Donovan McNabb’s triumphant return to Philadelphia

It came as no surprise to me that the Eagles former quarterback received more cheers than boos in the pre-game introductions.  He did lead the Eagles to five straight NFC Championship games.  One of those resulting in a trip to the Super Bowl, only the second in franchise history.  And it came as no surprise that he received more boos when the game was under way.  What did surprise me though was the lack of energy, fight or spirit from the Eagles in that game.  I mean, you did remember it’s Sunday right?  After an Eagles three and out to start the game it only took three plays for the Redskins to score the first touchdown.  Shortly there after as the Eagles started to show some life, Michael Vick suffered a rib injury that seemed to destroy the hopes and dreams of an Eagles victory that day.  When you look at the final score (17-12) and at the stats, no one had a great game.  The Redskins won a crucial game against an opponent in their division and the Eagles lost their starting quarterback and had to bring in their other starting quarterback.  McNabb got the win and that’s all that matters for him, but you know he had a good night’s sleep that day.  Sticking it the team that traded you away is always gonna put a smile on that players face.  Just ask Brett Favre.  Why do you think he’s playing into his 40s?  Simple answer: Revenge.

The flaw with the Colts

I can’t believe that a team that had one of the worst run defenses in recent memory won a Super Bowl.  Wait this isn’t 2006 is it?  No, it is 2010 and the Colts still don’t have a championship caliber defense.  Yes, they manned up and fixed their flaw at the right time in ’06, but they’ve started the 2010 season at 2-2.  Why?  They gave up over 200 yards rushing to Arian Foster of the Houston Texans and 174 rushing yards to the 29th ranked offense in the Jacksonville Jaguars this past week.  That’s why they’re 2-2.  Now I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the Colts will completely fall apart and not even make the playoffs, but you have to wonder when it will end?  Peyton Manning can only carry you so far.  That game against Jacksonville proved to the rest of the league one thing about the Colts.  If you get the last possession, you still have a chance against the Indianapolis Colts.  To be honest the Colts (specifically the defense) never put that fear into another opponent when it was game time.  Maybe it points to not having safety Bob Sanders on the field.  I’m not an expert, but when you have a guy that has a no fear attitude for every snap, that makes a big difference in how your defense acts.  But the problem doesn’t lie with the absence of one player, but rather with the fact that the Colts have never been able to stop the run and the rest of the league is starting to realize that.

Why do the 49ers suck?

I will preface this by saying that I am a fan of the San Francisco 49ers since 1992.  I have been behind them in almost every facet of the game except when they hired Dennis Erickson to be their head coach.  Those were two long years.  Anyway what is wrong with them?  I didn’t have them going any better than 9-7 in the worst division in football and they start out the season 0-4?  I will say that offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye probably wasn’t the right guy for the job.  Why did it seem so difficult to run an NFL offense when you’ve done it for almost 30 years?  But that was taking the easy way out.  Ultimately Raye was running the offense that head coach Mike Singletary was wanting.  A ball control conservative attack that focused on getting the ball to running back Frank Gore.  The other problem is that when you do want to pass the ball, the quarterback still is having issues of ball control.  I will say that two of Alex Smith’s 7 interceptions were the results of a defender tipping the ball and Michael Crabtree not making a concerted effort of going after the ball, but that still leaves 5 interceptions.  It starts at the top.  As much as it pains me to say it, but maybe Singletary is out of his league a bit?  He will need to bring in a new quarterback and probably will need to change his offensive philosophy.  It will be difficult since he is a defensive minded coach and he will have to survive this season before getting a chance at getting a new quarterback.  His “cannot play with them, cannot coach with them, cannot win with them, can’t do it” attitude is exactly what the 49ers needed when he took over last year.  Now they need someone who knows how to make adjustments on the fly.  I still have faith in my team, but I can’t say the same for the other 49er faithful.