Philadelphia Eagles Go for Tie, Clip Wings on Season

Who knew that a smile could be heard?

As Donovan McNabb’s Hail Mary hit the freezing turf in Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon, the confusion on both sidelines gave way to the realization that no more football was to be played.

Both confused coaches still had their head sets on, and were ready to coach until someone explained to them they had played to the first NFL tie since 2002.

Their confusion, and the game, is a microcosm for the organizations that employ them.

The game was a battle of offensive futility, as the Eagles’ five-time Pro Bowl quarterback was out-played by a 25-year-old backup who graduated from the “famed” Harvard football factory.

The player who couldn’t cut it as the St. Louis Rams backup somehow went 29-for-44 and threw for his eighth career touchdown against Jim Johnson’s secondary.

McNabb, who almost had as many completions to Bengals players as Fitzpatrick, was clearly the Bengals' most potent offensive weapon. With two interceptions in the Eagles' red zone, a fumble within the Eagles 20 yard line and a delay-of-game call on third down in the closing minutes of overtime, once again, all-too-common mistakes from his rookie year still plague the 10-year veteran.

All 13 of the Bengals points came off of McNabb turnovers and had nothing to do with his oft-criticized wide receiver corps, or lack thereof, as Jerry Rice in his prime would not have helped the situation in Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon.

At least there is a bright side: McNabb did not let clock run for 24 seconds to the two minute warning during crunch time because he was out of breath, like last week. 

At least he did not vomit.

Of the two red-zone interceptions McNabb threw, one probably would have turned into three points and boosted the chances for an Eagles victory. Instead, with their fate in their hands, the team conceded the season and played for a tie by punting on 4th-and-1 from their own 13.

Rather than risk losing for the possibility of winning, they guaranteed a loss, because a tie, in this division, this year, is the same thing.

Now, if all of the players knowing chose to do so or not remains a bit question—multiple players, including the quarterback himself, admitted after the game that they did not know that NFL games could end in a tie.

That might explain the lack of urgency or fight for the ball by the wide receivers on the game's final play.

In a season where not being able to gain one yard or not having the quarterback execute a fundamental hand off has cost the team three games, a tie and naïveté on basic NFL rules is just a cherry-on-top proverbial sundae of disappointment for the season.   

A week after an NBC commentator, who has been retired from football for a year and a half, was sharing, in-studio, the plays the Eagles were going to run on critical third and fourth downs against a division rival, predictable has turned to bleak.

This coach, quarterback, and organization have been so busy patting themselves on the back for being the self-described “gold standard” of the NFL that they have turned consistency into complacency, and turned that into mediocrity.

They have now been passed by all three division rivals, and sit alone in the cellar of the NFC East with little if any hope of climbing out.

At least after Sunday’s tie, they have their sister to kiss for company.

This team is the epitome of how cruising in neutral is, in reality, throwing the car into reverse in professional sports.

The fanbase, who is so dedicated that that the Eagles are one of the only NFL teams to get booed on the road because of poor performance, should feel reassured though.

Once again, Donovan McNabb will tell Philadelphian’s that this team is better than the teams they have lost to, just like he did after losses to the Bears and Redskins.

Andy Reid, as has been is pattern since day one, will arrogantly answer questions at his press conference on Monday about how he knows the answers to the questions that plague the Eagles, just as he has after all four losses this season.

Reid needs to come to the realization that a diagnosis is short of successful treatment and nothing on the field has proven that his answers have been effectively communicated to the players he coaches.

It is a slim possibility that at some point reality will set in and the organization will realize, they are what they are, which is a 5-4-1 football team.

A group who just struggled for a tie against a team whose most recent success has taken place in the race for “most dysfunctional NFL franchise” against the Oakland Raiders.

Donovan McNabb closed his mouth Sunday afternoon, he finished gasping for air and slapped on his traditional post loss smile. The sound you heard was not caused by the meeting of his teeth; it was the window closing on the Reid and McNabb era. 

Rest assured they will go into the locker room and emerge convinced that they are the gold standard of the NFL as delusions of grandeur run wild in the NovaCare complex.

In reality though, the true gold standard is not located in the mirror, it is located across Broad Street, by guys who wear red, by guys who did not tell the city how good they were until they won, by guys who actually have championship rings.