Thoughts and Feelings now that the loss to Dallas has digested
It has been over 24 hours now since the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Dallas Cowboys. The more time goes by, the harder I am taking this loss. After the game was over, I felt a disappointment just because how it ended. Now, I feel more than disappointment. Its not anger but its definitely something worthy of feeling like I got kicked in the you know what.
With a few minutes left in the game and the Eagles Offense being led onto the field, I had a false sense of hope and promise where I envisioned Donovan McNabb marching the offense down the field as John Elway has done so many times for the Broncos in his career. I could see it right then and there; with McNabb running the 2-minute drill and leading the Eagles to victory over the hated Cowboys and making the 70,000 plus fans go home with their hearts in their hands. It never happened, obviously. Instead, a different Donovan McNabb led the team to failed attempts to bring our team back.
The first three quarters and #5 was his old self. Moving around in the pocket, throwing tight rope passes to his receivers down field, spreading it around with no bias. McNabb was successful during the first three quarters without his two top receivers and with someone that was trying to impersonate franchise Tight End, L.J. Smith. McNabb was the smiling, happy McNabb. The quarterback playing for the Eagles last night during the first three quarters was the same quarterback who lead our beloved team to the Super Bowl just a few years ago.
The fourth quarter was a different story. McNabb looked distant, almost confused at times. The quarterback out there sporting #5 in green had trouble handing off the ball in the most crucial times. He missed a wide open Bryan Westbrook on a huge third down play that might have changed the outcome of the game if the ball was thrown correctly. This quarterback, playing for the Eagles in the fourth quarter against Dallas took sacks that our offense could not afford to let happen.
After the game, McNabb took it like a man and took full responsibility for the cause of the turnover late in the game when he mishandled a simple handoff on a fake reverse. “My bad” with the pat to his chest is what I pictured when hearing him talk after the game. I don’t know what happened to him as I am guessing he was flat out exhausted and ran out of juice. The Eagles loss was not his fault. The defense gave up huge plays at the most inopportune times. LB Stewart Bradley was toasted for a TD reception by RB Marion Barber. Safety Brian Dawkins was out of place at times. Why Safety Sean Considine is on the field is beyond me. Special Teams was almost putrid at times including giving up a touchdown to rookie RB Felix Jones. L.J. Smith disappeared last night. (Can we go back to the draft and take Cowboys TE Jason Witten and let Dallas draft L.J. Smith?). WR Greg Lewis didn’t come up with a sideline pass where it was a catch he had to make. No one with any football understanding can solely pin last night’s loss on McNabb.
McNabb is a good quarterback. It was a moment like last night where he could have showed the national audience that he wants to be a great quarterback. He can make plays that very few others can make. He is greatly appreciated here by this blogger and I will miss him tremendously when his days run out as a member of the Eagles. I just wonder what it will take to get him over the hump and catapult him into the next echelon of quarterbacks.
With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!! EAGLES!!”
