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Eagles QB
Donovan McNabb
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The answer is always: all of the above.
Multiple-choice test question No. 1: When Eagles QB Donovan McNabb has the ball in his
hands, he makes defenses suffer by …
a) … dropping pack to pass, avoiding the rush, running left, keeping the
play alive and completing a pass.
b) … dropping pack to pass, avoiding the rush, running right, keeping the
play alive and completing a pass.
c) … dropping pack to pass, avoiding the rush and running the ball for a big gain.
d) … all of the above.
He’s here, he’s there, he’s everywhere. McNabb is a magician with the
ball.
Multiple-choice test question No. 2: When the Buccaneers have the ball in the red zone,
WR Keyshawn Johnson …
a) … becomes the invisible man.
b) … probably mutters under his breath a lot because he almost never gets the damn
ball.
c) … may as well be on the bench as infrequently as the ball is thrown to him.
d) … all of the above.
Johnson catches the ball here, there and everywhere — except the red zone and
endzone. On 80 percent of the field, Johnson is the main man on the Bucs’ offense. On
the final 20 percent of the field, Johnson is the forgotten man. Baffling.
What we strongly suspected heading into the Eagles-Buccaneers wild-card playoff game
was reinforced by the game itself. More on that in a bit.
Before delving deeper into issues regarding McNabb and Johnson, let us provide one more
multiple-choice test question: Jerry Rice has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is
…
a) … the greatest wide receiver to ever play the game.
b) … in a neck-and-neck battle with the NBA’s Michael Jordan for the title of
most impressive old codger in sports.
c) … due an apology from every critic who said he was hanging on past his prime.
d) … all of the above.
What we strongly suspected heading into the Raiders-Jets wild-card playoff game was
reinforced by the game itself. Rice isn’t just defying Father Time, he is defying
Grandfather Time. At age 39, Rice posted a remarkable 83 catches for 1,139 yards and nine
touchdowns during the regular season. Then he further turned back the clock by going
absolutely wild against the Jets in the wild-card game, catching nine passes for 183 yards
and a touchdown.
I know that records are made to be broken, but that cliché may have to be retired in
the case of Rice. His numbers in his prime were absolutely otherworldly, and by continuing
to be so unbelievably productive so long after a wide receiver is supposed to have lost
his effectiveness, Rice very well may be raising the bar to unreachable heights. From here
to eternity, all future WR superstars appear to be playing for second place.
McNabb and Johnson have a long way to go to before they breathe the rarefied air Rice
inhales, but they are stars of today all the same, so let us return our attention to them.
McNabb is coming of age before our very eyes. Right now, he looks like the best of the
new-age run-pass double-threat quarterbacks. Against the Bucs in the wild-card round,
McNabb’s full game was on display. Philadelphia’s first field goal was set up by
a 39-yard McNabb run. The Eagles’ first TD drive was highlighted by two plays on
which McNabb ran around, bought time and then completed passes of 41 and 16 yards.
McNabb is a threat to make a play from any spot on the field. McNabb is a threat to
make a play at any point in the game — especially crunch time. During the regular
season, his TD-interception ratio inside the red zone was 19-2, his fourth-quarter passer
rating was 91.3 and when his team was trailing, his passer rating was 90.3. Those are
big-time numbers at critical times and places.
Conversely, the Buccaneers seem to forget all about Johnson at the most critical point
on the field — the red zone.
During the regular season, Johnson caught a whopping 106 passes. Only three of those
receptions came on plays starting inside the opponent’s red zone. Johnson caught only
one TD pass all season. That’s just crazy. I don’t care if Johnson was
double-teamed on every one of those plays, you have to get him the ball. He is clearly the
No. 1 playmaker on the Tampa Bay offense. Let him make plays.
It was more of the same in the wild-card loss to the Eagles. Consider the Bucs’
play-calls in the red zone on the three drives they settled for field goals — their
only points.
Field goal No. 1: first-down run, second-down run, third-down incomplete screen pass,
fourth-down field goal.
Field goal No. 2: first-down run, second-down run, third-down pass to a running back
for a loss, fourth-down field goal.
Field goal No. 3: With 11 seconds to play in the first half, the Buccaneers had the
ball at the Eagles’ 12-yard line. They threw a pass for three yards to FB Mike
Alstott and then settled for a field goal.
It is maddening. How does it not occur to this team to take a shot at the endzone?
Throw the ball to Johnson! Their red-zone approach makes all the sense of picking up a
supermodel for a date in your brother’s station wagon instead of your own sports car.
When it comes to the best offensive player for Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, the
difference is obvious. The Eagles let McNabb make plays, make a difference, make a winning
statement on 100 percent of the field. The Bucs only let Johnson do the same on 80 percent
of the field — the least important 80 percent as far as the scoreboard is concerned.
Let us summarize with one final multiple-choice test question: What we’ve learned
this season and had reinforced in the playoffs is …
a) … when Donovan McNabb is on top of his game as a run-pass threat, he is almost
impossible to stop.
b) … when the Buccaneers get into the red zone, Keyshawn Johnson is almost
impossible to find.
c) … when you look at what Jerry Rice is accomplishing this late in his career, he
is almost impossible to comprehend.
d) … all of the above. |
