Ashley Fox: The task of managing McNabb

Now we know. Trading Donovan McNabb wasn't just about the Eagles' brass wanting Kevin Kolb to get a shot at being the starting quarterback. They no longer wanted McNabb for all the reasons Mike Shanahan didn't want him on Sunday.

Shanahan can call it "cardiovascular endurance" or blame McNabb's loose grip on the Washington Redskins' two-minute offense. But Shanahan didn't want McNabb as his quarterback with the game against Detroit on the line with 1 minute, 45 seconds to play because McNabb is not clutch in those situations, not anymore.

It took Andy Reid 135 games to bench McNabb. It took Shanahan eight. He has no real allegiance to McNabb. Shanahan didn't build his career off McNabb's cannon of an arm, didn't ride with him through all those playoff wins and trips to the NFC championship game.

No, the only thing Shanahan had at stake were words. He had spent the off-season jabbering that the Redskins were going to win this season and that McNabb was a big reason.

So he risked a sliver of his reputation for what he truly believed - that McNabb can't get it done in crunch time - and the move stripped McNabb bare.

Shanahan doesn't trust him. It is that simple, and it makes the Eagles look brilliant in deciding that after 11 seasons, it was time to move on. That is why they had no problem moving McNabb within the NFC East. It had nothing to do with appeasing McNabb. It had everything to do with sending him somewhere that would help the Eagles.

And, boy, could it really help them.

After Reid benched McNabb at halftime of the Baltimore game in 2008, McNabb came back with a vengeance. Just four days later, on Thanksgiving, he carved up Arizona, completing 27 of 39 passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns. His 69.2 completion percentage was, at that time, his highest of the season.

With the exception of a game against Washington, of all teams, McNabb played superbly the rest of that season, throwing nine touchdowns and just one interception in five games, with four wins.

The benching served as the wake-up call McNabb and several other veterans needed to make another run to the NFC title game. But that title game, also against Arizona, exposed what had become a familiar McNabb flaw. He had the ball in his hands with a chance to win at the end and couldn't pull out a victory.