Stick a fork in 'em, Donovan McNabb and the Eagles are done

(AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Sunday, November 23rd will be a date remembered by Eagles fans for a long time. Not only was it the date that the Eagles 2008 season came to an end, it will also go down as the date the Donovan McNabb era came to an end in Philadelphia.

The Eagles were whipped by the Ravens 36-7 in the worst Eagles game I have seen in a long time. The offense failed to score all day with only a Quintin Demps kickoff return touchdown saving the Birds from a shut out.

Unlike the last few weeks, Donovan McNabb actually had a decent start to the game, completing 7 of his first 9 passes. Although he failed to put any points on the board, he was doing fine until he was sacked early in the 2nd quarter and coughed up the football to the Ravens. From that point forward, McNabb completed only 1 of 9 passes and was intercepted twice. His poor first half play forced Andy Reid to bench McNabb and go with Kevin Kolb for the remainder of the game.

Kolb entered the game with the score 10-7 and the outcome very much up in the air. There will be plenty of debate all week as to whether Reid should have benched the player that gives the team the best chance to win but clearly a message had to be sent that McNabb just wasn't getting the job done. Kolb didn't do much better, completing 10 of 23 passes for 73 yards and two picks. Despite Kolb's ineffectiveness, the Birds still had a chance to win the game as they drove deep into Ravens territory in the 4th quarter before Kolb threw an interception in the end zone that Ed Reed took 108 yards the other way for the score.

So where do the Eagles go from here? With the 2008 season clearly over, they have to continue with Kevin Kolb at quarterback to see what the kid can do. With McNabb likely being shown the door in the offseason the Eagles need to know if Kolb can be the man or if they need to go in another direction. Trotting McNabb out there for another week would be pointless unless they are trying to up his trade value.

As for McNabb, I could see him going on to have a few more solid seasons with the Bears or the Vikings. He has more left in the tank but he has run his course in Philadelphia. As he is on his way out, I hope that Eagles fans can remember him for the positive things he has done, like lead this team to countless victories and a Super Bowl, rather than his last few seasons of injury and ineptitude. Besides, regardless of how you feel about McNabb right now, it's still going to hurt when you see him in another uniform. He was supposed to be an Eagle for life and bring this city a title, not run out of town after a string of poor games.

R.I.P. The Donovan McNabb era, April 17th, 1999-November 23, 2008