It's Not All McNabb

It's funny, for years there have been Eagles fans who -- depite all the evidence -- would argue that Donovan McNabb wasn't a top five caliber quarterback because of his worm burners, puking or mom.  Now that McNabb truly isn't playing at a top-tier level, those same folks would have you believe that Don has become one of the league's worst QBs, a scattershot, no-mobility shadow of his former self. 

That's just not true.  And while it's clear McNabb is struggling right now (and doesn't appear to have much confidence), he's not having an Adam Eaton type season.  Throw out your preconceived notions for a minute and just look at the stats. 

The strange thing is that we're only two seasons removed from bad quarterbacking in this town.  Remember the Mike McMahon / Koy Detmer experience?  How could anyone forget?

Go back to that list of current NFL quarterbacks.  Name the ones playing better than McNabb right now.  I'll give you the 11 guys in front of him and throw in Derek Anderson.  You'll probably want to take Carson Palmer too, but a 21/17 TD/INT ration is ridiculous for a guy with his experience.  And that's it. 

So McNabb at his worst is playing as the 13th-best QB in the league.  Now think about how many other guys the Eagles have who could claim a similarly high ranking at their position. 

It's not just McNabb.

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Lew Bowen has a really great piece on McNabb in today's Daily News.  It's comprehensive and fair.  Even the McNabb haters will find something to love at the end.

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Finally, I wanted to pass along an email response I got when I was bemoaning the fact that McNabb isn't making things happen like he used to:

He’s definitely playing tight.  But we have to give the guy a break.

1. He’s coming off knee surgery that is just now healing.
2. For the first time since he’s been here he knows his days are numbered.
3. He’s the biggest goat in a city that loves to hate superstars.
4. His receivers are, at best, decent for this league. 
5. He was on his back 12 times in the first game.

I think you were a little to quick to give up on the whole running thing. I mean, they got their asses beat the first time around and this time they barely lost.

That said, they’re still only one really good receiver away from a 10 or 11 win season. Just imagine if he had Plaxico. Defenses couldn’t just key on Westbrook and play man on the receivers.

They’re just not playing with any confidence. It probably started with that very first Packers game they lost.