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Less than two months ago, you’ll recall that Donovan McNabb was benched during halftime of an abysmal performance against the Ravens. His time in Philly had come to an end, his relationship with Andy Reid forever destroyed and Kevin Kolb was taking over a dead end team whose season was over.
Of course, that was then, and this is now:
"He is the best quarterback in the NFL," Eagles coach Andy Reid praised his guy. "I don't think I have to say anything more than that."From benched to the NFL’s best QB in six weeks. That’s an amazing transformation McNabb has undergone. And a rather peculiar time for Reid to anoint Donovan the league’s best signal-caller -- better than, oh I don’t know, MVP Peyton Manning -- considering his underwhelming showing in yesterday’s divisional round playoff win over the Giants. In fact, Philly won because Eli Manning managed to play worse than McNabb’s two INT, one safety, 58 passer rating performance. In other words, Philly won thanks to its defense, not because they apparently have the best QB in the league.
Although even if we don’t agree with Reid’s assessment of his QB, it’s certainly difficult to be upset with any player who gets Troy Aikman this angry.
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
11 comments
Comments
the benching of mcnabb shouldnt be looked at as a total indictment of him by the eagles. he is the leader of that team and as such will be held accountable for the success and shortcomings of his teammates. It is like your dad forcing you to watch him spank your brother for something you did. Guess what it worked. that team did a 180 and got on track pretty good after the mcnabb benching and I think reid should be credited with the coaching move of the year for it.
by scurds on Jan 12, 2009 10:24 AM EST reply actions
Oh CMott how you hate Philly. It’s funny. Especially now that we’re winning everything while all your teams blow. Watch out for those Sixers.
by No Mas Large.tsn on Jan 12, 2009 11:02 AM EST reply actions
Wait, so you’d agree that McNabb is the best QB in the NFL, Large? Hating Philly has nothing to do with pointing out the ridiculousness of Reid’s comments.
Also, our team that "blows" beat your team … twice. Granted, that doesn’t mean squat at this point, but just sayin’ …
by cmottram on Jan 12, 2009 11:30 AM EST reply actions
check McNabb’s 4th quarter QB rating (they talked about it on SC) if you’re fixated with ratings.
What was Reid supposed to say? "This guy really bites… I don’t know how we did it, he’s only the 26th best qb in the league."… yea, that’s more of the truth.
The haters are back with vengence… Not even a Eagles fan, but gotta root for McNabb now. Especially since my Jet’s season was over the minute they got Farve.
by QBoroMadThoro on Jan 12, 2009 2:01 PM EST reply actions
No. I’ve been opposed to McNabb for years. When he had his legs, he was devastating. But ever since he lost his mobility, he’s been a B- at best. I thought Jeff Garcia ran the Andy Reid offense better. All you need to run the West Coast effectively is to be able to throw that twelve-yard down-and-out route with precision every time. And DMac – holms can spray that ball around.That said, you know how you roll. You’ll take any chance to hate on Philly you can get. Which is what it is. One love son, cause it’s all in the game. And when you’re winning, and haters are hating, it do make the candy taste twice as sweet.
by No Mas Large.tsn on Jan 12, 2009 2:06 PM EST reply actions
I would made the same post about any of the other three remaining teams had their coach said something equally as stupid.
by cmottram on Jan 12, 2009 2:29 PM EST reply actions
No your problem isn’t the agreeing with the statement or not you refuse to give him ANY credit for the win. Your statement is he played bad but Eli just played worse which is just BS. They had basically 0 run game yesterday. Westbrook didn’t really contribute so everything and I mean everything the offense did was because of Donovan. What did he do on 3rd downs? They were clutch throws but you’re not giving him credit for those big plays. What did he do in the 4th to close out that game? Was it his best game? No. But was it a terrible game? Not unless you didn’t bother watching the game and just are looking at the stats because you know nothing about football other than what some numbers tell you.
As for Garcia…He does not deserve credit for those wins. They vastly changed the game plan going from a past first and second team to a run first team. Westbrook and that O-line deserve the credit for that run because they dominated during that period.
by gibsonplyer on Jan 12, 2009 6:32 PM EST reply actions
That fact that you devoted a column to this is pathetic. Value is relative, not just a QB rating. One question: Had Peyton been drafted by Philly, what would have his career looked. playing outdoors with second and third rate recievers (no one ever gives credit to Peyton’s very talented teammates) getting trashed daily by the press? His numbers would be no where near what they are now. Fact is McNabb is one of the few QBs that could succeed in Philadelphia. So quit trashing McNabb and Reid for a week, you will have plenty of time to jump on the bandwagon next loss.
by GeoX on Jan 13, 2009 1:15 AM EST reply actions
GeoX: This was a blog post, not a column. There’s a difference.
by cmottram on Jan 13, 2009 9:18 AM EST reply actions
Can we get serious here? McNabb wasn’t even the best QB in his division, let alone the entire league. He wasn’t in the top five in any statistical category. Just because the team won doesn’t mean credit should go to him and he can now be called the best QB in the league. That’s ridiculous.
by MichelleMunoz.tsn on Jan 13, 2009 3:59 PM EST reply actions
Mcnabb isn’t the best in the NFL…Ladies and Gentlemen…I give you…Jake Delhomme!
by Dan Barker on Jan 13, 2009 5:15 PM EST reply actions
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