Favre vs. McNabb: Very revealing

By Os Davis  |   Monday, September 10, 2007  |  Comments( 9 )

Philadelphia Eagles
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Last Sunday's Philadelphia Eagles-Green Bay Packers was typical of a Week 1 matchup: unpredictable, a bit sloppy, and ultimately very revealing. What made this one different from, say, Miami-Washington, was the presence of two storied quarterbacks attempting to jump-start another run at a title. (Well, that and getting Mike Carey heading up the refereeing corps - good to see him again.)

Revealing? Oh yes, this game certainly was, and rarely in positive fashion.

The very first series was a microcosm of the first-quarter debacle for Donovan McNabb. Somehow, Andy Reid & Co. have forgotten what they learned around the one-third point of 2006 - give Brian Westbrook the ball, particularly on first down - and displayed their stunning memory loss from the go. Three busted pass plays and two silly penalties later ("No. 80 was not on the line of scrimmage," explained Carey. Huh?), McNabb and the Eagles demonstrated why the preseason does in fact matter and that quarterbacks need to be on the same page as the rest of the 'O' come minute one of the regular season.

On the other side of the ball, the traveling propaganda machine that follows Brett Favre wherever he goes on TV had one FOX broadcaster quoting the QB as saying, "I still feel like I could be the difference-maker." Really? A difference-maker at quarterback? Seriously, can you imagine a Peyton Manning or a Tom Brady with such aspirations?

"Thank the football gods for special teams," the difference-maker must have been thinking five minutes' worth of game time later. At 10-0, Favre had gone 1 of 5 while the Pack ran up minus-1 total yards of offense, including a penalty. McNabb's stat line, meanwhile, ran 2 of 6 for 15 yards and one interception.

But McNabb connected with Kevin Curtis on a sweet 37-yarder to close the first quarter and, despite the Eagles; inability to punch it into the end zone, McNabb truly looked like the league's all-time active leader in winning percentage. About halfway through the quarter, McNabb dominated as if it was 2001 out there on a 67-yard drive. On third-and-4, the Eagle deftly dodged the blitz with a scramble to hit Jason Avant for 14 yards and get his groove back.

By the end of the half, it was Favre looking his age, making ill-advised passes and getting flagged for a delay-of-game penalty. The Packers managed to string together a good drive toward the end of the half, but had burned their timeouts too quickly to score.

And onto the third, an excellent quarter for observers of the emperor's new clothes principle. While we've seen Favre bounce passes, frequently make his receivers come back on a route to catch the under-thrown pass, and even hit one WR in the back, Rupert Murdoch has apparently given license to the FOX broadcast booth for rampant hyperbole.

While Favre gave Cheeseheads heart attacks in the third quarter by blindly throwing desperate passes while being taking down, by shovel-passing into a crowd - moves that would drawn verbal scorn from the likes of Troy Aikman if attempted by, say, Derek Anderson. Yet Favre is praised for "getting it done."

Not getting anything done in the second half was McNabb, again failing to summon up a final-minute drive for the Eagles, reminiscent of games against the New Orleans Saints and Jacksonville Jaguars last season. While garnering praise on the airwaves for "looking like old Donovan McNabb," today's McNabb went 5 of 16 for 73 yards in the half, including the only true flash of brilliance by the Eagle offense in the final 30 minutes, the short pass over the middle to Avant that stretched to 31 yards. He was sacked twice and managed 3 rushing yards.

Of McNabb's frankly uninspiring line of 15 of 33 for 184 yards with one pick and one TD, the Worldwide Leader in (American) Sports called it "a so-so return to action." Sheesh, if this had been Tony Romo's line in a losing effort, folks would be calling for his head.

In a snoozer - at least for those clamoring to see two of the All-Time Greatest produce some offense or those wishing for some clean special teams play - the Eagles and Packers combined for three field goals in the second half.

The Packers ended up winning by three points, but it was the thin sliver of luck that provided the margin of error. If J.R. Reed manages to hold onto the ball in the fourth, this game goes into overtime.

Revealing, indeed. And scary for fans of both these teams, for this early on at least, it appears that the fates of the Packers and Eagles are in hands other than that of the quarterback - whether the mass media cares to admit it or not. Both Favre and McNabb are now visibly on the decline and, while their teams figure to be well in the hunt all season long, the future is rushing up on both.

Revealing truths about the game all year-round at RealFootball365.com
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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CommentsComments: 9  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
GB Johnny		10:02 AM
09/11/2007
Are you kidding? Comparing McNabb to Favre as one of the all time greats? That's laughable. As far as the game, so-so at best...
No.2
Art		11:03 AM
09/11/2007
McNabb looked rusty and no doubt it had to do with the fact that he had a bum knee and couldn't do the offseason work he usually...
No.3
Roger Roznowski		06:56 AM
09/12/2007
The Packers had to change a lot of their offense late in the week because Greg Jennings couldn't play. That hurt a lot. McNabb...
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