qbgirl

After throwing two interceptions in their match with Baltimore, Donavan McNabb was taken out of the game at halftime and replaced with back-up Kevin Kolb.  Because of what was, obviously, a very controversial move, Philly is now in the position of needing to put Kolb through the paces.  This morning Head Coach Andy Reid stated that McNabb will start against the Cardinals this Thursday.  Statistically Kolb’s performance was virtually an identical match to McNabb’s first half and he has an 0-2-1 record overall as QB for the Eagles.  Realistically, Philadelphia has five weeks to see if Kolb is ready for primetime, and, if Sunday was any indication, he has a long way to go.  

Personally, I think this is simply a bad way to do business.  From now on every week it will be a question of who will start each game and who will finish it.  It doesn’t give McNabb a real shot at fixing his problems and it doesn’t give Kolb a shot at getting his bearings.  Flip-flopping your line-up in the final weeks of the season is a sign of desperation and poor management.  It destabilizes the team, and the fans, and I think it will ultimately be a season-ender for the Eagles.  During the off-season Philly needs to do some heavy lifting with their leadership if they want to make it back on top.

I will try to refrain from too much gloating in discussing the Jets defeat of the Titans, but I can make no promises.  NY totally dominated every aspect of that game on Sunday.  Brett Farve was explosive and seems to be completely in sync with his new offensive line.  The pocket rarely broke down, giving Brett time to methodically pick apart the Tennessee defense.  NY held possession for more than 40 minutes, and when you give Brett Farve that kind of time there is no way he’s not coming up with the ‘W’.  On the other side of the ball the Jets defense locked up Tennessee holding them to two field goals until midway through the fourth quarter. 

Tennessee is a well put-together team, but this was their first real test to see how they stand up to a serious contender.  There has been much debate about this, but I am in the camp that believes the Titans have just skated their way through the regular season.  They will still most likely take the top seed in the AFC South, but I don’t think they have it in them to make it past round one of the playoffs.

As for the Jets, they have a pretty easy run left and hold a narrow lead over New England for the top spot in the AFC East.  They are by far the better team and may even be the best team in the AFC right now.  I put them up with the Steelers as the biggest AFC threats currently. 

The Colts went to SoCal Sunday night to face their nemesis, the San Diego Chargers.  Indy has lost three out of the last four with these guys, including their divisional playoff match last season.  This was a nail-biter up to the last second when Adam Vinateiri redeemed himself, after a botched field goal attempt in said divisional match, with a 51-yd winning field goal.  The first half was a struggle for the Colts and Peyton Manning was visibly frustrated throughout.  Statistically it was a pretty evenly matched game, except for two points.  The Chargers averaged more total yardage than the Colts, but fewer 3^rd down conversions.  San Diego could drive down the field, but fell apart once they got into the red zone.  The second difference was in penalties.  San Diego had 5 and gave the Colts 37 yards as a result.  Personally, I think they could have been penalized more.  ILB Stephen Cooper got away with a bad hit on Joseph Addai, picking up his legs and tossing him to the ground after the play had been whistled dead– very uncool. 

Indy has to be feeling pretty good after beating all three of the teams who usually are thorns in their sides – San Diego, Pittsburgh, and New England.  So what do the Colts have to do to stay in it for the rest of the season and beyond?  First, they need to improve their rushing game, which is terrible right now.  They have a pretty easy next three weeks, but in the final two games they meet Jacksonville and Tennessee again.  They aren’t going to come out on top against those defensively minded teams unless they improve their time of possession and the rush.  The second thing is that they need to stay healthy.  Bob Sanders didn’t even make trip west this weekend, due to his swollen knee issue, and Jeff Saturday left the game early with a calf injury.  They need their all-stars on deck to make a legitimate stand.  If Indy can make those adjustments I think they have a good shot at challenging the current two best teams in the AFC (the Jets and the Steelers) during the playoffs.

As for the Chargers, I think they have a better shot at getting into the playoffs as a divisional leader than a wildcard contender, simply because they’re division sucks (ooh, did I say that out loud?).  Seriously, though San Diego has a pretty easy remaining schedule and Denver has been ridiculously sporadic of late.  So even though the Chargers are 4-7, I think that top spot in the AFC West is up for grabs.