National Football League

What to make of McNabb benching

Published Nov. 1, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

It is not very often when a veteran quarterback of stature, not one who is basically a backup bum, is benched in a critical NFL moment in favor of the bum. But it happened in Motown Sunday.

With 1:50 left in the game and the ball at their own 30-yard line, the Washington Redskins benched Donovan McNabb when a touchdown would have given them a lead. Instead, Rex Grossman, the so-called master of the two-minute offense, was sacked on his first play, fumbled and the Lions recovered for a touchdown. Game over!

There are many theories for such a McNabb benching. Here are my top five:

Who’s the Boss: Albert Haynesworth can tell McNabb that it’s Mike Shanahan. The new Redskins coach made Haynesworth accept his rules and conditions, but it took a while for the defender to oblige. Shanahan has won Super Bowls and knows the game, but even in the end of the John Elway era in Denver the two didn’t see eye-to-eye on everything. Elway, who had a bad hamstring in his final season, was ordered to run bootlegs even though it hurt him to do it. Elway could have kept playing like Favre does today, but he decided to retire on top, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. He was tired of the friction. McNabb now knows who’s the boss!

New Money: Everyone knows that owner Daniel Snyder hasn’t offered McNabb a mega contract to play next season. McNabb is working under the terms of a $24.5 million, two-year extension he received in Philadelphia in 2009. The Eagles basically dumped him in Snyder’s lap because he was unwilling to negotiate a long-term extension in Philadelphia, one that Eagles’ management preferred. McNabb drove a hard bargain, believing he deserves to be paid top dollar like the Mannings and the Tom Bradys of the world. Snyder and Shanahan’s response: give us a break!

Attitude: Although he has been in Washington since before the draft, McNabb has never seemed comfortable in Kyle Shanahan’s offense. Mike’s son, Kyle, is the offensive coordinator and if Snyder obliges, is considered the head coach in waiting. Granted, it is difficult for any quarterback who has been in one system (Andy Reid’s for 11 seasons) to adjust to different nomenclature and offensive nuances. But for some reason, McNabb has struggled to be on the same page with his receivers and the Shanahan offensive mindset. None of this makes sense, like saying that Grossman has a better grasp of his two-minute offense. We’re not talking about taking an exam here; we’re talking about being able to execute under extreme pressure. And the Lions’ defensive line was doing that all day long. The other explanation is that McNabb prefers to play and throw his way.

The Future: McNabb knows that another team will want him and possibly pay him. Yes, he will be 34 at the end of this month, but he’s well aware that his the Arizona Cardinals have a disaster at quarterback that is wasting too much (Larry Fitzgerald) offensive talent. Also, his good friend Brad Childress will want a new quarterback next season if he’s still coaching the Minnesota Vikings. Nothing against Santana Moss and Joey Galloway, but Percy Harvin, Randy Moss and a healthy Sidney Rice look a tad better. McNabb’s bottom line is that there appears to be friendlier options on the horizon. If the Redskins decide to place the franchise tag ($15 million next season) on him, McNabb can always pout until he’s dealt out of town. Imagine that!

Silly Connection: By now, everyone in Washington knows that the Shanahans are Gator fans. When Pat Bowlen was squeezing him on a contract extension, Mike almost bolted for the U. of Florida to work with friend Jeremy Foley. Grossman, the backup bum, is a Gator. He was a star there under Steve Spurrier, who never really taught him how to read defenses. Kyle coached Grossman with the Houston Texans last season, so he apparently knows the kid’s playbook better than McNabb. But knowing it and executing it aren’t necessarily connected. The decision to throw Grossman into the fray was akin to raising a white flag of surrender.

The bottom line in all this is that the players in Washington, who are preparing for a bye weekend, know that there is a crack in the coach-quarterback foundation. Benching a lineman and sitting a starting quarterback are two different things. McNabb has always liked to play with a gut feel out there, and Reid accommodated him in Philadelphia at times.

But with the Shanahans, it’s more about functioning within THEIR system than what the quarterback thinks. If this was a rocky quarterback-coach marriage before Sunday, it’s gotten a lot worse, no matter what the two parties say publicly. The two sides may have to seek counseling.

MIDSEASON THOUGHTS

• If there was Coach of the Year balloting right now, who would win? Todd Haley of the Chiefs, Raheem Morris of the Bucs or Bill Belichick, the guy who is 3-0 without Randy Moss and 6-1 overall?

• The MVP race is even more complicated. Yes, Peyton Manning is having another great statistical season, but who is the most valuable player in the league? Would the Rams have a single win without Sam Bradford? Ditto for the Bucs and no Josh Freeman. Tom Brady looks better to me than Manning because he’s playing with a third-string running back from the Jets (Danny Woodhead, who caught more passes and scored more touchdowns against the Vikings than Wes Welker did) and without his best offensive lineman.

• That failed fourth-down gamble at the end of the first half will haunt Brad Childress all year long. He should have taken the three points or possibly allowed Favre to roll out like Tarvaris Jackson did later in the game. Simply running Adrian Peterson into the line is a stubborn, foolhardy decision. And it has failed twice this season (remember the Miami loss?).

• You can praise Jets special teams coach Mike Westhoff all you want, but no punter should have the option to gamble in a fourth-and-20 situation. Steve Weatherford came up two yards short of a first down and the bonehead play set up the Packers for a momentum switch and also three points.

• I don’t know what the Vikings do with Brett Favre. They have bigger problems than simply quarterback. The defense can’t stop the run like it used to and the offensive line can’t protect like it did last season. BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries against them yesterday.

• Denver’s Kyle Orton has now thrown for 476 yards, 314 yards and now 369 yards in three defeats.

• Where’s Wade’s Defense? Not since Jimmy Johnson’s first season in Dallas, when the Cowboys were an awful 1-15, has Dallas allowed 24 points in four straight games. Say it isn’t so, DeMarcus Ware.