialty of the Eagles in the past, but with only 1 Bears timeout left, The Eagles needed only 2 first downs to ensure victory. With a solid running game, that shouldn’t have been hard to do. But running is just not what Andy Reid is all about. McNabb got the initial 1st down when he dragged his gimpy leg through traffic and scrambled for it. So on the ensuing 1st down, when 3 runs takes the clock down to around 1 minute, Reid and his staff call for a pass. A Pass. The ensuing sack ensured that more passes were called, and even after a Sav Rocca punt pinned the Bears at the 3 yard line, the Bears had just enough time to drive for the winning TD. Even though the defense failed, Chicago had a shot because they were left extra time by the coaching staff. With the Week one punt returning fiasco, and the lack of protection for Winston Justice in the loss to the Giants, this makes 3 losses out of 4 that can be blamed on the coach. That’s unacceptable. Charlie Manuel gets roasted (most times justifiably) for his in-game decisions. Andy Reid prepares his team as well as any coach, but once the game starts, he’s no better the Uncle Cholly.
End of the wrong Era?
The talk around town is that this season is the last chance for McNabb, and that without a Super Bowl, McNabb is gone after the season. McNabb and Reid are co-partners in this era of relative success. They are the winningest coach and QB in team history, but who has contributed more? You need a QB to win, and the Eagles have one in McNabb. Reid drafted the best QB in the draft class of 1999. But Reid thrust McNabb into the West coast offense, which calls for frequent, accurate passes. Accuracy has rarely been McNabb’s strong suit, but his raw talent has overcome being a square peg being shoved into a round offensive hole. Reid likes to throw 65-70 percent of the time, but has rarely surrounded McNabb with expensive Wide Receivers. If you recall, the one year they had a star WR (he shall remain nameless), the Eagles went to the Super Bowl. Reid has invested many draft picks and dollars on a big, intimidating offensive line, only to have them backing up 50 times a game. McNabb has passed to sub-standard receivers for the majority of his time in Philly, running an offense ill-suited for him. Another criticism from McNabb is his durability. He has failed to finish the season 3 out the last 5 years. In 2005, McNabb suffered a sports hernia in week 1, maybe even earlier. Conventional wisdom would say that you would run more to protect you QB, so that he could make it through the season. What does Reid do? He throws even more than before, and McNabb was done for the season by mid-November. McNabb returned healthy last season, but Reid still had not learned his lesson, and constant throwing again left McNabb exposed to injury. Even this season with McNabb dragging around his injured knee, Reid still refuses to run a balanced offense. He stood by and did nothing while the Giants sacked McNabb 12 times. Apparently none of the pages in the Eagles encyclopedia-sized playbook has a formation where a TE lines up next to the left tackle. McNabb in the past has been physically able to avoid that many sacks, thus covering up Reid’s inability to adjust in-game.
I will always defend Donovan McNabb because he is a very good QB, even in his diminished capacity. If you watch enough football, you see that at least half of the teams lack a QB that can win games. The Eagles have one, and they appear ready to let him go and hand the job to an unproven commodity in Kevin Kolb. Kolb may turn out to be a good one, but if Reid is wrong, it will hamper the team for years. No matter how good Kolb may be, he may not be able to cover up for Reid’s poor coaching.
Donovan McNabb may not be fully healthy until next season. By then he may be playing for someone else, the end of an era. The wrong era. It is time for the Andy Reid era to end. Not the McNabb era.
World Series impossible to predict
The Red Sox-Rockies match up starts Wednesday, and I’d be lying if I could confidently pick a winner. The Sox have been baseball’s best team all year, with a balanced lineup, very good pitching, and playoff experience. All signs point to the Red Sox, except for the fact that Colorado has lost 1 game in a month. I think the time off cools them off, and the Red Sox win in 5-6 games. All hail the new evil empire.
BCS more useless than ever
When Appalachian State beat Michigan on opening day, it was just the beginning of the most unpredictable season in decades in college football. The top of the polls changes every week. To think that the 2 best teams will be playing for the championship this year would be downright silly. Usually the problem is that there are 3 unbeaten teams, or only 1. This year, we will probably have none. What now? Not a playoff, and until there is, College football is no more legitimate than gymnastics of figure skating, and the only sport in all of the NCAA where the champ isn’t decided on the field.