Maybe McNabb Would Have Stayed in the Game if His Last Name Was Shanahan

"... And that's how we lost the game against the Lions!"

The obvious takeaway from the Washington Redskins employing both Mike Shanahan and his son Kyle aside, it would be unfair to assume that there is any sort of wrongdoing going on within the organization. In fact, if Shanahan is guilty of one thing, it's the furthest thing away from nepotism, as evidenced by his need to go against the grain, take out Donovan McNabb, and put in crappy back-up-quarterback Rex Grossman in the dying minutes of Sunday's 37-25 loss to the Detroit Lions.

I mean, here's a coach not going with his team's established starting quarterback, a six-time Pro Bowler, and putting in a has-been/never was (it's hard to tell with Grossman; he did lead the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl), who played under the offensive coordinator the year before, supposedly had this great understanding of his two-minute offense to the point of never having actually run one under him during a game... one with a brutal  career win-probability-added in clutch situations of -0.93 (meaning he's been horrible when he's had to run a two-minute offense before). What's so nepotic about that? If anyone's guilty of favouritism, it's clearly that offensive coordinator. All Shanahan needs to do from here on out is do a better of job of selecting his coaching staff. Oh, wait...

Obviously, son Kyle has built up his career almost by himself and he should be given credit for accomplishing as much as he has up to this point in his career. However, the stench emanating from the move to take out McNabb late in that loss is foul to say the least.

The excuses that have come out of the Shanahans' mouths the past few days have ranged from the questionable to the idiotic. For example, the questionable: that nagging hamstring injuries have hampered McNabb's cardiovascular endurance to the point that it was necessary to put in a cold back-up QB in a high-pressure situation that led to a costly fumble. And the idiotic: that McNabb had been informed beforehand that he might be benched if he was deemed to be struggling.

McNabb was 17 for 30 for 210 yards, with one touchdown and one interception... definitely not great stats, but nothing bad enough to justify a benching that late in a game. The one stat that jumps out at you are the six times he got sacked, leading to the obvious conclusion that he was not necessarily the one to blame for his mediocre game, that the team as a whole was. And, on the off chance (the) Shanahan(s) really did think he was struggling, the time to take him out of the game would have been at any time before the Redskins lost the lead with three minutes left to play. Instead, Grossman got put in with 1:50 left.

Even questions about McNabb's work ethic have entered into the picture, with Washington reportedly becoming disenchanted with his lack of one, but the younger Shanahan has gone on record as saying that McNabb has "perfect work habits".

With former Los Angeles Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell joining the Redskins for a workout, this is clearly becoming one of the most intriguing scandals in the NFL this season, which is saying a lot considering Brett Favre's third leg is still making headlines despite his playing on only one last week.

There's also a "he said, he said" element here, with McNabb refuting ever being told that he might be taken out of the game. And what's worse for the Shanahans is that in denying it's ever happened he still seems to be  his usual self: a team player, an overall stand-up guy, and never one to want to start a ruckus. He even went so far as to say "[the] Coach makes his decisions", in declining to criticize Shanahan. Entering this season, McNabb even had kind words to say about Kyle on the radio:

Forced to choose who to believe, fans would no doubt go for the seemingly slighted, likeable all-star quarterback over the father-and-son duo that can't even seem to get their own stories straight. 

As such, it's clear that this is just the beginning. Likely the beginning of the end of McNabb's time in Washington, but a beginning nonetheless. It can only get better (or worse depending on your vantage point) from here on out.