Eagles give Giants healthy dose of McNabb

November 02, 2009|By MARK KRAM, kramm@phillynews.com
  • Donovan McNabb outruns Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora for a 14-yard gain.

After two fairly unimpressive showings against Oakland (a loss) and Washington (a win), quarterback Donovan McNabb snapped out of it yesterday in that 40-17 drubbing of the New York Giants. Saying earlier in the week that he planned "to go back to basics," McNabb did just that as he employed his array of offensive weapons to their fullest potential.

It was a sharp effort.

And one that left the 32-year-old quarterback saying with a grin, "I still feel young."

Young, and he could have added "healthy again." While he said he is still not back 100 percent from the rib injury suffered in the season opener against Carolina that sidelined him for two games, McNabb continued to iron out what coach Andy Reid called some of the "wrinkles" in his game with his performance yesterday.

"I thought he did a nice job in his preparation - he always does a good job every week in his preparation," Reid said. "He is working through a couple wrinkles there, and you forget he's coming off a rib injury that most guys are out 4 to 6 weeks . . . Pretty tough guy, and he's worked his way back through it."

With running back Brian Westbrook sidelined with a concussion, McNabb set out yesterday to "share the wealth," which is to say he hooked up on big plays via both his running attack and passing corps. Fullback Leonard Weaver and running back LeSean McCoy scored on running plays of 41 yards and 66 yards respectively, and McNabb connected on three touchdown strikes: a 17-yard pass to tight end Brent Celek; a 54-yard pass to DeSean Jackson; and a 23-yard pass to Jeremy Maclin. Criticized with some frequency for his lack of accuracy, McNabb completed 17 of 23 attempts.

He chuckled and said, "I guess I was accurate today."

But McNabb stressed the value of a balanced attack: The Eagles ran the ball 24 times, and passed it 23 times.

"Anytime as a quarterback you don't have to throw for 330 yards to win the game, it takes pressure off you," McNabb said. "And it also puts pressure on defenses. Because if you're just dropping back and throwing the ball on every play, teams just sit back in the zone and know that you're going to pass . . . When you're applying pressure to the defense by running the ball, it opens up things downfield."

Someone asked McNabb if scoring 40 points was an indication of just how potent the offense can be.

McNabb said, "The sky is the limit."

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