McNabb wins wild reunion
Redskins 17, Eagles 12
McNabb wins wild reunion
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Well, that happened.
Donovan McNabb came home for a reunion against Andy Reid and the fellas. When the schedule came out in the spring, it was going to be McNabb against Kevin Kolb, the past against the future. Then Kolb got a concussion in the season opener and Michael Vick played great, at which point it became McNabb against Vick, the past against the story of redemption.
Then, near the end of the first quarter, on a scramble that came up just short of the goal line -- and that was going to be called back by a penalty anyway -- Vick suffered a rib and chest injury that knocked him out of the game, and maybe more. At which point it became McNabb against Kolb again.
And in the end, despite all of the machinations -- and accompanied by an overwhelmingly positive standing ovation when he was announced before the game -- McNabb won. He threw one touchdown pass (to tight end Chris Cooley), one interception (to rookie safety Nate Allen), and sat on a 17-3 halftime lead as Kolb and the Eagles struggled to get the ball in the end zone. Finally, they did it with 4:10 remaining on a pass to tight end Brent Celek.
But that was it. The Eagles got the ball back on their 26-yard line with 1:07 to go and no timeouts left, and got it to the Washington 32-yard line after a hook-and-lateral-and-lateral play with 4 seconds left. But the final Hail Mary pass, which hit Eagles wide receiver Jason Avant in the hands, ended up being intercepted by Washington's DeAngelo Hall, and that was that.
Final score: Redskins 17, Eagles 12.
Final verdict: still to come.
For McNabb's part, he doesn't look like he has much of a team surrounding him but it does look like he still has enough throws in his big right arm to keep things interesting -- and he also had a big third-down scramble to prolong a late, clock-killing drive. For Kolb's part, he looked competent enough when the Eagles were in their screen game, and their dump-off game, but he was unable to make enough plays down the field. Eventually, drives would stall because of penalties or orther mistakes.
At the end of the first half, looking at a fourth-and-goal from the 1, the Eagles somehow managed to call a timeout and then get called for a delay of game penalty after that timeout, forcing them to kick a field goal rather than take a shot at the end zone. It was a huge, enormous, incomprehensible mistake -- and I'd still love to see a real-time replay to understand exactly how it happened.
If they score a touchdown there, it's a tie game with 4:10 to go. Of course, if they score a touchdown there, Washington coach Mike Shanahan probably doesn't try to put the game in the deep freeze the way he did. McNabb barely threw the ball in the second half as Shanahan clearly calculated the odds and played it ultra-conservatively.
In the end, it worked. And now we all get to live with the repercussions, and to count the days until the November 15th rematch in Landover, Md.
Kolb is horrible... Redskins didn't even blitz and he still can't complete a 15 yard pass. Wait until next week when teams game plan for him and blitz!!! This sucks!!! Vick come back soon.— Eaglesfan804- "the final Hail Mary pass...hit Eagles wide receiver Jason Avant in the hands". Or put another way, he dropped what he could have caught. As bad as we are, they are worse, and should have got it done. Kolb's first priority seems to be avoiding INTs. If so, change the formations, drop the three WR and gut it out with two tight ends, run at the edge, play action.— Ghemeth
Yeah, McNabb sure took over that game. Yeah, Shanahan is a cutting edge NFL genius. Both teams = stink.— road515- Eagles medical staff needs to check Kolb. It looks like he is still suffering from a concussion. He had no idea what to do with the football in the pocket, except to dump it off to a back or tight end, while his wide-outs were running open routes.— pogiepop
- How do you get a delay of game penalty AFTER a time out? It really is mind-boggling.— Steve Jeltz
- Thank God for the Phillies. Eagles look like the Braves.— GAphil
- This game should be a lesson to Andy. You NEED to run the ball. It amazed me that they showed play action! If you don't really run the ball, then what's the point!
Donovan and co. just needed to play it safe. Our defense is awful. The Skins just ran it down our throats.
Troy kept saying that the refs were at fault because of the delay of game penalty. Tell me, why? At worst, the ball is on the 1 instead of 1/2 1. You REALLY need to know about 1/2 a yard to come up with a play? What the he** was he doing during the review time?! And on top of that, he needs to call a timeout! If that does not show how incompetent he is, then nothing will.
Congratulations Donovan. You proved today what you can do with a running game. Imagine what you could have done if you would have had that here.— eaglegreen17 - If McCoy doesn't fumble the ball away in the red zone, or Avant holds onto the last throw, or the play clock snafu doesn't happen, Kolb's performance would've been called "great" in the win. Instead, Avant drops it, Washington intercepts, which lowers Kolb's QB rating. So his performance is considered blah. HE MOVED THE BALL ON SUSTAINED DRIVES, and he only had a half to do it in.— bogie1
- Wow, what a let down. If Kevin Kolb is the future,he sure missed his chance to show the NFC. Against the worst pass defense in the NFL, why have wide receivers.— Ken B
- Donovan did what he has always done... get the win. Andy did what he has always done... he got beat by a better coach!— jmb53
- Marty Monron-weg must go!...Marty Monron-weg must go!...Marty Monron-weg must go!...Marty Monron-weg must go!...Marty Monron-weg must go!...Marty Monron-weg must go!...Marty Monron-weg must go!...Marty Monron-weg must go!...Marty Monron-weg must go!...Marty Monron-weg must go!...Marty Monron-weg must go!...Marty Monron-weg must go!— bonnerlou
- Anyone want to let it leak that Andy is thinking about retirement after this season and Jon Gruden is on the short list for the position??— crkreg
- "the Eagles somehow managed to call a timeout and then get called for a delay of game" Rich you really sound surprised, AR has been doing it for 12 years, also year after year his teams are always at the top of the league in penalties....why don't you or someone write an article about that?— keepitreal1234
- AR will never leave on his own and why would he want to leave? there are no ramifications for him if he doesn't succeed, where else can a person get paid millions of dollars and not have to produce?— keepitreal1234
- Stew Bradley is the most overated player on 20 years. This defense sucks, only to be complimented by awful coaching and play calling on offense! Reid needs to go
