NFL Team By Team Judnalysis Part IV

Transition or Takeover?
The Philadelphia Eagles 2007-2008

Is this Donovan McNabb's make or break year? If D McNabb doesn't get the Eagles to the promised land, thereby instituting a "takeover", the McNabb era in Philadelphia may just come to an end. The Eagles are known for putting the team ahead of individual players and recently have not resigned players or cut players who they felt were "getting old" or "slowing down" in order to put in the younger guns with cheaper contracts.

The last time we saw Donovan McNabb he was on the bench (or near the bench in street clothes) with a torn right knee. Jeff Garcia, McNabb's backup, finished the season strong. Aside from creating a market for his services, Garcia probably showed the Eagles that a decent, but not necessarily high-priced, QB can run their system successfully if other position players shoulder more of the offense (for instance, RB Brian Westbrook finished the year with 1200 yards rushing and had over 110 rushing yards in each the Eagles last 2 playoff games). Then, the Eagles went out and used their 1st draft pick (2nd round, 36th overall) on UH QB Kevin Kolb. Like it or not, the pressure is sure to be on McNabb.

Some say McNabb choked in the Superbowl in February 2005, because the pressure got to him. He's been criticized for not being his best on the big stages of this league. A league that McNabb nicknames "Not For Long" in that teams are looking to get younger not older. This season, McNabb will have to shoulder the weight knowing that his opportunity, his window, in Philadelphia may be closing.

Sure, the Eagles got within 3 points of the NFC Championship game last season, but they still fell short of winning it all, and now questions supposedly have gained traction about how much longer McNabb will lead the team ("leadership" questions and "issues" seem to have started when the Eagles locker room was divided between Team McNabb and Team TO a couple of seasons ago). If anything good came out of last season, it's that the Eagles learned that they could and probably should allow other players besides the QB and the passing game to make some big plays (see Brian Westbrook) and carry a greater share of the offensive load. Furthermore, following McNabb’s injury, Westbrook stepped up as another leader, and apparently several players are willing to listen and take advice from him as well as McNabb. Speaking of other players, Jevon Kearse, who also injured his knee last season, should be back to at least spark if not lead the Eagles Defense. Add linebacker Takeo Spikes (formerly of Buffalo) and long-time Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson to the mix and the Eagles Defense may be better than last year.

The Giants and Cowboys will come strong (unless the Strahan situation in NY causes locker room/playing field tension like the Tiki Barber situation supposedly did last year and/or Eli continues to struggle in Peyton’s shadow), and the NFC East will again be a rough and tumble and ugly yet enjoyable rivalry. Regardless of what happens this season, if D McNabb can have the "MVP-like" season he was having at the beginning of last season (before being injured on Nov. 19 with basically 6 1/2 regular season games to go, he had 18 TDs, 6 INTs, and a QB rating of 95.5, although he lost 4 of his last 5 games) coupled with the strong play that the rest of the team showed during the end of the season and into the playoffs, Eagles management may have to consider one more year with the same starting QB. One more season of wondering if this will be the year that ends with a "Takeover" or a "Transition" to a new Eagles QB and thus a new Eagles era...