Plan A or Plan B?

It's fair to suggest that no one foresaw Donovan's struggles in the first two games.  He looked fine -- if a bit statuesque -- in the preseason.  He's come back from major injuries before without much problem -- notably, just last year.  And he's a veteran guy who no one suspected would need this long to regain his timing.

All of this makes the failure to adjust the gameplan in the first two weeks to match the current McNabb reality at least understandable.  What's a little harder to understand is why there was no Plan B.  Basically they carved out 'X' percent of the offense for Brian Westbrook, then handed the rest to McNabb and said "make it happen."  When he couldn't, they had nothing to fall back on.

Unless somethiing strange happened overnight, Westbrook will play today, but he may not be full speed and even if he is, one uncertain step could sideline him immediately.  This is a very dangerous game for the Eagles, against a fired up young team with a veteran quarterback and a dangerous passing attack.  I still can't see them making the playoffs with that defense, but there are better teams to be facing right now.

All of which is to say, the coaches better damn well have a Plan B in place in case McNabb starts off slowly again. 

Of course, if you accept the analysis so far, your next question might be, why bother making it a Plan B at all?  McNabb hasn't looked great so far and this is a must-win game, so we shouldn't be waiting around to see how everything plays out. 

Against most opponents, I'd be inclined to agree.  It's well past time to diversify the running game by getting Buckhalter and Hunt more involved, especially down in the red zone.  But in the Lions you're looking at a team that allowed opponents to complete more than 66 percent of their passes last season.  And this year, despite playing Oakland and Minnesota, the Lions are still mediocre to poor in all the league's passing defense stats.

So I think you have to come out firing.  Lord knows a little balance would be great, but you know Detroit will be looking to take advantage of our banged up secondary.  The Eagles should try to return the favor.

And if it doesn't work?  Well then, I imagine Tony Hunt is probably pretty pissed at the state of Michigan right about now anyway... 

Comments

[whoismariowilliams]

What about the line, too? I mean, the QB they've blocked for the last several years has been one who can move in the pocket to buy enough time for receivers to break open. He's obviously a little slower this year and they're having to form a more perfect pocket on almost every snap. Why not let them fire off the ball and hit some people?