Skins lose to Lions

Frustrating loss as pretty much any loss is frustrating. A couple of notes:

1. Great game by Brandon Banks. He's like the mini version of Devin Hester. He broke one and had another one that was called back by a Reed Doughty illegal block. He had a number of good PRs too. HUGE upgrade over ARE.

2. Daniels jumping offside on the FG?!!! C'mon, man!!! That one hurt as instead of 13-10 Skins lead, it became a 14-13 Lions lead.

There were some other issues and other bounces that if they had gone our way, we could have won but every game this season has been close and if the ball had bounced this way or that way a little differently in each of those games, we could have found ourselves undefeated or we could have found ourselves winless. Bottom line, we are 4-4 and if someone were to tell me at the beginning of the year we would be 4-4 at the bye, I would've taken it. Also, I think the Lions are a good football team and CJ is a beast.

That said, lets cut to the chase. What was the deal with McNabb getting pulled? It's now obvious it wasn't because of injury. I know Shanny said that Rexy understood the terminology better and that would be better in the 2 minute drill but that is b.s. What was the offseason for? What was preseason for? You're telling me that in Week 8, McNabb wouldn't be fluent enough in the offense to run the 2 minute drill? Shanny was trying to sell it but I don't buy it.

It's basically a slap in the face if your McNabb. We weren't 0-7. We were 4-3 and it a matter of seconds I feel the complexion of the season has completely changed. What's worse is that the decision came on a bye week so I am sure McNabb is going to go home and talk to his friends and have more time to stew about this. Even better is that Rexy came in and does what Rexy does...fumble. Sure, he was hit but McNabb has been hit plenty and does a much better job of holding on to the ball. Rexy will fumble left and right if he is in there.

Another thought...I don't believe for a second that this was a snap decision. It seems like there has been some build up to the pulling. In last week's game against the Pears, when McNabb threw the tipped pass for an INT that went for a TD, Kyle and McNabb were in a discussion on the sideline. Kyle was showing him the fax pictures of the play and it looked as though he was blaming McNabb for the INT. McNabb seemed surprised and seemed to be saying something to the effect of "You serious?" Where Kyle again told him you should have done XX. At that point, McNabb pulled away and started saying loudly, "FINE! FINE!" and looked pretty annoyed. We all remember reports in camp about how McNabb didn't look sharp and didn't seem to be picking up the offense well. Rexy is Kyle's boy from Houston and he was brought in by Kyle specifically because he understood this offense. Good move in bringing him in but it seems like Kyle has been itching to give Rexy a chance. Again, we don't know what all is going on and I am speculating on some of the above but bottom line, making a move like that certainly has consequences. This is now the big story and will be the story for the next two weeks. We will hear plenty of it.

For me, I don't think McNabb has played particularly great this year but the big thing I like about him is that he seems to have brought some much needed leadership and a calmness to our offense and the entire team. That is/was needed. The other thing is that McNabb still isn't signed. Now, we shouldn't sign him if we really believe he isn't the right fit but then it begs the question whether we should have traded for him in the first place. We gave up a 2nd round pick. Sure, there is always a risk with a trade and not knowing if the guy will pan out but we should have been more confident and comfortable with this move. Halfway through the season, McNabb is still unsigned and it appears that relations b/t he and the Shannys is breaking down. I may be wrong on that but it is just my perception. We may not want to sign him and/or he may not want to sign with us. The thing is the players seem to respect and enjoy McNabb and if he were to leave, where does that leave us? With Rexy? With John Beck? I'm not saying this is all over with McNabb. Perhaps, everything will be fine and the relationship is just fine. Maybe we will resign him but it just doesn't look like that right now.

We'll see what happens.