McNabb is Still Learning the Rules?

Donovan McNabb is a 10 year veteran QB in the NFL and has played every season as the face of the Philadelphia Eagles franchise. On Sunday, he faced the Cincinnati Bangles who are having another disappointing season under Marvin Lewis. On paper this game looked like an automatic win with the Bangles offense raking last in total yards per game with a 242.6 average against the Eagles 363.8 average which is 6th overall.

After overtime, the two teams remained tied at 13 points each, which was an extreme disappointment for Eagles fans and a blunt surprise for McNabb who went 28 for 58, with 3 picks and 1 fumble. But even these nightmare stats weren't the big headline after the game. When asked how he felt after a tie McNabb responded, "I've never been apart of a tie. I never knew that was even in the rule book". Don't believe me? Click the link below and see for yourself.





After being in the league this long you would think McNabb would have known there was the possibility of a tie. In 2002, McNabb and the Eagles faced a 9-6-1 Atlanta Falcons team in the playoffs. Did McNabb ignore that stat in the scouting report? I know his job is to focus on the game plan and not worry about the other team, but you should understand the in's and out's of the rule book if your going to be a starting quarterback. It is inconceivable that a QB of McNabb's caliber would be so uninformed. Is this a coaching mistake by Andy Reid or just an overpaid athlete not doing his job? Obviously, McNabb is still learning the rules to the NFL as they come up. Eagles fans should be worried, what rule will be next?

The 31 year old future Hall of Famer has struggled to bring home a National Championship to Philadelphia. McNabb has lead the Eagles to the NFC Championship game four times in a row only winning it once in the 2004-2005 season, which was the fourth attempt at winning the NFC Title. How can someone with so much experience in the league confess to not knowing that there is only one overtime in regular season games? There is no excuse and I am sure I am not the only one in the sports world that is again disappointed with McNabb. With Philadelphia's Baseball team, the Phillies, winning the World Series this year, there is more pressure than ever on McNabb to make it to the Super Bowl. Being a five time Pro Bowler the expectations have always been high and this year is no exception. If himself and Andy Reid don't at least contend for a wild card spot they might not be in Philly come next season.

McNabb now has his work cut out for himself. The Eagles are last in the NFC East at 5-4-1 putting them a half game behind both the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys who are joint at second with a 6-4 record. The New York Giants lead the division and will likely get a playoff spot considering they are dominating the league and have the best running back combo in the NFL with . In the Eagles remaining six games they face five teams with winning records. The only team with a loosing record is the Cleavland Browns who have the possibility to have a winning record by the time they meet on December 15th, but are more likely to remain under .500. The remaining teams on their schedule combine for a 38-22 record overall and will prove to be a real test for McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles.