Eagles coach Andy Reid remem-bered it like this: "He started throwing after we came out at halftime and he said, 'Doggone, this thing feels weak right now.' "
Sore, weak, whatever - there was a consultation on the sideline with trainer Rick Burkholder and, soon after, backup quarterback A.J. Feeley put on his helmet and began warming up. "We didn't know," Reid said. And, with that, an interesting laboratory test was being set up.
What might Feeley do against the Redskins in the second half? What might that tell us about McNabb's role in the ongoing struggles of the Eagles' offense? This question - how much to blame Donovan - had dominated Philadelphia for the previous few days after McNabb had agreed last Wednesday to take his share of the blame, but not an ounce more. Suddenly, at least a partial test of the hypothesis was being set up before us.
Nine plays later, the Redskins kicked a field goal that upped their lead to 15-7. After the kickoff, all eyes were on the sideline as the Eagles' offense ran onto the field.
Which quarterback?
McNabb.
"There was no question," he said.
What followed will never be mistaken for grandeur. The Eagles and McNabb seem to be beyond that possibility, at least for this season. This was about hanging around and hanging in there and little else. It was about looking at the stat sheet after the game and being shocked that McNabb threw for four touchdowns and had a passer rating of 138.5 - because this just did not seem like that kind of a game when it was happening. It was not about numbers. It was about dignity and it was about digging in.
"Games like this, where you have to continue to dig deep and fight to win the game at the end, that says a lot about this team," McNabb said, after they somehow beat the Redskins, 33-25. "That says a lot about our coaching staff and just kind of the work we've been putting forth."
