Hey, there is a lot of criticism directed at quarterbacks, white and black, but Donovan McNabb is not right. I mean, physically he doesn't look right on the field. OK, he played a little better in the fourth quarter against the Redskins, but if you watch him closely he's not bending his left front leg and it's causing his throws to sail high and wide.

The only conclusion is that maybe his right leg, which suffered a torn ACL, isn't totally healed. Or that McNabb is still very much worried about his legs getting hit in the pocket. As good as McNabb was in the past, he's not playing very well right now and the NFL is a bottom line business. How many losses can the Eagles stand until McNabb is good again?

If they lose this Sunday to the Lions, Eagles coach Andy Reid might be tempted to play rookie Kevin Kolb, the second-round pick that so infuriated McNabb when he was drafted last April.

McNabb can say that he doesn't have a home-run hitter at wide receiver (remember what he and Terrell Owens accomplished during that Super Bowl season?), but that's the way it has always been in Philadelphia. Teams are going to jam his receivers because right now there is no fear of McNabb scrambling and making a lot of plays with his feet.

In two games, McNabb has completed just two passes that have gained more than 20 yards. Both came in Green Bay. He had none against the Redskins Monday night. By comparison, last season at this time, when McNabb was playing like a potential MVP, he had 12 passing plays of 20 yards or more, four of them good for touchdowns.

Evil Ernie

Of the terms being bandied about during Videogate or Spygate, is the "plausible deniability" line that Patriots coach Bill Belichick could invoke with commissioner Roger Goodell. What that means is that Goodell could interview players and coaches on the Patriots and all of them could answer honestly that they had no idea about Belichick's video methods.

However, there is one employee, Ernie Adams, that some rival coaches and general managers are pointing a finger at, claiming that Adams and Belichick cooked up this scheme together and that Adams, a veritable football genius, was the one who broke down the taped coaching signals and ascertained what plays would be beneficial to Belichick and his offensive strategy. Adams has been with Belichick since the two worked for the New York Giants. His title is football research director and his job duties include statistical evaluations and film coordination.

"I've know Ernie most of his career and I don't believe he is G. Gordon Liddy, the Watergate burglar," said a friend who works with another team. "He is an honest guy who I don't think would condone cheating. I just don't see him being a party to any of this."

Better than Curly

This is Brett Favre's 17th season in the NFL and what's impressive about his 149-82 won-lost record in the regular season is that it is a better record than coaches like Washington's Joe Gibbs and the recently retired Bill Cowher and Bill Parcells. Gibbs is a Hall of Famer. Another interesting point is that Favre's winning percentage of .645 is also better than Curly Lambeau, Green Bay's legendary coach. Curly was .631.

Texans in trouble

With the loss of superstar receiver Andre Johnson with a sprained knee, the Houston Texans and Matt Schaub will have to rely heavily on Kevin Walter and Owen Daniels this Sunday against the Colts, who were able to defeat Vince Young while minus two starting linebackers.

Walter and Owens have a total of eight receptions in two games. There is even a chance that Texans coach Gary Kubiak will start Andre Davis, who was inactive last Sunday against the Panthers. Davis, though, has the most NFL experience (104 career receptions) on a relatively young receiving corps. In two games, Johnson had 262 receiving yards, or 212 yards more than the team's other wide receivers combined.

Adam off-target

Last Sunday might have been the worst game of Adam Vinatieri's pro career. He had an extra-point attempt blocked, a field-goal partially blocked and he pulled a 36-yard field goal attempt wide left. This stuff has happened before but not all in the same game. Since the 1999 season, Vinatieri has had only four out of 494 kicks blocked. Colts coach Tony Dungy blamed Vinatieri, too, saying that his kicks were too low and that's why they were blocked.