It’s easy to say that Reid and the Eagles will be under the microscope, but many have asked me if Reid could be fired if the team under-performs in 2010.

In his time in Philadelphia, Reid has seen a lot of success so I understand why people will be upset with a sub-par season. However, I don’t think that type of decision should be made in Reid’s first season with Kevin Kolb at the helm.

Although Kolb will be asked to step in and perform at a high level right away, it’s a lot to ask for a player who has started two games in his career. The Eagles have a tough schedule, so it makes having a good year even more difficult. Also, the team is extremely young on offense, but the potential these young guys have is unlimited.

Andy Reid has the potential in his lineup to create a team that finds even more success than the Eagles of the last decade. However, great success usually doesn’t happen over night.

When Donovan McNabb started out, he had his downfalls. However, Reid was given time to work with him and generate a great decade of football out of it.

He deserves the same chance with Kevin Kolb.

Both players are in similar yet different circumstances. Let’s first look at what McNabb will be facing this year.

After a very successful decade in Philadelphia, McNabb has moved on to a different team in which he will try to find the same kind of success. Since McNabb was viewed as a winner in Philadelphia, he is expected to do much of the same thing in Washington. However, he is dealing with a team who only won four games last season, so he has a lot of work to do.

Another thing that adds pressure to McNabb’s case is the Redskins addition of head coach Mike Shanahan. Like McNabb, he is a coach who found a lot of success in his career and expected to do the same thing in Washington. It takes more than two guys to make a team successful; however, those two were brought in with high expectations.

On Kolb’s side, he is taking over the helm for a team that has seen a lot of success of the last decade (brought on by McNabb). Philadelphia fans are demanding and don’t want to see this success fade away anytime soon. It is a tough city to play in, but the city is behind you 100% if you win games.

An advantage Kolb has is the fact that he has been with the organization for a few seasons now and has had time to really learn the system. The only thing that will be new to him this year is the fact that he will be the starter. He got the chance to prepare as the starter for a few weeks last year, but he knew no matter how well he played that it was only temporary.

When Kolb heads into Training Camp this year, he will have to take an immediate leadership role. He will need to prove to his offense that they can be confident in his abilities. Kolb will be compared to McNabb week by week because of the trade but he needs to focus on what he’s doing and not worry about that.

To me, McNabb will be under much more pressure in 2010. I feel that everyone in Philadelphia is accepting that this year isn’t going to be a Super Bowl team. However, it seems that Redskins fans think that McNabb and Shanahan can take a four win team in 2009 and turn them into a Super Bowl contender in one year.

Who do you think is under more pressure in 2010?

To start, Kevin Kolb is just a more natural passer than Donovan Mcnabb. In an offensive scheme where throwing the ball is the main objective, it is refreshing to have a quarterback who is truly a pass-first kind of guy. McNabb had some pretty solid numbers in his career in Philadelphia through the air but he’s not a natural passer. A lot of his success in his early years came from his ability to create plays with his feet. Throughout his career we saw him try to put too much on balls and do the dreaded “into the feet” pass on easy throws.

Kolb is a natural gunslinger who may not be able to throw the deep ball like McNabb but will put the ball where it needs to be in every other situation. In the West Coast style offense the Eagles run, being able to accurately throw short passes is a must. McNabb was pretty good at this but this is an area where Kolb should excel.

Also, Kolb has way more weapons on offense. If McNabb had the weapons Kolb has now five years ago, maybe this city would have gotten a Lombardi trophy. There’s no denying the playmakers this offense has right now. It’s downright scary. If the offensive line can hold its own in 2010, there will be absolutely no excuse for Kevin Kolb to not put up huge numbers.

DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin can easily develop into the best one-two wide receiver combination in the league. Jason Avant will continue to be under-rated, but will also continue to be a huge part of the Eagles offensive success. At tight end you have a manbeast in Brent Celek who absolutely erupted last season. Cornelius Ingram should add imense playmaking talent to the tight end position if he can stay healthy as he is extremely athletic. Between LeSean McCoy, Leonard Weaver, and Mike Bell you have a well rounded group of speed, power, and playmaking ability.

Kevin Kolb just needs to serve as the ring leader and get all these guys opportunities to make plays.

On McNabb’s end, you can argue how he took teams deep into the playoffs who didn’t have a lot of big names on offense, but I just don’t see that kind of thing happening in Washington.

Could I be wrong on all of this? Of course. However, I do believe that Kevin Kolb will find more success in 2010 than Donovan McNabb, and those who cursed the Eagles when they made the trade will change their tune.

I feel like people are going to have a lot of opinions on this subject, so let’s hear them.

After the opening kickoff, the game rolled in the Redskins favor as they scored within the first two minutes of the game on a Jason Campbell one yard touchdown run. This was definitely not the the start the Eagles were looking for but the defense tightened up after the touchdown and held the Redskins scoreless the rest of the quarter. Offensively, the Eagles first got on the board with a 29 yard David Akers field goal. They would then find the end zone with just under three minutes in the quarter as DeSean Jackson caught a 35 yard touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb to give the Eagles their first lead of the game, 10-7.

The lead didn’t last too long as Campbell found Santana Moss for a four yard touchdown shortly after the second quarter started. From this point on, their was an offensive struggle until the Eagles hit a field goal with under a minute left. Right after this, the Redskins turned the ball over and the Eagles hit another field goal to take a 16-14 lead into the half.

In the second half, the Eagles couldn’t get anything going and the Redskins scored 10 consecutive points and had an eight point lead in the fourth quarter. Midway through the fourth quarter the Eagles put a nice drive together and capped it off with a one yard Eldra Buckley touchdown. Trailing by two after the touchdown, the Eagles opted for the conversion. On a beautiful effort by LeSean McCoy, the Eagles got the conversion and tied the game.

As the game neared a close, the Eagles again started to put together a nice drive. Jason Avant was absolutely stunning on this drive, making an outstanding catch down the sideline to keep the drive alive and move the Eagles into field goal range. With just under two minutes left in the game, Akers nailed a 32 yard field goal to give the Eagles a 27-24 win.

This was not exactly the type of effort the Eagles were looking to produce, but they were able to put together a fourth quarter rally and get a come from behind win. It was the kind of win a team can get momentum from and sitting at 7-4, the Eagles were looking poised to make a playoff run.

Week Twelve Headlines:
Friday Five Pack – Week Twelve
What’s it going to take to beat the Redskins?
Get to know the Redskins: Interview with RiggosRag.com
Will the Eagles defense hold them back?

It’s no secret that Eagles fans hate everything to do with the Dallas Cowboys. We’re still left with the sting Dallas left on us at the end of the season and it doesn’t sit well with anyone. Recently, Keith Brooking made some comments about how he believed the Eagles offense was predictable and that the Cowboys defense knew everything that the Eagles offense was going to do.

These comments (true or not) made a lot of people unhappy. One of these people was Eagles tight end Brent Celek. On a recent radio appearance, Celek was asked about his feelings on Brooking’s comments and told ESPN’s Matt Mosley, “that kind of irked me a little bit.” Celek went on to say “I don’t think they knew exactly the plays we were running when we were running them. You know, they played better than us in those games, and I’ll give them credit. They did do a good job. But for him to say that, I totally disagree with him . . . I tell you what, I can’t wait to play him next year.”

Sounds like the Celek train is going to be making a stop in Dallas next year. I like that the Eagles have a little extra motivation here and are taking Brooking’s comments personally. Celek could very well step up as a leader on the offense this coming season and I’m sure he’s going to remind the offense exactly what Brooking said before they play him.

Besides the Cowboys, I think there’s a little extra motivation out there on both sides with the Redskins now. You have Donovan McNabb who is going to face his old team twice and is going to look to show them they didn’t make the right move. You also Kevin Kolb who will look to prove just the opposite. It should definitely be an interesting matchup.

As for the Giants, we still hate you guys too.

The microphone was then turned over to McNabb who spoke pretty briefly and then began addressing a slew of questions. Here are some of the highlights of what he said:

- Started by nothing that changes take place in life and that Washington is a great organization that wants to win now
- Referred to Andy Reid as a future Hall of Fame coach
- Said his situation with Shanahan is like that of John Elway’s, coming in around age 34 and looking for the first Super Bowl win
- Noted that the Super Bowl is an ultimate goal
- Said that the Eagles are rebuilding and looking to go you and that he was too old for the direction they were going
- He spoke about the situation that happened with Brian Dawkins and said that the way the Eagles handled that made everyone see that “we’re all replacable”
- In regards to trade rumors, he played off the fact of favoring teams over another and is glad the whole situation is over
- Said that he loves presenting his talent to gel with other guys through working out with them and that the Redskins have a “great group” of guys
- When asked about what it would be like to play against the Eagles, he said he doesn’t look at playing Philly any different than playing the Giants or Cowboys
- He called jason campbell and said he wasn’t there to take his spot and told him that the sky is the limit
- Talked to kolb last night and said he was excited for him. He thinks he’ll be fine and has learned a lot and has the ability to be successful
- When asked about a contract extension, he said that isn’t his focus
- When asked to compare the two offenses, he said they were “somewhat similar but very different”
- He did take a hit towards the Eagles saying that “Philly don’t know much about the run game” and said they would run the ball in Washington with the three talented backs they have
- A reporter set him up to take a stab at the Eagles asking if he was treated fairly over the years in Philadelphia but he said he did believe he was treated fairly
- Noted that he accomplished a lot in 11 years but still has one ultimate goal
- He compared the situation he’s in to being drafted again saying that he felt like he was 22 again, but then noting that the body wouldn’t perform the same
- He stuck to something he’s said along as far as finishing where you start but said that many quarterbacks in the league aren’t given this opportunity anymore and that sometimes changes is good (then noted that sometimes its forced)
- Was asked a very interesting question dealing with if he found success in Washington and possibly won a Super Bowl there and was elected to the Hall of Fame, would it be as a Redskin. He passed this off and said it wasn’t on his mind
- He was asked if there was a burden off his shoulders now that the trade was over but said that he never felt a burden during the whole process
- He was asked what he looks forward to most off the field being in Washington. He said he would like the opportunity to meet President Obama and that he looks forward to learning a lot about the area over the next couple years (hint: give me my extension)

As another note, Shanahan was asked about Jason Campbell and said that they had lunch and that Campbell asked him for the opportunity to look for a starting job elsewhere. Shanahan said that Campbell was free to look.

If you didn’t see it, you really didn’t miss too much. Hope you enjoyed the summary though!

The whole situation is going to strike people in a lot of different ways. There are many things to discuss in the whole matter, and the subject will be looked at for the remainder of the offseason as well as throughout the 2010 regular season. Kevin Kolb is going to be immediately put under the microscope and will feel a lot of pressure from today on. Philadelphia is a tough city to play in, and Kolb will be expected to come in and perform at a high level right away.

Back to the trade, I think there is going to be one aspect that will be scrutinized the most. That is why the Redskins? Why would you trade a player like McNabb within the division? This guarantees that we will see McNabb at least two times per year and will pray that this deal doesn’t come back to haunt us. Do the Eagles believe that the Redskins won’t just turn into a dominant force with McNabb at the helm over night? Hopefully. The Redskins have been the least threatening team in the NFC East for some years now and they need more help than just at the quarterback position; however, having a veteran like Donovan McNabb is a step in the right direction.

Another thing to look at in this deal is obviously what the Eagles have received in return. At the forefront, the Eagles get the 37th overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft (as well as a 3rd or 4th round pick in the 2011 draft). This gives the Eagles five picks in the top 87 selections, with a total of 11 picks. For one draft, this is a ton of picks so there’s no question that the Eagles will be trading these picks in some form. It will be interesting to see how they package these picks and possibly try to trade up for a high profile player.

At the surface, a lot of people are going to look at this trade and not be very happy with it. I think it’s hard to look at this trade and call it good or bad. If McNabb plays terribly in Washington and never leads them to the playoffs, then it doesn’t look so bad. If the Eagles make a splash and trade up for someone who turns out to be a franchise stud for 10 years, it looks golden. However, Kevin Kolb could easily never have the success we want him to have and McNabb may do wonders in Washington.

Donovan McNabb is no longer a Philadelphia Eagle and that is something everyone is going to have to deal with. Only time will tell if this was a good move for the Eagles.

What are your thoughts on the Donovan McNabb trade?

We know that the Eagles have been shopping McNabb for quite some time now but I don’t think anyone thought the Eagles would trade him to a place that they would see him at least twice a year. It is surprising that the Eagles would trade him in the division, but they may have felt they were at a point that this was the best offer they were going to get, and if they didn’t act now they wouldn’t get anything comparable.

Having the 37th overall pick will definitely be beneficial for the Eagles and it will be interesting to see whether the Eagles use it to pick a player or package it with another pick to trade up to a higher position to chase someone they’re interested in.

For now, we will let the deal sink in and wait for the full details of the situation. Check back in the morning for details and our full opinion on the matter.

On Wednesday it looked like for sure that McNabb was heading to St. Louis to reunite with Rams coach, Steve Spagnuolo, for the Rams 2nd round pick in 2010 (33rd overall) and FS Oshiomogho Atogwe. On the surface this looks like such a steal for the Eagles and would allow for Kevin Kolb to be the number one guy with Michael Vick as the backup. Sources have said that McNabb is willing to sign an extension with the Rams, which may have some truth to it because of his past relationships with some of the Rams coaches. A report in the Philadelphia Inquirer had said that McNabb is not willing to sign an extension with either the Oakland Raiders or the Buffalo Bills because he wants to play for a contender. Call me crazy but I am pretty sure the Rams have not been a contender since Kurt Warner last threw a pass in St. Louis.

Last night, Profootballtalk.com reported a trade that would bring in CB Nnamdi Asomugha of the Oakland Raiders for McNabb and Asante Samuel. I honestly don’t see this happening because I don’t think McNabb will resign there and this doesn’t appear to be a good deal for the Birds. McNabb has also been recently linked to the Bills, Seahawks, Vikings, Cardinals, Browns and yes even the Redskins.

Today, a report said the Eagles want a top 42 pick in the upcoming draft. Note that the Rams own the 33rd pick, Browns hold the 37th pick, Raiders hold the 39th pick and the Bills have the 41st pick. Time will tell if the Eagles are looking for multiple picks or a player packaged along with draft pick. Rumors will continue to fly until a deal is actually made.

However, let’s not forget that is McNabb who holds all of the power to any type of trade that is going to occur. If the Eagles want much in return, than McNabb must extend his contract. Last year the Eagles chose to give McNabb a raise in pay instead of extending the years on his current contract. One thing McNabb must consider is that this will more than likely be his last major contract in his NFL career. Another is that an NFL lockout is looming and McNabb is not going to want to be without a contract heading into a potential lockout. The Eagles have made it pretty evident that they are moving towards youth over experience with the recent departures of Chris Clemons, Darren Howard, Brian Westbrook, and Reggie Brown. McNabb is currently the longest tenured Eagle on the roster.

Donovan, I appreciate your time and effort because you have truly turned around this organization but this city is thirsty for a Super Bowl and you just don’t seem to be apart of the equation anymore. I am tired of winning the silver medal. I believe we will see a deal done quickly and that the Eagles are evaluating the best possible scenario for both themselves and for McNabb.

If you were the GM of the Eagles, what would you do? And if McNabb is traded, what will be his legacy?

After Andy Reid finally admitted that the Eagles would be willing to trade McNabb for the right price, things began to heat up. When Donovan came out and made his “statement,” it got even hotter. A few hours after all these things were surfacing, a new trade rumor came about. At first we heard it involved the Rams, a team that had was rumored to be interested before. It seemed like any other rumor but then more details started to surface.

Jeff McLane broke a report stating the Rams were offering their second round pick (33rd overall) and O.J. Atogwe for Donovan McNabb. Hype started to develop and it seemed that if this deal was true, it would more than likely happen. The internet flooded with opinions, many liking the deal, others thinking it would be a mistake. We tuned in our radios, put on ESPN, and kept our eyes all over the internet.

As we waited, new reports started to surface from the Rams side. These reports denied everything in McLane’s report and said that the Rams haven’t contacted the Eagles about McNabb at all. After what seemed like a legitimate report, we were told that it was all phony.

Now that’s what we were told, but the question is: should we believe it? It’s no secret that members of NFL front office’s lie when it comes to players status’ and trades. Look at how long Andy Reid denied that Donovan McNabb didn’t have a price tag. With these conflicting reports, it’s all about which side you actually believe.

Do I think the Rams are going to trade for Donovan McNabb? I’m not sure. Do I think the Eagles will trade Donovan McNabb at some point before the draft? Yes. Where? Not sure. However, I do believe that he will be moved within the next month.

What is your take on the entire situation?