Posted on 02/07/2005 8:48:24 AM PST by gopwinsin04
It looked like Donovan McNabb saved his jitters for the Super Bowl. McNabb spent the week telling jokes, being loose and insisting that he felt no pressure leading the Philidelphia Eagles versus the New England Patriots.
But the five time pro bowl QB had a shaky performance in the most important game of his career Sunday, a 24-21 loss to the Patriots. McNabb turned the ball over three times, including crucial interceptions in the first and fourth quarters.
McNabb misfired on several passes early, held the ball too long in other instance and made several poor decisions. One of the best scramblers in the National Football League, McNabb had zero yards rushing on just one carry.
McNabb rebounded from his rough start with a strong second quarter, finally leading the Eagles into the end zone after sqandering several scoring opportunities. But he made a critical error midway through the 4th quarter right after the Pats took at 24-14 lead.
After he connected with Terell Owens on a 36 yard pass, McNabb badly underthrew his reciever Smith on the next play and was intercepted by linebacker Tedy Bruschi.
McNabb had the best season of his six year career, leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl for the first time in 24 years after three consecutive losses in the NFC title game. But McNabb couldn't deliver the Eagles first championship since 1960.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Oh please.
I hate pandering to blacks more than arguably anyone on this forum but all this McNabb crap is enough already.
The Eagles would not have gotten there if he weren't decent enough.
I feel sorry for the guy. He gets his team to the big game and they lost barely against a team that was far better in almost every way measurable.
We all know most sports talking heads are the most liberal and race pandering fools around but why must folks drone on and on. McNabb is not the black messiah of quarterbacks. That was Warren Moon.
Rush should have shown better tact when he shot off his mouth on this before. McNabb has had to live that down forever.
Now why the media gives a pass to black( and some "cornfed") thuggery in sports is one aspect of this sort of stuff I WOULD like to see harped on. It has ruined a good bit of it for old farts like me but McNabb has been beat up enough.
This is why I watch so little of this overhyped junk since the late 70s. I did see the last bit and I respect that player who played hurt...forgot his name....so many sissies now....they used to always play hurt. Inject cortisone or carisprodial and lidocaine and play that game!
Damn...the good ol days.
Is Paul Horning still alive? Anyone remember the size of Namath's knees when he played....those were heroes....real hombres with huges stones.
You thinks right. I cannot type so I am trying to multi-task by typing and conjugating a thought at the same time. It hurts.
Isn't that the coaches's perogative at the two minute drill. The commentators were asking aloud why the coach did not use the time more wisely...not McNabb.
Talk about mixed emotions for Philly fan...
Give some credit to the 49er's offensive line! Montana had enough time to give interviews and sign autographs while in the pocket.
Not most of it. But he can be blamed for at least two interceptions and the absolute pathetic, gutless performance he put on when his team got the ball back with 55 seconds left and 94 yards to go.
He looked like a man who was beaten and didn't give a crap what happened next. He could have at the very least taken 2 or 3 shots down field hoping to get a defensive pass interference flag courtesy of the Pats. They have been willing to oblige opponents in that regard in the past. But what he did at the end of the game sealed his team's fate and the blame rests squarely on his shoulders. He did not look like a leader at all.
This isn't just about considered a "winner" - its about being considered "great". McNabb, to this point in his career, has been overrated. Remember that lots of mediocre QBs have brought their teams to the superbowl - Dilfer, Collins, Rippien, Reich, Chandler, etc.
Guys like Marino and Elway (until Terrel Davis) that really couldn't ever get over the hump put up some gaudy passing numbers throughout their career - McNabb hasn't until this year.
I think a lot would have. IMHO
At the very least McNabb should have called two plays in the huddle to get one more play in
True, but it wasn't the Pats' D that was causing the Iggles to burn off the better part of two minutes going less than 30 yards at the end of the game. Peyton Manning would have at least run 2-3 plays per 30 sec. It was as bad clock management as I've ever seen, anywhere, and much of the blame MUST go to McNabbit.
You nailed it.
And Reid, it looks like he didn't even practice the two minute offense the entire two weeks.
Agreed. And that's true for the entire team. Sports writers love players who do outrageous things and talk trash, 'cause it makes great copy. But the Pats, and Brady in particular, are well-behaved and ...nice. Brady had a guest role on "The Simpsons" last night, where they sort of made fun of his nice guy image.
Yup! Pat Patriot was his name. Some say he still lives on.
Point taken, but the poster I was responding to had Joe Namath in his list of three quarterbacks to compare against McNabb. I wouldn't consider Namath "great". He wasn't even "very good", save for a couple of seasons. He had the famous Super Bowl guarantee and win, though. That led me to believe the prior poster was placing his emphasis on "winning", not being "great". Hence my comment in response to him about Elway.
Rush's choice to publicly air out those comments was in fact stupid. His comments, however, were not. McNabb was overrated his first few years due to his being black. Randal Cunningham was as well.
BTW, it works both ways. Jason Sehorn was definitely overrated - he was the only white cornerback in the league and the press wanted him to be great.
Somebody sure blew it. That was the game, lack of clock management by the Eagles in the last five minutes.
Manning puts up unbelievable numbers every year - McNabb does not. How many pro-bowlers do the Eagles have compared to the Colts?
The Pats D just never let's the opposing team get out of the gates. They are also very well coached and are masters at disguising their defensive coverage. No quarterback looks good against that D - you simply cannot figure out the coverage scheme even when the play is underway. Rodney Harrison made that first interception and was a good 20 yards from the ball when it was thrown. There was a lot of air under the ball, but he still came from nowhere to pick it off.
Sorry, McNabb is one of the key resaons the Eagles lost, if not the biggest reason.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.