Breaking Down Donovan McNabb's Pass Selection

We hear it with every incompletion: "in the dirt," "at his feet."  Short passes have never been Donovan McNabb's strength.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, Andy Reid's scheme involves a lot of short passes.  Reid would rather throw a short pass than run the ball.  For a defense that is easy to predict. 

This year was about the big play.  McNabb led the league in passes of over 40 yards with 17.  In 2004, McNabb made an NFL record by completing 20 passes of over 40 yards.  Yet out of 443 passes this season, the short passes took up 204 of those throws, nearly half of McNabb's attempted passes. 

Andy Reid is not playing to his quarterback's strengths.  The best weapon is his long ball.  We have one of the fastest players in the league to get under it.  Let's look at McNabb's numbers and how they vary from the short game (seven yards and under) to the long game (15+ yards): 

Short passes: 119 for 204, 58.3 percent, 9 touchdowns to 6 interceptions.  QB rating of 85.8.

Long passes:  77 for 123, 62.6 percent, 9 touchdowns to 1 interception.  QB rating of 110.6. 

That is quite a difference.  It is beyond me why Andy Reid will continue to go to the short pass.  For years we have been asking for a running game.  The running game will help, but short passes should be limited and the intermediate and long passes should be increased.  The offense has all the proper tools but are being used incorrectly. 

Even if the opposing defense notices the offense is going for longer routes and start playing back, that opens up the running game. 

As a coach, you work with what you have.  You get the best out of your players by adhering to their strengths.  Instead, Andy Reid is basing his offense on McNabb's least accurate pass.