tr1 Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 BY BOB FORD Knight Ridder Newspapers http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/12646716.htm PHILADELPHIA - (KRT) - One of the great streaks in sports history came to an end on Wednesday when head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Donovan McNabb held news conferences at the Eagles' training facility and neither was asked a direct question about the deportment, actions or availability of receiver Terrell Owens. This means only one thing: T.O. must be slipping. The streak, for those interested in statistics, lasted through 14,375 questions dating from Dec. 30, 2004, when Owens was early in his injury rehabilitation process and considered out of the picture for a while. The overriding fascination with Owens was halted Wednesday by the consequences of an actual football game, and the result of a helmet-first hit McNabb took from Atlanta tackle Chad Lavalais in the first quarter of Monday night's season-opening loss. McNabb's bruised chest led to a lengthy interrogation about the quarterback's ability to play Sunday against San Francisco, about how difficult it is to be injured by someone named Chad, and about why the officiating crew was so good at spotting transgressions before the game but not so good at seeing them during the game. As usual, there were more questions than answers, but it was a relatively good day for the Eagles, who have different standards now. Any day that doesn't end with helicopters circling Moorestown, N.J., is a good one. McNabb himself took some wind from the billowing sails of a Backup Quarterback Controversy by saying, "I'll be in the game on Sunday." He didn't practice Wednesday, though. Backups Koy Detmer and Mike McMahon split time working with the first team, which led to predictable speculation about which of those two is actually the second-string quarterback. Detmer has ostensibly been the guy since 2000. In fact, the last backup quarterback before Detmer was Donovan McNabb, during his rookie probationary period behind Doug Pederson. If Reid has more confidence in McMahon - whose quarterback rating of 55.0 in four seasons with Detroit speaks for itself - he certainly wasn't going to come out and say it. If fact, he wasn't going to come out and say much of "anything, even when asked the simple question about why the two reserves would be sharing first-team practice time. "Because I decided to do that," Reid said. At least he didn't say that information was for him to know, as he once did, but the implication was about the same. If you care to speculate, there are several ways to do so. Detmer has a better understanding of the Eagles' offensive system and would be the more logical of the two to throw into an emergency situation. McMahon was more impressive during the exhibition season, however. Given a full week to prepare, he might get the start ahead of Detmer. Or, given Detmer's history, it would be a good idea to have McMahon ready in case Detmer didn't last. That was the case three years ago against San Francisco when Detmer was in ecstasy the first half and in X-ray the second. The speculation is interesting, but pointless. If McNabb can't play, the Eagles are in trouble. If he can't play for an extended period, it doesn't matter who steps in. The Birds also are in trouble if McNabb continues to play as he did against Atlanta. He gets a free pass for now because of the chest bruise, but that was not a championship-level performance. If nothing else, the injury diverted attention from some other things - like the abysmal running game and the inability to protect McNabb. Reid might have had to answer for the two first-down plays during the Eagles' final drive in which Brian Westbrook inexplicably took handoffs (3 yards, no gain). The sauntering lack of urgency on that drive was reminiscent of a certain drive late in a certain game on Feb. 6. But McNabb didn't get out of breath this time, or throw up, or fail to enunciate a call in the huddle. Owens isn't walking around analyzing the loss by saying, "I'm not the one who got injured by a guy named Chad." We must be thankful for small improvements. There are still many more questions to come and some of them will return to Owens, particularly if the receiver continues to ignore any imperfectly thrown ball. It is a long season, in other words, but not so long that it will ever really matter whether Koy Detmer or Mike McMahon is the No. 2 quarterback. --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westbrook36 Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 The Eagles backup QB is almost as bad as the Redskins backup QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redsk58417 Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 The Eagles backup QB is almost as bad as the Redskins backup QB. The difference is, The Skins aren't Super Bowl dreaming..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 the Eagles could put Andy Reid out there at QB and they'll beat San Fran at home. Last week was a fluke, The 49ers aren't good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epistopheles Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 The difference is, The Skins aren't Super Bowl dreaming..... Hey, I'M Super Bowl dreaming! But I'm Super Bowl dreaming every year. And whether or not McNabb plays, I'm dreaming that the Eagles will lose. :eaglesuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKINtil8tin Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 I'm hoping too but I don't see the eagles losing this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoidRage Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 I'm hoping too but I don't see the eagles losing this week. We'll see .... you know everytime a good team plays a bad team and thinks they're a sure win, they end up losing !!! I don't think the 9ers are a good team, but I also don't think they're going to lay down either !! :2cents: :eaglesuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurent Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 After what San Francisco did to the Rams offensive line I'd be a bit weary to start a banged up McNabb against the 49ers. The Eagles offensive line looks a bit shaky to me and with Peterson and Young coming to town it's going to be interesting to see how well McNabb holds up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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