McNabb sees the Eagles are best in NFC East still !!

[DNNF]

His thumb is badly bruised, his statistics are brutally bad, and his team is tied for last place in the NFC East.


Confidence?

That's not a problem for Donovan McNabb.


Never was that more evident than yesterday, when the Eagles quarterback sat in front of a large media gathering at the NovaCare Complex and announced that the Eagles were still the team to beat in the NFC East.


That's a bold declaration to make when you've just lost to the first-place Dallas Cowboys and you're only four days away from playing the New York Giants, a team that is supposed to challenge for the division title.


Nevertheless, McNabb still believes the Eagles are the team to beat in their division. He said the film of Sunday's loss to the Cowboys is proof enough for him that the better team did not win.


"Now, people say, is Dallas for real or are they the best team?" McNabb said. "Clearly, if you watch the film, they're not. And that's even when we didn't play well. So what does that tell you?"


When asked whether the Eagles were still the best team in the NFC East, McNabb answered in one word.


"Yes," he said.


How can McNabb make that claim with the offense in disarray and the Cowboys two games ahead of the Eagles?


"We should have won last week's game," McNabb said. "We go out and play well against the Giants and the next opportunity we have to play against those [NFC East] teams, we have to be able to execute then. But everyone knows in order to win the NFC [East], you have to be able to go through Philly."


As always, McNabb received support from his teammates.


"Donovan is the team leader," wide receiver Freddie Mitchell said. "Anything Donovan says, we back him up. He speaks for us just like [coach] Andy Reid speaks for the whole team in general. We definitely do feel like we're the team to beat. We're the division champions, so why shouldn't we be?"


The list of reasons the Eagles aren't the team to beat in the NFC East is actually quite long. There is the little matter of the quarterback's ailing right thumb and the offense's inability to move the ball through the air.


McNabb was questioned about both issues again yesterday.


He continued to say simultaneously that the thumb is affecting his play, but it's not going to keep him from playing Sunday against the Giants. He wouldn't even consider missing a couple of days of practice.


"I definitely want to show the team that I will be out here every day for them," McNabb said. "I'm not here to take days off. That would have to be a call that the training staff would have to make. I want to be out there at all times. I want to show the team that despite everything that's been going on and despite how the thumb is feeling, I'm still out there practicing."


McNabb is under the impression that his thumb will heal with time.


"I definitely hope so," he said. "That's the way I see it. It will heal even without time off. I think you have to fight through it. It's not that my finger is going to fall off or I need surgery or anything like that. If it hurts that bad where you can't go out there and play, then obviously you shouldn't be out there. But if you can fight through it and go on out and play, then get out there and make some plays."


Would McNabb's thumb heal with time off?


Trainer Rick Burkholder was not available to answer that question yesterday.


Though McNabb insists that he is going to fight through the pain, he also admits that it was a contributing factor to his poor performance Sunday against Dallas when he completed 11 of 26 passes for 126 yards and one touchdown.


"In order to throw the ball, you have to have your grip in a position where you're able to follow through and flick your thumb down," McNabb said. "That may hinder a little bit of everything I do. But, again, I'm not here to make any excuses."


The company line continues to be that McNabb is only a part of the reason the Eagles' offense is ranked 30th among the league's 32 teams.


Offensive tackle Jon Runyan, who will renew his line-of-scrimmage battle with Giants defensive end Michael Strahan on Sunday, said the line has to do a better job of protecting the quarterback.


"We had a few pressures early in that game," Runyan said. "If you look at any defensive philosophy, if you can get to the quarterback early and get hits on him, it's going to cause a problem. Up front, we let them get to him early and it got him out of his rhythm."


McNabb has been sacked 18 times, tied for fourth most in the NFL.


"There were times when Donovan had a little bit of pressure, but there were also times when Donovan had time," Reid said.


It could also be argued that the wide receivers are a big part of the offense's problem. The Eagles are the only team in the NFL without a touchdown by at least one of their wide receivers.


"We all need to do our jobs a little better," Reid said.


That's especially true if they still want to be the team to beat in their division.

[XERXES]

What else is he going to say? The truth is that he should shut up and try to prove people wrong on the field - but if he's going to have to open his mouth, he's going to have to say a bunch of garbage like this. It's a "sales job."

[FINtastic]

Poor Donovan. I knew he had a lot of injuries, but I didn't realize that a head injury is one of them.

[LRB]

Nevertheless, McNabb still believes the Eagles are the team to beat in their division.

I guess if the eagles had actually beaten us they would have been the greatest team in NFL history according to McNabb. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]


The eagles game shouldn't have been as close as it was. I hope we knock some sence into McNabb the nect time we but him on his @ss.

[jayC]

Dallas is a good team. They are 4th in total offense and third in total defense. Phillies offense is ranked 30th and defense is 12th. The cowboys didn't play their A game quincy was average he could have played better, their were several dropped passes by receivers by Joey Galloway and Rocket Ismail. Get over it Donnovan you suck this season, he has the worst qb rating in the league.

[FilthyFinMavs]

The truth is the Cowboys didn't play well offensively nor did the Eagle's. Do we blame the Eagle's for there bad play on the offensive field or the Cowboys or vice versa? You don't just go out and play bad there is a reason and that reason was the defense on both ends. I don't know what McNabb is trying to prove here. Does he not know this is a Parcell's team? What happened to the last guy who messed with a Cowboy (Parcells)? That guy did not have a good game at all and his team added a loss to there record for some stupid comments he made. I respect McNabb as a player but I think he looks pretty stupid saying these type of comments after a loss. Makes him look bitter and jealous.

[dirno2000]

I equate this to Mobley and Francis constantly saying they were better then the Mavs after losing to us. When you have a team’s number, it takes a while to admit that the tables may have turned.

If nothing else, we now have bulletin board material for when we go to Philly.

[DNNF]

wonder what mcnabb might said after luckily beat the giants. In this game, Andy reids have thoughts about benched him after 1st half.