Philadelphia Daily News Les Bowen column: Les Bowen: Further Review: Clueless leader - McNabb has to step up

Nov 18, 2008 (Philadelphia Daily News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- NAHC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- What Andy Reid said yesterday was right. Donovan McNabb admitting he was surprised to find out there wasn't going to be a second overtime in Cincinnati had no impact on the 13-13 tie between the Eagles and the Bengals.

Problem is, that isn't quite the issue. The issue is cluelessness, the sort of vague, disconnected fog that McNabb seems to emanate these days. The issue, as colleague Sean McCann of the Courier-Post in South Jersey put it, while we were trooping into NovaCare yesterday, is that "McNabb sees himself as just a passenger on the bus. The fans want him to be driving the bus. Peyton Manning drives the bus. Tom Brady drives the bus."

I said something along those lines, though I didn't frame it as well, after last month's loss to the Redskins -- that I wanted to see McNabb take ownership of the situation, and the team. He more or less did that through the next three wins, more in San Francisco, less against the Falcons and Seahawks. Now, the Birds seem rudderless again, and a quarterback who doesn't know the game is about to end as overtime ticks away is the perfect symbol of that.

A McNabb spokesman said yesterday that the QB did not want to make a clarifying statement, and that he agrees he should have known the rule. I think McNabb -- who compounded his problem by musing about what would happen at the end of OT in the playoffs or the Super Bowl, unaware of the obvious fact that those games could not end in a tie -- probably understands now that he will be part of overtime lore for a very long time. (In the same way that before every overtime coin toss, somebody brings up Marty Mornhinweg, who famously opted not to take the ball as Detroit's head coach.)

"I think that's absurd," Reid said yesterday, when asked about the McNabb criticism. "You play to win in that time, whether you think you have another overtime period or you don't ... He threw a beautiful 'Hail Mary' [on the final snap]. I don't think that had any effect on the game."

McNabb's problems, and the Eagles' problems, go way beyond arcane OT rules. McNabb wasn't the only Eagle on the sideline who didn't know the game could end in a tie. Most teams, you figure there would be a coach or coaches gathering their guys, discussing scenarios. Somehow it isn't a surprise that on Reid's sideline, that didn't happen.

Communication. Chemistry. Leadership. All reasons why a team that ought to be a contender isn't.

Developing story lines

--Donovan McNabb seems to want to make Kevin Curtis his go-to guy again, now that Curtis is recovered from sports-hernia surgery, but the timing just isn't there. Sunday, if McNabb wasn't surprising Curtis with a back-shoulder throw that bounced away and was picked off, Curtis was brick-handing a well-thrown ball because the receiver was looking upfield instead of focusing on the catch. Curtis still caught a team-high seven passes, for 64 yards, but he might have been the intended receiver for twice that many throws.

--Hey, at least David Akers is straightened out. Akers hit through a biting Cincinnati wind for field goals of 42 and 27 yards. He has made good on 12 attempts in a row, last missing on the blocked try in San Francisco, which wasn't Akers' fault. Akers is 4-for-5 this season from 40-49 yards.

--Jim Johnson was prescient last week when he fretted about his corners not picking off many balls. Ryan Fitzpatrick launched quite a few floaters among his 44 passes, but the Eagles couldn't take advantage. Frankly, three picks isn't that many for Asante Samuel, given that he jumps the route instead of defending the man at every opportunity, flirting with disaster. And you'd think $57 million would buy you an occasional decent attempt at tackling.

Who knew?

That the NFL didn't go to a shootout following the 15-minute overtime?

(This query submitted by a Mr. D. McNabb of Moorestown, N.J.)

Obscure stat

The Bengals managed 79 yards on interception returns, more than either team gained rushing in the 75-minute game.

Extra point

Sixty called pass plays Sunday -- 58 throws and two sacks. Eighteen run attempts.

Even for an Andy Reid team, this is absurd. What gives?

Two explanations yesterday, one of them made sense. In the NovaCare auditorium, Reid asserted that he went into the Cincinnati game thinking the Bengals were more vulnerable to the pass than to the run (even though Cincinnati entered the game 10th against the pass and 25th against the run).

A more plausible explanation appeared a few minutes later, when Eagles players began gathering to review film. Brian Westbrook shuffled down the hallway like Fred Sanford intent on upbraiding Lamont. Westbrook's left knee and his right ankle were wrapped. His progress seemed more halting on the ankle than the knee, but clearly, neither was pain-free.

"I'm a little sore today," Westbrook said, the day after he accounted for just 71 total yards against the Bengals, in a 75-minute game. Westbrook's 60 rushing yards on 14 carries were a bit misleading -- he had 6 yards on four carries at halftime, then hit on a couple of draws that badly fooled the Bengals in the second half. However hobbled Westbrook might be, he can still scamper through a huge hole. But I'm not at all sure he can dart and cut back and leverage a loss into a gain, the way he did last season, in setting a franchise record with 2,104 yards from scrimmage.

Even as a pass receiver, Westbrook sees only the occasional screen these days -- nothing downfield. Westbrook's receiving yardage high this season is 51, on six catches, vs. Washington. Westbrook averaged 51.4 receiving yards a game last season.

I think when all this is over, we will find out Westbrook has been playing at way less than 100 percent. Which still doesn't explain why you can't run a little with Correll Buckhalter, who is averaging 4.1 yards per carry, the same as Westbrook this season. Asked about Buckhalter yesterday, Reid said: "Trying to get Brian going is what you're trying to do."

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