the headset is turned off with (I think) 15 seconds left on the clock. the QB can easily audible to something without the coach (easily, anyways) knowing about it or having a say in helping him if the defense is giving him a look he doesn't like

a scenario could present itself where McNabb audibles to a safe play, goes conservative, and be ok with punting if it doesn't work, when in reality being aggressive and going for the first down at all costs is correct

In the playoffs, they don't flip for the 2nd overtime. they just switch sides and continue where they left off. It is possible for a player to assume this to be the case in the regular season as well.

b/c in 1 scenario they still have a chance to win?

i'm pretty sure that reid might mention something about them having to score before it gets to 14:45 into ot.

also this issue comes up so often that not knowing clearly makes him unfit to play in the nfl.
i guess that explains his hail mary pass with 1st and 10 on the last play of the game

I don't think he did though, not until the very end.

"McNabb, a 10-year NFL veteran, said at a postgame news conference that he didn't realize games could end in ties until the final play of yesterday's extra period, when his coach called for a deep pass in a last-ditch attempt to earn the win."

that is Reid's fault though

i cant believe people care about this, he did not play anyyyyy differentlyyyyy, plus i think i started watching football in late 1996, and how many ties have their been? like 2?

Well you're right we are overreacting in a way in terms of its practicality. But if his intellectual approach and preparation allows for this type of oversight/misunderstanding, it ain't the only one.

well i mean they practice the 2 minute drill, but how likely is it that a coach has ever discussed a tie game in overtime scenario in practice, its the same thing, just another hurry/2 minute thing, not "tie scenario"

I think the real question is if Andy Reid saw McNabb checking down, Reid is clearly not smart enough to tell McNabb that checking down on 3rd down might not be the best decision with 4 minutes left because the game is about to end. I don't know if McNabb did this(I was more or less laughing at the posts in the game thread) but if he had I think it should begin the process of moving Reid out of Philadelphia.

Yes but that doesn't affect how McNabb approaches the game. He still wants to go down the field and get in FG range the same.

Funny you should mention about Donovan and the hurry-up offense. He has pulled some of the dumbest stuff in the history of football in this regard, at times looking like a high schooler. At times looking jaw-droppingly like he didn't even know when it was appropriate, or had no clock management skills in his head.

Of course it very well is possible and even likely that you could play an entire career without a coach directly addressing potential tie game scenarios with clock running out in OT. I'm sure there's some percentage of people in the league who don't understand that. But my larger point is how conscientious a student of the game IN OTHER AREAS is he if he's that clueless about this? Maybe not a big deal, maybe yes a big deal. Obviously he's taken them to a lot of success and he speaks like a thoughtful and intelligent guy. I really don't know how to take it.

**** the rules, the thing that killed us was that mcnabb was unaware of where he was. what a horrible game.

yeah, either way he *wants* to score. but in 1 scenario he *needs* to score, and in the other not scoring isn't horrible b/c he may get the ball back

the possibility of a tie can very well give you different risk profiles for certain plays/situations, particularly for a team lagging behind in the playoff race

I'm not saying this effects them on every single play, or even that it certainly affected them yesterday, I'm just saying that it's important for the QB to be aware of the rule so he knows when it's appropriate to be more aggresive

^^^^

this is also fail on Reid's part

i don't know why people are surprised. i imagine there are a lot of more obscure rules that players don't know, and that players were often not fans of the sport growing up, which to mean is natural.

anyway i am sure this is all philadelphia talk radio is on about, but in 5 years, when someone else is QB, they're going to be missing donovan mcnabb even though he didn't know a tie was possible.

The aggressive part needs to be looked at more. I know its more obvious now that the Cowboys won last night, but a tie was a horrible result for the Eagles. Being in the position they were they needed to win that game. Being 6-4 was almost necessary considering the playoff circumstances.

Reid needed to be telling McNabb that they needed to be taking shots down field and that they had to score. This was a game they had to have. I'm not saying a tie was a bad as a loss....but I think in their situation its pretty close. Unless I'm missing something with the upcoming schedules and the math. Maybe someone smarter than me can get on that.

Either way, I thought it was a non-issue before, but after thinking about it and knowing the situation, I think it may have been detrimental to the teams success in that game and in this season that McNabb didn't know the situation...but with that said, if McNabb didn't know, wouldn't someone in that offensive huddle say something?

He has to be leveling us...this is so f'ing dumb.

1. I would say a good team leader would know the rules of his profession.

2. Yeah man, who cares that he made himself look like a complete fool. He was honest and he will get into heaven.

I would imagine the majority of players in the league know the overtime rule. Especially a 10 year veteran QB.

Edit: why do people think McNabb was leveling...he talked about not knowing the rule again today

How long has that been the case?

Regular season overtime was instituted in 1974. Prior to this ties were relatively common. There have been 17 tie games since.

I remember that, though I would have guessed later. The reason I said "twice" is because I thought that it wasn't limited to one overtime the first year or two-- but I'm not sure.

eta: that might have been simply part of the debate at the time-- can't find anything to support it.

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They should just have each side send 3 people out to kick 45 yd FG's off tees and whoever hits the most wins, duh.

Really amazing he didn't know this. Dilfer just ripped him for it - saying it is as wel lknown as TD = 6 pts.

But this isn't an obscure rule. It's a basic rule regarding how the game is structured. Four 15 minute quarters, one 15 minute overtime in which the first team to score wins and if nobody scores by the end of the OT, the game ends in a tie.

I can't think of a single reason why a professional football player would not know this.

I like McNabb just fine, and in the end, this doesn't make him a worse QB, but the fact that he and other players don't know this rule boggles my mind.

I was going to QFT this, except Kolb will be good.