McNabb's Leadership Critical to Season

After last week's loss, the Eagles find themselves in a precarious situation. The team's record has dropped to 5-4 with a more challenging schedule over the balance of the season. A loss in San Diego to the AFC West co-leaders was certainly understandable considering that the Eagles were playing at far less than full strength, but they find themselves in this predicament because they let a couple other games get away.

Over the past couple days, Donovan McNabb has called Sunday night's game in Chicago a "must win." Some have questioned this logic and others have wondered whether placing so much emphasis on this game will ultimately back fire? McNabb has also highlighted the overall youth of this particular team and expressed his opinion that the team is lacking in veteran leadership.

It is good to see that McNabb recognizes this void and can see what outsiders looking in can observe about the 2009 edition of the Eagles. Some of the key veteran leaders such as Brian Dawkins, Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas are no longer with the team, and injuries to Brian Westbrook, Kevin Curtis and Stewart Bradley have taken a few leader-by-example type players off the field.

McNabb has long been a de facto leader by virtue of his position, contract and tenure, but he has never been a fiery, vocal presence like some other high profile, veteran quarterbacks. His personality is easy going and fun loving, rather than demanding and intense. He is prone to be supportive, offering positive reinforcement with a pat on the back rather than get into someone's face for blowing an assignment or not executing.

The merits of each style can be debated, and might work better or worse depending on the personalities and the psyches of those around him. Some players are motivated by a demanding leader, while others become paralyzed or resentful. In general, the mentality of the Philadelphia fan base would definitely skew towards favoring a forceful, spirited leader.

Although its not his make-up, lets give McNabb credit for recognizing that he needs to break from past protocol and move towards being more outspoken, more overt. By declaring this a "must game", he has clearly challenged his teammates and ramped up the urgency. The latter has seemed to be absent throughout much of the season, painfully so in the Raiders game, but also against the Cowboys, Chiefs and Saints.

Part of this traces to youth and the loss of the aforementioned leaders. Some of it also comes from previous history whereby the Eagles have been able to overcome early season inconsistency by turning up the intensity in November and December to land in the playoffs. Coming off that exact scenario last season, and then coming within a play or two of making it to the Super Bowl, human nature can lead players to think that the same thing is repeatable.

McNabb knows, though, that this team is very different than past editions of the team that have been able to pull that off. He realizes that this team does not have the same veteran presence to rally teammates and maintain its poise when the stakes get higher. So, it makes great sense that he recognizes that the time is now for him to step up and be a different type of leader if the team wants to realize its promise.

The Eagles clearly have talent and the athletic capabilities to be a contender. But, they also clearly lack the guidance and motivation that needs to be ignited from within by players who have been around the block. It is a great move forward for McNabb to express the importance of the occasion and verbally challenge the team. It will be equally important for him to massage his demeanor and raise the bar of expectations of those around him.

This is not to suggest that McNabb should be something or someone that he is not by suddenly trying to be a Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Dan Marino or Jeff Garcia type of personality. But, he can surely bring a more serious, demanding approach while remaining authentic. His teammates need to know that he expects them to execute and anything less than full focus and intense effort does not pass muster.

Lets give McNabb a great deal of credit for stepping out of his comfort zone and stepping up as a vocal leader. This is obviously a thoughtful action on his behalf and one that is critically important to the direction the team heads over the balance of the year. A 5-4 record is not where the Eagles hoped to be at this point, and there is still hope, but it is quickly approaching the eleventh hour to light the fire and set the team on a path to success.

Where Do the Eagles Go From Here?

At the 2009 season's mid-point, the Eagles find themselves sitting at 5-3 and one game out of first in the tough NFC East by virtue of their loss to the Cowboys Sunday night. For the casual observer, this seems like a good record that gives the team reason for hope over the balance of the year. A pragmatist, though, sees that the team probably underperformed, should likely have 1 or 2 more wins and has a more difficult schedule in the second half of the season.

To be fair, the Eagles had to weather the storm of some key injuries, but this is an aspect that most every team has to overcome in the NFL, where the overall size, speed and strength of players creates a figurative train wreck each week. The loss of Donovan McNabb to a broken rib may have cost the team a chance to be competitive against the Saints, but the biggest blows have been on the offensive line, at middle linebacker and the absence of Brian Westbrook. With Shawn Andrews never seeing the field, his brother Stacy playing in a limited back-up role, Todd Herremans just now seeing action and Jason Peters being banged up, the line play has been commendable, but erratic. The loss of Stewart Bradley in pre-season created a weakness until recently. And, losing a weapon the caliber of Westbook is always impactful.

Thus far, the Eagles have been a bi-polar bunch, with the high's very high and the low's very low. The highlight of the first half was the 40-17 demolition of the Giants a couple weeks ago. The low point was the dismal loss in Oakland against a Raiders team that has been inept and is in disarray. Sunday's loss to a 6-2 Cowboys team does not fall into the same category, but it surely was disappointing coming off the Giants game and because it appeared that a win was only a little bit of execution away.

The Eagles roster definitely has talent and the potential to do much better over the course of the season. The team has flashed its capabilities with big plays in all phases of the game. The offense has evolved into an explosive, quick strike unit, but in between big plays demonstrates very little consistency or ability to grind out drives. The defensive personality over the past decade has almost always been aggressive, and now has a knack for interceptions. And, the Eagles possess explosive returners on special teams, but have a difficult time avoiding penalties to make it worthwhile.

In order for the team to improve and make a successful post season run, here are some thoughts on what needs to happen:

Leadership must emerge.

Many of the Eagles better players are young or have never played a substantial leadership role. With the departure of key veterans such as Brian Dawkins, Jon Runyan and Tra Thomas, the team seems to be a little lacking in terms of leadership. There appears to be a particular void on the defense as Dawkins was such a strong presence and the team sadly lost one of the most influential coordinators in the league with the passing of Jim Johnson.

Some of the schizophrenic play of the team most likely can be attributed to the gap in leadership. McNabb needs to recognize that he must assert himself as the unquestioned leader on offense, demonstrating a high level of intensity and control while demanding more from his players. On defense, someone needs to emerge as the motivational leader who keeps the pressure on to perform at a high level. Could recently acquired Will Witherspoon be that person?

Attain stability on the offensive line.

It will be difficult for the Eagles to have any real success this season as long as their offensive line is in a constant state of flux. To a certain degree, changing this will require some good fortune, but it will also require Herremans and Andrews to round into shape in order to perform to their potential. Until this happens, breakdowns in protection and the inability to create running lanes will continue to stall the Eagles offense, which is a segue to the next two needs.

Develop ability to execute on methodical drives.

The Eagles need to cultivate their base offense, and develop the ability to grind out methodical drives to complement their big play capabilities. So far this season it has mostly been all or nothing, which typically leads to unfulfilled promise when the playoffs roll around.

Clearly DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin give the team a new found explosiveness, but the Eagles also have the tools to move the chains. Brent Celek is emerging as an excellent tight end, who gets open, makes tough catches and is hard to bring down. Jason Avant continues to impress with his ability to catch the ball in traffic and serve as a complementary possession receiver. Even if Brian Westbrook is out of the line-up, both LeSean McCoy and Leonard Weaver have demonstrated that they can run and catch very effectively.

Make Vick the emergency QB.

The team needs to bite the bullet and admit that the Michael Vick experiment is a bust. They need to make a clean break by taking him out of the offense altogether and slide him into the emergency back-up role. Vick not only does not add anything to the offense, he clearly detracts from it. Wasting a valuable timeout to shuffle him in and out for yet another nothing play on Sunday night added insult to injury. Although it surely is not the sole reason, it is not sheer coincidence that the offense still has not been able to find any level of continuity this season. Heck, you can even see the frustration and lack of confidence on the face of players every time Vick shuffles onto the field to run some exotic dive or sandlot formation.

Hire a "Time Management" coach

A long-time nemesis of the team has been its inability to manage the clock and make "in game" snap decisions. Squandering all three second half timeouts the other night, although one can be attributed to poor vision or pure stubbornness of the officials, was further compounded by an almost nonsensical late game decision to kick a field goal. The Eagles needed a touchdown to avoid defeat, with or without the field goal, so they essentially doubled their chances of losing simply by attempting a field goal. By not trying to get a first down, the entire game now rode on them being able to get a quick 3 and out, plus they would have to drive much further to score.

Is it out of the realm of possibility to have an assistant who's job it is to study probabilities, and most importantly, who possesses stellar skills in logical reasoning? This coach could help prepare thinking in order to make the right decisions in the moment, and be standing ready for quick consult. It sounds crazy, but is at least worth consideration as time management surely has not been a forte.

In the NFC, the Saints and Vikings are both playing with a level of consistency and skill at a higher level than the Eagles. In the AFC, the Colts, Patriots and Steelers all appear to be a cut above. But, as the Eagles stand at the mid-point looking back at their first half body of work and peer ahead to what might lie ahead, there is a great deal of reason for optimism. As the many previous flashes of brilliance have signaled, the potential is there; however, it is going to require adjustments and an evolution. The next five games, four of which are against winning teams on the road, will likely reveal whether the Eagles are a true contender.

Phillies Potential is Great with Offense Brewing

The mark of a good baseball team is that key offensive contributions can come from different players every night. The Phillies have been in that mode for quite some time now. On Sunday, Ryan Howard almost single-handedly carried the team to victory with a pair of homers, driving in all 4 Phillies runs. Last night, it was Carlos Ruiz and Jayson Werth picking up Howard (who struck out twice with the bases loaded) and the team, combining for 5 hits, 4 RBI and a couple home runs. Last Friday night's victory was led by Chase Utley, who banged a two-run homer.

It has persisted this way for over a month. The depth of talent in the Phillies line-up is allowing them to plate enough runs to increase their winning margin to a season high 18 games over .500. Overall, though, you get the feeling that the offense is not hitting on all cylinders. Stranding runners in scoring position has been a frequent theme. In their last loss on Saturday, they were a collective 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position, and last evening they stranded 11 runners.

This leads me to the "half full" assessment that the potential for the team is tremendous. It is only a matter of time (and the pennant run adrenaline rush) that Phillies hitters start to catch fire together.

Howard is starting to show signs of replicating his historical end-of-season pyrotechnics display, which is capable of repeatedly lighting up the scoreboard. Raul Ibanez and Utley have been treading water trying to find their first half strokes, but they are too good not to expect that it will soon happen. Werth is streaky and it would seem that more of the line drives and long fly balls he has been hitting will drop in or over the fence. Jimmy Rollins has hit a little lull after a big surge, but looks like he has things figured out. It is a good bet that Shane Victorino and Pedro Feliz will continue their season long consistency. A continuation of Ruiz's recent offensive output would be a huge bonus.

It looks from here that the league's top offensive team is poised for a surge at just the right time. This, combined with the continuing strong contributions from the starting staff and the league's best defense, creates the potential for the team's best stretch of baseball. Now, if we could just get the bullpen back to 2008 form....