Is there a quarterback controversy in our Nation's Capital?Coach Mike Shanahan says no, but late in the game on Sunday against the Detroit Lions Shanahan pulled McNabb and sent in second string QB Rex Grossman with only 1 minute and 50 seconds left to play.
"I thought that was the best scenario for us to have a chance to win," said Shanahan.
The the Coach added "At the end of the game with Donovan, with a minute left and Rex knowing how to run that two-minute offense, I felt with the time and no timeouts he gave us the best chance to win in that scenario. Just knowing the terminology of what we've done, how we've run it, it puts a lot of pressure on a quarterback that hasn't been used to that terminology."
The reason for Grossman knowing the system better than McNabb is that he spent last year learning it under Kyle Shanahan in Huston, Kyle is Mike's son and now the offensive coordinator for the Redskins.
"What you have to do sometimes is you understand everything is sped up," Shanahan said. "When you don't have timeouts, it's got to come automatic. You've got to call a couple plays at the line, a few plays at the line. When you go through this during the week [in practice], and you take a look at this type of atmosphere (in a game), I thought it was the best scenario to put him in there in that situation," the coach told The Washington Post.
Although, the strategy didn't work, Grossman fumbled and was sacked on his first play, and to add insult to injury the loose ball was recovered and returned for a touchdown by Detroit giving them the 37-25 win.
After the game McNabb took questions from the press and said, "I'm a professional, and I try to handle it in a professional manner."
He also added "If you're asking, would I want to be in there? Yes," McNabb said. "I think any quarterback wants to be in there. That's something that you get measured by: two-minute drives, being able to drive down and win the game. So a decision was made. Obviously as a player you want to be in there, but I went along with it and now we all have to learn from it and move on."
With the loss the Redskins drop to 4-4 in the NFC East putting them in third place behind the Eagles and Giants.
Next Sunday is a bye week for the team which will give them a little extra time to sort things out
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