Unanswered Questions for Eagles Fans

As the soap opera that is Eagles camp continues to play out, TO is heading for the Bahamas and Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid continue to prepare for the season with the rest of the team. This season is starting to look a little scary for the Philly faithful. Worst case scenario: TO sits out the season. With Todd "Stinkston" out for the year, that gives the Iggles Billy McMullen, rookie Reggie Brown, and Greg Lewis as the starting receiving core. Thats pretty scary for an West Coast offense that has basically no semblance of a running game. Meanwhile all purpose running back Brian Westbrook is unhappy with his contract and backup RB's Correll Buckhalter and Ryan Moats have sustained injuries. Then you have the Madden 2006 jinx - no player who has been on the cover of Madden has had a successful season for their team. Enter Donovan McNabb on the cover. Finally there is Reid and McNabb's uncanny ability to choke in big games. All that added up spells for a anything but a locked up NFC east for Philly with the Cowboys and Giants rising squads (sorry Redskins, not a chance). Now to the issue of TO. Its clear he has gone about this contract renegotiation in the complete wrong way. Publicly criticizing McNabb, complaining in the media, comparing himself to Jesus -- all not exactly Renegotiation 101. But let's think about what he did say about McNabb -- "I'm not the one who got tired in the Super Bowl." (Quick side note : Joe Banner stooped to TO's level and lost some credibility when he called Drew Rosenhaus and TO "people who don't think in commonsense terms" a few weeks ago. Real professional Joe). That was no doubt a cheap shot from TO, but what did happen in those last 6 minutes? Philly fans still have not gotten an answer. There has been absolutely no explanation for the lack of a 2 minute drill as the clock ticked down at the end of the game. It took 30 seconds for the Eagles to get each play off. I stood there and screamed at the TV for them to hurry up. Andy Reid and McNabb choked again and wouldn't stand up and say as much afterward. We've seen this before, after all the Eagles had just gotten over the hump of winning an NFC championship game for the first time in 4 years. The reason they had lost the last two years? Reid's abysmal play calling, and McNabb's poor performance in a big game. Then early in this Super Bowl, Westbrook runs a perfect pattern to the back corner of the endzone and McNabb throws a perfect pass - to Rodney Harrison - a good 5 yards short of a wide open Westbrook. Still, the Eagles had a chance to win with the ball in McNabb's hands but after their successful but painfully long touchdown drive, Reid and McNabb left themselves bascially no chance for a drive to set up a tying field goal. In one respect the Eagles, McNabb and Reid have a point when they say they can win without TO. Brian Westbrook getting hurt is the reason the Eagles didn't beat the Panthers two years ago in the NFC championship - not a lack of TO - but now Westbrook is unhappy so we'll see how that works out. In another respect, they can only win to a point. They don't have a veteran receiver in an intricate West Coast offense. The backfield is unhappy and beat up, and the QB and coach still haven't proven they can win the big game. This will be a true test for Andy Reid because it will challenge his ability to adjust his gameplan within the game - something he has not done well in the past. Assuming Westbrook works out his contract situation, with a Pro-Bowl secondary and top 10 defensethe Eagles will be ok ...but that glass ceiling will once again show itself come playoff time. The Eagles don't need TO, but they sure could use him.