By Zack Cimini

Donovan McNabb and the word controversy have seemingly been linked together since he was booed on his draft day. After last years up and down run that ended with another conference championship loss, it seemed that McNabb’s days in Philadelphia would be numbered. Rumors quickly peaked again once the Eagles signed Michael Vick. Was he brought in to get back in rhythm and then eventually unseat McNabb?

While most starters likely would have exposed attitudes to the signing McNabb welcomed it. He has rooted for Vicks success during his struggles and now as a teammate. The other area where McNabb couldn’t shake his reputation was a knack for injury. He went down game one to a hard hit that broke a few of his ribs. After all of his preparation and hard work in the off-season this type of start to a year could have sidetracked him to a dismal season. Especially when Kevin Kolb the guy that Philadelphia tried to bring in after benching McNabb last year came in while McNabb was hurt and had some stellar statistical games.

Now the Eagles knew what they wanted to know last year that Kolb can be there guy. So McNabb came back in and has went 6-3 since his injury. His critics are quick to point out that McNabb has been erratic. Certain games he is precision sharp and others the offense can be stagnant and missing the spark from the quarterback position. Name a team besides New Orleans that’s offense hasn’t been in that same mode at times. That’s why a team plays a complete season. People are too enamored by the trends of teams getting close to undefeated seasons year in and year out. That’s just not realistic as teams are going to go through growing pains all season.

McNabb has also missed Brian Westbrook for a good part of the season which has led to him having to rely on rookie running back Lesean McCoy. McCoy is going to be a great back some day but doesn’t bring all the dimensions a Brian Westbrook does. Westbrook as we all know has been an elite running back in the NFL for quite some time but he does so much as far as being a threat out of the backfield. McNabb has had to go elsewhere and has found the NFL’s newest deep threat for years to come in DeSean Jackson. The big play threat Eagles have also brought along rookie wide receiver Jeremy Maclin nicely. He has had some great games and has been really coming along as of late.

For McNabbs critics that will never go away their favorite time of year is right around the corner. Unlike Peyton Manning who goes through most regular seasons like a scrimmage but folds early in the playoffs, McNabb usually has his best performances and leads his team deep in the playoffs. This year should be no different. The Eagles have been banged up all season but have found ways to win. They’re starting to get healthy just at the right time. McNabb will be displaying that typical smile of his once playoff time comes.