Donnie SUCKS
Thursday, August 29
Aikman, others critical of McNabb's outings
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By Sal Paolantonio
ESPN.com
PHILADELPHIA -- It was the second quarter of last Friday's preseason game between the Eagles and the Ravens, a snore-fest played in front of half-empty Veterans Stadium, and the most compelling moment of the evening came when these words tumbled out of the mouth of Fox game analyst Troy Aikman: "Donovan (McNabb) at times is one of the least accurate passers I've ever seen," said Aikman. "And I know at times it drives Andy Reid crazy."
With those two sentences, Aikman ignited a loud, passionate week-long debate on TV and radio talk shows, the Internet and at the Eagles Novacare practice facility.
Even McNabb, who rarely cares and never reacts specifically to anything said about him, could not resist getting into the act.
McNabb intends to keep going upward as the Eagles chase title hopes.
"It's always something, when he comes up," said McNabb, using the derisive pronoun "he" to refer to Aikman. " 'I'm not accurate. I'm not running as much as I used to. I don't look comfortable back there.' I'm just going out there and playing my game and compete and improve."
McNabb, who accounted for 75 percent of the Eagles offense last year, said that on Monday. By Tuesday, Aikman was interviewed by the Eagles Web site, no doubt at the behest of the Eagles public relations department. The next morning, Aikman was a featured guest on the area's most popular radio sports talk show.
He praised McNabb's overall ability, but Aikman refused to back down on his main point -- that in the short passing game, the bread-and-butter of the West Coast offense, McNabb is not consistently accurate enough.
Local columnists chimed in, one calling Aikman's complaints "nit-picking." Ex-Giants quarterback Dave Brown, appearing on local TV, said the same thing about Aikman's analysis. (Memo to Dave Brown: Troy Aikman has three Super Bowl rings -- three more than you.)
The truth is that Aikman -- the ex-Cowboys quarterback who is a poster child for the Philly boo-birds -- hit a raw nerve in this town. And there is a simple reason why. In the preseason, the Eagles' first team offense has been plagued by poor execution, dropped balls, missed opportunities, and almost no production. After two preseason games, head coach Andy Reid -- who rarely offers a negative comment about his team -- said: "We still have time in training camp to fix things. And they will be fixed."
But in the third preseason game, last Friday night's 13-12 loss to the retooling Ravens, the Eagles' first team offense was 0-6 on third down conversions and failed to find the end zone. In fact, in three preseason games, the first team offense did not score a touchdown against their opponents' first team defense. Against the Packers' second team D, they scored one running TD, meaning that McNabb has no touchdown passes in this preseason.
The argument from the Eagles is this: the preseason offense has been vanilla. There has been no game planning for the opposition and no red-zone package was installed prior to any game.
Of course, that logic doesn't wash. Why use the preseason to evaluate every other position on the field except the offense? And why, after the loss to Baltimore, did the Eagles feel compelled to finally sign free agent wide receiver Antonio Freeman, install him as the third wide receiver and, in the process, demote Freddie Mitchell, last year's first-round draft pick?
You don't demote a guy who has been your No. 3 receiver for the last 16 months unless you're unhappy with what you see on the field.
And the rationalization of a vanilla game plan doesn't explain this: On Friday night against Baltimore, McNabb's performance on third down consisted of holding onto the ball too long even though two receivers were wide open; throwing the ball over wide receiver Todd Pinkston's head; a sack; a completion to running back Dorsey Levens that resulted in a one-yard loss; an overthrow to Mitchell; and a pass that hit tight end Chad Lewis on the shoe tops, incomplete.
Then, in the two-minute drill at the end of the first half, McNabb found Pinkston on a crossing route that looked like a potential home run. Pinkston was running free and, with his speed, might have scored. But the ball was thrown too high and behind Pinkston. He had to stop to catch it and was tackled immediately.
But that still doesn't explain why this preseason performance caused such a caustic debate.
“ I'm ready. I played enough in the preseason. It's good for the other guys to play this one. We do so much in practice. That's sometimes more important than what we do in the games. We put our stuff in at practice. ”
— QB Donovan McNabb
Well, for one thing, Aikman spoke up. His credentials speak for themselves. He was one of the most accurate passers of the last 25 years.
Secondly, prior to the preseason, Reid announced this was to be McNabb's real breakout season. Historically in the West Coast offense, Reid said, something really clicks in Year 4. Reid said he watched it happen to Brett Favre in Green Bay, and he expected to see that from McNabb, who was drafted in the first round four years ago by Reid.
In addition, prior to the summer, a number of prognosticators had the Eagles going to the Super Bowl. Street & Smith's, in fact, predicted Philadelphia would beat Pittsburgh in San Diego to claim the Lombardi Trophy.
So, the stark contrast between what was said before training camp and what the Eagles showed in the preseason games is what really created the nervousness -- especially considering that this preseason's offensive performance was a carbon copy of last year's regular season.
Last year, the Eagles offense converted just 30 percent of its third downs -- that ranked 29th in the league. Only Carolina and Arizona were worse. And in the first and third quarters, where the Eagles offense was less a function of McNabb's improvisational running ability and more Reid's scripted passing game, had a tough time scoring points. Philadelphia scored just 58 points in the first quarter -- 8th among the 12 playoff teams last year; and only 40 points in the third quarter -- 11th among the 12 playoff teams.
It was the Eagles defense that usually bailed out the team. They gave up only 208 points last year, second best in the league. In fact, the Eagles "D" gave up seven points or less in the first half nine times; they won eight of those games. Otherwise, they were 5-5.
So, which offense will show up? The suspense is killing this town. And everybody will have to wait. Reid has decided to sit McNabb in the final preseason game Friday night against the Jets at the Meadowlands.
"I'm ready. I played enough in the preseason," said McNabb, who has led the Eagles to back-to-back 11-win seasons and last year's NFC championship game. "It's good for the other guys to play this one. We do so much in practice. That's sometimes more important than what we do in the games. We put our stuff in at practice. Things that we don't show in the preseason games, but plays that we are going to use during the season."
McNabb's absence on Friday night means he won't be in a game with his new receiver, Freeman, until the Eagles meet the Titans in Tennessee in the season opener on Sept. 8. Not to worry says No. 5.
"A lot of teams don't practice like we do," he said. "We're out there playing (scrimmages) every day, right from the start."
McNabb has felt this preseason of discontent in Philadelphia and knows the hunger for a trip to the Super Bowl is all consuming.
"The anticipation, the expectations we can't worry about that, high or low," McNabb said. "When they're high, like they are, you don't want to get caught up in all of that. That's how you get in trouble. When they're low, you just have to believe in yourself and the rest of the guys in this locker room. Right now the confidence level in here is very high. We're all ready to go."
Sal Paolantonio covers the NFL for ESPN. |
