1. Donovan McNabb is the greatest offensive weapon in team history.
It's not Steve Van Buren or Wilbert Montgomery. It's not Ron Jaworski or Randall Cunningham. It's not Terrell Owens or Harold Carmichael. It's not even Brian Westbrook. The greatest offensive weapon in Eagles history is Donovan McNabb.
From his breakout season in 2000 in which he finished second in the NFL MVP voting, to his 31-touchdown, eight-interception season in 2004 to his comeback season of 2008, McNabb has proven that he is the most important member of the Philadelphia Eagles' offense.
He ranks first in NFL history in fewest interceptions per pass attempt and is six touchdown passes away from joining Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for 200 touchdown passes and fewer than 100 interceptions.
His career postseason record is 9-6, which is better than many Hall of Fame quarterbacks, including Brett Favre, Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, Steve Young, and John Elway.
2. Brent Celek is the real deal.
I think Andy Reid is a great coach. I really do. He's the most successful coach in Philadelphia Eagles history. But I will never understand what he saw in LJ Smith.
LJ Smith started at tight end for six seasons. During that time, he posted fairly decent statistics for a tight end. He caught a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl, and topped 600 yards receiving in both 2005 and 2006.
However, over the past two seasons, he caught 59 passes for 534 yards and four touchdowns. Those are good statistics for one season. Those are hideous statistics over a two-year span.
But it's not just about the numbers. LJ has always had problems catching the football. He dropped a touchdown pass in his first NFL game, a Monday night loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003.
He dropped McNabb's final pass in the Super Bowl, which landed in the arms of Rodney Harrison for a game-ending interception. He had one of the highest dropped pass percentages in the NFL in the 2008 season (14 percent of passes thrown to him).
Meanwhile, backup tight end Brent Celek caught six passes for 131 yards, including a 44-yarder, against the Seattle Seahawks in week nine. His 131 receiving yards were a single-game record for Eagles' tight ends.
Next week, Celek was back on the bench. He started against the Baltimore Ravens and posted respectable numbers: three catches for 26 yards. He started the season finale against the Cowboys and caught a 20-yard touchdown.
He caught six passes for 56 yards against the Vikings in the wild-card round and scored a fourth-quarter touchdown against the Giants in the divisional round.
In the conference championship game, Celek caught an Eagles postseason record ten balls, for 83 yards and two touchdowns. LJ Smith caught one pass for five yards and dropped a pass.
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