Synergism

by E. James Beale

When pharmacologists refer to "synergism," they're almost uniformly talking about something bad. Medical synergism refers to two drugs that have similar negative effects which, when combined, produce a far more powerful effect than would be expected. In short, each drug exacerbates the problems associated with the other. Here two plus two can equal five — or 500.

The takeaway: Don't combine these drugs. If you're experiencing, um, "performance anxiety," you may decide to down a Viagra or a Cialis, but it's probably a bad idea to take both. It's a lesson that, even after 10 years of performance issues in big games, the Philadelphia Eagles haven't learned.

Individually, Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb, the only Philadelphia Eagles head coach and QB1 the team has had this century, are awesome. They are both decorated — Reid has several "Coach of the Year" awards; McNabb will likely end up attending his sixth Pro Bowl later this month — and supremely talented. Reid's ability to put together a roster, design game plans and keep his players motivated is laudable. McNabb throws a gorgeous deep ball, excels on play action and has an ability to extend plays with his legs.

Unfortunately, both men also have flaws, and it being January in Philadelphia, we've just been reminded of them. Reid is piss-poor at clock management, and tends to ignore his run game completely. McNabb is inaccurate from 15 yards in, rarely hits a crossing pattern in stride and never appears to demand the focus and attention of his teammates on the field.

Individually, all of that is fine — every NFL player has flaws, and flaws can be hidden. The perfect situation for McNabb would be on a run-heavy team that didn't require him to move the chains. His play-action ability would shine, deep routes would be open and it wouldn't matter that he's not the highest completion-percentage guy out there. For Reid, too, there is an ideal QB counterpart. By now, his play calling should be understood as a part of his personality. When his teams are backed into corners, he's going to try to throw out of them. He needs a quarterback whose passing can pick up short chunks of yardage damn near every time. In Andy Reid's system, quarterback accuracy is at a premium.

The problem is that neither Reid nor McNabb have their perfect counterpart. They have the opposite. Reid's tendency to call pass after pass after pass — in two separate points in last Saturday's game, the Birds threw on nine or more consecutive plays — and McNabb's inability to hit receivers lead to an inability to sustain drives. Andy's plays don't let No. 5 use his play-action ability, and McNabb's sub-60 percent career completion percentage doesn't move the chains for his coach.

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The most glaring example, however, is game management. Both Reid and his quarterback are middling-to-worse at effectively supervising the last two minutes of a half. It's a weakness for both of them.

Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb haven't had the considerable success they have had together because of the other; they've had it in spite of their counterpart. And so, the McNabb/Reid Eagles just completed a season without a single win over another playoff team, their eighth playoff exit in eight tries. They were dead last in the NFL with just 301 running-back carries and lost big in a playoff game where they called 41 passes and 11 runs, even though McNabb didn't complete a pass until midway through the second quarter. They're worse than the sum of their parts.

This isn't to say that the two can't be successful together. Reid and McNabb, individually, are both very good at what they do. Hell, this year they just set a team record for points, and led the team to 11 wins and a playoff berth, which isn't nothing. But they're holding each other back. Their talents mitigate and their flaws exacerbate each other's. Making 5 play under Reid is like batting Ryan Howard leadoff, or forcing Steve Nash to team up with Shaq. Would they be successful? Yeah, sure, but doing so undercuts what they do well and aggravates what they do poorly.

These two guys are medical synergism defined. It looks like, with Reid re-signed and vocally committed to the only true QB1 he's ever had, we're in for another year of the Birds coming up limp.

Those experiencing E. James Beale for longer than four hours should seek immediate medical attention. E-mail him at e.james.beale@citypaper.net.