Staff Blog
Morning Rounds, November 24th
After holding off the Warriors 89-81 last night the Sixers are over .500 for the first time this season, and appear to be gelling on the defensive end. Andre Miller looks in control of the team, Thaddeus Young continues to play within himself and the Brand/Dalembert frontline is controlling the glass.
But today, nobody in this city cares. 5 was both healthy and benched for the first time since his rookie year. He watched the second half of what might have been the Eagles most complete loss ever. What was shocking wasn’t the move itself - Donovan’s completion percentage is under 50% for his last 11 quarters, and for the first time in his life he’s been throwing truly bad INTs - but rather the timing: Andy Reid made the move with the Birds down just 3, in the middle of a must-win game, against an elite defense, on the road. After he made a career for himself by backing his players, he threw the one most associated with him under the bus, removing McNabb without even bothering to let him know. Reid got the spark he was looking for; he just hadn’t realized he had been sitting on dynamite.
And so it ends. The Birds may turn back to McNabb for Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day game - Kevin Kolb was Omar Epps’ Willie Mays Hayes to McNabb’s Wesley Snipes‘ version - but the rest of this season is cosmetic. The Reid/McNabb era had been nearing it’s end and now it’s over. The Eagles defining names will grit their teeth and limp through the next five weeks knowing that win, lose, or tie the team isn’t going their team much longer.
It’s a shame, early this year the Birds were supposed to represent the NFC in Tampa Bay.
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| Ron Cortes | philly.com |
“Wow.” - Donovan McNabb, on his benching
Three lines on their world:
- The Jets took down the previously undefeated Titans
- The Knicks made a couple of deals with LeBron in mind
- And McNabb took a seat
Three lines on ours:
- Andy Reid benched Donovan McNabb in a brutal Eagles’ loss
- Penn St. crushed Michigan St. to lock up the Big Ten
- And the Sixers held off the Warriors to move above .500 for the first time all year
Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and what everybody is talking about after the jump
EAGLES
Ashley Fox thinks now that Andy Reid went to Kolb, there is no coming back to McNabb. SKIP
Phil Sheridan says that Reid just stepped off the ledge. READ
Bob Ford writes the eulogy. READ
Sam Donnellon says that McNabb’s season is over. SKIP
Rich Hoffman thinks that for the first time in his career Andy Reid is just making it up as he goes on. READ
Marcus Hayes talks to the Ravens about McNabb’s benching. READ
Sam Donnellon reports that Andy Reid didn’t tell McNabb he was sitting down himself. SKIP
Josh Schrager talks to an NFL oddsmaker about where the betting lines will be depending on if McNabb or Kolb start Thursday. READ
Paul Domowitch grades the Birds. SKIP
Ray Parrillo reminds us that, lost in the McNabb madness was the fact that Omar Gaither lost his starting spot as well. READ
Ray Parrillo looks at Quintin Demps, the Birds one bright spot. READ
The Inquirer’s notes look at a couple of local products’ big day, Correll Buckhalter’s bad luck, Brian Westbrook’s injury problems, and more. READ
Paul Domowitch breaks down he thought were the key issues heading into the game. SKIP
Paul Domowitch goes behind the box score. READ
Paul Vigna breaks down the numbers. READ
Paul Domowitch delivers the talking points. READ
Marcus Hayes says that Joe Flacco played fine. SKIP
Don McKee has game notes. SKIP
Reuben Frank looks at the inevitable divorce. SKIP
Jeff Offord notes that Westbrook sucked too. READ
Ed Kracz breaks down the big plays. SKIP
Reuben Frank delivers a quick-hit recap. SKIP
SIXERS
Phil Jasner looks at how local product Rob Kurz made the Warriors. READ
Kate Fagan breaks down Andre Miller’s three point shooting. READ
PHILLIES
David Murphy reports that the Phillies have signed Pete Mackanin to be their bench coach. SKIP
FLYERS
Ed Moran thinks the Flyers are better off without Brendan Shanahan. READ
Sam Carchidi reports that Danny Briere will remain on the sidelines tonight. SKIP
Wayne Fish looks at the Flyers’ problems in OT. SKIP
TODAY and MORE
Sometime today Andy Reid is going to announce who will start at quarterback on Thanksgiving day. When he does, like the rest of Philadelphia, we’ll break down why he’s wrong.
As always, feel free to email with any questions, suggestions, comments or complaints.
