Philadelphia Eagles: Donovan McNabb Is The Best Quarterback In Team History
Philadelphia Eagles’ legend Donovan McNabb, along with Brian Dawkins, was selected as a first-time nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This is another step towards solidifying his place as the best quarterback in franchise history.
From 1999 to 2009, the Philadelphia Eagles were led by quarterback Donovan McNabb, for better or worse. McNabb’s tumultuous story with the Eagles started by getting booed on draft night. McNabb was taken 2nd overall out of Syracuse University in favor of highly touted running back prospect Ricky Williams.
McNabb’s rookie season saw him splitting time with current Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. Despite seeing split time, McNabb record a team-high 8 touchdown passes and 948 passing yards. McNabb’s running ability was shown with a team second-best 313 rushing yards that season.
From then on, Donovan McNabb’s position as the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles would safely be his for the next decade. He would go on to lead the team the next season to their first playoff appearance since the 1996 season. His 21 touchdown performance was rewarded with his first Pro-Bowl selection in his sophomore season.
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McNabb continued to rack up Pro-Bowl and playoff appearances from 1999-2004, including four NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl. These stats are unmatched by any other quarterback in Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl-era history.
McNabb’s polarizing status comes from that Super Bowl season. The addition of star Terrell Owens was viewed as the final piece that would push this Philadelphia Eagles over that NFC Championship hump. McNabb had his best season to date, throwing for 3,875 on a 64.0% completion rate and 31-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
McNabb was behind a stud offensive line and the Philadelphia Eagles was historically good. Everything seemed to be falling in place for their first ever Super Bowl victory. Unfortunately, they ran into a brick wall named the New England Patriots. McNabb struggled to stay consistent and game, throwing 3 touchdowns but complementing them with 3 interceptions. Add-in the puking fiasco and the devastating 3-point loss, and suddenly McNabb’s image is unfavorable.
Then add-in the next two seasons where he amassed his only non-winning QB records due to injury battles, opinions started to turn sour.
In 2008, he once again led the Philadelphia Eagles to an NFC Championship matchup with the Arizona Cardinals. McNabb started the game off slow, but led the charge in the second half only for the defense to collapse. McNabb threw for 3 touchdowns, 1 interception, and 375 yards.
1-4 in NFC Championship Games. 0-1 in Super Bowls. That’s what many fans choose to remember him by. Not the franchise-leading passing yards, passing touchdowns, game winning drives, and quarterback rating (minimum 2,000 pass attempts). McNabb is also second in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns for Eagles’ quarterbacks, behind Randall Cunningham.
McNabb’s statistics across the board put him ahead of both Cunningham and Ron Jaworski easily. Arguments can be made for Norm Van Brocklin, who played in a completely different generation of football that helped form the history of the organization. Van Brocklin’s numbers were insane for the era, but it’s hard to compare numbers through different generations of the game. If you’re looking at modern comparable history, it’s clear that McNabb is ahead of the competition.
Number 5 has given the Philadelphia Eagles a decade of star quarterbacking. A lot of it was done without major wide receivers. Terrell Owens and a young pairing of Jeremy Maclin and Desean Jackson were some of the bigger names.
A very polarizing figure in Philadelphia sports, it’s no debate that McNabb left a huge mark on this franchise. He has placed himself among the Philadelphia Eagles greats, and even placed himself at the pinnacle of his position for the franchise.
Donovan McNabb has left his mark as the Philadelphia Eagles’ best quarterback ever. 6 Pro-Bowls, 5 NFC Championship games, 1 Super Bowl appearances. He’s unmatched in the Super Bowl-era.