McNabb under appreciated?

[MDFAN]

He's too good for this town

POSTED: January 15, 2010 By Frank Ward
Sadly, producing the best era in Eagles football this side of the late '40s isn't enough. The exhilaration of winning playoff games and an NFC Championship means nothing. The hugs and high fives we shared over the last 10 years are apparently irrelevant.
Donovan McNabb has been underappreciated since he was booed on draft day in 1999 by 610 WIP ringleader Angelo Cataldi and 30 of his closest friends. Ten years later, and just minutes after another disappointing playoff exit, the consensus was that McNabb must be on the first plane to Cleveland.

And you know what? It is time for the best quarterback the Eagles have ever seen to fly the coop. If he dons another NFL uniform next year, maybe, just maybe, Eagle Nation can finally appreciate what it hasn't for a decade.

Even after 91 regular-season wins, seven playoff appearances, five NFC Championship appearances, and a Super Bowl game, McNabb rarely gets credit for the success of a franchise that had been to only one Super Bowl prior to his arrival. The blame, however, is always at his doorstep.

Sometimes it is deserved. He's had Sundays when he's as accurate as a fan in the men's room after a few too many adult beverages. But find me a quarterback who never had a bad game or two a season. Brady has. Manning has. Roethlisberger has.

The way McNabb gets ripped by fans and on talk radio, you'd think he was Bubby Brister. He may not have a ring yet, but he still represents our best chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
That's not good enough for McNabb because people dislike his "personality." They want change for change's sake.

Who would replace him? Kevin Kolb? Michael Vick? If you think those options are better, I hope you're in my next fantasy football league.

Vick's best completion percentage in a season (56.4 in 2004) is lower than McNabb's worst (57 in 2006). And Kolb could very well be the next Ty Detmer or Rodney Peete, who took the Eagles to the playoffs under Ray Rhodes but went nowhere near an NFC title game, let alone a Super Bowl.

Let Donnie Mac lead the Browns or Niners next year. Watch him resurrect their respectability while our Eagles do no better than this year or, more likely, a bit worse. Maybe that's what we need to finally appreciate that we've been watching a potential Hall of Fame quarterback for a decade. Only in Philadelphia does a superstar need to leave town to be appreciated.

Just look at the love fest that greeted Allen Iverson's return from exile. Trade McNabb now so he can get the standing ovation he deserves when he returns to be inducted into the Eagles Honor Roll. It's the only way to preserve the legacy of the greatest quarterback in Eagles history.

[sfphillyfan]

This guy seriously invoked the dirty 30 and expects to be taken seriously?

Also, how dare he compare Iverson to McNabb. Iverson, for all his faults, is the anti-McNabb from a fan perspective. That's why he got a standing ovation on his return to Philly.

"Who would replace him? Kevin Kolb? Michael Vick? If you think those options are better, I hope you're in my next fantasy football league."

Yeah ok tough guy. It's easy to write that Kevin Kolb is not a better option when he hasn't even played a full season. If Kolb is lights outs and delivers a SB (not saying he will), will this dimwit admit he is wrong? Bleh. This dude sucks. I'm a terrible columnist and I could out write this guy.

[j-bird]

I've always liked McNabb,think he's a really good QB,is a "standup" guy in the community,etc,but think it is both parties best interest to part company.He will be the QB in '10 but after that,he's gone.
He's won alot of games in Minight Green but just can't get over the hump when it comes to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
If the FO gets an offer of say a 2nd & 5th rder(same as the Marshall Faulk offer)they would have to seriously consider that scenario.I don't see that happening but if it's Cleveland or San Fran(both high picks)then there's a possibility of shipping McNabb out and keeping Vick & Kolb.In all likelihood McNabb stays one more year,Kolb stays & Vick goes due to the $5mil bonus due in March.
McNabb has been under appreciated in Philly but the fact is,the Fans want a Super Bowl,pure & simpla.So he gets one more shot next year and then he's gone IMO.I'll wish him well and say okay,let the Kevin Kolb era begin.

[MDFAN]

When chronicling McNabbs 10 years here, yeah ,IMO, the dirty thirty is a valid part of the story.

As far as McNabb and AI are concerned I agree not a good comparison, AI has a couple hundred thousand fans, McNabb has millions.

[sfphillyfan]

As far as McNabb and AI are concerned I agree not a good comparison, AI has a couple hundred thousand fans, McNabb has millions.

Hahahha. AI was a global icon who had a higher Q rating around the world than McNabb could ever hope to get. He sold a ton of merchandise around the world. People in Brazil, Japan, Russia know who AI is. You can argue that AI's game has fallen off much more quickly than McNabb but that's an actual sports issue. As far as fans, AI wins hands down.

[MDFAN]

Has nothing to do with world wide appeal, has to do with being appreciated in this city.

No need to get into the minutia, the broad question is has he/is he unappreciated?

[balto-eaglefan]

Bringing up the dirty 30 is fine, though it makes as much sense as resurrecting the "gold standard" catch phrase, and our throwing snowballs at Santa Claus. It's soooo yesterday's news, but people just refuse to stop bringing it up.

Is he appreciated here? By the WIP knuckleheads who think he sucks, obviously not. I mean, he didn't accidentally win more in his career than guys like Boomer Esiason and Warren Moon on accident (I'm going by lifetime win % there). But for Philly's intelligent sports fans, he's probably appreciated just fine. They've got a clear picture of what he's done, what he hasn't done, and whether or not it'd be good for both sides to part ways. I hope the Eagles keep him, but I don't expect it.

If he talks about Philly respectfully after he leaves (i.e. doesn't bash the town like, who, was it Charles Barkley?), and has some sort of presence on the Philly sports scene after he retires, the rest of the fanbase will change its tune about him, just like they did for Jaworski and Mitch Williams. It'll happen. It's too bad that it would've taken this long, but after all, he's an Eagles QB who's still looking for a SB win. What would you expect?

[sfphillyfan]

Oh I didn't realize you had a tri-state area qualification on your quip about AI.

McNabb is underappreciated. So what? Does that mean he shouldn't be traded? On the flip side, Dawkins probably was over-appreciated. But I bet you this guy wanted Dawkins to stay.

To say that McNabb is underappreciated so that we should keep him is completely illogical. The way you have to look at it is, who will do more for the organization in the near future. What move makes the most sense for the Eagles to win a Super Bowl. (Spare me the Super Bowl or Bust argument here. The organization's goal should be winning a SB. Everyone in the organization says this.) If you think McNabb, fine. If you think Kolb, fine. But whether a bunch of fans have kowtowed enough to McNabb is not the issue.

[balto-eaglefan]

This one's not bad, though the title should really be, "To Fix the Eagles, Keep McNabb" or "To Fix the Eagles, Fix Their Lines"

Diner morning news: Don’t blame McNabb
by Michael Lombardi
National Football Post
January 15, 02010


QUOTE: “Everything and everybody is sooner or later identified, defined and put in perspective. The truth as always is simultaneously better and worse than what the popular myth-making has it.” -- William Saroyan

I decided to wait before I wrote about the Eagles because I wanted to let the emotion of their playoff loss to the Cowboys simmer down. As many of you know, I grew up near Philadelphia and consider myself a Philadelphia sports fan, so I understand the emotion and pain, I understand the passion, and I understand that someone has to be blamed for the loss. By waiting to write this column, I was really being self-serving because I didn’t want my email inbox to explode with all the messages from Eagles fans calling me an idiot (FYI, I’ve had my email rigged so that if the word “idiot” appears, it becomes spam).

Now, as often is the case, the person being blamed is not the real problem, just the easiest target. Quarterback Donovan McNabb has been in Philadelphia since 1999, so he’s fully aware of the fans’ passion, and he’s fully aware that he’s the target of their wrath.

The marriage between head coach Andy Reid and McNabb has been successful in terms of winning regular-season games. However, the absence of a Super Bowl victory attached to both men’s resumes places them in the line of fire with the fans. Eleven years together without a title will test any fan’s patience, but in Philadelphia, where the fan base wants more immediate results, the patience has worn extremely thin. So it’s natural to blame McNabb for their recent failure. Yet from my view, the fans are not really lashing out at McNabb; they’re just very tired of waiting for a title. Their patience has been tested. As the Eagles’ brass talks of continuity, their fan base sees this as more of the same. The popular refrain I hear from fans is, “Why, after 11 years, should we believe next year will be different?”

To make it different, the Eagles have to correctly identify the reasons they weren’t able to beat the Cowboys. The fans will blame McNabb because that’s the easiest thing to do, but the core issue, especially against the Cowboys, is that their defensive line can’t match up to the Cowboys. Unless Trent Cole can make a play coming off the edge, the Eagles lose every matchup in the front seven. Mike Patterson, the Eagles defensive tackle, is a nice player, a good player, but he’s not a pass rusher, and his lack of size is a problem when facing Leonard Davis, the Cowboys’ massive right guard. No other player can consistently dominate for the Birds, while the Cowboys have several players who dominate against the Eagles offensive line. The reason for the loss to the ‘Boys lies in both lines, not McNabb. The Cowboys can dominate the line of scrimmage, and their ability to pressure McNabb takes the Eagles offense out of the game. The Eagles are NOT a West Coast offense, they are a down-the-field passing team, and this requires pass protection. It requires time for the quarterback, something McNabb was not given in the games against the ‘Boys.

All year, I had been writing that the Eagles needed to play with a lead, which they did most of the time, finishing third in the NFL in point differential at the half. In the last six games of the regular season, the Birds gave up 24 or more points four times, which is not championship-level defense. Yet even with the lead, there were times when their defense was exposed by not having another rusher, not having a playmaking safety, not having a dominating tackle, not having a consistent middle linebacker and not being able to adjust to the scheme of the offense. Sean McDermott, the Birds’ new defensive coordinator who filled in for the late Jim Johnson, had a good first year, but watching the three Cowboy games closely, the Eagles were one step behind and the ‘Boys never had problems with their blitz schemes. McDermott was learning his craft, and it would be foolish to think he could be as good as Johnson in just one year. This will take time, and few better players.

Back to the McNabb blame game in Philadelphia. It seems the fans want the Eagles to trade him now for a pick and move on to the Kevin Kolb era. Not easy to do, as McNabb’s value would be very high right now, but the lack of years on his contract creates a problem. Many ask if he should be extended, and my answer is that McNabb should not want an extension because the way he’s played, in spite of his age, it might not be acceptable to many Eagles fans -- but it would be welcomed by any team in need of a quarterback. Believe it or not, Eagles fans, McNabb is firmly in the driver seat. He can control trades (wtf??) and he can control how much money he commands, all because of his play and because he has only one year left on his deal. No team will want to trade for their future quarterback without an extension (I'm not sure I get this part), so McNabb would have to sign off on any trade. Today in the NFL, much like the NBA, teams trade for players and contracts. But unlike the NBA, an expiring contract in the NFL does not favor the club -- if the player is still playing well.

So does this mean fans should believe the Eagle when it comes to continuity? My answer would be yes -- as long as Reid takes a hard look at his defense and realizes he needs to add more firepower on that side of the ball. Losing to the Cowboys was painful for Eagles fans, but it allows the organization to know what it will take to get to the next level. It gives them a clearer, more precise path to close the gap. And closing the gap does not involve blaming McNabb, it involves fixing their lines.

Follow me on Twitter: michaelombardi

As for Michael Lombardi, here's his background from their site:

Michael Lombardi, who writes the Diner and Tavern columns for the National Football Post, has more than two decades of experience as an NFL executive. He has worked with a number of the game’s prominent architects, including Bill Walsh, Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan and Marty Schottenheimer. Lombardi headed the Oakland Raiders’ and Cleveland Browns’ personnel departments and also worked with the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. He is a frequent contributor to a number of network TV shows, including the NFL Network and CBS Sports.

[sfphillyfan]

As I've said before, McNabb isn't the sole reason we lost to Dallas. They were better all around than we were. It's not like McNabb threw a pick 6 to end the game.

But when Dallas makes mental mistakes and stupid errors and fails to score in their first two possessions despite driving deep into Eagles territory, your FRANCHISE QB has to step up and make a play or two. He can't go 1 for whatever and 2 yards for the first quarter. The defense needs retooling but McNabb didn't do a single thing to keep us in that Cowboys game.

[balto-eaglefan]

Fair enough, and I completely agree! Did I mention that the title of the article shouldn't be "Don't blame McNabb"? It's not like he was blameless!

I didn't see the game (I was on a damn flight at the time thank God), but I agree, regardless of how much the Dallas D was getting in his grill, you can't have your starting QB not completing a pass until the second quarter! (that's what happened, wasn't it?)

And, I don't think anyone realistically looks at McNabb and sees "franchise QB" like they do for a guy like Manning or Brady. Solid starter, Pro Bowl caliber maybe, but not "franchise QB."

[sfphillyfan]

You really didn't miss much. I picked Dallas to win but when they committed that 10 yard penalty on their first drive (they were at the Eagles 17) I thought "hmmm... maybe this is Dallas self destructing in the playoffs again!"

Then on their second drive, they get to the eagles 31 and get sacked out of FG range. I'm a little more giddy....

But unfortunately, even with those errors, the Eagles managed essentially 2 three and outs.

There was some hope when Maclin scored on that 76 yarder but then the wheels fell off. It was over by halftime.

[Blitz]

Hahahha. AI was a global icon who had a higher Q rating around the world than McNabb could ever hope to get. He sold a ton of merchandise around the world. People in Brazil, Japan, Russia know who AI is. You can argue that AI's game has fallen off much more quickly than McNabb but that's an actual sports issue. As far as fans, AI wins hands down.

It's not about quantity but quality. I mean one Backstreet Boys CD sold over 14 million. That just goes to show the type of crap people will buy.

It's the same thing with Vick. Like AI he is a POS yet his jersey was the #1 seller for a while this past season. Most don't buy jerseys because they like the player, they buy them to look cool or to make some kind of stupid statement.

Lots of kids today don't like the hard working good guy. They like the lazy ass who would rather go and do his business with a gun. Which is the reason why Iverson sold so much stuff.

[sfphillyfan]

I didn't say one group of fans are better than the other. I agree that quality is more important. I just didnt agree with MD's quip that McNabb had more fans.

[BIGPHILLY]

McNabb has been great for the majority of his career. But he is not a superstar. He's a great QB but not a superstar.

When it's time to win it on his own - never happen. He needs a dominating defense to win himself a title. We'll see.

If he leaves - that's fine too. It's been a great ride.