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49. Donovan McNabb (Philadelphia Eagles 1999-2009, Washington Redskins 2010, Minnesota Vikings 2011) 4th Place Eagles QB Career Record 105-67-1 (60.98%) 22nd out of 102 Record in Games with Good Defense 88-27-1 (76.29%) 53rd out of 102 Record in Games with Bad Defense 17-40-0 (29.82%) 38th out of 102 Percentage of Games with Good Defense 116/173 (67.05%) 5th out of 102 (-44) Wins above Average in a 16 Game Season (0.591) Let's take a trip down memory lane, the year is 1999, and the Eagles are the worst team in football. They just fired their head coach, and burned everything to the ground. They're sitting pretty at second overall because the Cleveland Browns came back into the league. Andy Reid, a young, trim and fresh faced offensive guru famous for working with Brett Favre really liked what he saw out of Donovan McNabb, and convinced ownership to make the move for the Syracuse product. In hindsight, this decision was brilliant and led to years of Eagles success. At the time, Donovan McNabb instantly became more hated than Santa Claus, Michael Irvin and Ivan Drago combined in the city of Philadelphia. That reputation, despite McNabb's best efforts would never leave him. When you talk about the McNabb era all Philly fans can do is sigh and wonder what if. You look at the record above and you see that it's sterling, winning over 60% of your games in the NFL is a hard task. Then you look at those defenses and you wonder how the hell did these guys only ever make the super bowl one time, and lose at that. The eyes go straight to the head coach, and the quarterback of that coach. McNabb wasn't asked to start right away, taking time to develop his game while the Eagles started to rebuild their team. He'd get some action in the 4th quarter early on because the Eagles were often out of games by then and it didn't matter what mistakes the rookie was going to make. He started 6 of the last 7 games of the season and steadily got better as he took his lumps and the Eagles finished out the season 5-11. Apparently that was just the thing he needed because McNabb broke out in his sophomore season as the undisputed starter of the Eagles. Combining his running and passing ability, McNabb led the team to an 11-5 record, running and passing for nearly 4000 yards and 27 TDs, and ended up finishing second in the MVP voting to Marshall Faulk. He won his first playoff game against the Tampa Bay Bucs, but fell short in the divisional round to the Giants and their stout defense. McNabb threw a pick 6 and was sacked 6 times in the loss, but the optimism was sky high in Philly. McNabb would again take the Eagles to an 11-5 record, throw and run for nearly 4000 yards and 27 TD's, and make the playoffs. They beat Tampa in the wild card round again, and they won in the divisional round against the Chicago Bears. However they came up against the Greatest Show on Turf in 2001, and couldn't match blows with them, falling 29-24. It was another step forward for a gritty Eagles squad who felt like they were just one step away. 2002 was looking like the year of the Eagles, they went 7-3 thanks to McNabb's prowess and Jim Johnson's stifling defense, but McNabb suffered a leg injury that would keep him out for the regular season. his backups were able to hold the fort down the stretch, but the Eagles defense did the heavy lifting taking the Eagles to a 12-4 record and Home Field Advantage. Wanting to play in the postseason, McNabb rushed his recovery in time for the divisional round and was able to throw effectively against the Falcons in a win. However the Bucs defense was just too much to handle for a McNabb without all of his tools, and a pick 6 sealed the NFC Championship for the upstart Buccaneers. The team started off slowly in 2003, losing their first two games (against the Bucs and Patriots), but after being called out by some white asshole McNabb caught on fire down the stretch winning 10 of the last 11 games of the season, leading the league in passer rating for the second half of the season and putting the Eagles back into the postseason once again as the big favorites. However, the Packers had them down 17-14 in the divisional round, on 4th and 26 from their own 26 yard line. It was looking like another disappointing season for the Eagles until McNabb makes a perfect pass to some guy nobody had ever heard of (as was often the case in philly) 28 yards down the field and kept the drive alive. That pass killed the Packers. McNabb continued the drive, got into field goal range to force overtime, and Brett Favre did the rest throwing a interception under duress to put the Eagles in range for an easy field goal. They felt like a team of destiny, but they were proven wrong. The Carolina Panthers came to town for the conference championship and McNabb fell flat against the smothering Carolina defense, once again losing 14-3. McNabb had made his reputation as a choker in the biggest games, and the doubters just kept getting louder. They knew they needed to make a change, and they needed to get Donovan a legitimate wide receiver. Todd Pinkston, James Thrash, Freddie Mitchell... none of those guys will be remembered for anything other than being the guys McNabb was forced to throw to during his title runs. So McNabb found a player who would be inexplicably tied to him for the rest of their days. The bombastic, showboating, physical freak known only as T.O. Terrell Owens gave the Eagles that last offensive piece, the guy who would drive the offense and take them past all of the smothering defenses that killed their title runs before. 2004 was their greatest shot at glory yet, and they ran with it. McNabb put up nearly 4000 yards and 31 TD's in the air alone, with Terrell being a large recipient of those increased numbers. The Eagles flew out to a 13-1 start, only losing the last two games of the season because they decided to rest their starters for the postseason. And why not, they had everything locked up by then and they weren't playing for a perfect season. Unfortunately, they had lost Owens to an ankle injury thanks to a dirty tackle by the Cowboys, so they had to win a few playoff games without Owens. They did, first handling the Vikings and fellow 1999 QB Daunte Culpepper and then taking out the Atlanta Falcons led by phenom Michael Vick. Both wins were in dominating fashion and the Eagles found themselves in the super bowl. Problem was, the Patriots were on the other side of the bracket, and they were going for 3 in 4 years. Conspiracy theorists believe the Patriots poisoned McNabb and that's why he was handled by them. Other believe spygate was the cause of their super bowl loss. I like to be realistic and notice trends. Donovan McNabb doesn't beat good defenses in the playoffs. And though the offensive output was magnified thanks to Terrell Owens' recovery from injury and amazing performance (I'd have voted him MVP even though the Eagles did lose), the Eagles fell short to the dynasty, and never got a chance to establish their own. The Eagles never reached that pinnacle again under McNabb. And while they would get their revenge against the Patriots, it wouldn't be in McNabb's time. the beautiful marriage of McNabb and Owens broke apart, and the dream died soon after that. McNabb suffered a hernia in 2005 putting him out for the season, and the Eagles with a losing record for the first time since his rookie season. In 2006 he tore his ACL, but Jeff Garcia was able to step up for the Eagles and take them to the playoffs after going on a bit of a run. McNabb was streaky and inconsistent in 2007, combining games with perfect passer ratings with games where he got sacked 12 times or connected with the receivers ankles more often than their hands. The Eagles went 8-8 and it felt like it was it for McNabb in Philly. However, 2008 gave him one more chance to shine, and despite streaky play, and being benched due to poor play for the first time in his career, he still put up 3900 yards, 25 TDs and snuck the Eagles into a wild card berth at 9-6-1. McNabb wasn't the same guy he was in the early 2000's, but that defense was still elite as they handled the Vikings and the Giants on the way to another NFC Championship. And McNabb stepped it up for this game, he probably had the best performance of his playoff career against the Cardinals. The Eagles were down 24-6 at halftime, but McNabb took the team on his back and got them right back into the game, up 25-24 with 11 minutes to go. The problem was, nobody had an answer for Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald that year. They drove down the field, got the game winning touchdown, and McNabb just could not connect with DeSean Jackson or Hank Baskett in the last minutes of the game. The Eagles lost another NFC Championship with McNabb, but this time it'd be hard pressed to put the blame solely on him. The Eagles made the playoffs one more time in 2009 with McNabb at the helm but two straight blowout losses to Dallas (week 16 and the wild card round) marked the last time McNabb would suit up for the Eagles. They would move on with Michael Vick, as McNabb was traded within the division to the Washington Redskins. McNabb's game fell off a cliff in a new environment, as he threw for more INT's than TD's in the first time in his career and ended up demoted to the third string for Rex freaking Grossman. He moved to Minnesota in 2011 as coach Frazier thought he still had some tread on the tires, but was benched for rookie Christian Ponder after a 1-5 start. Seeing the writing on the wall, after no one was willing to sign him, he officially retired in 2013. McNabb got to play under a legendary defensive coordinator. Jim Johnson's time as a defensive coordinator may have been short, but those defenses kept the Eagles in a lot of games, and a true great would have taken advantage of those moments far more often than McNabb did. That's not to say he wasn't an incredible player, but his consistency or lack there of always doomed the Eagles when it mattered the most. Sure, there were some unfortunate circumstances surrounding McNabb, getting sick for the super bowl, having his vaunted defense fold against Kurt Warner in a couple of NFC Championships, only having an elite level wide receiver for a single season, but the margin between great and elite is razor thin, and McNabb never crossed that line. He was a winner, he was a fighter, and he was able to adjust his game after blowing out his ACL, but on the biggest stages, against the absolute best, he would always fall short. And to think, the Eagles could have had Ricky Williams.