No QB Controversy

On that fateful play when Donovan McNabb was shoved out of bounds resulting in a torn knee ligament, there was a large collective groan from the Philadelphia faithful, followed by a stunned silence. Followed by the same questions as the year before and 2002:

“Who’s our backup?”

“How good is he?”

“Who are we going to draft in the top 10?”

Enter Jeff Garcia. Garcia is a veteran who had lots of success under Marty Mornhinweg in San Francisco running the West Coast offense early in his career. He was a Pro Bowl player who enjoyed a three year stretch as good as any other Quarterback ever, with the support of future Hall of Famer Terrell Owens and a decent running game. In the past two seasons, Garcia had one year stints with the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions but with little success. He could not adapt to different offensive systems, he was aging, and he had little to no help offensively. Almost forced to make all the plays, Garcia struggled. He made untimely poor decisions and hurt his team.

When it came time to choose a new team in the 2006 offseason, he had two options. He could go to Houston and possibly start on a team that has had no real success in its short existence, or he could go to Philadelphia. In Houston, he would have a shot at starting. In Philadelphia, he would have no shot at starting the season in the lineup, and it would take an injury to McNabb for him to get playing time, but he would be playing for a top notch organization that has been in the playoffs almost every year in recent memory. He became an Eagle.

With the first question out of the way, Garcia took a while to answer the second. After coming in for McNabb against the Titans, he had an awful game. He had a low completion percentage, a pathetic Yards Per Attempt average below 4 and the offense was unproductive. In his first start, after a week of fans and media calling for the well liked A.J. Feeley to take over, Garcia was efficient. The Eagles got destroyed, but Garcia again avoided turnovers by completing short throws and keeping it simple. The Eagles were now below .500 for the first time this season, and the fans, players and organization were growing more and more restless.

Now matched up against the also struggling Carolina Panthers in what then appeared to be a key game in the Wild Card chase, Garcia broke out. On primetime TV in cold conditions in front of a rough home crowd, Garcia took more shots downfield, played a more aggressive game and led the Eagles to a nice come from behind victory. In an environment Garcia was supposed to flop in, he played his best game to date, got the crowd behind him and got the Eagles some leverage in the Wild Card hunt.

However, the true test was yet to come. A wrinkle placed in the Eagles schedule had them playing three road division games in a row before coming home to face Atlanta to close the season. Not only that, but as the season developed, it became clear that the next opponent would be more difficult than the last. Against Washington, Garcia continued to play aggressively, and the team escaped with a win after a late defensive stand.

After a string of good games, Garcia became human. To this point, he had not thrown an interception, generally avoided fumbles and has not hurt the team with mistakes. Against the Giants, he turned the ball over twice, took a crucial penalty that at the time, really cost the Eagles. However, after the penalty+pick sequence, Garcia bounced back to lead a scoring drive that would ultimately lead to an Eagles victory. There was one game left on the NFC East schedule, and it would essentially decide the division. It was against Dallas and Garcia’s longtime friend Terrell Owens.

The Eagles eventually got off to a fast start in this Christmas day showdown. They jumped on top 7-0 early when Garcia connected with Matt Schobel for a touchdown, but on the very next drive in which the Eagles were moving the ball, Garcia threw a ball into the flats late, had it intercepted and returned a long way. Fortunately, the Eagles defense stood strong to hang onto the lead. Garcia was solid the rest of the way, and the Eagles prevailed.

In the playoffs, the extra workload on Garcia started to show. As the season wore on and he had to throw more, things started becoming harder for him. He started out slow, didn’t finish strong, and was spotty all the times in between. The Eagles started out the Giants game with three 3 and outs. Garcia missed on his first three pass attempts including a sack, and finally when he got into a rhythm to close out the first, the Eagles got on the board. Garcia ended up completing 54% of his passes with a weak YPA below 5 and only one touchdown. Even late in the game when the Eagles needed to drive down the field and win the game, they leaned on Brian Westbrook and the running game to get down the field into David Akers range.

Garcia would need to step up his game to beat the Saints. He played average against a bad defense, and even though the Saints defense was not much better, the Saints as a team were a lot more complete than the Giants and Garcia would be counted on to put up points. Again, the Eagles started out slowly. No holes were being created in the running game, they were taking penalties, and Garcia was missing open receivers. Although he did not turn the ball over, Garcia never consistently hit his receivers and the offense had trouble getting into a rhythm all game long. The whole team played poorly, but Garcia’s weak 50% completion was a part of it.

Even at 37 years old, Jeff Garcia brings a lot to the table. He obviously knows the system well. With all of the years he’s played in the league and in the WCO, he knows the routes, the timing and the ins and outs of the offense. At his age, he’s surprisingly mobile. He’s quick enough to elude pressure and scramble for yardage if no one’s open. He has good pocket presence. He has a good idea when pressure is coming, where it’s coming from and how to get away from it, so in the mental aspects of the game, Garcia is golden. However, when it comes to throwing the ball, he’s way past his prime, and could hurt a team if he continues to have to throw the ball a lot. As the season wore on and in games in which Garcia had to attempt more passes, he became less effective. He can get a pass in the Tennessee game because he came off the bench cold and didn’t have any reps in the offense, but the correlation is still there. If Jeff Garcia has to pass too much, and at some point on the Eagles he’ll have to, he is not effective.

Donovan McNabb has consistently been one of the top performers at QB this decade. At 31, he’s no young emerging star either, but that’s still significantly younger than Garcia. McNabb has had several serious injuries in his career, including a broken ankle, sports hernia and a torn ACL, the knee injury being the most recent. The first two are generally considered to be freak injuries that won’t have lingering effects, but the ACL injury is a concern. QB’s don’t have a good track record when it comes to coming back from torn knee ligament (such as Culpepper), and it remains to be seen how Donovan bounces back. Reports are that his rehab is going well and he should be ready to play in the upcoming season, but the health is definitely still a question. McNabb has shown in the past few years that he doesn’t need his running ability to be successful, just that it compliments his passing well and adds to his game. He would be fine without being able to scramble for big yards, when it would be a problem for someone like Vick or Vince Young to have their mobility hampered.

Although McNabb’s skills don’t necessarily fit the West Coast Offense, the Eagles aren’t the textbook WCO anymore either. The WCO relies on getting rid of the ball quick on short and intermediate routes. The receivers traditionally are not always slower guys, but more possession receivers. They catch the short passes, turn upfield and use their quickness and strength to get extra yards after catching the ball.

McNabb’s sometimes a bit lacking in accuracy, but his strong arm fits the Eagles personnel better. Donte Stallworth isn’t the typical WCO receiver, and Reggie Brown is more known for his downfield ability than in the short passing game. When Garcia came into the lineup, Stallworth was essentially taken out of the game. Stallworth, although surprisingly a good player running slants and breaking arm tackles, is one of the fastest players in the league and one of the best deep threats. Garcia couldn’t get him in the ball. Before McNabb got hurt, Stallworth, and the entire offense, flourished. His big arm combined with the speed of all the Eagle receivers created big plays early and often in games and overwhelmed opposing teams. The Eagles offense was moving away from the traditional West Coast scheme to something you would see from Mike Martz. The Eagles by far had the most big plays (in terms of yardage) this season because of the fast start they got off to in the season. By the time Garcia came in, the Eagles had built up so many from McNabb’s games that no team could catch up, and although it’s not significant, McNabb throws a much better screen pass.

The rest of the offense is finally built around McNabb. Fans have been calling for it for years, and it’s here. The receivers are fast and great targets deep downfield to match up with McNabb’s strong arm. The Eagles have backs and Tight Ends that can catch the ball. McNabb has a full array of targets now, and the results are on the field. Lots of yards, lots of points, and lots of frustrated defensive coaches.

There is no controversy. McNabb is the guy. Garcia had a nice run, but that’s over. They didn’t win the Super Bowl with him. He didn’t play better than McNabb; he didn’t even play as well as McNabb. He’s a great leader and it was a great story, but that’s finished now. Garcia is six years older than McNabb, doesn’t have much left in the tank and can’t be relied on as a full-time offense that counts on a big passing game. If Garcia used his stint in Philadelphia to land with another team with a big contract and a chance to start, then good for him. But I wouldn’t expect another miracle from him.