"So now that the dust-up dust has settled, however temporarily, from Donovan McNabb's benching Sunday in Detroit, and the various quotes have all been parsed, we're left to conclude this: McNabb does not yet have a full command of the offense. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that we accept the premise that Rex Grossman gave the Redskins a better chance to beat the Lions than McNabb in the final two minutes, and that Mike Shanahan was merely misunderstood by everyone within the sound of his voice. What now? That's the crucial question, for both the team and McNabb himself. Both sides say they've moved beyond the benching and everything is hugs and puppies at Redskins Park. But the 34-year-old quarterback is a free agent at the end of the season and while we've been told since April that the two sides were working on an extension, it's November and we've yet to see a puff of white smoke over Ashburn. And while it's tempting to posit that we never will, the fact remains we are only halfway through the season, and the Redskins - despite McNabb's flaws - are a respectable 4-4. It is certainly possible that McNabb will come off the bye week with a chip on his shoulder and a song in his heart and excel at the two-minute offense, the three-minute egg and the four-minute mile, and that the Shanahans will fall in love once again and a deal will be signed so that McNabb can finish up his career here while mentoring a young draft pick/protege in between trips to spinning class. Of course, it's also possible that in the second half of the season, McNabb will once again under- or overthrow his short passes, continue to get sacked like potatoes in Idaho, fail to grasp his playbook terminology and call Alex Ovechkin to help him move once again. The truth is, it's too soon to give up on McNabb, and for those who would like to keep the quarterback and lose the coach, it's too soon to give up on Shanahan as well. The 2010 Redskins needed an engine rebuild, not an oil change. Many of us screamed for discipline a year ago when this team was a total mess and every day brought the kind of melodrama like we've seen this week. " Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/04/AR2010110407707.html
