It’s nearly a week after the Donovan McNabb trade and the controversy remains with us.¬† We had NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger erupt on McNabb and call him a flawed quarterback.
I stepped back and realized that there’s definitely truth to what he was saying.¬† Baldy was on NFL Network again last night and he explained that McNabb didn’t play great football in some of the biggest games of his career.
His passes weren’t pinpoint on target.¬† His reading of the defenses and decision-making wasn’t great in those championship games when it needed to be.
He’s telling the truth, but what he’s not telling is that the quarterbacks who he worships and gushes over, like Peyton Manning and Brett Favre are also flawed quarterbacks and have failed time and time again in the same situations.
I know this isn’t politically correct to day but the truth of matter is that there are no Michael Jordans amongst today’s NFL quarterbacks.
Meaning I haven’t seen one of these quarterbacks who didn’t have flaws in both his play and his resume.¬†¬† There isn’t a quarterback in the game today and that includes Manning, Favre, Tom Brady, Drew Brees who don’t have weaknesses.
Michael Jordan was the complete basketball player who was great at every area and he stepped his game up in big situations.¬† You can’t say that about any of these quarterbacks.
I will be Brady credit for a being a big game quarterback, but neither Manning or Favre have ever put a team on their backs and said follow me, we’re going to win it all, then gone out and done it.
They’re no different from McNabb in that respect.¬† Both of them have come up short with the money on the line time and time again, but you won’t hear Baldy or other guys in the media tell the truth about them.
Manning may be the greatest regular season quarterback in NFL history.¬† He has had unbelievable performances in the regular season but you don’t see the same quarterback in playoff games.
Year after year he fades in playoff games.  He played mediocre in the one Super Bowl that the Colts won.  Unlike Jordan who took his game up to another level with championships on the line, Manning folds.
He didn’t earn the MVP trophy in the Super Bowl, it was given to him by the same media that covers up for him.¬†¬† The Colts got great games from their running backs and their defense which sealed the game with an interception return for a touchdown.
In fact you could say McNabb with all his legtimate flaws, has been as good a playoff quarterback as Manning, who is more accurate and a better regular season quarterback, plus he’s been playing with Hall of Fame receivers his entire career.
In 2002, the Colts lost to the Jets 41-0 in a playoff game.¬† How do you explain a great quarterback like Manning playing this poorly in a playoff game?¬† Tell me that’s not choking.
In 2004 he threw 49 touchdown passes in the regular season, then was able to lead the Colts to only 3 points in the playoffs against the same Patriot team which beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl that year, 24-21.
McNabb isn’t as good as Manning yet he led his team to 21 points against the same defense which held Manning’s team to 3.¬†¬† So McNabb’s a choker, but Manning isn’t.
I thought Manning played the best he’s ever played in the post season this year but of course he made a costly mistake at the end of this year’s Super Bowl.
While we’re talking about interceptions, we have to talk about Mr. Favre or should I say Mr. Interception.
Many of Favre’s seasons have ended in the same way that the NFC Championship game ended, with him carelessly throwing away the Vikings chances of going to and winning a Super Bowl.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s got a great arm and he’s daring, but there’s a chip loose in his head and it’s always capable making a horrible decision in key moments.
Do you remember that punt he threw to end the Eagles-Packers 4th and 26 playoff game?
The guy has thrown more interceptions than any quarterback in league history and he’s been a underachiever because he proved this past year he can stay away from interceptions if he really wants to do so.
Throughout his career he has refused to be disciplined with the football, but hasn’t been adequately criticized for it.
If you want to talk about a flawed quarterback, you’ve got one in Favre.
He didn’t play great in the Super Bowl which the Packers won.¬† The Pack was aided by a kickoff return by Desmond Howard, the game’s MVP,¬† and Favre had mediocre stats.
McNabb has flaws in his game but¬† he’s not alone.
We’ll find the same thing in Kevin Kolb’s game, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win the Super Bowl.¬† A good team will win with their passing game, running game, defense and special teams.
If all of these areas of the team weren’t very important then we wouldn’t be making such a big deal about the draft.
Championship coaches¬† find ways to win championships with flawed quarterbacks because that’s really all you have to work with.
Teams win Super Bowls not individuals.
To Be Continued.
Join me and the other GCobb.com¬† writers at P.J. Whelihan’s on Rte. 70, in Cherry Hill on Monday night April 12th at 7pm.¬† We’re going to do a mock draft and go through all of the options that the Eagles will have in the first round.
Bring your friends and come on by to talk about the Philadelphia Eagles and the new Kevin Kolb era.
You ever notice how every WR that plays for the Colts becomes good? I don’t think its because they are just unusually adept at getting good WRs. Its the quarterback. Donovan doesn’t make his receivers good. He needs them to be good coming out of the gate. Manning is amazingly accurate and gives his receivers chances to make plays with the ball after the catch. McNabb does not. Comparing McNabb to Manning is beyond defense. Favre likewise…he makes guys look good that probably aren’t as good as they look. What has Javon Walker done since leaving Brett Favre?
The bottom line is that McNabb has choked in the big games. Everyone touts his 5 appearances in the NFCG as some sort of big deal. He’s only won one of them against an inferior ATL team. And in the Super Bowl, they had a chance, but McNabb again and again overthrew and underthrew the receivers down the stretch.
Sure, Manning’s not the best in the postseason; but that doesn’t mean McNabb is as good as Manning. If I had a playoff game to win, I’d take Manning over McNabb every day of the week.
Besides, Favre and Manning both have something McNabb doesn’t: a ring.
Exactly. We rarely see a big game where the QB put everything on his shoulders and carried the team when everyone else was playing poor. That rarely happens. It’s more likely that someone else on the team makes a big plays like New Orleans INT. I bet 99% of people thought Peyton Manning would drive the ball down and tie the game up. In sports (besides basketball) there are very few players that put the team on their back. It’s even more rare in football because there are so many moving parts. All QBs are flawed. And let’s face it McNabb was never going to be Joe Montana so I never expected him to be. What I expected was Andy Reid to realize that and build a TEAM around him on both sides of the ball because it’s very unlikely that your QB, no matter who he is, will be able to put the team on their back in big games and win. Yes McNabb should have played better in several of those games but teams win and in what big game was our defense going to put the rest of the team on it’s back like the Giants did for Eli.
Joe Montana
was the greatest in the big time!
It is a little harder to carry a team in a game like football which is so very very very TEAM oriented. One guy not doing their job could mess a whole team up. In Basketball with only 5 guys a side and no blocking schemes or down and distances A great skill player can completely take over a game.
Flawed QBs
OF COURSE THEY ARE!!!
No one is perfect. I am glad to start a new era with Kolb but I have no hate for McNabb.
great article G ……mc nabb is top 5 qb…who really has a better resume other than a few qbs…..we should of kept him…….i jus dont see it in kolb……but hey…it is what it is…by the way paulman sucks
well said scorp…….i agree…but mayb when kolb flop…we can finally get rid of big red….
Ah yes, another Scorp post explaining the McNabb situation. Thank God.
You guys just don’t get it, look at Manning when he was at Tennessee never won any big games ever!! The only QB in todays game who comes up big in the regular season and the playoffs is Tom Brady. But hey if the Eagles are under 500 this year blame that on Donovan. Let me be the first one to comment when they don’t make the super bowl next year. Hey this was supposed to be a rebuilding year so just making the playoffs was a plus. LMAO
He never get’s a ton of respect but I would have to argue Bree’s impact on his team. He was as close to putting a team on his back as a Q.B. could be, for the WHOLE season. There defense sucks, but he made them a threat no matter who the opponent.
My new favorite are the poepl that talk about appearing in 5 championship games and a super bowl like its chump change. There are hundreds of Div III, JC, Div II, and Div 1AA teams – just in the US. There are how many Div I teams. How many QBs come out of those ranks and actually do anything in the NFL – then you take the 28 that actually start, and how many go to the playoffs – now how many do it 8 out of 11 years? What percentage of all QBs actually get to take a team to the SB? Some of the people on this site talk about some of these players like its easy – getting to 5 NFCG is a HUGE deal, getting to a SB is a HUGE deal – have any of you ever even played in a game with a crowd bigger then maybe 3000 people? Lancaster – I’ll call you on it – I played Div I and now I coach – you tell me how easy it is to get to the conference final every year – How many even played in college? So of you remind me of the scene from Invincible where every wannabe shows up and gets his tail kicked. 5 NFC Champ games like they are a big deal – are you serious?
G this is a great article. I respect that you touched on the other QBs that people always bring to the table when they try to trash McNabb.
Ummmm tom brady is a michael jordan like player. I have never seen him have a bad game in a clutch game. In the super bowl against the giants he did not fumble nor get picked. He won a super bowl in his second year. Last time i checked it took 6 years for jordan to get his first. Brady gets hit and comes back firing on target. Personally i think he is the best qb since joe montana. Also, something mcnabb lap dogs use as an excuse, Tom Brady won his 3 titles with not the greatest receivers on the planet. Last point, in football you could have the greatest player in the world but if the supporting cast is mediocre you are never gonna win anything. There has been teams in basketball that have gone far and even won with just one superstar.
air guitar
loi – easy to do when you know the defensive signals. Blitzes are hard to counter, but when you know they’re coming, it’s a whole lot easier. Since they were caught, he hasn’t been so special. Am I wrong? The guy is still a very good QB, but he looked that ‘extra special’ before they got caught cheating….
Schill – you live up in that are – ever notice in all the ‘close’ patriot games, magically, mythically, sometime late in the 4rth quarter, big play, game on the line, Brady magically got ‘roughed’ or his rcvr got ‘interfered’ and the replay would show nothing – the writer for Fox, Whitlock I think his name is, would frequently comment on how plays that were ‘roughing’ for Brady weren’t called for other QBs – I think he got in some trouble when he asked the NFL if that hit McNabb took in the end zone against Carolina – how that would have been handled by the league if it were Brady. I think a few of the bigger name LBs (Urlacher and Porter) got in some trouble for comments that Brady was untouchable cause if you did touch him it was 15.
The biggest cahracteristic of a Great QB is making the players around you on offense better..
I know McNabb did not have great talent at the Skills position in his early years.. but does anyone think that T Pinkston,F Mitchell,T Smalls,LJ Smith,R Brown,H Baskett really improved that much as players..
Obvioulsy talent and coaching have a lot to do with it… but how come many of the players stayed the same or actually regressed in their develpoment and perfomance.. (and don’t tell me the WR’s Coach either)
Paulman, the only way to actually know that is look and see how good the player was before/after Philadelphia. Other than that there’s no other way. For example, if Hank Baskett sucked with Donovan and sucked with Peyton Manning this maybe Hank Baskett just sucks period. Did any of those players become better players when they went to another team? Did they play better before they got here? I for one just think, if you are good, then you are good. Period.
For some reason Reggie Brown struggled to develop with McNabb but Kevin Curtis comes right in a get a 1,000 yard season. And then Desean Jackson. So I don’t wanna here about QBs making a WR better. If you can play, your QB will get you the ball. How did McNabb have so much success with Chad Lewis but couldn’t do anything with LJ Smith but then play well with Brent Celek. At some point, the develop of lack of is just the fact that the player can’t play. I mean we are the only team that wanted “First down” freddie and make him a #1 receiver. How’d he do after he left here?
In rare cases, SOME QBs do have the ability to make there receivers look better than they are but let’s face it, in MOST cases the receiver is just good or bad no matter who’s throwing them the ball. Who made Roy Williams look good in Detroit and now he has a better QB but looks worst? I’d blame it on Roy Willams and not Tony Romo. Romo throws to the guy who will make a play and get open. When you are good, you are good.
I do agree in some cases chemistry plays a big part but that’s chemistry and not skill. So it’s one thing not to fit on one team but it’s an entirely different thing to not fit in on anyone’s team. How many guys didn’t play well in Philly under Reid and with McNabb went elsewhere and became better players? Or were good players before they got here? Not many. They either stayed the same or got worse because Andy will phase you out of the offense or defense if you aren’t producing.