The Eagles offense has struggled for three of four games and part of that responsibility has to be shouldered by quarterback Donovan McNabb who has been inconsistent.
Other than the Detroit game, Donovan McNabb has not performed well so far this season. The debate is how much of it is his responsibility. How much of it is the coaching? How much of it is the receivers?
It’s true he’s returning from a knee surgery but he’s making the mistake of playing like he can still outrun defensive linemen but he can’t, right now. McNabb doesn’t currently have the escapability, which he utilized throughout his career to buy time for big plays. His accuracy has been missing at times and he’s been unable to make big plays in the red zone.
I can’t blame all the futility of the offense on McNabb but I do place some of the responsibility on him. I do believe the Birds running game should be the focus of their offense because this team’s best player is Brian Westbrook. In addition, the Eagles offensive line is one of their strengths and running the ball would make them more effective.
There’s clearly a problem between McNabb and wide receiver Reggie Brown. The young Eagles receiver thinks he’s open enough for Donovan to throw him the ball, but many of those times Donovan doesn’t let it go because he doesn’t think he’s open enough. There’s a problem here and both of the players have to shoulder some of this responsibility. McNabb has always been ultra-careful about throwing the ball into traffic but he doesn’t have the legs to buy time until one of his receivers gets open enough for his taste. He’s got to let some of those balls go. On the other hand, Brown and his group of receivers need to do a better job of getting quality releases off the line of scrimmage on their routes.
I would give Donovan McNabb a C grade so far this season.
