I said something along those lines, though I didn't frame it as well, after last month's loss to the Redskins - that I wanted to see McNabb take ownership of the situation, and the team. He more or less did that through the next three wins, more in San Francisco, less against the Falcons and Seahawks. Now, the Birds seem rudderless again, and a quarterback who doesn't know the game is about to end as overtime ticks away is the perfect symbol of that.
A McNabb spokesman said yesterday that the QB did not want to make a clarifying statement, and that he agrees he should have known the rule. I think McNabb - who compounded his problem by musing about what would happen at the end of OT in the playoffs or the Super Bowl, unaware of the obvious fact that those games could not end in a tie - probably understands now that he will be part of overtime lore for a very long time. (In the same way that before every overtime coin toss, somebody brings up Marty Mornhinweg, who famously opted not to take the ball as Detroit's head coach.)
"I think that's absurd," Reid said yesterday, when asked about the McNabb criticism. "You play to win in that time, whether you think you have another overtime period or you don't ... He threw a beautiful 'Hail Mary' [on the final snap]. I don't think that had any effect on the game."
McNabb's problems, and the Eagles' problems, go way beyond arcane OT rules. McNabb wasn't the only Eagle on the sideline who didn't know the game could end in a tie. Most teams, you figure there would be a coach or coaches gathering their guys, discussing scenarios. Somehow it isn't a surprise that on Reid's sideline, that didn't happen.
