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TwitterIt's Not the Offensive Line
Posted by Derek
Some ideas just won't ever die. Like the idea that the Eagles are somehow cheap, rather than smart, in how they manage the salary cap. (Don't hear many people saying that right now, do ya?) Or the idea that Westbrook isn't an every-down back, even though he finished in the top ten in the league in carries despite missing a game.
Come draft time, the two we tend to hear are: 1) The Eagles need a wide receiver (actually...), and 2) The offensive line is a problem because of how many sacks it allows.
If I worked for the Eagles, I would ...
Fix my offensive line. I know the boo birds will be calling because everyone in the city wants the Eagles to draft a wide receiver. But McNabb was sacked 44 times last season, the second most in his NFL career, and the Eagles allowed 49 sacks overall, ranking 28th in the NFL. What is more alarming about their sacks total is they allowed 19 sacks on first down, ranking 31st in the NFL. And first down is regarded as the optimum down in the NFL to throw and avoid sacks. When you allow that many sacks on first down, there is something wrong with the performance of your offensive linemen. Right now, the Eagles offensive line does not match up well in their division against the stronger defensive lines they play twice a year. And until that gets turned around, it does not matter who plays wide receiver for them.
Look, you all know I'm the biggest McNabb backer on the planet, and I'm even OK with many of the sacks he takes because they come from Don trying to make a big play rather than just throwing the ball away (14 seconds, anyone?), but the fact of the matter is that the Eagles' QB takes a ton of sacks.
Here's an apples-to-apples comparison of the three guys who have most recently played quarterback for this franchise. Note the outlier (click for full-size):
In fact, if you take out the Giants game -- and despite the QB's early limited mobility -- here's how McNabb's 2007 season compared to his career averages:
The Eagles' offensive line may get a little too much credit for the awesomeness that is Brian Westbrook, but they certainly take far too much blame for how often McNabb goes down.
