Jeff McLane argued last week that the Eagles should keep Kevin Kolb as a backup. Or something like that. I don’t know Pig Latin.
Jimmy had a good response to that piece over at Blogging the Beast, but I think I already wrote my response back in February: How Much is Kevin Kolb Worth as a Backup?
If you remember, I looked at the statistical likelihood that Michael Vick would miss games and then calculated the average lost wins for a back up quarterback. The results were underwhelming for the “keep Kevin” camp. The difference between sticking with Kolb as the backup and moving on is - at most - half a win. The Eagles could make a bigger difference by trading for an upgrade at right cornerback or, in the long term, multiple high draft picks.
Furthermore, McLane’s biggest example, Green Bay backup Matt Flynn, actually proves that an experienced second QB isn’t necessary. Before he came on in relief of Aaron Rodgers last season, Flynn had only 20 career pass attempts and no starts. He was as big of an unknown as Mike Kafka. Plus, while he performed about as admirably as anyone could have hoped, Flynn couldn’t win either of the two games he played. The Packers survived two losses without Aaron Rodgers and went on to win the Super Bowl anyway.
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I know there’s a sizable contingent of USA soccer fans out there in the Eagles-verse. For those fans, didn’t the women’s final yesterday feel familiar? An offense that had lots of opportunities to score and put the game away but fails to convert and lets the other team back in the game, ultimately losing in the final moments. Sounds like a classic Eagles loss to me.