Les Bowen: Further Review: The bottom line - Eagles' McNabb bucks midseason trend

The last time Donovan McNabb faced Kurt Warner in an NFC Championship Game, much was made of the fact that McNabb stayed on the field afterward to watch the St. Louis Rams celebrate their Super Bowl berth.

McNabb was 25 then, new to this big-game business; the theme was watching and learning.

Here's guessing that if Warner and the underdog Arizona Cardinals win this Sunday, McNabb won't be scrutinizing their celebration. Now 32 and scarred, in more than one sense of the word, McNabb has had plenty of such chances in the intervening years - to watch the Bucs celebrate beating the Eagles in the NFC title game following the 2002 season, to watch the Panthers celebrate the same feat following the 2003 season, and to watch the Patriots celebrate winning the Super Bowl 4 years ago. That was 2 weeks after McNabb's lone chance to hold a conference title trophy aloft, as confetti rained down at the frozen Linc.

This page isn't big enough to enumerate all the ups and downs McNabb has survived in the last 4 years. The bottom line, though: McNabb, very much the better quarterback when matched against Eli Manning Sunday at the Meadowlands, is close to ensuring that the Eagles have to do whatever he wants this offseason. He is two victories away from redefining his legacy forever, which is a hard thing to do in your 10th season in Philadelphia. Where is there a parallel situation? Maybe Mike Schmidt, in 1980?

About 6 weeks ago, the Eagles seemed poised to begin the Kevin Kolb Era. Now, if McNabb gets the new deal and hefty signing bonus he wants, there won't be a Kevin Kolb Era, at least not anytime soon.

At first glance, you might think that with Andy Reid as his agent right now, McNabb has little need for the talents of Fletcher Smith.

"Donovan keeps getting better and better with age here," the Eagles' coach said yesterday. "Sal [Paolantonio, from ESPN], asked me yesterday if he's playing better now than he did at the beginning of the year or in previous years, and I would have to say he is. He's upped his game, which you don't normally see this late in a player's career. He has great command of the offense."