The Chunky Soup Conundrum

by Jim Ballas

There comes a time in every season when a team knows what their fate will be come January. For the Eagles this year, the end of week 15 meant the end of champagne dreams and playoff contention. For most coaches and teams, a failed season or moment would mean time to rebuild, or in some cases, sit on the field and cry - Jessica Simpson wasn’t there to comfort Tony Romo last time. However for the Eagles, apparently it’s time to win.

Don’t get me wrong – I love seeing the Eagles win. But I don’t want to see the Eagles win this year at the cost of stunting their team growth for the coming seasons. Clearly, there is only one person to blame for this: Terrell Owens.

OK, so that’s not true. It’s actually Andy Reid’s fault. But how can a coach with such a great winning record damage a team, especially when the team is winning?

I like to call this the Chunky Soup Conundrum. Can a once great player return to greatness after many injuries without the aid of Chunky Soup? If this season has shown anything, it’s that McNabb cannot.

Even when good things have happened to the Eagles, it can be mostly attributed to luck. Against the Saints, McNabb’s 40-yard scramble ended in a touchdown, but it was not because of McNabb. He had the ball punched out of his arms and luckily Kevin Curtis chased it down in the end zone. We can’t celebrate McNabb for dumb luck.

To make matters worse, McNabb is actually completing a few good passes to different receivers. This is a bad sign because it’s keeping him in the game. He’s trying to prove himself to a city constantly questioning him and to other teams looking for a new quarterback.

It’s finally time for the Eagles to start looking down the road, past the Chunky Soup era. It’s time to start Kevin Kolb. Preseason and red-shirt practices aren’t enough to train a young quarterback. Get Kolb some snaps so when Donovan “Not My Yard” McNabb leaves, the Eagles won’t rest on the laurels of the interception machine A.J. Feeley.

The Baltimore Ravens have the right idea in giving Troy Smith the start and the experience – we need to follow suit. High school is coming to an end and the football star with potential (the Eagles) can do better than the head cheerleader (McNabb). As hometown heroes Boyz II Men said, “It’s so hard to say goodbye.”

That doesn’t mean it isn’t necessary.

It would even be a good time to get value for McNabb. The Eagles could get the number one receiver that was traded twice – with both Owens and Stallworth. Anyway you slice it, the cut should be McNabb.

The Eagles should get together and throw a going away party for Mrs. McNabb, because as we all saw in a commercial, she sustains the team, unlike her son. I hate to retire my number 5 jersey, but I’ll gladly don the number 4 and watch the Eagles’ future begin.