Philadelphia Eagles' Two-Headed Leadership Must End

Five National Football League Eastern Conference titles, 10 playoff victories, and five trips to the NFC Championship game, with one trip to the Super Bowl.

No Super Bowl titles.

That is the storied tenure of Andy Reid, whose quarterback has been Donovan McNabb, with the exception of injuries and Reid's first year of coaching, when Doug Pederson was at the offensive helm.

Yet, Saturday's 34-14 opening-round loss in the 2010 NFC playoff match against Dallas left Eagles' fans scratching their collective heads.

Six-straight wins coming into the last regular-season game against Dallas, only to have the wind knocked out of the sails with a 24-0 loss.

Huh?

What happened?

Certainly injury plays a role, but all teams go through injury.

I don't mind swagger and McNabb had every reason to believe his team would respond after a big loss.

His pregame knocking on the glass and playing the air guitar in the tunnel backfired after the loss, but given the circumstance, what the *(&_)*)^)^)^&)(* difference does it make?

Is he supposed to be a robot?

However, on the field, he gave an uninspiring performance with a 19-for-37 passing performance for 230 yards, one oh-by-the-way touchdown pass, and one interception for a 68.5 quarterback rating.

Awful. A stinky performance on a big stage.

The most telling moment came when Michael Vick came in cold off the bench and delivered a 76-yard scoring strike to Jeremy Maclin when the game still counted in the first half.

A 135.4 passing rating. Whew!

Yet most Eagles' fans cannot envision Michael Vick being the starting quarterback in 2010.

Yet a Kevin Kolb/Michael Vick combination would be an interesting and hopefully acceptable combination in my mind.

At the very least, Vick's touchdown pass earned him a training camp invitation to start for some NFL franchise.

Some people will never forgive Michael Vick for what happened to those dogs under his roof.

To me, he has paid his debt to society. If you read his comments in total, he has been contrite in his position as an NFL player this year.

But back to McNabb. Let's look at recent history involving No. 5.

Following his benching in the Baltimore game in 2008, McNabb asked for a raise. In essence, a financial apology for getting benched.

Done. But not an extension.

His contract runs through the 2010 season, so in essence, the Eagles don't have to do anything until next year.

However, I can see Brian Westbrook retiring and Sheldon Brown moving on.

The core of this team is its young talent: Brent Celek, DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, and Macho Harris on the defensive side.

Why not go all young and put Kolb in as the starter?

Take the lumps next year and move forward.

McNabb would be more likely to be moved than Andy Reid.

Reid signed a three-year extension during the season.

The time is now.

Because I am OK about this loss, citing the loss of center Jamaal Jackson. and a far superior Dallas Cowboy team, I don't want to go through this heartbreak again.

I'd rather have a .500 season or less with Kolb at the helm for next year. And you will get to see if he really can be the quarterback of the future.

And if he fails in mid to late season, give Vick a shot.

Under Jeff Lurie/Joe Banner/Andy Reid/and the new GM you will not have a new starting quarterback named McNabb until at least 2011.

Likely, McNabb will be the starter and Vick will be gone. Then you start over in 2011.

My plan would start the process next year.

I have been a McNabb supporter for many years. When it is all done, he probably will be the best quarterback in Eagles' history.

But I don't want another "Heartbreak Hotel" playing on my jukebox next season.

It is not going to happen, I fear, but the Eagles would be wise to consider a move to let Reid coach without McNabb and let McNabb see how he fares with another team.

I don't think a Super Bowl win is possible anymore with Reid/McNabb.