The point you’re missing is this-- it didn’t matter. It certainly is strange that McNabb didn’t know-- he’s been in the league for a long time and they do say it at the beginning of every OT. But his lack of knowledge had absolutely no effect on the game. Sure, the Artest comparison is not exactly apt, but the broader thrust of his article was that the reaction was staggeringly disproportionate. It is materially irrelevant that McNabb didn’t know at some point, because obviously someone told him before it mattered. That’s what Whitlock meant about the fact that he threw a hail mary.
The fact that NFL teams only play once a week leads to overblown stories like this-- all these creative people sitting around getting paid love to hop on controversies.
It’s a little embarrassing, granted, but if I were an Eagles fan, I’d find their complete inability to finish off the Bengals far more aggravating. In what looks to be a very tight NFC wild card race, barely salvaging half a win against a perennial doormat doesn’t speak very well for their chances.
And if I were a coach, I’d be far more incensed over a 48% completion rate and four turnovers than not knowing about a rare, obscure possibility.
Occasionally, a momentary, completely understandable blunder can achieve titanic proportions in the eys of fans (see: Lett, Leon; Bucker, Bill). I think McNabb’s little misunderstanding will ultimately be a mere footnote to a throughly stink-up-the-joint season.
I get that it didn’t matter. This particular blind spot didn’t happen to matter in this particular game. It could have; had the Eagles been in possession late instead of the Bengals, it could have affected how quickly McNabb got in and out of the huddle. (Though based on his history in that regard, probably not.) But it didn’t have any effect.
The point you’re missing is that he is ignorant about the rules. We don’t know what he doesn’t know, but it isn’t unreasonable to wonder if other blindspots of his might effect other games down the line. His ignorance of a fundamental rule, and his subsequent defense of that ignorance as justifiable, legitimately calls into question his ability to manage future games should unexpected situations arise.
In a hurry-up offense, the QB becomes the OC, so you can’t say with certainty that the sideline will always be there to shore up his lack of knowledge.
Yeah, his lack of knowledge wasn’t what hurt them; it was his utter lack of sense of urgency during the waning moments of the game that cost them clock. But he wasn’t the only culprit. Reid is retarded when it comes to clock management, and the play calling was unimaginative with predictably unsuccessful results. I mean, Jesus; if you couldn’t score on the freaking Bengals, you couldn’t score on Paris Hilton with a handful of roofies! McNabb’s lack of knowledge of the rules was just the icing on the cake.
Yet McNabb makes millions of dollars per year in base salary alone - and chances are, none of us do. If he’s incompetent, at least he has a good agent.