It is the NFL offseason in Philadelphia after the Eagles got slammed by the Cowboys on Saturday, which can only mean one thing: Eagles fans calling for Donovan McNabb’s head. You can hear it on Philadelphia talk radio (note: I have not listened to it today, but that’s what’s happening, trust me) and you can read about it on any number of Eagles’ blogs, including our own, excellent Bleeding Green Nation, where reaction is more evenly split than most places, but still skewed away from McNabb.
Step Aside Haters: Reid Says McNabb Will Return Next Season
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↵The arguments being made against McNabb more or less boil down to the following:
↵↵He can’t win the big one, because he is a choker and does not have leadership skills. He’s had his chance to win the big one and blown it every time. He can’t complete short passes and holds the ball too long. He cannot lead and chokes in big games. Remember that time he threw up in the Super Bowl? He is a choker and will never win the big one.
↵↵Ok, so some opinions are more well reasoned than that (he does, in fact throw the ball into the ground often and does tend to hold on to the ball), but you get the idea: most of the negative reaction centers on the intangible things that you cannot measure because they are not real (H/T SBNation.com Senior Editor Chris Mottram). In the things you can measure, McNabb has been a franchise player, one of the greatest players in Eagles history (a franchise that hasn’t won a Super Bowl with any quarterback) and one of the top 5 or 10 quarterbacks of his generation.
↵Apparently, Andy Reid is sensible enough (at this point at least) to see that, as he announced today that McNabb would return as the starter for the Eagles next year. Will Donovan McNabb win a Super Bowl in Philadelphia? Maybe not. In fact, as he only has one year left on his contract and only one team wins the Super Bowl every year, the odds probably aren’t in his favor at this point. But, he did just turn in one of his best statistical seasons ever and certainly gives the Eagles the best chance to win next year. That counts for something, right?
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