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Ashley Fox: Answering mail about the Eagles

The Eagles are always in season, even when they're out of season. Just listen to talk radio. Good or bad, the Eagles drive the needle.

Will Donovan McNabb be the quarterback for the Eagles next year? (Yong Kim / Staff Photographer)
Will Donovan McNabb be the quarterback for the Eagles next year? (Yong Kim / Staff Photographer)Read more

The Eagles are always in season, even when they're out of season. Just listen to talk radio. Good or bad, the Eagles drive the needle.

So in that vein, here's a little more Eagles Q&A, courtesy of what Gonzo calls "the mailbag."

Donovan McNabb has a history of failing in the big ones. I don't know of a quarterback that could win with that shameful offensive line. The defense surely missed a great defensive coordinator. His imagination and creativity is on a par with the offensive coordinator in the Norm Snead era. Very sad.
- Al
Al, Donovan is getting roasted here in Philadelphia, and while he didn't make it any easier to defend him with his performance against the Cowboys, that loss was not entirely his fault. Look what Minnesota did against Dallas. They blitzed Tony Romo nonstop, and - this is important - actually got to him. And what happened? Romo and the offense couldn't move the ball. And the Vikings protected Brett Favre. It was a winning combination.

That certainly isn't to exonerate McNabb. He didn't do anything special to win the game, or to keep the team in it. But McNabb didn't have much help. No one seems to want to talk about that.

Though I really like McNabb and admire what he has done in Philly, I think it's time for him (and the city) to part. It's too much like an unhappy marriage at this point. Both parties will be happier in a new situation.

- Steve
Maybe. But the separation/divorce won't come easy, and the residual feelings won't be good. It could come this off-season, or it could be next. Whenever it is, it will be ugly. The end of a lengthy marriage usually is.

Fans need to remember there are no guarantees Kevin Kolb will be the answer, either. He's started two games. That's not much to go on.

Do you think we can get a No. 1 draft pick for trading McNabb away (say a package deal with a low-level pick for the trade team, or something along those lines)?

- Ross
A No. 1 seems reasonable. You exchange a coveted draft pick for a quarterback who can step in and win right away. He might not win the last game of the year, but he'll win a lot of others. For some franchises, that'd be a good start (see St. Louis, Buffalo, Chicago, San Francisco, among others).

When Michael Vick became an Eagle, my first thought was - a triple threat with McNabb, Brian Westbrook, and Vick all in the backfield at the same time. Run, pass, hand off, you name it. But that never happened. I wonder why?

- LZ
Well, Westbrook and Vick played in only four regular-season games together, and three of them were early, when Vick was still struggling to get his legs. They both technically played in the playoff loss to Dallas, although Westbrook was a nonfactor, for whatever reason.

Neither Vick nor Westbrook was much of a "threat" all year, which was a major disappointment. After so much time away from football, Vick couldn't thrive in a position where he would touch the ball only a couple of times a game. And Westbrook had injury issues from the get-go. If it wasn't his ankle, it was his head. On and on.

No triple threat last season. No triple threat next season. The big question is who, if anyone, will stay, and who will go? The bet here is that Five will be back, and Westbrook and Vick won't.

The Vikings' win over Dallas shows how really bad this Eagles team is. They need to start from scratch, and that means scratch No. 5 and Reid along with some offensive and defensive people and add some linebackers and a couple of defensive backs. In brief, they need lots and lots of help.

- Mario
You'll see folks exit the building for good, but Andy Reid isn't going to be one of them. Sorry.