Eagles at Redskins
The soap opera that is Donovan McNabb's life is set to return to the stage. It only seems appropriate that his former team will have front-row seats.
McNabb is expected to be under center for the Washington Redskins when they host the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night in a pivotal NFC East matchup.
It will mark the first game for McNabb since he was unceremoniously yanked from the lineup in the final minutes of a 37-25 loss to the Detroit Lions on Oct. 31.
The move backfired when backup Rex Grossman's fumble was returned for a touchdown that sealed the outcome and dropped Washington's record to 4-4.
The move to pull a starting quarterback with your team trailing by just six points was enough of an eye-opener, but Redskins coach Mike Shanahan fanned the flames of controversy with his postgame explanation.
Shanahan said his decision to yank McNabb was a result of Grossman's better understanding of the team's two-minute offense. One day later, Shanahan said McNabb lacked the cardiovascular endurance (translation: conditioning) to efficiently run the two-minute drill.
Not surprisingly, McNabb was not buying such reasoning, but as late as Thursday the six-time Pro Bowl quarterback said he hopes to practice the two-minute offense Saturday if his ailing hamstrings will allow it.
Such drama is nothing new for Philadelphia, which saw plenty of it during McNabb's 11-year tenure with the team until he was finally traded to Washington during last April.
Of more importance for the Eagles (5-3) is avenging a loss to the Redskins on Oct. 3 in the first ballyhooed matchup between McNabb and Michael Vick - his surprise successor.
Vick wasn’t around long in the first game, suffering a rib cage injury on a crunching first-quarter hit that sidelined him for over a month.
He returned last week and was superb in guiding the Eagles to a 26-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning. Vick threw for 218 yards and a touchdown and ran for 75 yards and a score.
In five games – four starts – Vick has yet to throw an interception while tossing seven touchdown passes and rushing for 263 yards and posting a passer rating of 105.3.
McNabb’s numbers have been less favorable. While he’s thrown for 1,971 yards, he has more interceptions (8) than touchdowns and did not play especially well against his former team in the first meeting.
With Vick out of the lineup, Washington’s defense bottled up the Eagles in a 17-12 victory. McNabb finished just 8 of 19 for a season-low 125 yards with one TD and one pick.
Philadelphia’s defense intercepted Manning twice last week – doubling his season total – as the Eagles improved to 12-0 following a bye week under coach Andy Reid.
Now it will be Washington’s turn to come out of a bye week in the 151st regular-season meeting between the teams. The Redskins lead the series, 78-67-5.