Remember that movie? It was about the aftermath of a nuclear war. There was carnage all over the place. People were dead, or dying. Families were torn apart. The air, water, and soil were all toxic. There was endless suffering and misery.
Man I wished Philadelphia looked that good today.
Big Red benched Donnie and you'd have thunk he executed him at midfield with a flying dragon kick. Okay, the thought of Reid doing a flying dragon kick is a bit silly (and opposes several of Newton's laws). Anyway, this was seen as the last act of a desperate man. Well, to steal from Blazing Saddles, I don't care if it was the third act of Henry V. It was the right move.
I think.
A co-worker handed me a fortune cookie today. The message: Your help will be needed in an embarrassing situation.
Oh my. Is this an omen in regard to me writing an article for PE.com explaining the wisdom of the benching? Is it random luck? Do I have another embarrassing situation to cover up? I remembered to wear both pants and underwear to work, so that isn't a concern.
I still stick with my original thought. Benching McNabb was the way to go. I re-watched the game last night and some this morning. Donnie's body language was terrible. He looked very unsure of himself. He didn't play with any sense of conviction. This isn't lack of focus or effort. This is about being afraid to make a mistake. And you know what that leads to...more mistakes.
He who hesitates is lost. My mom told me that countless times when I was growing up. McNabb was very hesitant against the Ravens. He was tentative.
That has to change on Thursday. He needs to go out and play aggressively. Take chances. Just do so at 100 mph.
I'm still a Donovan McNabb fan. I don't know what his future is, but there are no guarantees beyond the next 5 weeks. I want him to do well. I don't want him to ride into the sunset of his Eagles career in a crappy blue '87 Ford Escort (what I drove in high school). I want him to have success.
I can't cheer against the team while we're still technically alive for the playoffs, but the best thing might be to lose most of the remaining games and have a chance to add an impact player in the Draft. Of course what I want or who I cheer for maybe moot points. We play two division leaders and two possible playoff teams. We might be in for a long last 5 weeks of the year.
The Eagles are never boring, that's for sure.
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3 comments:
Are you talking about the 2nd quarter in reference to McNabb? Or are you stating he was poop for all of the half?
My stream wasn't great, but at its best in quarter 1. I was able to watch our only drive of note which ended in the forced fumble/interception (whichever of the 2 it ended up being), and McNabb was 6 of 7 (at that point) and we looked pretty good. I thought he looked pretty good. We had also ran the ball 6 times up to that point, including 3 straight running plays!!! Wasn't our 3rd conversion rate at that point also good?
Whether it was the physical knock to Buck or just a return to the Bengals gameplan, we abandoned any commitment to the run thereafter. That is, the arbitrary rushing attempt on the first down after the change of possession. Followed by 2 passing attempts.
Our RB backs got 2 carries on 2nd downs in the entire game. How many did they have last week? They had one second down rushing attempt in the Giants game (and at the most inadvisable time). Let's not even bring up the possibility of rushing on 3rd down!
Was Donnie looking and feeling downbeat? I'll take your word for it, but then he probably felt like Joey of the Wanderers facing the Clinton Stitch and the Dale Bombers when they were on top and knew what was coming.
Any comments on the play calling?
I know you have referenced MM's history in SF suggesting he believes in balance. The fact is we ran the ball more before his arrival, found and made better use of RBs including #28, who wasn't as rounded a player back then. He made some dumb decisions in Detroit and hardly covered himself in glory. I'm not sure he and AR are good for each other.
Firstly, MM doesn't seem to be able to keep AR honest in the running game; secondly, his offense though high powered, is gimmicky, inconsistent and either too hard to pick up by RBs or requires RBs of the caliber of Westy and nothing less; and finally, as his Detroit history suggests, he isn't going to help AR overcome his brain farts.
IMO AR, was at his best when surrounded by successful disciplined coaches, up to 03/04 I don't think any coach had won as many challenges as Andy, not so now.
TSOP
A lot of your questions will be answered when I post the Game Review.
The running game / Marty is an interesting and complex issue. I need to do some research on a couple of things. I'll get back to you on this.
What did you think about Donovan yawning it up on the sidelines? I thought it was a curious reaction to the benching.
I'm shocked you think the Eagles won't win the superbowl. I'm personally gearing up for our late season run against a gauntlet of postseason contenders! We're going to rely on our punishing ground game and clutch play to sneak into the wildcard, and then pull a Steelers/Giants and go on the road all the way baby!
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