Donovan McNabb has been in the league long enough to understand that there are going to be peaks and valleys in an NFL season. The last four weeks provide a perfect example.
After the disappointment in Oakland, the Eagles bounced back with a 10-point win in Washington and a 23-point thrashing of the Giants. The Eagles completed their three-game NFC East slate with a four-point loss to the Cowboys last Sunday and now sit at 5-3 heading into this weekend's showdown with the San Diego Chargers.
Against the Redskins and the Giants, McNabb was 32-of-48 (66.7 percent) for 396 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked five times in those two games. In the two losses, McNabb is 38-of-76 (50 percent) for 496 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked 10 times in those two games.
"In this game in the NFL you have your highs and you have your lows. There are only two teams right now that are undefeated," McNabb said. "If you ask anybody on the other teams who felt like they should be having a better season or a couple of games where they've felt like they should have won, you see the miscues or mistakes, not being on the same page in certain situations or certain moments in the game.
"But as far as just kind of each individual game, going game by game, it's something different and I think it's something you go through. You go through that during the season and you just look forward to correcting those, and the good thing about it is that we have eight more games ahead of us to be able to correct those."
McNabb's ability to distribute the ball to the multitude of weapons is much tougher without the chance to get the ball away. McNabb has been sacked 18 times in six games this season. He was sacked 23 times in all of 2008.
"It goes back to just kind of miscues and miscommunications," McNabb said. "I think our offensive line has been doing a great job and they are going to continue to do a good job. I think, for all of us, we're going to elevate our game and play well in these next eight weeks. I didn't know it was to that effect but one that we will definitely correct and make sure we move forward."
The offensive line has two new offensive tackles in Winston Justice on the right side and Jason Peters on the left. Todd Herremans missed the first five games with a stress fracture in his foot. Stacy Andrews has come along slowly from his ACL surgery in January. Nick Cole has persevered working in at both guard spots. Despite all of the flux, McNabb has expressed confidence in his bodyguards.
"It goes back to you have highs and lows and when you have new guys out there you're going to have games where it's not as crisp," McNabb said. "But I have the confidence in those guys and I've just continued to express that to them and things will work out well."
As McNabb looks ahead to the second half of the 2009 schedule, he is reminded of one thing the Eagles were unable to accomplish in the first half of the campaign - winning a close game. The Eagles' five wins have been by an average of 20 points. The last two losses were each by four points. In the Eagles' last 10 games decided by seven points or less, the Eagles are 1-8-1. McNabb explained that there isn't a single common denominator in those games.
"I think a lot of that is kind of overblown,"" McNabb said. "There is a lot that goes into fourth quarter comebacks. It could be catches. It could be doing the right things running the ball. It could be special teams picking up yards or special teams stopping them from getting good field position. It could be the defense stopping them. It's not just driving down and scoring, because if they get the ball they can do the same. (There) is a lot (that goes) into that.
"It's an unfortunate situation but there is nothing I can do about the past at this particular point. You can only change the future."
-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 8:41 p.m., November 11
