Reid Stands by His Man McNabb
By VAI SIKAHEMA
Updated 10:26 AM EST, Tue, Nov 25, 2008
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Andy Reid is going with Donovan McNabb.
The announcement was made Monday, to no one's surprise.
But one play on Sunday may have made the difference on the decision for Thursday's starting quarterback.
Fourth quarter, Eagles trailing 22-7 and on the Ravens one with a fresh set of downs and Kevin Kolb under center.
First down, Kolb sneaks the ball a foot or two, but is stopped maybe six inches short of pay dirt.
Inexplicably, on 2nd down, Kolb fakes a hand-off in play-action mode and throws to the back of the end zone towards receiver Reggie Brown who is just standing motionless, barely moving.
The linebackers didn't bite on the run fake because the Ravens have no regard for the Eagles ground game. Pro Bowl safety Ed Reed was already in full stride towards Brown, actually, just in front of Brown.
108 yards later, Reed was in the other end zone and the rout was on.
I readily admit it's Monday Morning Quarterbacking, but still, I think if Kolb had made that play, McNabb may not have been named the starter for Thursday's game.
That play was tailored for Kolb to throw, score and justify McNabb's benching and by necessity sit him on Thursday. Why else would they even attempt to throw on 2nd and six inches? Given the circumstances, that was four-down territory. If scoring a touchdown was the object, the safe play would've been to sneak it three more times or simply hand it to your only healthy running back, even rarely used Dan Klecko.
The Baltimore goal line is no place to pad stats or boost an inexperienced quarterback's mojo.
But I believe the Eagles went the much riskier route by having their 2nd year QB throw into the teeth of the notorious Ravens defense because they wanted their young QB to have a TD pass in the box score and give him some confidence.
If not, why throw it in that situation? Because hours of film study revealed that the Ravens' Achilles heel on the goal line is their pass defense? Ed Reed's 108 yard NFL record-breaking interception return broke his own record of 106 yards! It's not like Reed hadn't done this before.
The worse play the Eagles could have chosen was a play-action with a deep throw to the back of the end zone where Reed roams. If you throw at all, why not a slant on a 3-step drop where the ball can be thrown low? Certainly, not anywhere near the most dangerous safety in football.
To throw to the back of the end zone was courting disaster.
Yet it was done because they wanted Kevin Kolb to succeed at the expense of what was in the best interest of the team.
First Published: Nov 25, 2008 6:23 AM EST
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