Les Bowen: Further Review: The Bottom Line: Kolb's job is to manage game

DREW BREES vs. Kevin Kolb.

Not a matchup fans have clamored for, is it?

But as Eagles Nation desperately seeks a miracle of healing by the weekend, the thought here is that Brees vs. Kolb might not be the end of the world for the Eagles.

It all depends on whether that really is the equation. If the Eagles need for Kolb to outplay Brees in order to win, that's a problem.

But in the Eagles' opener, Donovan McNabb didn't have to do anything extraordinary. He completed 10 of 18 passes, with a couple of early drops, for 79 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, before fracturing a rib on the play that gave the Birds a 38-10 lead. Even if fans can't ask Sean McDermott's defense to come up with seven turnovers again this week, they can ask for contributions from Brian Westbrook, DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, Jason Avant, and Brent Celek.

I don't think the 2009 Eagles offense is going to be about McNabb trying to make stuff happen on his own. And I think Kolb will just need to manage the game, avoid turnovers, convert some third downs. Let McDermott, Trent Cole and company be the focal point, the counterpoint to Brees.

"I think the biggest thing I have to work on - and it's going to be tough this week if I do have to play - is not thinking I have to make every play," Kolb said yesterday. "We have a very talented team. We were talented last year. I went in against Baltimore [in the famous McNabb benching game] and tried to do too much. I just need to focus on running the offense and being efficient and consistent for my teammates."

Yeah, Kolb has some fairly awful career stats - four picks and two fumbles lost, just 45 passing attempts - none of them from a game he actually started, or prepared to start.

In preseason games (yes, they are preseason games, not real games, obviously), where Kolb has had a decent chance to prepare, he has played very well, even when matched against other teams' top defenders. If he starts this week, the world just might not end, after all.

Developing story lines

 

* There is no way the Eagles will continue to carry seven wideouts. They deactivated Reggie Brown and Brandon Gibson on Sunday, and didn't throw any passes to a totally invisible Jeremy Maclin. They are going to need one of those wideout roster spots for Jeff Garcia.

* The Birds' longest gain of the day from scrimmage was 25 yards on a DeSean Jackson end-around. Yet they scored 38 points.