Simms: McNabb's not the problem
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Simms: McNabb's not the problem
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Very interesting interview with Phil Simms on WIP this afternoon.
I suggest listening to the whole thing, but there are some excerpts I wanted to share here.
Everyone has an opinion on Donovan McNabb and the Eagles' future at quarterback. Simms is no different.
He offered what I thought was a fair assessment of McNabb - praising him for his strengths and criticizing him for his weaknesses.
But when asked specifically about the way the Eagles' season ended and the two losses to the Cowboys, Simms said the Birds had several other problems that are of greater concern than McNabb's play.
"I saw a football team that absolutely could not even get close to protecting their quarterback," Simms said. "... If that was Kevin Kolb, they’d be drafting another one right now because he would be dead."
One quick note from me here: I'm not sure it's fair to lump the two games together in terms of offensive line play. I thought the protection was much better in the Week 17 game than in the wild-card game.
Getting back to Simms, he added that he's a big McNabb supporter. He acknowledged McNabb's problems with accuracy, saying McNabb's "not a naturally-gifted thrower," but argued that he makes up for it with his play-making ability.
"There’s no doubt for a big-time pro quarterback, he misses more throws than any of the big-time quarterbacks, but he overcomes that with his strength," Simms said. "Because they let him throw enough, he ends up making up for it. He usually hits those big plays… there’s a give and take there."
When asked about Kolb, Simms said the Eagles coaches will know if he's capable of carrying the team forward at this point in his career.
"If they really believe he’s ready and he’s the guy, then they’re gonna pull the trigger on something with Donovan McNabb," Simms said. "But, boy, you better be sure because if it doesn’t work..."
I've stumbled upon some other interesting takes, links and rumors on McNabb, which I'll share Wednesday afternoon.
And if you're wondering what my stance is on the whole issue, I'll get to that later in the week too. I'm trying to come up with a unique way to present it.
5's "not a naturally gifted thrower." Uh, Phil, he's the QB who, er, throws the ball 70% of the time in this offense. Exactly what "play making ability" are you referring to, Simms? Looks like a heck of a Guitar Hero player but a play maker? If 5 lost 315 lbs (25 of his own, and the coach) he'd be palatable to a fan base that is tired of his "[missing] more throws than any of the other big time quarterbacks." Igottsdatswagga, if Strahan's so smart how'd his wife take more than half his @!#$ after the divorce? You gottsnobrainscells.— 5280philly- Phil Simms is right, Mcnabb is not the problem. Thi team needs to rebuild the defense immediately. The next draft should be spent on shoring up the defense. The problem with the philly fans are they got spoiled by McNabbs early success and their desire to win a superbowl. Believe me they have a better chance of winning the superbowl with him than without him. Andy Reid needs to start going to a balanced attack like the vikings did against the cowboys even if they did not rush for over 100 yards, because they have a running game it kept the cowboys off balance.— gwilli1234
- Whenever I read comments like some of the ones on this story, I get further comfirmation that the whole "Philadelphia has some of the most knowledgable sports fans in the country" thing is not only a myth, it's joke. It's amazing how stupid anyone who says McNabb's not the problem becomes to you geniuses, even if they've got they're speaking from a point of knowledge. Before reading this, I heard John Madden, a dude that knows a little something about quarterbacks, Super Bowls, and straight-up winning, put Mike Missinelli in check on this same topic. If Phil Simms had said "trade McNabb, he's a stiff", you'd think he's an oracle. Because he pointed out the fact that the defense couldn't stop me from running on them, the offensive line was just plain offensive, and the coach never met a running game he wanted to completely ignore, Simms automatically becomes dumb as a box of rocks. You guys slay me.— Raiderfan
Comment removed.- Haters are morons as the first post demonstrate is clearly. Apparently McNabb only short coming is he has not won a SB; but it does not count that Simms won one :-) Haters don't know which side of their mouth they talk through and which part of their brain (if any) creates their logic— Seed
- If anyone paid any attention to the HATERS, HOWARD would be traded and HAMELS would be traded too. Bunch of no nothing morons.— Seed
- Here comes lonewolf 10: How is Cutler and Horton worked for you? How great is Little Manning and now Kolb? Hater opinions are dime a dozen.... I did not mean to disrepect a dime, it has 10 cent value :-)— Seed
- It doesn't matter who you have at QB if the D is in your face all day. Any QB in the league would look like a star if given 8 seconds to pass per play. Why then do we need McNabb? He can't extend the play anymore so trade him to shore up the D or O lines. All of the mediocre QBs with SB wins (paging Mr. Simms) have had monster Ds to cover their faults. Use the value of Vick and McNabb to get that D. This is the best path forward. It's not about the person, it's about the team...DM needs to take a trade for the team.— Joe Funk
Simms said. "Because they let him throw enough, he ends up making up for it. He usually hits those big plays… there’s a give and take there." That is funny, there is more giving to the other teams by Donnie because of his inaccuracy. He doesn't get that lucky all the time and this season exposed that.— ZOSO- Warner went from FLAWLESS to 3RD TIER QB in minutes from the Greenbay game to Saints game. Warner did not forget how to play QB, just his protection fell apart. McNabb went from flawless to horrible performer within a game against Denver after fall of Jamaal Jackson. Everyone but morons understand the value of O-line.— Seed
- ZOSO: McNabb and this offense is 2nd in NFL this season and set all types of record in offensive production. How ignorant and moron one has to be to state "... this season exposed that". Pick another season to make your biased point, don't pick this season. But we don't expect anything intelligent from the haters anyway :-(— Seed
- Raiderfan nailed it. Eagles brass doesn't listen to the fans, and they shouldn't based the moronic drivel posted here on a daily basis.— jonnyb0916
- Who cares, Simms is an idiot and I have to MUTE half the game when he's talking. This is the same guy who said the Giants had no chance of beating the Patriots in the Superbowl. Somewhere along the way, this guy got lost in the woods.— Voytas
- Seed, they played all WEAK teams you moron!— ZOSO
- You don't need much time to throw one bouncers....Phil look at the film for the year you dunce— SkipinWV
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