Alright, so we finally have the left/right splits for Donovan McNabb after the game against the New York Giants. Here are the new totals:

That means for that game, this was his breakdown:

That’s pretty much what I saw during the game. No passes off the left, which is where the pressure was coming from. Now, looking back I think I was being unrealistic during the game. Call it fan frustration. It’s more likely that the pressure from the left side made it hard to throw that way, plus he did have a few batted down, and it wasn’t like a quick WR screen or out was going to work against press coverage.

The real NFL commentators on ESPN, for example, have been railing against Andy Reid because he didn’t adjust by having a TE cover and help Winston Justice against Osi Umenyiora. That’s a fair point and amazingly obvious in hindsight.

Another correction/observation, McNabb was at least doing one look left on most of the sack highlights I saw, so I was probably wrong about that. Looking at it, he was still holding the ball too long, because he’s used to being able to scramble away. He’s not able to right now, and that looks to be the biggest adjustment he needs to make before they come back off the bye.

The splits aren’t updated, but my quick scan of the game’s play-by-play log shows that he was 1 for 3 going to the left side over 31 attempts. So, 28 to the right and center, 3 to the left. See, I do pay attention during games. Granted, that’s the side the pressure was coming from and where Winston Justice was getting schooled.

Also, after watching the replays, Donovan McNabb was looking left at the top of his drop but he never came back. He scrambles right, and was consequently looking that way almost always when pressure came.

Donovan McNabb has the following splits as of the end of last week’s games:

If I remember correctly, passing splits are updated after STATS does their tape review of the games on Monday/Tuesday, so I’d expect it to be updated by Wednesday if not tomorrow. I’ll send out the new numbers then.

I’m a pretty big Donovan McNabb fan. I’m not one of those Eagles fans who wants to run him out of town at the first sign of struggle. So, understand that when I say that McNabb is the reason the Eagles look so awful tonight, I don’t say it with malice or with a predisposition for picking on McNabb.

Couple of observations from tonight’s game (and from the first two, as well — I missed most of last week’s game).

1. His timing is off, he’s throwing late and holding the ball too long.
2. Yes, the receivers aren’t getting open as much as they need to against press coverage.
3. That being said, McNabb isn’t scanning the field like he used to. Too often, he’s only looking right (the natural side for a righty) and isn’t looking left. That’s a rookie mistake. Follow your progressions, Donovan. This is the biggest issue tonight, I’ve seen Curtis, Buckhalter, and others open left during a lot of the sacks.
4. Accuracy is down. He does throw a few into the turf every other game or so, but this year he’s been missing right, high, and behind receivers. This is uncharacteristic.
5. McNabb looks to be slow on his scrambles. Probably due to the injury, but he needs to adjust to that fact, then.

This is a quick list, but item 3 is by and far the most frustrating thing to me. When I’m watching QBs for my fantasy team (stop snickering!), that’s one thing I look for. His head should hit both sides on many if not most of the pass plays. A QB that only looks one way cuts off half his receivers. This also leads to a lot of interceptions.

The easiest way to see if I’m right or wrong will be to see the breakdown of passes by zone. I bet there has only been 1 or 2 attempts to the left side of the field. Pick any other game from last year and I bet that’s not true. (I’ll look this up tomorrow).

11 sacks (and counting) have to more with McNabb’s performance rather than the injuries hurting the team. I’m not saying Winston Justice isn’t making mistakes, or that Brian Westbrook isn’t a big loss. What I’m saying is that McNabb has done better with less. The Giants are good, but they’re not this good.

The good thing is that this stuff can be fixed, especially over a two week break (well, except for the speed issue). McNabb shouldn’t be immune from criticism, and it shouldn’t be we love you or leave town. Let’s go Eagles, this season isn’t over yet. McNabb does his part, the rest of the team does their’s and the playoffs are still in reach.