With Father Time looming, McNabb calls for urgency

Published: September 19th, 2011 | Tags: Donovan McNabb, Leslie Frazier, Mike Shanahan, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins

It has been a steep fall for Vikings fans since the team’s heartbreaking loss to the Saints in the NFC Championship Game two seasons ago.

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After an ugly 0-2 start — which included losing a 17-0 lead to the Buccaneers on Sunday — coach Leslie Frazier, in comments to The Associated Press, urged Minnesota’s faithful to stick around: “My only words to our fans are be patient. We’re going to get there. I have great belief that we will.”

Grade-A coachspeak, perhaps enough to quell newbies, but not Donovan McNabb. While the QB’s play has contributed to the team’s rocky start, he’s preaching a message of urgency.

“Do I have time to sit back and let it grow?” McNabb told The AP after the team’s opening loss to the Chargers. “No. I want it to happen now, and that’s the way that I prepare. We prepare to win now.”

McNabb has been hotly criticized for just about everything during his career. Booed by Eagles fans when he was drafted in 1999, it never seemed to let up — especially in his ugly episode with the Redskins last season. After Mike Shanahan threw McNabb under the bus, he took a pay cut to join a team he believed could win now.

Barring a sharp reversal of fortune, it could be a long season for a man who largely has remained a class act through thick and thin.

– Marc Sessler

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Steelers Offensive Line Getting Blasted Over Holding Calls

The Steelers offensive line has had it’s issues as of late, complete with about as many holding penalties over the past few games that could make up an entire season.

Such was the case Tuesday when Mike Tomlin brought up the holding calls during his briefing with the media.

“We’ve been holding and we need to stop,” Tomlin said. “We need to cut down on holding. No question holding occurs on every snap in the National Football League. I think anybody in the industry will acknowledge that. What we need to do is cut down on the actions that are triggering the flags, which is grabbing and restricting the jersey coming away from the body and so forth.”

“Cut down the actions,” would be the easiest start. It seems that with injuries and players playing that might not normally be on the field, the Steelers have players that have got to cut the penalties down and get better. Fast.

With three games left and needing to win at least two to not give the Ravens a shot to sneak in and steal the division back, the O-line will continue to be a source of people taking shots at them.

That is until they either get better – or have a game like the Eagles game in 2008, where Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 8 times. You know that the Jets are going to try to come after the Steelers QB Sunday, so they had better make sure they get in a good week, work hard, and watch the penalties.

Or else this trip to the postseason may be a short one at best.

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NFL should say “sorry” to Eagles for bad calls

No matter what the outcome of a game is, I hate to blame the officiating. They’re humans and they make mistakes. However, the officiating in the Eagles and Colts match-up has to be some of the worst I’ve seen in a long time.

The Eagles racked up a total of total of 14 penalties against the Colts, and the team is solely responsible for a lot of them. However, there were instances where the refs got calls wrong. Not just wrong, but there were instances during the game in which I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

The first major call I disagree with was the call on the hit by Quintin Mikell on Austin Collie. I don’t understand how he was classified as a defenseless receiver. Is he supposed to get a free ride because he’s catching a ball down the middle of the field? Can a safety not make a play the way that Mikell and Nate Allen did? Mikell lead with his shoulder on the play, just as you are supposed to. Allen may have had helmet to helmet contact, but it only came as a result of the way Collie’s body was deflected into him.

I think the refs got this one wrong, but the NFL has a chance to get it right. The play will be reviewed by the NFL for possible fines. If any are given, that is an absolute joke. The NFL will also have the ability to review the play and determine if they think the referees got it right. If not, the play should be used as an example as a hit that doesn’t require a flag to be thrown.

I thought that was bad, but I think the call on Trent Cole in the fourth quarter was even worse. As Cole came flying around the edge to try and make a play on Peyton Manning, he didn’t have a good enough angle to get a full hit on Manning. As his momentum carried him past the quarterback, his hand hit Manning in his helmet. It wasn’t a very hard knock to the head, but apparently it was enough to receive a personal foul call.

The worst part of the penalty was that it was fourth down and the Eagles should have received the ball, pretty much ending the game. However, the penalty allowed the game to continue and the Colts took advantage, closing the gap.

There has always been a focus in the NFL on protecting the quarterback, but this call was a bit much. Cole’s actions were not intentional, and as he held his arm out with his momentum carrying him beyond Manning, his hand happened to find the back of the quarterbacks’ helmet. This was a huge call to get wrong and gave the Colts a chance to win the football game.

We’ve been seeing this stuff for a while now. This is the game of football. You don’t want to see players get hurt and I understand that they’re trying to protect everyone. However, the physical part of this game is what draws everyone to it and the players know what they’re getting into.

The NFL is taking a lot away from this game right now and the Eagles felt the wrong end of the stick on Sunday.

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