This is the NFL

[VNV Nation]

Geez, McNabb looked like Unitas, Elway and Montana all wrapped up in one.

Spurrier looked like a rank amateur.

[moose]

eh, i dont expect too much out of a passing team with no real quarterback. hopefully (for wash fans) rex grossman will play just poorly enough to fool scouts and let spurrier snatch him up next year.

mcnabb is awesome, as is well documented. his success wasnt surprising, since the strength of washington's defense is at LB (tackling, not coverage) and, to a lesser extent, D-line [read: not secondary!]b

[VNV Nation]

I liked how he ran through three Pro Bowl linebackers on his TD run.

[moose]

Originally posted by VNV Nation
I liked how he ran through three Pro Bowl linebackers on his TD run.

he ran around them... big distinction

eventually, defenses will start accounting for the vicks and mcnabbs. you can't allow a well blocked passing play to become a 25 yard run every time.

[VNV Nation]

I say he evaded them.

[Skip]

I say tomato.

[Craig S.]

Whatever you want to call it, Donovan made the 'Skins look bad not only on that play, but all night.

I agree that defenses will catch up with these QBs, in the same ways adjustments are always made to level the game. However, no defense can account for the fact that McNabb is simply a great quarterback. An accurate arm, a mind for the game, and a 240-pound body with moves like a running back.

I bet it would be tough to find any Eagles fans who'd admit now to having booed his selection a few years ago. They've got themselves a HOFer.

[moose]

Originally posted by Craig S.
However, no defense can account for the fact that McNabb is simply a great quarterback. An accurate arm, a mind for the game, and a 240-pound body with moves like a running back.

THAT is something I agree with wholeheartedly.

[SmedIndy]

Originally posted by Skip
I say tomato.

Let's call the whole thing off!

Seriously - the 'Skins looked atrocious, Spurrier flabbergasted. I think it exposed the Skins for what they are....a bad football team.

[spitball]

Originally posted by SmedIndy
Let's call the whole thing off!

Seriously - the 'Skins looked atrocious, Spurrier flabbergasted. I think it exposed the Skins for what they are....a bad football team.

As were the Cowboys when Jimmy Johnson first took over.
It takes time to implement a new system and the Skins are doing it on both sides of the ball.
Spurrier finally saw what a real NFL defense can do . Now it's time to adjust. Marvin Lewis has to get his guys to stop free-lancing .
Lousy this year, better next year, and so on and so on...

[JamesI]

I think if Spurrier gets his hands on a real QB, Washington will be good for years to come. Just like Dallas with Johnson and Aikman.

[Duque]

Ditto. But, I don't know with the NFL's current parity system, if he'll still have a good defense by the time he gets together a good offense.

Btw - how about LaVar Arrington's chess room?

[VNV Nation]

Here's my problem with Spurrier:
He inherits a team with a 1,400-yard rusher, a decent defense whose strength is in the front seven, no quarterback and perhaps the worst receiving corps in the league.

So your solution to turning the team around is Fun 'N' Gun? A ball-control coach would do more with this team, this year, than Spurrier, but he has to prove he's boy genius rather than adjusting to the talent he has.

Incidentally, I love the vertical passing game. The ability to connect on just one bomb a game opens everything else you need on offense.

[spitball]

Spurrier will have to swallow it and start giving the ball to Davis on a more consistent basis. That's something he'll have to accept.

[VNV Nation]

Originally posted by Craig S.
Whatever you want to call it, Donovan made the 'Skins look bad not only on that play, but all night.

I agree that defenses will catch up with these QBs, in the same ways adjustments are always made to level the game. However, no defense can account for the fact that McNabb is simply a great quarterback. An accurate arm, a mind for the game, and a 240-pound body with moves like a running back.

I bet it would be tough to find any Eagles fans who'd admit now to having booed his selection a few years ago. They've got themselves a HOFer.

Just FYI: I don't think any of the Eagles fans that booed at draft day were disparaging McNabb. If you remember at the time, the overwhelming consensus was that Ricky Williams was THE SURE THING, almost everyone projected an instant O.J./Emmitt/Barry Sanders type career for him. You'll remember Ditka trading his entire draft for him.
I think, though, that Eagles fans were nearly evenly split on whether to take Williams or a QB -- it was the year of QBs....
Personally I was bothered by the fact that Ditka made it well known he would trade everything to get Williams, and the Eagles weren't interested. I thought they should have made the trade and used New Orleans' No. 1 pick to get Daunte Culpepper.

Anyway, a prominent talk-show personality on WIP (a godawful sports-talk station in Philadelphia) started a campaign to get Ricky in town. I think the radio station bused several Ricky Williams backers to the draft.