Donovan McNabb had a productive yet equally frustrating evening in his Super Bowl debut last Sunday.
McNabb’s Philadelphia Eagles were edged by the New England Patriots 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX at Allthel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. The Patriots won their third world title in the last four seasons with the victory.
McNabb registered some impressive passing numbers, but he committed a few costly mistakes that curtailed the Eagles’ chances of putting the brakes on the New England dynasty.
For the game, McNabb completed 30 of his 51 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns, but he also threw three interceptions.
The first interception came in the first quarter to Rodney Harrison, which stopped a potential scoring drive inside the New England 20-yard line. The Patriots defense also kept constant pressure on McNabb with consistent blitzing as they registered four sacks.
McNabb’s first touchdown pass came on a 6-yard pass to tight end L.J. Smith in the first quarter that gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead, which was their only lead of the game.
Late in the third quarter, McNabb connected with tailback Brian Westbrook on a 10-yard scoring pass to tie the score at 14-14. McNabb’s final touchdown pass was a 30-yarder to Greg Lewis with less than two minutes left in the game to cut New England’s lead to 24-21.
