What's McNabb’s Excuse Now?
By TIMOTHY PARKER
Updated 4:17 PM EST, Thu, Nov 12, 2009
Ground balls are usually associated with the baseball diamond but for Eagles fans grounders have become part of the gridiron.
For legions of Birds fans ground balls could be the lasting images of Donovan McNabb’s hot-and-cold 11-year career in Eagles green.
His latest nap-worthy performance Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys cemented that image once again. Not only did McNabb fire off his patented dirt ball, he missed high, and everywhere else in between.
In years past, fans, media and pundits sort of gave him a free ride because he had guys like James Thrash, Todd Pinkston and Torrance Small were his top wide receivers. Yuck!
Of course, Philadelphia has never really given McNabb a free ride whether it was booing at the draft or complaining on WIP about short yardage misses and big game failures.
The only time McNabb really had his weapon of choice, Terrell Owens, he flourished. No complaints! (Except for a little game called the Super Bowl)
Maybe McNabb’s inaccuracy was to blame on pure ineptitude and lack of talent at wide receiver.
But now, the Eagles have assembled the best receiving core in McNabb’s career -- a multifaceted group of young receivers. DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Brent Celek, and Jason Avant give Philadelphia a passing attack that was unknown to Andy Reid’s Eagles until this year.
It was about time considering that the Eagles throw the football about sixty percent of their plays. Leaving the running game on the shelf requires a quality supply of receivers.
Reid and McNabb finally have those targets. The Eagles offense should be consistently clicking on all cylinders.
Nope, it isn’t. Something must be wrong.
His season, like his career, was up and down so far for D-Mac. In six starts McNabb twice posted impressive 157.2 (Week 5) and 146.7 (Week 8) performances. But, he peppered 66.3 and 61.4 passer ratings in between.
Something always seems to be wrong with this Eagles team -- the king of the flirtatious tease in Philadelphia Sports.
Against the Giants in Week 8, McNabb looked golden, launching the ball where he pleased including the bomb to “Action” Jackson.
Against Dallas, however, No. 5 looked rusty – playing like he did against Oakland and Washington earlier in the year.
He still can put incredible touch on deep passes, but after more than a decade at an all-pro level, he still has issues throwing the underneath route with accuracy.
The Cowboys surrendered the underneath attempts all night long. They would not let the Eagles beat them deep. Yet, McNabb put another chapter in his puzzling career by showing a bizarre inability to complete short, in-between passes.
McNabb also gave away two interceptions. But he wasn’t totally to blame -- Maclin coughed up one on a nice zipped pass by D-Mac.
McNabb’s woes played over repeatedly as he stumbled to a 16-for-30, 227-yard performance under the lights at the Linc.
McNabb also gave away two interceptions. But he wasn’t totally to blame -- Maclin coughed up one on a nice zipped pass by D-Mac.
So it begs to be asked.
He has the weapons and is surrounded by talent, so, what’s the excuse now?
First Published: Nov 11, 2009 8:36 AM EST
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