What would we have said if

[keeponbucn]

The real mistake of Gru and Allen was not getting Garcia for such a bargain basement price that
Philly paid for him.

That story can't be that cut and dry. Must be more to it.

Gruden would have put Rattay in when Simms went down?

Think  about it guys before you jam Gruden for playing Gradkowski instead of going for the vet in Rattay.

At the start of the season everone was on a buzz because we thought Bruce was the second coming....he had a good preseason and we were believing that he could come in and have some success.

Can all of you sit here and tell me after what we saw from Gradkowski that if Gruden would have put Tim in instead we would have been happy? Many here were upset to see Rattay come in for a pulled Gradkowski.

So please the Gruden haters lay off Jon's back....you would have been upset if he didnt play the rookie

This board would have been in meltdown mode if Rattay was the starter @ New Orleans

[cheveliar]

Gruden would have put Rattay in when Simms went down?

Think  about it guys before you jam Gruden for playing Gradkowski instead of going for the vet in Rattay.

At the start of the season everone was on a buzz because we thought Bruce was the second coming....he had a good preseason and we were believing that he could come in and have some success.

Can all of you sit here and tell me after what we saw from Gradkowski that if Gruden would have put Tim in instead we would have been happy? Many here were upset to see Rattay come in for a pulled Gradkowski.

So please the Gruden haters lay off Jon's back....you would have been upset if he didnt play the rookie

This board would have been in meltdown mode if Rattay was the starter @ New Orleans

We'd have been in meltdown mode either way bro...doesn't matter who started...

[keeponbucn]

I think where Jon's going to get some heat is because you go with experience over youth, and he's notorious loving the vets.
What's been said over and over again is Grads beat out Rattay in TC, hands down. That's where the decision came from. Grads must have had a damn good TC.

The board wasnt mad to see Grads in his first start...dont see where you are coming from???

The board would have been livid if Rattay was starting however....funny the same people that would have questioned Gruden for starting Rattay then over Grads are probably the same people who are mad now that he didnt start him then.

[DanTurksGhost]

Personally, in hindsight, I feel like the Bucs may have won a couple more games with Rattay than with Grads. But that still would probably have made this team no better than 6-10 or 7-9. Still a losing record, and still with Gradkowski not having any PT at the QB position.

The coaches made their decision based on a lot of factors, not just experience.

[keeponbucn]

I see where you're going, he's damned if does, damned if he doesn't. Gruden has to take some heat for that decision and I'm a "Grudenista" just to get it out there.

I wasn't mad to see Grads start because in the preseason Rattaty stunk up the joint. In hindsight it was the wrong decision, there's no. The team wouldn't be world beaters so it doesn't matter but it was the wrong decisions. HC's make wrong decisions all the time, this was one of Jon's.

[cheveliar]

Grads clearly beat Rattay in preseason.  If you look at the numbers, thanks to SR for pointing them out on the Blitz, there's no way you start Rattay first in that scenario...

[bradentonian]

Gruden would have put Rattay in when Simms went down?

Think  about it guys before you jam Gruden for playing Gradkowski instead of going for the vet in Rattay.

At the start of the season everone was on a buzz because we thought Bruce was the second coming....he had a good preseason and we were believing that he could come in and have some success.

Can all of you sit here and tell me after what we saw from Gradkowski that if Gruden would have put Tim in instead we would have been happy? Many here were upset to see Rattay come in for a pulled Gradkowski.

So please the Gruden haters lay off Jon's back....you would have been upset if he didnt play the rookie

This board would have been in meltdown mode if Rattay was the starter @ New Orleans

Depends on the results.  If Rattay came in and was successful I don't think you would be hearing many complaints.

[ufojoe]

The real mistake of Gru and Allen was not getting Garcia for such a bargain basement price that
Philly paid for him.

Grads clearly beat Rattay in preseason.  If you look at the numbers, thanks to SR for pointing them out on the Blitz, there's no way you start Rattay first in that scenario...

I am not pointing at the fact that Bruce should have started in favor of Rattayif I was the head coach and Rattay played that bad in reseason and Bruce played that well I would have done the same.

However I am saying that we have no room to jump on Gruden for making the no brainer decision in starting the Rookie....given the same choice at that time it loked to be the correct one. Everyone's hindsight is 20-20

[cheveliar]

Grads clearly beat Rattay in preseason. If you look at the numbers, thanks to SR for pointing them out on the Blitz, there's no way you start Rattay first in that scenario...

I am not pointing at the fact that Bruce should have started in favor of Rattayif I was the head coach and Rattay played that bad in reseason and Bruce played that well I would have done the same.

However I am saying that we have no room to jump on Gruden for making the no brainer decision in starting the Rookie....given the same choice at that time it loked to be the correct one. Everyone's hindsight is 20-20

Agreed...

I guess the saying "The back-up QB is everyone's favorite player" is true....

[ufojoe]

This seems pretty cut and dry. We blew it.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=eagles&id=4881668

Eagles coach Andy Reid went looking for a backup for McNabb last spring and took a chance by signing Garcia on the rebound from a brief, disastrous stop in Detroit. It's no exaggeration to say Garcia looked washed up in the preseason. However, Reid kept both him and A.J. Feeley as backups, a move that looked plenty smart to everybody but Philly's notoriously tough fans when a season-ending knee injury took McNabb out of the picture in November.

The faithful howled for Feeley, but Reid saw something in Garcia that he liked. The quarterback had mastered the 49ers' version of the West Coast offense and his teacher from those days, Marty Mornhinweg, was now offensive coordinator for the Eagles. All that familiarity did the lot of them very little good in Garcia's first start, a 45-21 loss at Indianapolis. But what Philly fans, his teammates and maybe even the staff had underestimated was their quarterback's ability to take a punch.

There are plenty of ways to quantify Garcia's recuperative powers during the winning streak - he's been the league's highest-rated passer in that stretch, totaling almost 1,100 yards and nine touchdowns - but it's been the leadership that Owens so often mocked that's rallied the Eagles to his side.

"The point in the season when he came in, this team needed a fighter," running back Brian Westbrook said. "When Jeff got in there, he showed he's a fighter."

"Not only is he making big plays and showing leadership on the field," linebacker Jeremiah Trotter said, "he's running around like a crazy man and cheering for the defense. Last week, he even kissed me on the helmet after a play, which I didn't like all that much."

Like I have said before hindsight is 20-20....what did Garcia do before this seaosn?

Horrible stints in Detroit and Cleveland

I am sure Andy Reid didnt bring in Garcia with the thought he was going to replacve his franchise QB

A lot of questions can be asked about Gruden.

However not signing Jeff Garcia with the track record he had is not something I fault Gruden/Allen with.

Who knew Jake Delhomme would lead the Panthers to the superbowl a few years ago...who knew a sixth rounder in Tom Brady would lead New England to a few Superbowls. Do you blame the bucs for missing these guys as well?

I would much rater fault the staff for missing on Drew Brees than Jeff Garcia