Damned Whatever He Does - Diverging Interests

Discussing the prospect of McNabb playing in tonight's game during our annual Black Friday football game, a good friend of mine suggested that McNabb just sit out. He said it was clear that McNabb wasn't going to be 100% and there is a good chance that the Eagles are going to get hammered anyway - and if they did, McNabb would just have to deal with that much more criticism about how he can't even keep the Eagles competitive. (Note: not even he believes this, but we are all by now familiar with the irrational anti-McNabb screeds.)

I tend to agree. And now McNabb is definitely out for the game and AJ Feeley will start. What happens, if by some miracle, the Eagles win? And as i've noted previously, i think there chances of winning rest mainly on running Westbrook 30 times tonight. And the chances of Reid calling that many running plays will only happen if McNabb is not the quarterback.

I doubt there will be a call for Feeley to replace McNabb as the starter in the wake of what would be an epic upset. Not even the most rabid McNabb-haters can argue that Feeley is a better QB than McNabb. Certainly there will be charges that McNabb has been holding the offense back (and no acknowledgment of a more balanced run/pass ratio). There may even be the ridiculous proposition put forth that rookie Kevin Kolb couldn't do any worse than McNabb in light of Feeley's performance. And amidst all these what if scenarios would be the vastly improved playoff chances of a suddenly 6-5 giant-slaying Eagles team.

Most likely the Eagles will get their heads handed to them tonight and lose by four touchdowns. that is perhaps the "best" outcome for McNabb - being in no way involved with the looming debacle on the field and free of criticism and finger-pointing, though somehow some will find a way to blame McNabb. Still, the lead up to tonight's game is just the latest and clearest sign of how divergent, indeed contradictory, the interests of the franchise quarterback, head coach, and the team have become.