A sad-sack performance

09:00 AM EST on Friday, January 28, 2005

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Ten days until the Super Bowl. Is it time yet to point out that Eagles five-time Pro Bowler Donovan McNabb played more like Peter McNab the last time he faced the Patriots?

Journal photo / Bill Murphy

Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi enjoys a laugh during warmups prior to the team's workout yesterday at the indoor facility at Gillette Stadium. The Pats began preparations for next Sunday's Super Bowl.

Is it unfair to point out that the personable, rifle-armed, tough-as-nails, wizard of derring-do had a derring-don't day against the Patriots on Sept. 14, 2003?

The Patriots think it is. They treat talk of their 31-10 dismissal of the Eagles last year as if it happened in some alternate universe.

"It's tough for me to recall that," said Patriots outside linebacker Mike Vrabel. "That game will have zero to do with this one."

If that's the case, McNabb can breathe a large sigh of relief. Because on that day, he went 18 for 46 for 186 yards and was intercepted twice. He was also sacked seven times.

McNabb's 33.4 quarterback rating that day was not just the third worst of his career. In fact, it was the only time he'd been under 40 since his rookie season (although he turned in an even worse statistical performance in the 2003 NFC Championship). The seven sacks were a career-high (or low) matched later in a 2003 playoff game against the Packers.

Throwing to wide receivers James Thrash, Todd Pinkston and Freddie Mitchell and tight end Chad Lewis, McNabb went 7 for 17 in the first half of that game. On the Eagles' only touchdown drive of the game late in the first quarter, McNabb hit Bryant Westbrook for no gain at the Pats' 47 on third-and-3. The drive was only extended thanks to a 15-yard face mask penalty on Tyrone Poole.

After halftime, with Philly down 17-7, McNabb went 3 for 10 in the third quarter and 8 for 19 in the fourth before being relieved by Koy Detmer and spared another round of boos.

There's a handy counter-argument to this smoking-gun proof that McNabb is doomed. The game in question was played 16 months and 34 games ago. McNabb's numbers this season are far better than they were in 2003.

After never completing more than 58.4 percent of his passes, this year McNabb completed 64 percent. After putting up very good touchdown-to-interception ratios in his first five seasons, this year he was astounding (31-8).

He also made the switch from "running quarterback" to quarterback who will run if necessary. His most productive regular-season game on the ground was six carries for 36 yards this year. In 2003, he had five games of 47 yards or more rushing and six games of six or more attempts.

"He's looking to make plays throwing the ball and only on critical downs is he looking to run and scramble downfield," Vrabel said. "It will be important to all of us to have an idea where our rush lanes are and how we'll try to attack him."

But while so much changed for McNabb since the start of the 2003 regular season until the end of 2004, in the past month, a lot has changed back. The 28-year-old quarterback is now without wide receiver Terrell Owens and tight end Chad Lewis, who are both injured. Owens says he will play, but he's been known to say a lot of things. Even if he's right, he won't be the Owens he was during the season and that Owens was arguably the NFL's MVP.

In 14 games this year, Owens caught 77 passes for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns. That represented 30 percent of the yards McNabb threw for in his first 14 games (3,616), 28 percent of his completions and nearly half of his 29 touchdown passes.

Lewis, a three-time Pro Bowler who had ankle surgery this week, had a relatively modest season but his production (29 for 267 and three scores) combined with Owens' puts McNabb back in an offense that closely resembles the one New England manhandled.

The only different faces in the offensive lineup this time will be left guard Artis Hicks, tight end L.J. Smith, Mitchell and running back Brian Westbrook. Westbrook, who's replaced Duce Staley, is the only upgrade.

Given that McNabb is now surrounded by the same cast as he was when the Eagles got embarrassed and he played like a Pop Warner backup, how exactly can the Eagles' offense be seen as a threat? Especially when, in the last two weeks, the Patriots have held down the historic Indy passing attack and shut down the vaunted Steelers running attack?

For Philly to have a shot, either McNabb will have to perform better or the New England defense has to play worse. It's hard to expect the Patriots -- the most consistent, focused and fundamentally sound team in recent memory -- to come out in the biggest game of the year and make a boatload of mistakes. And if that's the case, it's even harder to expect McNabb -- bereft of the weapons that made this his best statistical season -- to catch the New England defense being less than the New England defense.

But there's still 10 days of anticipation to milk before the Super Bowl. Maybe it's still too early to analyze the facts.

Digital Extra: See what journalists, coaches, players and fans around the country have to say about the Patriots, via projo.com's Jack Perry's View from the Cybersideline:

http://projo.com/blogs/patriots/