The All-American Quarterback Model
Philadelphia Inquirer Sports Columnist Bob Ford writes about the Eagles, the Phillies, the Sixers and the Flyers.
The All-American Quarterback Model
Bob Ford, Inquirer Sports Columnist
And, no, it probably isn't Donovan McNabb, when you get down to it. But McNabb is neither as good as his worshipful legions would suggest nor as bad as his detractors insist.
Everyone else has had a swing, so you can read, judge and react to my take on McNabb/Super Bowl Failure/Last-Minute Drives/And So On in Friday's editions of the Inquirer and online at Philly.com.
Doing the research I came across some interesting things about other quarterbacks and their Super Bowl histories. It's true that nine Super Bowl MVPs are quarterbacks who went on to make the Hall of Fame (Starr, Namath, Dawson, Staubach, Bradshaw, Montana, Aikman, Young, Elway), but this list was also the SB MVP: Jim Plunkett, Phil Simms, Doug Williams, Mark Rypien.
Overall -- not just on that one day, because Simms and Williams had career days in the Super Bowl -- would you take any of those four over McNabb? I wouldn't. But they not only won the SB, but were considered Most Valuable. That is the line missing from McNabb's resume, and, until he fixes it, that is all that matters.
How often does a Super Bowl win require a last-minute drive? Only nine Super Bowls in the last 25 years were decided by seven points or less, but six of those occasions came in the last 10 years. So, perhaps as a result of greater parity, the games are getting closer and teams are within a late drive of becoming champions. It happend that way for the Giants last year, obviously, and both Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger were up to the challenge this past Sunday.
Guys who didn't get it done late in games, along with McNabb, include Jim Kelly (1991) and Brett Favre (1998). Kelly got the Bills close enough for the 47-yard field goal that Scott Norwood famously missed, but McNabb would have been ripped for not moving the ball further.
Jim Kelly and Brett Favre. That's not terrible company. Better than Jim Plunkett and Mark Rypien. Right?
lonelyidiot, you don't even know who Jim Plunkett is. What a clown.— EL Zorro- Lonelyidiot, if you stay quiet nobody will know you are that ignorant.— EL Zorro
- did Brady choke against Eli? I use him since he is the standard all QBs are measured. No matter the cheating, luck, poor calls, solid defense and clutch kick after kick. Also Mcnabb is no doubt the top QB in the NFC East and one of the best in the league. Those other QBs can't function without Pro Bowl type WRs. It is the norm for Mcnabb yet he still wins. Philly is a joke of an organization that has never won anything. Mcnabb brought respectability to a loser organization— mongoS
- It is amazing how this witch hunt by these local Philly media people seems just set on putting Mcnabb in his place. How dare this black guy and National media regard this winner as a top NFL QB. Keep this guy in his place is the objective here.— mongoS
- Sorry, I'd take McNabb over Eli any day. Their running game and defense won the Championship. How good did Eli look without Burress? He can't even through the ball in a 15 mph wind. Bill - look at the clowns McNabb has had to play with at WR. He has had one good WR - and that was the year we made it to the Super Bowl. The only real playmaker on this team is BWest - who was banged up all year. If McNabb had Fitsgerald and Boldin, instead of G Lewis and Basket, it would have been an all-Philly SB.— dankil13
- El Zorro What is so scary about pointing out winning is in the details, stable management and sticking to core concepts? Winning organizations and individual athletes share all of these? I do agree with your posts in general.— billgfc
Comment removed.- Bill1966, Calling Curtis a good wr is simply not fair to all the legit NFL wrs out there. Also your vision is about as bad as Kevin Curtis hands. You must not have seen the play that eneded the season where the ball hit him on the hands. You also must have missed the wk before where the ball hit him in stride on the facemask. Good WR my you know what..— mongoS
- You idiots that say McNabb is a product of the system are the same ones who bash Reid!!! So, if McNabb is a product of the system then, I guess your saying Reid is a good coach!!! Make up your minds!! This is ridiculous!!! They need to just make better personnel decisions bottom line, and get rid of the dead weight like Reggie Brown & Winston Justice you can either play or you can't and if you can't see you later!!! They have 3 good WRs Curtis, Jackson and Avant. They could use a big fast WR that can catch but our WRs aren't that bad. Our lack of a running game exposes our WRs weaknesses. The Pats won SBs with just ok WRs and they lost one with Moss, WE lost one with T.O. so you tell me???? Draft a stud RB to compliment 36 West. p.s. We need a DE,FB, and FS too!!!! Thanks— fly4philly
- I think that's a pretty solid assessment Bob. Great article. I too would take McNabb over those other MVPs, though he is not in the same category as some of the others. I think he has been at least a very solid starter, and one title will completely change the way the world looks at him. I mean, look at Eli. He went from Peyton's not nearly as talented brother to a great quarterback? Whatever. Maybe Eli is a decent starter, but I would take McNabb over him in a heartbeat.— VicFromLA
- Comment removed.
- mongoS.....I happen to agree with Bill1966 and I would have to say he means the passes are inaccurate on a consistent basis. Try looking at the previous three plays before the Curtis pass that you mention, which makes 1 out of 4 passes accurate. Not very good for the NFL. Personally, when watching the game, I wanted Reid to run a draw play to Westbrook on 1st down to take it to the two minute warning and have a chance to kill time and re-group. Instead of a calming two minute warning, they had to hope for divine intervention from the ref. Blame goes to the highest paid players and coaches, no matter whose fault it actually happens to be. Why aren't you McNabb lovers complaining when he gets all the credit during the wins?? Oh, that's right you want it both ways, just like your boy (and I do mean boy) McNabb.— Voytas
- you guys are fools— ajbrown2005
- anyone who knows ANYTHING about football knows that the giants defensive line is solely responsible for that superbowl victory. eli got the mvp hardware for 2 reasons...his last name is manning and they can not give the mvp to a collective unit(any intellegent football fan baised or not about eli knows the d-line won that game and as a group was MVP). You can even make an arguement that Justin Tuck could should have been MVP. And please do not talk about choking. Eli has been to the playoffs 4 times now. He had one superbowl run carried by the giants amazing defense and 3 1st game exits. that doesn't exactly point to being the best qb around. you guys are clueless.— ajbrown2005
- Donovan McNabb is an average quarterback with flashes of brillance in between the failures. There have been a lot of quarterbacks like that in the NFL. Michael Vick is one. Do you remember Jeff George, the quarterback with the golden arm? He had so much ability he kept getting chances after chances from team after team. He failed with all of these teams. You need more than a great arm or fast legs. Ask Andre Ware. McNabb has the ability. However, he doesn't have the mind and heart of a Bob Griese or Bart Starr, so yes, I would take either one of them instead of McNabb. If this was McNabb's first or second year, I too would say give him a chance to see what he's got. After ten years, I know what he's got. Reid does not.— marioP
