McNabb and Redskins Pull Rabbit out of Their Hat, then Lay an Egg

"That guy did it... me, I was nowhere near the field last night."

After Monday night’s disaster of a “game” between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins, it’s perhaps important, especially for Washingtonians, to think back to a happy place, a simpler time, mainly when they weren’t having their behinds handed to them by a would-be extra in The Longest Yard in Michael Vick.

For example, think back a few weeks when the team was actually above .500. Think back to when the idea to pull starting quarterback Donovan McNabb in the dying moments of a loss to the Detroit Lions was but a pipedream in the mind of the double-headed hydra that is the Shanahans.

Think back even to this weekend when news of a five-year, $78-million contract between the two sides had not yet been released to media outlets, had not yet caused mass-hysteria and widespread confusion within the nation’s capital. Reports actually surfaced that several city blocks had to be shut down out of fear of one, big city-wide traffic accident taking place when the news first hit, at which point countless commuters no doubt took their eyes off the road and stared blankly at their radios. Well, not really. But it’s easy to imagine.

This nonsensical development sure puts things into perspective, makes you realize not to take anything for granted, like the knowledge that the sky is blue, for example, because as sure as molecules in the air we breathe scatter the sun’s blue light more than they do its red, up until a few days ago everyone KNEW the Redskins weren’t going to re-sign McNabb when he was to become a free agent at season’s end. And then this happened. Of course, there is an out in the contract that allows the Redskins to cut ties with McNabb at the end of this year, but if exercised that would lead to just another huge public embarrassment, of which the team has suffered through many.

If the relationship between McNabb and head coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is just peachy, which is the official party line to be toted, then fine. It’s a deal that should be lauded. As McNabb pointed out on the radio in response to Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Terrell Owens’ tweet yesterday, “how do u justify a 78 million dollar contract with this type of performance?”, the 2-7 Bengals are paying their quarterback, Carson Palmer, $118.75 million over six years. Consider it a misstep by T.O. to put down a QB, who clearly had reason to be pretty touchy after an embarrassing 59-28 loss.

When all is said and done, McNabb didn’t necessarily let his team down on Monday. Admittedly, he did throw three interceptions, but he did pass for 295 yards. Considering Michael Vick, who has gotten rave reviews for his performance, passed for 333, clearly McNabb wasn’t as horrible as Owens led people to believe. And as far as I know McNabb doesn’t play defense, meaning at least some of those 59 points the Eagles put up weren’t his fault. On any other day, 28 points should have been enough to give the Redskins a decent chance at winning, but they didn’t not just because of McNabb but because the entire team didn’t show up. All last night added up to was a bad loss (okay, a horrible loss) at a really bad time.

When all is said and done, the game was much more about Vick’s dominance, with the pivot actually moving past Steve Young into second all-time for most yards rushed by a quarterback (former Eagle Randall Cunningham is first). It even seems to be a bit of an injustice to talk about how McNabb was to blame for the loss when Vick had so much to do with his team’s victory.

As such, let Vick and the Eagles have their day. And let the Redskins get to healing after their monumental defeat. The good news is there’s no way it can get any worse than it got yesterday. Of course, the bad news is up until yesterday no one thought it could get that bad.

Maybe McNabb could take a page out of Vick’s playbook and look to him for inspiration. It’s nothing short of incredible what Vick has been able to accomplish following his 21-month stay in prison. Sixty months may seem like much longer, but there is a chance the deal works out for everyone involved. And, if not, we can all at least look forward to more squabbling between the Shanahans and McNabb from here on out.