Did Donovan Diss His Defense?
NFL February 5th. 2009, 12:00pm
This seems kind of like a reach, but we can see how Donovan McNabb may catch some heat for the following quote he gave during a radio interview:
“We were up, 25-24,” McNabb said. Then, in case people missed it the first time, he repeated it for good measure. “We were up, 25-24. [The Cardinals] drove down 72 yards by running the ball - probably, what, eight times? And it reminded me so much of [the NFC championship game in] St. Louis where, coming back in that second half, they ran the ball nine times with Marshall Faulk to keep our offense off the field. Because they were terrified of us going back out and scoring more points.”
Dig or not? Didn’t seem like much of one to us; former teammate Hugh Douglass sort of disagreed.
“Some people will say it’s not a big deal, but it is,” former Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas said. “When you break that team code, it hits home. When you call someone your teammate, you’re calling them your brother. Be loyal to your teammates. It’s easy to point fingers. Brian Dawkins is a team player. He would never do that … I know Donovan. I respect Donovan. In his mind, he didn’t say anything wrong. But a leader thinks before he speaks. That would never come out of a leader’s mouth. Every year, Donovan says something that’s inflammatory, then he doesn’t explain himself. Explain yourself. When you alienate people who have your back, I need to understand why. I need to understand how he thinks. Right now, I don’t.”
Our issue with the defense wasn’t so much on the final drive, but rather in the first half, when it sleepwalked through two quarters and the Eagles trailed big at the break. If the Vikings had a clue, they’d call McNabb to put out a feeler today, tampering be damned.
McNabb on offensive (Philadelphia Inquirer)
48 Responses to “Did Donovan Diss His Defense?”
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February 5th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
this may be the first step in what florio predicted on nfl network last week would happen with mcnabb.
florio claimed mcnabb would begin doing all sorts of shit in the near future to wear out his welcome in philly and for the eagles to open the door for his exit.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Fuck McNabb.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
and awaaayyyy we go…
February 5th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
It sounds like he was saying that neither the Rams or the Cardinals wanted any part of the offense in the particular times of the games he mentioned, so they each decided to run the ball multiple times in a row in order to keep him off the field. I think it sounds that way, because IT’S WHAT HE SAID. It’s true, and he probably said it (and we have to guess because we weren’t provided with the entire conversation)because the brilliant fans in Philly pin every loss on him while excusing away their gimmicky defense.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
florio claimed mcnabb would begin doing all sorts of shit in the near future to wear out his welcome in philly and for the eagles to open the door for his exit.
That sounds plausible, but he’s going to have to do better than this. I suggest taking bong hits and running around naked. It got Terry Glenn’s name back in the news, if only for a brief second. McNabb would be 24/7 ESPN if he did that.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Well, TBL, this is the follow-up to that link, and much more interesting. Jeremiah Trotter threw McNabb under the bus BIG TIME.
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/moving_the_chains/Trotter_reacts_to_McNabbs_comments.html
February 5th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
This is telling:
“I don’t think a lot of people are gonna be surprised by the comments, him throwing the defense under the bus,” Trotter said. “A lot of people are not gonna be surprised. They understand Donovan and you know, Donovan has never really taken the blame for playing bad. …You’ll never hear Donovan say ‘I played bad. I gotta do a better job.’”
February 5th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
TBL — You are trying to kill me, I think.
Gonzalez is Philly’s version of Steve Serby. He’s a sensationalist that everyone pretty much agrees to ignore and treat like a small child.
Douglas is on WIP. His job is to be a jackass and he’s good at it.
I copied this from a comment at another Eagles site, it’s quite good:
“I swear I don’t know why Donovan bothers with interviews at all. When he speaks in empty cliches, he gets blasted. When he tells the truth and acknowledges something anyone with one working eye and one-half a brain cell can see, he gets blasted. He should just make response cards (1. I want to end my career as an Eagle 2. Yes, we can win with the talent on this roster, 3. We’re working hard to bring a championship to Philadelphia, etc.) and simply yell out numbers during interviews.”
February 5th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I can’t wait until Kolb is starting in Philly and the become cellar dwellers of the NFC East.
Maybe they should draft Nate Davis (Ball St) to replace McNabb…
February 5th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
He should go to the Vikings.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Douglas is on WIP. His job is to be a jackass and he’s good at it.
Agreed…and even more in agreement about Gonzo.
But, that said, I respect what Trotter has to say about the subject.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
To be fair, I don’t think Philly ever embraced him the same way other fanbases have embraced say … a Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or so on. With McNabb, it was always…how’s he going to screw up? Is he really a franchise QB? And he’s dealt with it pretty admirably his entire career
February 5th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
When he tells the truth and acknowledges something anyone with one working eye and one-half a brain cell can see, he gets blasted.
Philly fans: Blind, stupid and passionate.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
But, that said, I respect what Trotter has to say about the subject.
He’s a guy with an opinion, but I disagree with him. Did anyone read what Dawkins said after the game, blaming the “young” guys on defense who “made mistakes”?
That, of course, got no coverage because Gonzalez would get killed for writing anything critical of Dawkins (who played like crap against the Cardinals).
If McNabb ever laid blame on any of the young guys in offense (he doesn’t) after a tough loss (like say, the Washington game when DeSean dropped two huge potential touchdowns) he would be killed. He doesn’t do that, he always says “we make mistakes”, “we didn’t execute”, “we have to regroup”.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
If McNabb wants to blame the defense for the last drive, he should be capable of blaming his first half play which didn’t help at all.
otherwise he should have a Coke and shut the fuck up.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Youre right that he does use the word we a lot when his offense struggles. Thats part of the problem as Douglas said, you’ll never hear him take responsibility. You’ll never hear him admit that “I” struggled or “I” need to play better. And boy does he get pissed to all hell when he gets singled out.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
I still wish the Browns would have taken him with their pick that year. The last 8 years wouldn’t have been an utter disaster.
Sounds overblown to me. Just another Philly excuse for getting him out of town.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
So it’s only a team game when you do well right? If the team does poorly, McNabb should fall on his sword?
February 5th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
McNabb has never figured out that the buck starts and stops with the QB. Is it his fault they lost? No, he played pretty solid. BUT, just like a head coach does, the QB needs to shoulder the blame of the public. He gets the credit when things go well, he is the one with a uber contract, he needs to stand up and take the blame. For crying out loud the Rams game was 7 years ago.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
McNabb seems to be one of those guys who is just cursed with a multitude of bad choices. His people skills are juuuuuust off … just enough for whatever he says or does to fall flat. Kobe is like that. A-Rod is like that. These are amazing athletes who, were they a little quirkier, would be beloved, a la Manny or Agent Zero. Or if they were a little more businesslike, they would be respected, a la Jordan, Tiger or Brady. Instead, they can’t seem to get out of their own way and every good act seems contrived and every slip up is magnified as further proof they aren’t winners. I’m sure there are other athletes who fall into this mix, but I can’t think of them right now.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I found this to be somewhat quirky, with perhaps a bit of business savvy.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Yes it’s called leadership. Keeping the heat off of everyone else. Just like head coach is supposed to do.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Was McNabb the one getting torched by Larry Fitzgerald out deep?
February 5th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
He’s got to take SOME responsibility.. I mean saying after the Redskins game that he thought he “played well”… Christ dude, just suck it up and move on. Fans want their QB’s to be accountable and he never has been, it’s no wonder he hasn’t been embraced.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
What Pistol Pete said.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
People can’t have it both ways. You always hear coaches preach about how a team isn’t one individual and you win and lose as a team. Yet when a player comes out and says WE didn’t get it done, or WE played poorly, people throw him under the bus for not taking credit. That seems a little off to me. Bottom line Eagles fans: Shut the fuck up! In the 10 years that you have had McNabb, I have been forced to cheer for this:
Chris Chandler
Doug Johnson
Micheal Vick
Matt Schaub
Chris Redman
Joey Harrington
Byron Leftwich
Which scenario would you rather have?
February 5th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
please don’t group me in with those knuckleheads
February 5th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
All he said was the other team was running the ball to keep it away from their offense. This is SOP for about 90% of game plans in the NFL.
Besides if I was McNabb I wouldn’t take the blame for every single mistake because the Philly fans are just going to blame it all on him anyways, so why bother? He takes the blame often enough
February 5th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
That’s not what leadership is. That’s just being the scapegoat. Maybe he doesn’t take on full responsibility by saying “I”, but I see no problem in him saying “we” didn’t play well or “we” didn’t execute. It’s not like he goes out of his way to throw people under the bus. He’s not allowed to be a little candid just because he plays QB? If your guys aren’t executing, you can hold them to some accountability can’t you?
It just seems like fans and the media are blaming him for everything and they just want him to accept the blame and prove that they were right all along.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
These are amazing athletes who, were they a little quirkier, would be beloved, a la Manny or Agent Zero
lol
February 5th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
He sure has no problem with the “I” after a good game.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Bottom line Eagles fans: Shut the fuck up!
No kidding. Only when you’ve endured your team debating the merits of Billy Joe vs Billy Joe, do you realize that quality QB is extremely rare.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
The thing people are missing is: McNabb is making a good point! The press and everyone else are always so quick to put the blame on his shoulders with every loss, ignoring that in many crucial games he takes his offense down the field to get the lead only to see it immediately squandered by the Philly defense. I don’t think this has as much to do with him wanting out of Philly as it is an argument for his value as a free agent — he doesn’t need to make Philly let him go.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Just like the “McNabb never takes any blame” garbage, this is also untrue. McNabb always uses the “we” pronoun when talking about how the offense played. The only time he goes first person is when he’s asked directly in a press conference — “Donovan, did the benching make you play better this week?” being the question asked 98% of the time this year.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Cracker, maybe I missed it, but I don’t ever really remember him drawing attention to himself like that. Not saying he didn’t, just saying if it happened, I missed it.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Not to mention, he hasn’t exactly had HOF receivers to throw to, and the only one he actually had, eventually lost his mind and torpedoed the team. So, I dunno…how about cutting the guy some slack?
February 5th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Wow, surprised at the number of people who agree/defend McNabbb here. “We were up 25-24″, oooo a one point lead. Seems to me Donovan got the ball back with 3 minutes to go and proceeded to underthrow, overthrow, and predictably puke on the field at the end of a big game. Just like I’ve seen him do many times.
For years I defended the crap Donovan got from Philly fans, but I’m sick of his my shit don’t stink attitude he’s had the past couple of seasons. Try winning a big game.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I think there is a distinct difference between saying we didn’t execute or we didn’t play well and saying we were up and they ran the ball 8 straight times, that is a passive agressive shot at his D. If all he said was we didn’t get it done, or didn’t play well enough to win there would be no problem here. But he singled out the D unit for the loss of the game in a backhanded way and then brought up a game from 7 years ago!
And we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one, but I think a component of leadership is being the scapegoat for your people. I run a 6 person estimating department and if there is a error that comes back on us the VPs/CEO know to come down on me. I dont let them come down on my people.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
The offense scored 25 points despite missing a routine field goal and an extra point. The defense, which was supposed to be “the best defense of Jim Johnson has ever coached” gave up 24 points in the first half (the offense made it up) and 32 for the game.
But pointing out that the Cardinals wanted to run the ball to keep it out of the scorching hot Eagles offenses’ hands (they had scored 3 straight TD’s) is not showing leadership. Right.
Apparent rule #1 of being a quarterback in Philly — You can not make valid observations.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Donovan got the ball back and didn’t do shit (surprise), so they didn’t “keep our offense off the field”, they gave you the ball with the chance to win it. Roethlisberger was put in a worse spot against the same team and went out and won.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
bbryan, I do disagree about scapegoat vs. leadership. I think a leader should take responsibility for when his team screws up and keep the heat off his members because it happened under his watch. However, with that said, McNabb doesn’t play defense, so in a way, he’s kind of defending his offensive unit. But that’s overthinking. I don’t think leaders have to go out of their ways to be martyrs is what I’m saying. You take responsibility for your people, but you don’t have to be a scapegoat.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
And I don’t want/expect McNabb to come out and say “its all my fault we lost, put it on me,” because thats obviously not true. However I don’t think its too much to ask to not through teammates under the bus.
And he didn’t just toss the D under the bus for this game, he also blamed them for the St Louis game, which once again he had a chance to win and didn’t.
Via Wikipedia, “After forcing a punt, the Eagles got the ball back on their own 45-yard line with 2:20 left. But on a fourth down and 7 conversion attempt, St. Louis defensive back Aeneas Williams intercepted a pass intended for Freddie Mitchell and the Rams held the ball for the rest of the game.”
February 5th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Yes, we wouldn’t be talking about this if the Eagles had managed to score a tying TD and won it in overtime.
We also wouldn’t be talking about this if the Eagles defense had managed to stop the Cardinals after the offense rallied from 18 points down.
That defense had given up 11, 14, 6, 10, and 14 points the previous 5 weeks.
February 5th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Bottom line, it’s a smear job by Gonzalez (again, he’s a joke) that is classic off-season bullshit in that city (only a week after McNabb said “I want to retire an Eagle and make the people of Philadelphia proud like the Phillies”).
The former players commenting are a non-story. Douglas and Trotter are no different than another former player like Tiki Barber. They miss the attention and are self-promoting. If Trotter doesn’t criticize McNabb he doesn’t make the paper.
February 5th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
That’s the #1 rule of being a quarterback in any city. Manning was crucified when he mentioned his O line may have not done a good job when he was sacked about 10 times against the pats a few years back. QBs are paid to be the face of the franchise, not 20/20 vision color commentators.
February 5th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Pistol Pete summed up McNabb perfectly. Nicely done.
February 5th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
mcnabb has a point. their d stunk vs arizona
February 5th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Chris Chandler
Doug Johnson
Yes, The Falcons suck. The world is a better place when they do.