Posted on 02/08/2005 8:30:44 PM PST by bikepacker67
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Patriots knew Donovan McNabb couldn't beat them with his arm in Super Bowl XXXIX. But they did suspect McNabb could beat his own team with it.
He complied.
Sunday night, McNabb cobbled together a mishmash of inaccuracy, indecisiveness, inconsistency and ineptitude. If he merely played OK, the Eagles might have pulled the upset over the Patriots. But OK was too tall an order.
The statistics tell a tale of a valiant effort by the Philadelphia quarterback -- 30-for-51 for 357 yards with three touchdowns. But the three picks he threw -- one to Tedy Bruschi during crunch time, another horrendous underthrow into double coverage at the goal line that Rodney Harrison snared, and the final one that brought a merciful end to a laughable excuse for a two-minute drive -- undid the good. He also took four sacks and forced his receivers to make spectacular catch after spectacular catch for what were often minimal gains.
The number of accurate throws McNabb made -- completions that his receivers could turn into yards after the catch -- could be counted on one hand.
He had a third-and-8 dart to Todd Pinkston for 17 yards. His touchdown throw to L.J. Smith was terrific. And the
30-yard touchdown to Greg Lewis was perfect. And what? A few throws on the Eagles third-quarter scoring drive that the Patriots were conceding along the sidelines.
Perhaps some would mention his second touchdown throw of the day, a back-pedaling, seeing-eye floater to Brian Westbrook that barely eluded the hands of both Dexter Reid and Mike Vrabel. Bad decision, but good result.
"As good a game as he played, there were some throws that we thought were underthrown or overthrown," Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said diplomatically. "That's just good coverage, good rushing, putting some pressure on him."
The Patriots had the book on McNabb. He'd given it to them last year when he had one of his worst games as a pro, going 18-for-37 for 186 yards with two picks and eight sacks. The only damage McNabb did that day was with his feet so the Patriots decided to take that option away. They would blitz. But the blitzes would be controlled, not reckless. And they wouldn't lose containment on the edges. They would sit linebackers like Mike Vrabel and Roman Phifer in zone coverage about 10 yards downfield to disrupt crossing routes and dissuade McNabb from taking off. And while they would have mismatches in man-to-man coverage on the outside, they'd make sure the receivers didn't get behind them and hope McNabb would struggle with his nerves and accuracy.
The Pats would be light against the run, but they felt they had enough skill and speed in the front seven to deal with a quick but smallish outside runner like Brian Westbrook.
"We wanted to keep McNabb from getting out of the pocket, from what we call playing against extended plays where he goes back and runs around and then becomes a double threat in terms of running with it . . . or buying more time in the pocket while the receivers get open," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said yesterday morning. "We wanted to get as much speed and athleticism to rush the passer on the field."
McNabb ran once. He was stopped for no gain.
On the third-quarter scoring drive, when McNabb went 6-for-7 and tied the game at 14, he looked like the quarterback worthy of all the praise he gets. Then the Patriots switched from man to zone and McNabb went 10-for-19 with two picks. He also looked defeated, disinterested . . . dis-something during the fourth quarter. But he definitely didn't look like a quarterback bound for glory.
The dispassion and utter lack of urgency Philadelphia showed in the final minutes of the fourth quarter lands at McNabb's feet, as well. It's on him to get his offense in and out of the huddle with precision. If the sideline's not calling the plays in quickly enough, he has to make sure they do. Or take over.
And when there's 48 seconds left in the game and you're at your own 4-yard line, you don't wander around the end zone, then throw for a 1-yard gain in the middle of the field as McNabb did. Or throw a bouncing pass behind Terrell Owens on second down after chewing up 26 precious seconds.
"I bet you everyone was on the edge of their seats when we went back out there with 50-some seconds left," said McNabb.
Maybe if it was Jake Delhomme. Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games. McNabb came up tiny.
But Owens -- the guy a lot of people loved to hate -- was brilliant. If there was an MVP runner-up, it would have been him. But McNabb wasted Owens' performance -- and a fairly decent performance by the Eagles defense.
Donovan McNabb gagged on Sunday. Just as he gagged last year in the NFC Championship Game against Carolina.
"As the quarterback, you want to make sure you take care of the ball," McNabb said, stating the obvious that he must have forgotten during the biggest game of his life. "Turnovers kill you. They hurt us today.
"We got so close today, but you'll be writing about us sooner or later" as Super Bowl champions, he predicted.
Bet on it being later.
I'm no Mc NAbb fan, but over rated he is not. The guy is easily in the top three QBs in the league. Ask any fantasy league player.
One of the Boston radio stations this morning was saying that the Eagles were out partying the night before the game and that this might have been the reason that some of the players were getting dehydrated (including McNabb) and just run down in general. The whole team sure looked tired out on those last couple of drives.
No he wasn't! Read your link. He did the same thing in 2002 in the same stadium, in the same situation (3 pts behind)!
I'm no Mc NAbb fan, but over rated he is not. The guy is easily in the top three QBs in the league. Ask any fantasy league player.
I disagree but to each his own I guess. Until he and Manning can show me they can win the big ones, to win when it counts, I will go with the Bradys and the Montana's of the world.
For all McNabb's "ineptitude," the Eagles lost to the best team in football by a whopping three points.
The McNabb haters are really getting pathetic.
True, the first place loser, ahead of all others.
Do you see any pattern there?
No he wasn't. He was apparently "exhausted" and couldn't keep his nerve. He was just fine and dandy AFTER the game.
Yeah, and that's what the Eagles were telling themselves in the last two minutes of the game.
"Hey guys, we're only three points out. It's Miller time!!!"
They looked so bad at the end I told my friends that McNabb thought he still had a whole 'nother quarter left to go.
I'm with you on that one...
Uh... there is one. It's called "preview".
I propose that the reason the Eagles were in that predicament was that they had their running game stuffed and became one dimensional. It was easier to force Mcnabb into mistakes.
However, Tom Brady under those same circumstances does not make mistakes.
I am a huge Eagles fan, but I find all this stuff about McNabb very disconcerting. I wonder if he has the killer instinct needed to lead a team to the promised land.
Regards,
LH
/sarcasm.
From this rant you would think that the Patriots stomped a mud hole in the Eagles and then stomped it dry. The fact is that this was a game that could have gone either way from start to finish- a rarity among Super Bowl Games.
Neither McNabb or the Eagles have any reason to feel anyway but proud. One team always has to lose. This year it was the Eagles turn, but they weren't blown away.
It's easy to sit on our dead asses without investing our pound of flesh, watch the tube or stand on the sidelines saying, he coulda, he shoulda.
The Eagles played the Pats as well as any of the AFC playoff teams.
Exactly. Their loss was disappointing to their fans, but the score wasn't bad, especially considering the Patriots had been in the SB before; they'd already had that experience of playing the SB and winning it.
Philly has nothing to be ashamed about.
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