The search for capable wide receivers for quarterback Donovan McNabb started long before Terrell Owens's arrival in Philadelphia and has continued well after his tempestuous departure.
The focal points for the football-watching public when it comes to the Eagles usually are McNabb and Coach Andy Reid. They are heavily scrutinized within one of the toughest sports towns, and their futures with the organization are regular topics of debate.
Many people within the league, however, look not at who's calling the plays or who's delivering the passes, but at who's catching the footballs thrown by McNabb.
For most of the time since the Eagles hired Reid in 1999 and he used his first draft pick with the franchise to choose McNabb, the team has lacked what most NFL observers would regard as a true top-shelf wide receiver. Owens filled the void briefly in 2004 and 2005, and the Eagles made a Super Bowl appearance with him.
But he departed in a highly contentious contract dispute with the club that included Owens publicly disparaging McNabb, and the Eagles have gone back to their pre-Owens ways of having McNabb distribute passes fairly evenly to relatively anonymous wideouts.
Once more, Reid and his team have achieved some level of success doing things that way. The Eagles will face the New York Giants tomorrow at Giants Stadium in a conference semifinal, putting them one victory from what would be a fifth appearance in the NFC title game in 10 seasons with Reid as their coach.
McNabb has been highly productive since Reid benched him for half a game in Baltimore in late November, and both coach and quarterback have said recently they're satisfied with the level of performance they're getting from the wide receivers.
"They seem to be playing well,"
Reid said late in the regular season. "They've all got one or two redeeming qualities, and Don is using those, and Marty [Mornhinweg, the Eagles' offensive coordinator] is doing a great job of setting those up in the offense. And the guys are catching the football. You remember earlier in the year, we had so many drops. I think we were leading the league at one point in drops. So I think the guys are doing a better job of focusing in and catching the ball."
McNabb praised the group, and Jason Avant in particular, following last Sunday's triumph at Minnesota in a first-round playoff game.
"Given the opportunity, he'll make plays for you,"
McNabb said following the game. "And that's what you've seen all season, not just from Jason but from all of the guys. When you get an opportunity to call plays for them, you know that they are going to come down with the catch and possibly get the first down or more."
Still, it's doubtful that watching tapes of the Eagles wideouts produced sleepless nights this week for Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo or his players. The Eagles didn't have a 1,000-yard receiver during the regular season. Rookie speedster DeSean Jackson came the closest, with 912 receiving yards. That put him only 28th in the league. No other Eagles wide receiver even reached 450 receiving yards.
Tailback Brian Westbrook remains the team's game-breaker on offense, catching the ball as well as running with it. It was Westbrook who made the key play last weekend against the Vikings, going 71 yards with a screen pass from McNabb for a fourth-quarter touchdown that all but sealed the outcome.
No Eagles wide receiver had even 50 receiving yards against the Vikings, even though McNabb threw for 300 yards. But the Eagles showed their balance. Eight players caught passes from McNabb in the game, including five wideouts -- Avant, Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown and Hank Baskett.
It seems to be the way Reid and the Eagles prefer it. Reid is a firm believer in his offensive system, and the Eagles seem convinced they can thrive with good but not great players at wide receiver.
"I think it's the play called and going through the progression,"
Reid said. "I don't think [McNabb] picks one particular person out to throw them the ball. It's all depending on the play called."
There is good and bad to the Eagles' approach. Without bringing in another player of Owens's stature at the position, the Eagles don't have to worry about dealing with the headaches that often seem to accompany having a high-profile wide receiver.
But they also lack the sort of difference-maker in their receiving corps who perhaps could make a good team great. Owens made national headlines with his spat with the Eagles in 2005. Even so, he helped the Eagles to be a dominant team in 2004, and he was there for their only Super Bowl appearance of the Reid-McNabb era.
For now, at least, McNabb is thriving without any wide receivers who command the spotlight. He has thrown 10 touchdown passes and only two interceptions in six games since his halftime benching during a Nov. 23 loss to the Ravens, and the Eagles are 5-1 over that span.
"He looked so calm,"
Reid said after the game in Minnesota last Sunday. "I thought he just hung in there a few times. He made some huge throws, particularly when we didn't have the field position. We were able to turn it around there. He played well. He managed the game well."
