by The Philadelphia Daily News

On a night that saw him chalk up his 200th career touchdown pass and his 30,000th career passing yard, he completed a respectable 60 percent of his passes (15-for-25). Averaged a respectable 6.24 yards per attempt. Hooked up with wide receiver DeSean Jackson on a 57-yard scoring pass late in the second quarter that, for all intents and purposes, made it game, set and match. Had a 91.4 passer rating.

Oh, and for the seventh time in his last nine regular-season starts, he didn't throw an interception.

All of that is swell. All of that is good. But if you were paying attention to the game at all, you know that there was a lot not to like about McNabb's performance against the Redskins. A lot to make you wonder whether the five-time Pro Bowler is capable right now of strapping the team's struggling offense to his back and carrying the Eagles past the Giants Sunday afternoon.

For the second straight week, despite his OK numbers, he was a bigger part of the problem with the offense than the solution. Too many missed open receivers. Again. Too many squandered third-down opportunities. Again.

A lot of this is understandable. The guy is playing behind a shaky offensive line that has gotten him sacked nine times in the last two games. He looked as uncomfortable in the pocket Monday as a nun at a biker bar. The fact that he's got a fractured rib that still hasn't completely healed isn't easing his trepidation any.

A week after converting an abysmal two of 16 third-down tries in a 13-9 loss to the Raiders, the Eagles were just 4-for-15 against the Redskins. That's a pitiful 6-for-31 over the last two games. Considering that 25 of those 31 third-down plays were attempted passes, you can understand why there is a tendency to point the finger at McNabb.

McNabb completed just five of 11 third-down passes against the Redskins and four of nine the week before against the Raiders. For the season, he's 15-for-30 on third down. Just eight of those 15 completions have produced first downs.

"It was good enough to win the game," McNabb said of his performance against the Redskins. "There were some third-down throws that I wasn't able to convert. But the most important thing was that we were able to put points on the board, keep the chains moving, eat up some clock and hold on."

The problem is, many of the Eagles' 27 points actually were donated by the opportunistic defense, which had three more takeaways to run its season total to a league-best 17. Middle linebacker Will Witherspoon returned an interception for a touchdown and forced one of the two fumbles that set up David Akers' two field goals.

The Eagles' other two touchdowns came on big plays by Jackson, who had a 67-yard scoring run and also caught the aforementioned 57-yarder from McNabb.

Aside from those two plays, though, there was very little chain-moving. The Eagles , who managed just 14 first downs against the Raiders, had only 11 against the Redskins.

That's the fewest by the Eagles since Oct. 9, 2005, when they produced just six in a 33-10 loss to the Cowboys. The last time they managed to win a game with 11 or fewer first downs was Oct. 17, 2004, when they had 10 in a 30-8 win over the Carolina Panthers.

McNabb's poor 22-for-46 performance against the Raiders was somewhat understandable given Andy Reid's obsession with the deep ball that day. For reasons that still aren't clear, he believed the best way to beat the Raiders was by throwing the ball down the field. Found out too late that he was wrong. Found out too late that maybe if he had run the ball a little bit more, the Eagles would be 5-1 right now, rather than 4-2.

Monday night was different. The Eagles' offensive game plan against the Redskins was to go with a more balanced attack featuring shorter passes.

The Eagles ran a ton of screens to their wide receivers, running backs and tight end. Eighteen of McNabb's 25 pass attempts were throws of 5 yards or less. He attempted just two passes that traveled more than 15 yards the entire night.

Yet, McNabb, a 58.8 percent career passer, still barely completed 60 percent of his passes. Made at least a half-dozen poor throws in the game.

Threw a dirt ball to an open Brent Celek on third-and-3 on the Eagles' second possession. Threw too low to Jeremy Maclin on a second-quarter sideline incompletion on a third-and-4 situation.

Underthrew an open Jackson on an 18-yard, second-quarter cross route, even though he had plenty of time to deliver the ball and was able to step into his throw. Later, he missed Jackson again on what should have been an easy 6-yard pass in the middle of the field. He also was wild high on a simple, 6-yard out route to Reggie Brown early in the fourth quarter.

Even McNabb's long touchdown pass to Jackson was mutt-ugly. Jackson completely suckered Redskins cornerback Carlos Rogers with a post-corner double move on the play, and was wide open down the field. McNabb provided more drama than there needed to be by delivering the ball late and underthrown.

The Eagles are going to need a better McNabb than the one we have seen the last 2 weeks if they are going to beat the Giants on Sunday. They are going to need a better McNabb than the one we've seen if they are going to make a Super Bowl run this season.

I know that, you know that, and so does McNabb.

Send e-mail to pdomo@aol.com

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