Paul Domowitch: Eagles' McNabb has struggled like this before - and righted himself

EVERY NOW and then in his career,

Donovan McNabb

has gone through these mutt-ugly periods when you scratch your head and wonder how in the world he ever managed to get invited to one Pro Bowl, let alone five.

He's going through one of those periods now, and it couldn't have come at a worse time for the Eagles, who pretty much need to win five of their final six games to have any chance of making the playoffs. Yeah, their short-yardage offense stinks, and yeah, the defense has had some problems stopping the run, and yeah, it often appears as if the offensive-playcalling has been outsourced to India. But if McNabb just played better, a 5-1 finish might look slightly more doable.

After a solid six-game start that included a .640 completion percentage, a 7.5-yards-per-attempt average, eight touchdowns and only three interceptions, McNabb's game started going south in late October. In the Eagles' previous four games, he has a .538 completion percentage, a 6.6-yards-per-attempt average and six TDs and five interceptions, including three in Sunday's ugly, 13-13 tie against the Bengals. He's completed only six of 27 passes in the first quarters of those four games.

Is there any way he can get his act together in time to help save this season for the Eagles? Well, as unlikely as it might seem right now, there is precedent to make you believe it can happen.

Remember the rocky start to the '03 season when the Eagles opened the Linc with losses to the Bucs and Patriots? For six games, McNabb was terrible. I mean, really, really terrible. A .479 completion percentage. A 4.5-yards-per-attempt average. Two touchdowns. Six interceptions. Fans were starting to remember Doug Pederson with fondness.

Everybody wanted McNabb benched. But Andy Reid kept telling us that McNabb was "doing a lot of good things'' and stuck with him. Finally, McNabb just snapped out of it and went on a tear.

In the Eagles' final 10 regular-season games that season, he completed 64 percent of his passes, averaged 8.2 yards per attempt and threw 14 TDs to only five interceptions. Oh, yeah. The Eagles won nine of those 10 games and ended up going to the NFC Championship Game for the third straight year. And, yes, losing for the third straight year when McNabb threw three interceptions in the infamous why-did-we-give-up-on-the-run, 14-3 loss to Carolina.

So don't despair yet. Maybe McNabb will snap out of his latest funk Sunday and the Eagles will beat the Ravens and then the Cardinals and then the Giants ... or maybe not. McNabb had an excuse for his abysmal play in the first half of the '03 season. He played with a banged-up thumb that affected his grip. Nothing appears to be physically wrong with him this time.

Reid continues to have faith in his quarterback. He quickly dismissed a question earlier this week about the possibility of turning to second-year man Kevin Kolb.

"The main thing he needs to do right now is continue to fire, throw the football, be confident and do it,'' the coach said.

Said McNabb: "I see myself, whether it's footwork or if it's pressing a little bit ... I watched [the tape of] these last two games [against the Giants and Bengals] thoroughly, and I also watched the beginning of the Seattle game. [I just need to] get my feet under me, relax and be able to go from there.''

*

Andy Studebaker,

the rookie sixth-round pick who was signed off the Eagles' practice squad by the Chiefs earlier this week, will get a chance to play Sunday when the 1-9 Chiefs host Buffalo. The Chiefs' top three defensive ends are either hurt or on injured reserve. Their starting DEs last week were

Jason Babin,

a former No. 1 pick of the Texans who was signed off the street midweek and participated in only two practices, and

Wallace Gilberry,

who was signed off the Giants' practice squad. If

Tamba Hali,

who missed Sunday's game with an ankle injury, is unable to play again this week, Studebaker, a defensive end at Division III Wheaton College who was moved to linebacker by the Eagles, will be the Chiefs' third DE against the Bills.

* Ever since he was hired by the Eagles, Andy Reid has espoused the virtues of spreading the ball around. Well, he certainly has that this season. No fewer than nine receivers currently are on pace to catch at least 25 passes. The most he's had previously has been six, in 2000 and '03. McNabb has completed passes to at least seven different receivers in every game this season. He's hit 10 different guys in two of the last three games.

* NFL teams have a collective .614 completion percentage this season. If that number holds up, it would be a new single-season record. Eight of the top 10 completion-percentage seasons have come in the last 8 years. Currently, 20 quarterbacks have a completion rate above 60 percent. McNabb is 22nd in completion percentage at 59.4.

"If I was at 58 [percent] or something like that, I'd be disappointed,'' said Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, who is 15th at 62.3. "I've got to be above 60, maybe like 65 percent. If you're at 65 to 70 percent, you're doing your job now. That's just how it is. If you can't keep yourself at 60 percent or better, you're probably not going to make it now as a quarterback.''

From the lip

* "What impresses me about Jim is he still thinks he's 18 years old." - Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, on Redskins coach Jim Zorn

* "I think most quarterbacks probably know. That's kind of weird that Donovan didn't know, but I think most other positions probably don't. They probably just play." - Redskins RB Shawn Alexander, on Donovan McNabb's not knowing the NFL's overtime rule

* "I don't think I ever said that a great arm is a prerequisite [to being a successful quarterback]. The two most important things for a quarterback are accuracy and decision-making, and I don't think that will ever change. There are plenty of guys that can throw it through the wall that aren't good quarterbacks. There are plenty of guys that don't have the strongest arm on the team that are the best quarterback on the team." - Patriots coach Bill Belichick

* "Jon Gruden is absolutely the best in football at knowing how to win a close game. He knows how to do it. If he's behind, he knows how to crawl back into a game. Strategically, he's the best in football." - Lions coach Rod Marinelli, on his former Bucs boss

* "When I heard him say it, I almost passed out. I thought, 'This will follow you the rest of your career.' Your legacy in the league, Donovan, will be throwing up in the Super Bowl, Rush Limbaugh, and now, 'I didn't know there were ties in the NFL.' " - Warren Sapp, on Showtime's "Inside the NFL"

BY THE NUMBERS

* The Chiefs have only six sacks in 10 games. The fewest ever in a season was 11 by the '82 Baltimore Colts. But that was in a strike-shortened, nine-game season. The fewest in a 16-game season was 13 by the '81 Colts.

* Falcons DE John Abraham has 11 of his team's 18 sacks (61.1 percent). The player with the largest percent of his team's sacks in a season was the Packers' Tim Harris, who had 12 1/2 of his team's 18 sacks (69.4) in '89.

* The Saints' Drew Brees and the Cardinals' Kurt Warner both have passed for 3,000 yards already. It's just the third time in NFL history that two quarterbacks have passed for 3,000 in the first 10 games.

* The Raiders haven't had an offensive touchdown in 13 quarters. They scored 78 points and had eight touchdowns in four games before Lane Kiffin was fired. In the six games since Tom Cable took over, they've scored only 50 points and have two TDs. Way to go, Al.

* The Bengals and Jaguars are the only two teams in the league that don't have a 40-plus yard passing play this season. The Saints have an NFL-best 13. The Eagles have 8.

THUMBS UP

* To Derrion Thomas, a senior defensive end for Blue Springs (Mo.) High School, and the son of late Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas. Derrion had four sacks in a state playoff game last week. He wore the shoulder pads his father used in his last game with the Chiefs in 1999 before being paralyzed in a car crash. They had been locked in a trunk in the Chiefs' equipment room for the last 9 years. When one of the team's equipment men ran into Derrion, he told him about the shoulder pads and gave them to him. "They were a perfect fit,'' Derrion said.

THUMBS DOWN

* To Eagles coach Andy Reid, for yet another poor display of clock management late in the second quarter of Sunday's 13-13 tie with the Bengals. On a second-and-5 from the Cincinnati 40, the Eagles lined up in the "Wildcat'' formation, with the quarterback (Donovan McNabb) lined up as a receiver and a receiver (DeSean Jackson) taking a shotgun snap from center. Only problem was, the Eagles weren't able to get the play off before the 2-minute warning.

PANTHER DRAFT PICK WATCH:

Record: 8-2

Last week: beat Lions, 31-22

This week: at 6-4 Falcons

Next week: at 5-5 Packers

Current draft position: 30th

1. Titans 10-0

2. Giants 9-1

3. Panthers 8-2

4. Bucs 7-3

5. Steelers 8-3

6. Cardinals 7-3

7. Colts 6-4

8. Cowboys 6-4

9. Redskins 6-4

10. Broncos 6-4

11. Jets 7-3

12. Patriots 6-4

13. Eagles 5-4-1

14. Falcons 6-4

15. Dolphins 6-4

16. Ravens 6-4

17. Packers 5-5

18. Bills 5-5

19. Bears 5-5

20. Chargers 4-6

21. Saints 5-5

22. Vikings 5-5

23. Browns 4-6

24. Jaguars 4-6

25. Niners 3-7

26. Texans 3-7

27. Seahawks 2-8

28. Bengals 1-9-1

29. Rams 2-8

30. Chiefs 1-9

31. Raiders 2-8

32. Lions 0-10

*Not including last night's game