When Donovan McNabb was selected to be the new Eagles quarterback, the Eagles' fans in attendance booed him vehemently. He won them over, however, as he lead the team to four straight NFC Championship games and finally a Super Bowl last year.

That Super Bowl came with the help of fellow super stars Terrell Ownes, Brian Westbrook, and Jevon Kearse. After the game it appeared the Eagles would be poised to again get to the big game and maybe win Super Bowl XL. Then T.O began to speak out and the chaos began.

T.O openly criticized McNabb for getting tired. He simultaneously demanded more money and held out. While the two seemed to be able to get past it on the field early in the season things heated up again as Donovan began to deal with multiple injuries. T.O was benched and it appeared the Eagles were ready to move on. Then T.O had a little birthday bash and some of his Eagles team mates showed up. That's no big deal but as they complimented T.O and said he was "great teammate." This was a direct shot at McNabb and it appears they believe in the case of one versus the other they'd rather have T.O.

And now Philadelphia's own J. Whyatt Mondesire (leader of the local NAACP) says McNabb is "mediocre." He even said McNabb should give part of his salary to T.O. Donovan will probably again take the high road and did in his initial response by not personally insulting Mondesire. But enough is enough. Donovan's walked on fire for this team and he's still taking shots from his teammates and his city's leaders. It's time for Donovan to move out of Philadelphia and get a new start somewhere else. Let T.O. and Westbrook catch passes from McMahon while Donovan tosses touchdowns elsewhere.

Today the face of the NFC East changed again. The Giants beat the Cowboys to take sole possession of the number one spot. The Redskins also won to sandwitch the Cowboys just behind the G-Men and with the 'Skins nipping at their heels. Meanwhile, the Eagles (last year's NFC Champs) and Seahawks (this year's NFC Champs?) are preparing to play tomorrow night.

I'm sure several months ago the schedule makers thought this would be good game. Tonight, however, to most this looks to be another Monday night stinker. That was my first thought when I saw these two teams matched up. Figured, I'll watch House instead and call it an early night. Then I got to thinking about it.

The Seahawks haven't exactly won a lot of games convincingly. The Eagles are really looking for a rally game.  They've developed an "us versus them" attitude and that can be dangerous in a team (especially on the big stage, see Patriot's 2001). The Eagles defense is still more or less intact from last year and can be potent at times. The offense showed some strength two Monday's ago against Dallas (albeit with McNabb). Maybe if the Eagles defense steps up and they run more they'll have a shot....

Nah...the Shaun Alexander is going to run all over this team. McMahon will throw at least two interceptions in the game and one touchdown if he get's really lucky. A missed field goal by Akers late in the first quarter will only be a sign of things to come and this game's over by half time. Big stars shine on the big stage and few are bigger than Shaun Alexander "The Great."

Seahawks 31, Eagles 10

It's pretty much decided (though not quite in the books) that the Colts will represent the AFC in Superbowl XL. The only real challenge they'll face in the playoffs will be the Broncos in the Championship game. But the question on everybody's mind is "who's gonna lose to them?"

Contenders:

Seahawks (9-2): The NFC West champs are getting absolutely no love. They have maybe the number two running back in the league (LT's #1). They have a receiving core that can finally catch the ball. They have a defense that plays adequately and has big play ability. Right now they are the best NFC team but haven't exactly beaten other good teams convincingly.

Bears (8-3): Maybe the only reason the Bears are 8-3 is because they play in the NFC North and their opponents outside of it include the Ravens, Niners, and Saints. But the past two weeks they've beaten the Panthers and Bucs. They may be too one dimensional to win in the playoffs but you can't argue with success.

Falcons (7-4): DVD. Mike Vick has proven in recent weeks he's capable of throwing for good yardage. The Falcons have also been able to maintain a strong running attack. Their defense is underperforming, however, and tomorrow's game against Carolina will go a long way to deciding the division. If their defense can turn things around they could do some things in the NFC.

Pretenders:

Carolina (8-3): Carolina's a good team. Just not one that will win the Championship game. They're far too inconsistent. Yes they've won 8 games but they almost lost to Arizona and Detroit and lost to Miami and New Orleans. They seem to play down to their competition and that kills teams in the playoffs.

Dallas (7-4): As a Cowboys fan it pains me to say this, but they're not good enough to win the Championship game. They beat a reeling Philadelphia and blew out some bad teams (Arizona, Detroit) but they've lost their only game against a true NFC contender (Seattle). The Cowboys are a year away from the big game but next year they may be a monster team.

New York (7-4): The Giants too are at least a year away. They play well and fight hard for games but they're not good enough to win road, playoff games. They've gotten all the parts they just need one more year to get them working together. They may play in the Championship game but they won't win it.

Tampa Bay (7-4): The Bucs are a wildcard team today but they're going in the wrong direction. They "beat" Washington but that's another team in reverse. The season may have been a bit to tumultuous for Chucky and the gang. Consistency is going to kill this team and of all the teams I've mentioned I think they're the most likely to miss the playoffs outright.

The most questionable is putting in the Falcons and Bears as true contenders and leaving the Panthers out. I just think Carolina doesn't have enough of a complete game to be seriously considered as a Super Bowl team. The Falcons have enough power to give themselves a shot and if they're defense plays up to their potential I'm fully confident they can get to Detroit. The Bears are the reverse. If they're offense heats up and their defense keeps playing as it is they will be formidable team. As of right now you have to say Seattle will be in it but you can't really tell in this close race. I picked Atlanta at the beginning of the season and if they heat up I still think they can get there.

If you say "lion" in Africa it inspires both respect and fear. If you say "lion" in the NFL it inspires a shrug and a laugh as one recollects the various mishaps of Detroit's franchise over the years. Then in 2003 it seemed like that was all going to change.

Michigan's own Steve Mariuci was suddenly available. He had rather successfully coached the 49's since 1997 and lead them to the playoffs four times. Then San Francisco let him go in a great purge of the underachieving organization. So the Lion's Matt Millen scooped him up and paid a hefty fine for focusing in on Mariuci and neglecting minority coaches.

In 2003 it looked like the Lions might finally live up to their name. Finally, the Lions had a good coach who could develop young talent and help turn around a long faltering franchise. However, even as he hired Mariuci to be the Lions' savior Millen retained the right to make most personnel decisions, including draft picks. This is curious considering the reason the 'Niners claimed they let Mariuci go was because Steve-o wanted more control over personnel (maybe Terrell Owens had something to do with that...just throwing that out there).

So here we are in 2005 and the Lions are the same disaster they've always been. Joey Harrington has been replaced by a veteran QB who certainly isn't capable of carrying the team, the Lions receiving core is underachieving (to put it nicely), and its defense is struggling. So after signing all this "talent" and trying to piece a team together with the flavor of the month the Lions continue to lag in the NFL cellar. So they did the logical thing: fire the head coach.

Now Matt Millen will continue to select the players he saw highlights of on TV and then be dumbfounded when a coach can't stitch the team together. Matt Millen has somehow effectively shifted the blame for the Lions failure off of him and "his players" and onto the head coach. Unfortunately for Steve he's been weaseled out of a job while the real culprit has retained his cushy job. Mariuci will land on his feet next year in a place like Baltimore or Houston (though they're more of a mess than Detroit) while the Lions will continue to languish.

The Lions will never be a winning team unless they buy into Bill Parcells' axiom:  "If they want you to cook the dinner, they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries." And they won't do that until Matt Millen is shown the door.