Donovan McNabb is getting the last laugh. Booed in Philadelphia again after an 0-2 start, insulted by a supercilious national non-sports talk show host and struggling with injuries to his back, thumb and foot, the Eagles’ quarterback has rallied his team to seven straight victories.
If the Eagles can beat the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, McNabb will stay on course for a third straight run at an NFC title. After opening the season with a reprise of last year’s devastating home-field loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Eagles and McNabb are proof that what you see in the NFL is not always what you get.
Coach Andy Reid was second-guessed for not benching McNabb. The quarterback, a Mt. Carmel graduate, said it helped him “really understand that somebody has your back.”
As for criticism from outside the organization, “we loved that,” McNabb said.
“It’s a challenge. This game is hard. It’s tough to get a win.”
In his last six games, McNabb has completed 66 percent of his passes and is averaging 8.37 yards per attempt. In his first six, he was completing 48 percent and averaging only 4.49 yards per attempt.
McNabb was named NFC offensive player for November, when the Eagles were 5-0. McNabb knows December is “when you want to be playing your best ball.”
As for the September opinion by the radio host that McNabb’s reputation was inflated by the media because he is black, McNabb termed it “just water dripping down my back.”
There won’t be a better day of matchups in the NFL for the rest of the season than Sunday, when there are seven games with playoff implications for both teams. It’s as though the playoffs start now.
Parcells remembers: Dallas coach Bill Parcells hasn’t brought a team to Philadelphia since 1990, his last year with the Giants, but he remembers. The worst thing he has heard from Philly fans?
“I don’t think I can air the answer,” he said. “I was there when they booed Santa Claus. I was an assistant coach at the time. That ought to tell you all you need to know.”
Two in a row: The Colts and Titans got ready for Sunday’s AFC South showdown by losing last week, meaning something has to give. The Colts haven’t lost two in a row in 21 games. The Titans haven’t lost two in a row in 25 games, tops in the NFL.
Who’s better? The Colts’ Peyton Manning or the Titans’ Steve McNair?
“Peyton Manning, by far,” Colts pass rusher Dwight Freeney said. “Steve’s a great player, but Peyton, man, he does a whole lot.”
McNair understands where Freeney is coming from.
“Ask the guys here on this football team and see what they say,” McNair said with a laugh. “If they say Manning, then they’re going to be kicked off the team.”
Bengal love: Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick started out in NFL public relations, so he knows a good story like the Cincinnati Bengals when he sees one: “If we’re fortunate to win, we’re just going to be those bad Baltimore bullies again that are killing this great national story.”
The runners: Kansas City’s Priest Holmes (162 yards against San Diego) and Denver’s Clinton Portis (170 yards vs. Oakland) are coming off their best rushing efforts of the season going into Sunday’s faceoff. Both enjoy a history of success against the other.
With 17 touchdowns, Holmes still thinks he can threaten Marshall Faulk’s NFL single-season record of 26 as the Chiefs play for home-field playoff advantage.
“They always say the things you do in December you will be remembered by,” Holmes said.
In the last three years, Holmes has scored more touchdowns, 51, than anyone else in the NFL. Seattle’s Shaun Alexander has 45, Faulk 38, and Green Bay’s Ahman Green and San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson 34.
“You can use him on the goal line because he’s a power runner,” Chiefs fullback Tony Richardson said. “And you don’t have to take him out on third down, because he’s quick enough to do everything you need to do on third down.”
Said Holmes: “I’ve never tried to be the biggest or the fastest. I’ve always just tried to be the best.”
Not best in New Orleans: The Saints think Deuce McAllister is the best back in football, a bigger version of Holmes, Portis and Faulk, more versatile than the man he replaced, Ricky Williams, and the latest league MVP candidate.
He leads the NFL with 1,756 yards from scrimmage and is second in rushing yards with 1,393.
If McAllister gets more than 190 yards from scrimmage this week, he will become the first player to do it in four straight games. Only two other players ever have had more than 190 yards from scrimmage in three straight: Jim Brown over the 1962-63 seasons and Walter Payton in 1977.
McAllister has rushed for 100 yards or more in nine consecutive games, tying Fred Taylor of Jacksonville and Payton for third on the all-time list. Barry Sanders had 14 consecutive 100-yard games.
“He moves the pile,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden said. “He makes physical, man-made yardage on every run. When he has daylight, he has the finishing speed. He’s a superstar back as far as I’m concerned.”
Said Saints coach Jim Haslett: “Great running backs usually get on a roll and stay on them, like Barry Sanders and Walter Payton. The good teams ride them until the end. We plan on doing that.”
Redskins safety Matt Bowen, who played with Green in Green Bay, on McAllister: “He’s the best back I’ve ever seen. He seems to get stronger when you hit him. He thrives off it. He was breaking tackles in the fourth quarter. He just exploded.”
McAllister, who grew up in Lena, Miss., said he always liked fellow native Payton. “But you look at any of the great running backs: Eric Dickerson, Marcus Allen, Barry Sanders, and the young guys like Marshall Faulk. Because I always tried to steal a little bit from each of those guys’ game and add it into mine growing up, and that’s what you have now.
Running time: The teams that run best in December usually are still running in January. That’s why Redskins coach Steve Spurrier may never catch on to the pro game.
Despite a 6.2-yard average on the ground and a lead against New Orleans for much of the second half last week, Spurrier and offensive coordinator Hue Jackson called 42 passes and just 26 runs, 21 passes and just 10 runs after halftime. The Redskins lost.
The imbalance led right tackle Jon Jansen and right guard Randy Thomas to plead with Spurrier on the sideline to call more runs.
“You earn the right to run the ball,” Jansen said. “And then you’re not allowed to. It’s frustrating, extremely frustrating.”
Said Spurrier: “Of course every time you lose you can look back and say you should have thrown more or run more. So I guess we should have, what, run more? Yeah, every time we throw incomplete, we should have run, that’s for sure.”
Viking swoon: Six NFL teams are a league-worst 1-5 since Oct. 26. The Vikings are one of them. Oakland and San Diego would be 0-6 if they hadn’t beaten the Vikings by a combined 24 points.
Packer tribute: The Packers will pay tribute to the late Tony Canadeo, one of the team’s most storied players, for the rest of the season by wearing a helmet decal bearing Canadeo’s retired No. 3. He died in Green Bay Nov. 29 at 84.
Nothing games: Besides all the great matchups, this week is also strangely characterized by Oakland-Pittsburgh and Washington-New York Giants games that mean nothing.
With the San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers and New York Jets also sunk or sinking, this could be the first time since 1954 when no teams from New York or California make the playoffs.
That goes back to the days of a one-game postseason, the championship game. In pre-AFL 1954, Cleveland beat Detroit for the NFL title. In every season since, teams from New York or California have advanced past the regular season.
Since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, there never has been a season in the Bay Area in which both the Raiders and 49ers had losing records. The 3-9 Raiders are already there and the 5-7 49ers are on the way.
