Eagles vs. Redskins Just Got More Interesting

This past weekend, at 8:05 EST on the evening of Easter Sunday, the biggest story in sports was the first meaningful baseball contest of 2010 between the New York Yankees and the rival Boston Red Sox. Ten minutes later, that changed when ESPN broke the news that the Philadelphia Eagles had traded their once franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb to their rivals, the Washington Redskins.

                               I was stunned by this move. As a lifelong Redskins fan, I faced the realization that my team would now be helmed by the very player who had made many of the past twenty Eagles-Redskins scrimmages so frustrating (and we paid a high price for him no less!). And as a resident of the greater Philadelphia area for much of the past 5 years who has had ample opportunity to observe the contentious relationship that exists between the Eagles fans and the Eagles organization, well…I still never thought they would get risk of McNabb. He was their franchise leader in total wins, total passing touchdowns, and total passing yards. He also led the team to five NFC Championship games and one appearance in the 2004 Super Bowl. Surely, that earned him the right to see his career through in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, fans love champions, and it seems that his inability to bring a championship to the city of Philadelphia is what ultimately decided Donovan McNabb’s fate.

So what does this mean for the Eagles and the Redskins? Two things. First, Donovan McNabb was the last remaining player from the core group (including Dawkins and Westbrook) that led the team during its greatest years. This means that the Kevin Kolb era has officially arrived. The young 2007 draft choice has shown some sparks of effectiveness in his limited on-field action, but now is the time to see if those flashes can start a fire that will eventually lead to the Lombardi Trophy. And judging from the number of draft picks that the Eagles have stockpiled in the last few weeks, it would seem that the Eagles are prepared to restructure the team around him. No one wants to bring up “rebuilding”, but it is apparent that things are going to change.

Second, this trade means that the Redskins offense is one step closer to being relevant once again. Let’s face it, no teams were ever scared at the prospect of facing the Redskins during the past two years. But now that the Redskins have a 6-time Pro Bowler with post-season experience under center, they can focus on rebuilding an old offensive line, and then, they just might be able to cause some trouble in what seems to be a much more even NFC East. Just ask the ’98 Packers and the ’99 Falcons what happened the last time that Mike Shanahan teamed up with an older quarterback who hadn’t managed to win a championship on his own. The ghosts of Elway’s championships abound.

But regardless of what the future results of this transaction are, one thing is certain: the rivalry between these two teams just arguably became the most important storyline of the 2010 NFL season. Eagles vs. Redskins at the Linc just got moved to primetime. I’m sure that up until then, the collective sports media will have turned this tough rivalry between division opponents into the most anticipated two games of the year, much like the Packers-Vikings duels of a year ago. And like those two franchises, these two should each be better off in the long run. We will see, though, if that long run leads to a championship for either organization.