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Stunner: McNabb does not even know the NFL rules

    by Will Bunch | Columnist
    Published 

I thought I was done thinking -- let along blogging -- about today's Eagles' debacle but this is so stunning I have to put it out there. Donovan McNabb apparently played the entire overtime period in the 13-13 tie -- the first tie in pro football in six years -- with the Bengals without knowing one of the basic NFL rules, that regular season games end in a deadlock if no one scores in the 15-minute stanza:

No one was more surprised than McNabb that it ended so soon—3 hours, 46 minutes after the opening kickoff. The 10th-year quarterback thought it would keep going until someone scored, just like a playoff game.
"I didn't know that," said McNabb, who played a leading role in keeping it tied. "I've never been part of a tie. I never even knew it was in the rule book. I was looking forward to getting the opportunity to get out there and try to drive to win the game. But unfortunately with the rules, we settled with a tie."

Wow. The thing is, knowing that time is expiring, or not knowing, would seem to make a huge difference in your pyschology the last couple of times that the Birds had the ball. In fact, when the Eagles had a 4th-and-1 on their own 22 late in the overtime and elected to punt, Merrill Reese and Mike Quick were making the case (and I agreed) that the Eagles should have gone for it -- because a tie would be so damaging to their shrinking playoff chances. But one of the key people out there didn't even understand the scenario, or the sense of urgency? Again, wow. Did Andy Reid know the rules?

Wait until McNabb hears about the 2-point conversion!