Guyute
01-06-2004, 04:43 PM
figured I'd start a separate thread.
McNabb can play with the Brett of them
By LES BOWEN
bowenl@phillynews.com
THERE'S NO NEED to wring your hands and fret on behalf of Donovan McNabb, as the Eagles quarterback suffers comparisons this week to Green Bay's Brett Favre, the NFL's only three-time MVP, in the days leading up to Sunday's NFC semifinal playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field.
Juxtaposed against 13-year veteran Favre, McNabb, in his fifth NFL season, might be "still in the embryonic stage of his career,'' as Eagles wide receiver Freddie Mitchell put it yesterday. But McNabb, at 27, seems to be moving solidly into his prime. His numbers over the last couple of months place him on a more even footing with a future Hall of Famer such as Favre than McNabb has ever seemed to occupy previously.
This year, McNabb is being asked to lead the Birds to the Super Bowl, with no allowances made for lack of experience or healing fibulas. It's something he and his teammates frankly acknowledge.
"That's the way that I look at it,'' McNabb said yesterday, as the Eagles began preparing for the Packers.
"You only go as far as your quarterback,'' cornerback Troy Vincent said, on the day the Eagles announced McNabb had been voted the team's offensive MVP by his teammates.
As recently as the week before the teams' most recent meeting, Nov. 10 at Green Bay, the comparison with Favre seemed unfortunate, weighted toward the veteran (a Daily News story the day of the game said so). But in that game, with Favre hindered by a broken thumb and a rain-slickened ball, McNabb stepped up. It's hard to forget the image of McNabb driving the Eagles 65 yards in eight plays, throwing the winning TD pass to Todd Pinkston with 27 seconds left, as ABC's "Monday Night Football'' cameras kept cutting to Favre's anguished visage on the Lambeau Field sideline.
"For you to have that opportunity to go out there and do it in Green Bay, on Lambeau Field, on Monday night, it's a big thing for the offense,'' McNabb recalled yesterday, after first deferring when asked whether he considered that drive a turning point for himself or the team. "It's a big thing for Todd, it's a big thing for the offensive line, the [rest of] the receiving corps. Obviously, with the conditions we were in, and having [John] Madden and those guys doing the game, it stood out a little more.''
"It meant a lot to me,'' Pinkston acknowledged yesterday. "It was the turning point of my season.''
Pinkston said he wouldn't go so far as to claim that drive as the turning point for McNabb or the offense - he said he felt "the offense has been coming around, slowly but surely'' since earlier in the season. But McNabb's numbers since the Green Bay game are startling - 131 of 201, 65.1 percent, with 11 of his season's 16 passing TDs and just four interceptions, in seven games.
McNabb's blossoming is one reason the Eagles' offense still looks like that of a Super Bowl contender, even without leading rusher Brian Westbrook, who finally will undergo season-ending triceps surgery today in Birmingham, Ala. Westbrook was injured in the Dec. 27 regular-season finale at Washington.
"I love what Donovan brings to the table,'' Vincent said. "Donovan's on his way. Brett's played a lot longer than Donovan. Both are mobile quarterbacks, both have great arms, both are winners - both know how to win. Brett's journey has been a little longer. Donovan's right in the middle of his. But I wouldn't trade him for anybody.''
A year ago, the hot Eagles issue going into the playoffs was McNabb's health. He was returning to the field after missing six games with a broken fibula. The alarmists looking at last year's NFC semifinal matchup against Atlanta foresaw McNabb looking rusty and lame against a healthy Michael Vick.
McNabb adroitly guided the Birds through that game, only to show the rust when Tampa Bay was able to bring strong pressure in the NFC Championship Game the next week. But the Packers certainly don't have a Tampa-level defense - Green Bay ranked 23rd against the pass this season - and McNabb and the Eagles' offense seem much more evolved than a year ago.
As Eagles cornerback Bobby Taylor astutely noted yesterday, McNabb doesn't really have to play against Favre on Sunday - that's Taylor's job. McNabb just has to play against the Packers' defense.
"I'm healthier,'' McNabb said yesterday, when asked about the differences from last year's playoff journey. "We've been able to click when we've needed to during the year, spread the ball around, make sure everyone is involved. This year has been a lot more exciting than the last couple of years, because of some challenges.''
There have been a few of those, with the Eagles starting 0-2 and their offense looking like a train wreck, McNabb dealing with a lower leg injury and a bone-bruised thumb. Sometimes the excitement got a little distracting, like when McNabb's weekly news conference was carried live on CNN 3 days after then-ESPN analyst Rush Limbaugh said the media overrate McNabb because he's black. McNabb spoke quietly, eloquently and forcefully that day, and hours later, Limbaugh and ESPN parted company.
Fullback Jon Ritchie, in his first year with the Eagles, marveled at how McNabb smiled and joked and never seemed to let any of the problems get to him.
"He's proved that his method of dealing with negativity is a successful one. He's a lot of fun to be around because of it,'' Ritchie said yesterday.
McNabb said the Eagles' offense had to find an identity, and did.
"Guys coming together, pulling together, challenging themselves, and being able to [become] one of the hottest teams in the NFL. That's what made it challenging for us and exciting for us,'' McNabb said.
Part of the challenge of facing Favre and the Packers is the aura that has grown around Favre and the team during its stretch run. Much has been made in the national media of Favre's reaction in the face of tragedy, his father Irvin's sudden death just before the Packers played the Raiders 2 weeks ago. It's a ticklish subject for opponents - when you analyze how the death of someone's father works as a motivational factor, you run the awful risk of trivializing something that belongs on a different plane from the mundane concerns of football.
McNabb tiptoed deftly through that mine field yesterday.
"It's been exciting for those guys to do what they've been able to do over the past couple of weeks with the situation that Brett and his family have been through,'' McNabb said. "As a player and as a human being, I'm excited to see that those guys have been able to put that behind them, move forward, and do it for his father.''
McNabb then allowed that the Eagles have motivation, as well.
"Personally, I don't think you need to motivate yourself to play this game,'' he said. "Especially, to play this game with the situation that is in front of us. It's a playoff game...We're just motivated to be in the playoffs and to have an opportunity to move on.''
McNabb can play with the Brett of them
By LES BOWEN
bowenl@phillynews.com
THERE'S NO NEED to wring your hands and fret on behalf of Donovan McNabb, as the Eagles quarterback suffers comparisons this week to Green Bay's Brett Favre, the NFL's only three-time MVP, in the days leading up to Sunday's NFC semifinal playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field.
Juxtaposed against 13-year veteran Favre, McNabb, in his fifth NFL season, might be "still in the embryonic stage of his career,'' as Eagles wide receiver Freddie Mitchell put it yesterday. But McNabb, at 27, seems to be moving solidly into his prime. His numbers over the last couple of months place him on a more even footing with a future Hall of Famer such as Favre than McNabb has ever seemed to occupy previously.
This year, McNabb is being asked to lead the Birds to the Super Bowl, with no allowances made for lack of experience or healing fibulas. It's something he and his teammates frankly acknowledge.
"That's the way that I look at it,'' McNabb said yesterday, as the Eagles began preparing for the Packers.
"You only go as far as your quarterback,'' cornerback Troy Vincent said, on the day the Eagles announced McNabb had been voted the team's offensive MVP by his teammates.
As recently as the week before the teams' most recent meeting, Nov. 10 at Green Bay, the comparison with Favre seemed unfortunate, weighted toward the veteran (a Daily News story the day of the game said so). But in that game, with Favre hindered by a broken thumb and a rain-slickened ball, McNabb stepped up. It's hard to forget the image of McNabb driving the Eagles 65 yards in eight plays, throwing the winning TD pass to Todd Pinkston with 27 seconds left, as ABC's "Monday Night Football'' cameras kept cutting to Favre's anguished visage on the Lambeau Field sideline.
"For you to have that opportunity to go out there and do it in Green Bay, on Lambeau Field, on Monday night, it's a big thing for the offense,'' McNabb recalled yesterday, after first deferring when asked whether he considered that drive a turning point for himself or the team. "It's a big thing for Todd, it's a big thing for the offensive line, the [rest of] the receiving corps. Obviously, with the conditions we were in, and having [John] Madden and those guys doing the game, it stood out a little more.''
"It meant a lot to me,'' Pinkston acknowledged yesterday. "It was the turning point of my season.''
Pinkston said he wouldn't go so far as to claim that drive as the turning point for McNabb or the offense - he said he felt "the offense has been coming around, slowly but surely'' since earlier in the season. But McNabb's numbers since the Green Bay game are startling - 131 of 201, 65.1 percent, with 11 of his season's 16 passing TDs and just four interceptions, in seven games.
McNabb's blossoming is one reason the Eagles' offense still looks like that of a Super Bowl contender, even without leading rusher Brian Westbrook, who finally will undergo season-ending triceps surgery today in Birmingham, Ala. Westbrook was injured in the Dec. 27 regular-season finale at Washington.
"I love what Donovan brings to the table,'' Vincent said. "Donovan's on his way. Brett's played a lot longer than Donovan. Both are mobile quarterbacks, both have great arms, both are winners - both know how to win. Brett's journey has been a little longer. Donovan's right in the middle of his. But I wouldn't trade him for anybody.''
A year ago, the hot Eagles issue going into the playoffs was McNabb's health. He was returning to the field after missing six games with a broken fibula. The alarmists looking at last year's NFC semifinal matchup against Atlanta foresaw McNabb looking rusty and lame against a healthy Michael Vick.
McNabb adroitly guided the Birds through that game, only to show the rust when Tampa Bay was able to bring strong pressure in the NFC Championship Game the next week. But the Packers certainly don't have a Tampa-level defense - Green Bay ranked 23rd against the pass this season - and McNabb and the Eagles' offense seem much more evolved than a year ago.
As Eagles cornerback Bobby Taylor astutely noted yesterday, McNabb doesn't really have to play against Favre on Sunday - that's Taylor's job. McNabb just has to play against the Packers' defense.
"I'm healthier,'' McNabb said yesterday, when asked about the differences from last year's playoff journey. "We've been able to click when we've needed to during the year, spread the ball around, make sure everyone is involved. This year has been a lot more exciting than the last couple of years, because of some challenges.''
There have been a few of those, with the Eagles starting 0-2 and their offense looking like a train wreck, McNabb dealing with a lower leg injury and a bone-bruised thumb. Sometimes the excitement got a little distracting, like when McNabb's weekly news conference was carried live on CNN 3 days after then-ESPN analyst Rush Limbaugh said the media overrate McNabb because he's black. McNabb spoke quietly, eloquently and forcefully that day, and hours later, Limbaugh and ESPN parted company.
Fullback Jon Ritchie, in his first year with the Eagles, marveled at how McNabb smiled and joked and never seemed to let any of the problems get to him.
"He's proved that his method of dealing with negativity is a successful one. He's a lot of fun to be around because of it,'' Ritchie said yesterday.
McNabb said the Eagles' offense had to find an identity, and did.
"Guys coming together, pulling together, challenging themselves, and being able to [become] one of the hottest teams in the NFL. That's what made it challenging for us and exciting for us,'' McNabb said.
Part of the challenge of facing Favre and the Packers is the aura that has grown around Favre and the team during its stretch run. Much has been made in the national media of Favre's reaction in the face of tragedy, his father Irvin's sudden death just before the Packers played the Raiders 2 weeks ago. It's a ticklish subject for opponents - when you analyze how the death of someone's father works as a motivational factor, you run the awful risk of trivializing something that belongs on a different plane from the mundane concerns of football.
McNabb tiptoed deftly through that mine field yesterday.
"It's been exciting for those guys to do what they've been able to do over the past couple of weeks with the situation that Brett and his family have been through,'' McNabb said. "As a player and as a human being, I'm excited to see that those guys have been able to put that behind them, move forward, and do it for his father.''
McNabb then allowed that the Eagles have motivation, as well.
"Personally, I don't think you need to motivate yourself to play this game,'' he said. "Especially, to play this game with the situation that is in front of us. It's a playoff game...We're just motivated to be in the playoffs and to have an opportunity to move on.''