Osi Umenyiora Sacks Donovan McNabb Six Times: Who's to Blame?

Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora sacked Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb six times Sunday night, and folks in Philly are still trying to decide who's at fault.

Although the main culprit in the eyes of most fans was left tackle Winston Justice, who was supposed to be protecting McNabb's blind side, Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News argues that the blame resides with coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

47 of the Eagles' 66 offensive plays were pass plays.
So much for the lessons learned from last season, when the Eagles went to a more balanced offensive attack after McNabb got hurt and reeled off six consecutive wins.

Through the first four games, 171 of the Eagles' 261 offensive plays (65.5 percent) have been pass plays. In their three losses, it's up to 68.7 percent.

Against the Giants, the Eagles used two-tight-end formations on just five of 66 plays. Went with three or four wide receivers a whopping 27 times.

I think Domowitch makes some good points about the Eagles' play calling, and obviously, any time a quarterback gets sacked 12 times in one game, it's probably safe to say there were some flaws with the offensive game plan.

But I also think this was a game where the Giants' four-man defensive end rotation of Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Michael Strahan and Mathias Kiwanuka was just too good for anything the Eagles could have done to stop them. It's easy to say after the fact that Justice should have had help in the blocking schemes, but Justice only gave up four of the 12 sacks the Giants recorded. If Justice had gotten help with Umenyiora on every play, other Giants would have had a clearer shot at McNabb.

Reid hasn't had the Eagles looking like a well-coached team this year, and if this really is going to be his final season in Philadelphia, it may turn out to be one of his most disappointing seasons in Philadelphia. But neither he, nor Mornhinweg, nor Justice nor McNabb nor anyone else deserves a particularly large chunk of blame for what happened Sunday. It was just one of those nights.