The enlightened and rational fan understands that the Eagles defense gave up 32 points to the Cardinals in the NFC Championship game, allowing 24 first-half points to leave them buried in a hole. The irrational fan screams that Donovan McNabb can’t win the big game and blames him for the team’s failure to make it to the Super Bowl. McNabb is so conscious of the irrational fan that he goes out of his way to defend himself for their sake, at the expense of his teammates. He did so in an interview with WIP in Philly, according to the Inquirer via Ben Maller:
“We were up, 25-24,” McNabb said. Then, in case people missed it the first time, he repeated it for good measure. “We were up, 25-24. [The Cardinals] drove down 72 yards by running the ball – probably, what, eight times? And it reminded me so much of [the NFC championship game in] St. Louis where, coming back in that second half, they ran the ball nine times with Marshall Faulk to keep our offense off the field. Because they were terrified of us going back out and scoring more points.”
375 passing yards, three touchdowns, and 25 points of offense usually is enough to get it done for a team, particularly one with a strong defense. No doubt the defense let the team down in that game. However, let’s not forget how critical the defense was to the team’s success the last month of the season, holding opponents to 12.5 points per game. Maybe Donovan should have recalled the wins over the Giants, Vikings, and Cowboys before implying the defense blew it. Let’s also not forget that despite the defense’s lack of performance in the game, the Eagles offense still had chance to tie things up with a successful final drive. Then again, swap Kevin Curtis for Boldin or Fitzgerald and you’re talking touchdown, but that’s another discussion for a different day.
