Steve Malzberg
Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005

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  To put it as politely as I can, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb seemed to be playing in a football game that bore very little resemblance to the game the rest of us were watching. Yet today, much of the press is focusing its criticism on Eagles head coach Andy Reid.

What the heck am I talking about, you ask? After all, McNabb did complete 30 of 51 passes, good for 357 yards and three touchdowns. Those are MVP numbers, for crying out loud! Well, in this case the statistics lie. I want you to know that I am cutting McNabb some slack, though.

Oh yes, I'm very well aware of the fact that the Eagles hadn't appeared in the Super Bowl in 24 years and haven't won an NFL championship since 1960. I know all about the three consecutive failed attempts in NFC championship contests leading up to this season that McNabb quarterbacked for the Eagles.

As for his problems in this his first Super Bowl, I'm willing to overlook the McNabb fumble on the third play of the game. That one would be overturned on a replay challenge by Eagles coach Andy Reid.

I can forget about the interception that he threw to New England's Asante Samuel in the end zone on Philadelphia's third possession. That errant pass followed a 16-yard loss on a sack, on a first and goal play from the Patriots' 8-yard line. It didn't count anyway, as once again McNabb was saved by the officials, who had called a penalty on linebacker Roman Phifer.

I say so what to the next interception, that one into the hands of New England safety Rodney Harrison. It squandered an Eagles scoring threat and was the first of three throwaways of the night by McNabb that did in fact count.

I can make believe that the overthrown passes and the four times McNabb went down after being sacked just didn't happen. I have no problem with that. But I will never understand, nor will I forget, what I saw in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXXIX, and that's why I needed to hear from Rush.

Why Rush of all people? Hang in, I'm getting to that. But first, to quarter number four of the game.

McNabb and his Eagles were trailing the Pats by 10 points with just under six minutes left in the game, and they had two time outs left. That meant the Eagles had to score twice in the remaining time to gain at least a tie and send the contest to overtime.

Under normal circumstances that's a pretty tough task to undertake. In a Super Bowl it becomes that much more of a challenge. But Donovan McNabb made the task impossible.

With 5:40 left on the clock, needing 79 yards for a touchdown, the Eagles moved the ball just 15 yards while using up a precious two minutes and eight seconds. In three minutes and 40 seconds McNabb had moved the ball a total of 49 yards. They did wind up scoring a touchdown and cutting the lead to 24-21, but it had taken nearly four minutes to do it and left just 1:48 on the game clock.

How'd they do it? Not once did the Eagles use a hurry-up offense. Not once did they go without a huddle. Not once did they call multiple plays in the huddle to save time. In fact, as you watched Donovan McNabb stroll up to the center to take the snap time after time as the seconds ticked away, you would swear he was playing in some other game. Perhaps a game that had six quarters to it? Bizarre!!

But it would get worse for McNabb.

The Eagles got the ball back with 46 seconds left. They were deep in their own territory on the Philadelphia 4-yard line. With no time outs left, McNabb threw a 1-yard pass, then a huddle, of course, followed by an incomplete pass.

Had that pass been complete, it would have been the game's last play because it was thrown to the middle of the field, with no way to stop the clock. But it didn't matter because next the sleepwalking Donovan threw his final interception of the game, and mercifully it was over.

In the post-game interviews, McNabb once again raised doubt about just which game he thought he was playing in. When asked about wasting all of that time he replied, "We went to our hurry-up-offense." What? He then clarified by saying that they tried to go no-huddle but the officials stopped them one time!

Eagles head coach Andy Reid wasn't any better in coming up with an explanation. In fact, on Monday he said he couldn't even recall the situation down the stretch: "Well, you know, I'm trying to remember back on that. I put that away a little bit. ... But we did try to get it going. I can't remember. I can't detail the circumstances why it didn't work as well as it should have."

I have a theory on that answer. I believe that coach Reid has decided that he will take the heat for McNabb's mistakes. If I am wrong about this and Reid is responsible for what took place on the field, he should be fired. If he truly can't recall what happened, he needs to be fired and then might think of looking into getting some help. But I don't think I'm wrong.

Okay, now back to Rush Limbaugh. Let's go back to Sunday, September 28, 2003. Rush was working for ESPN on its "Sunday NFL Countdown" show. He was talking about Donovan McNabb and the Eagles, who at that point were 1-2 in the season. Rush opined that McNabb had received too much credit for the past success of the Eagles.

"The media have been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."

You might recall that Congressman Harold Ford, D-Tenn., called for ESPN to fire Rush for his remarks, as did presidential candidate Wesley Clark and the NAACP. The network issued its own statement critical of Rush. Within days Limbaugh quit the show and ESPN.

What else could he do? The mainstream media and the left took Rush's remarks and ran with them, wasting no time, which is more than anyone can say about McNabb's play during the Super Bowl.

I can't wait for Rush's return, even though I'm certain that I know what he'll say about Super Bowl XXXIX. I don't think for one moment that he will gloat. I know he won't give us a sarcastic chuckle and make some snide remark about McNabb's performance. I know that he won't view this as some kind of vindication of what he said on ESPN.

I'm sure that he harbors no ill will toward the Eagles QB. He will take and express no pleasure in McNabb's horrific performance. But I do expect the truth from Rush Limbaugh. I do expect that he will talk about what he saw happen on that field on Sunday.

I know that the Truth Detector will simply tell us the truth, as always, and that's what I will find so refreshing after a week of waiting for Rush and putting up with the spin of the mainstream media.

Please listen to Steve's new radio show on WWRL in New York City, Monday-Friday from 6-10 AM eastern time. Also available live at www.wwrl1600.com You can e-mail Steve and keep up with his appearances at www.malzbergtalk.com Please sign up for Steve's e-mail alerts at www.newsmax.com/malzberg

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