FanHouse Andy Reid

On the eve of a Sunday night NFC East showdown in Philadelphia, the Cowboys have gotten some bulletin board material via a comparison of their franchise and the Eagles. Strangely enough, the inflammatory statements weren't made by anyone with current ties to the Eagles, but by Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.

Harbaugh, a former Eagles assistant, was asked for a new book what made the Eagles more successful than the Cowboys over the last 10 years. Matt Mosley of ESPN.com shares the answer.

PHILADELPHIA -- You don't think of the Eagles along with the Saints or the Colts or the Patriots in terms of the number, the variety and the explosiveness of their offensive playmakers. Teams like that set the standard, and the Eagles don't feel like they fit into that kind of conversation. And that's fine, because they're not there yet.

But if you watched the Eagles score on big play after big play Sunday afternoon against the Giants, you got the feel that they might very well be there soon. Andy Reid's Philadelphia offense remains a work in progress, but with the number of different weapons he has at his disposal on any given play, we could soon be talking about the Eagles as one of the most exciting and dynamic offensive teams in the league.

NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

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NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

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NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

Consider this hypothetical: what if two coaches met in a dark alley and threw down in a no-holds-barred brawl? Who would emerge victorious?

First, some background: back when I was in high school, when my friends and I were pretty creative in finding ways to avoid actually paying attention in class, we'd create brackets (think NCAA Tournament) where we'd pit our teachers against each other**. Whoever we thought would win in a fight advanced to the next round. It always ended with our offensive line coach against our wrestling coach in the finals and a huge argument as to who would come out on top.

Anyway, last week, the Back Porch staff somehow ended up discussing whether Rex Ryan or Tom Cable would win in a old school playground scrap. I passed along the above information, and shortly after that, an idea was born -- NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament.

PHILADELPHIA -- So there I was, waiting for the elevator Saturday night after checking into a hotel near the Philadelphia International Airport, and standing in the corner when the doors opened was somebody I hadn't seen in a while -- well, not since we were in the same federal courthouse in Richmond, Va., nearly two years ago.

Was this really Michael Vick?

Nope.

This was the new Michael Vick.

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It's often said that a team with two quarterbacks really doesn't have any. With that spirit in mind, FanHouse will keep you updated weekly on NFL teams facing potential quarterback controversies.

Things are looking interesting in Philadelphia, although Donovan McNabb can come back and ruin all the fun. Meanwhile, there appears to be no end in sight to the situation in Cleveland, where the Browns have looked generally awful when they have the ball.

PHILADELPHIA -- Andy Reid did his best to make sure Kevin Kolb didn't have to own this. The Eagles' coach knows how tight the spot is in which Kolb finds himself. And after the Eagles got crushed 48-22 by Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints on Sunday in Kolb's first career start as an NFL quarterback, Reid made sure everybody knew it wasn't Kolb's fault. He spoke to his team, delivering a stern speech whose central message was, "Nobody goes undefeated -- put this game behind you and forget about it," then he walked out to face the media and did what a coach is supposed to do. He blamed himself.

"I have to make sure this thing is right, and it wasn't right today -- any phase of it," Reid said. "It was an absolutely horrendous performance. This is my football team and I have to make sure they play better than that. I will make sure that happens."

The fact is, he has a lot of work to do, because the Eagles are a mess right now. And while that mess may start with the confused and messy quarterback situation, it doesn't end there.

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The Eagles' jumbled quarterback picture cleared up, if only slightly, as head coach Andy Reid announced that Kevin Kolb would be Philadelphia's starter should Donovan McNabb's injury keep him out against New Orleans in Week 2.

Recently signed Jeff Garcia would serve as Kolb's backup.

"I want to make it very clear, Kevin Kolb, right now, is the starting quarterback," Reid said during his Wednesday press conference. "If Donovan's healthy, [Garcia] is the No. 3, if Donovan's not healthy enough to play, he's the No. 2."

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With Donovan McNabb's status up in the air thanks to a cracked rib, the Philadelphia Eagles have reportedly reached into their recent past to shore up their quarterback position. The team has signed Jeff Garcia, according to Jason La Canfora of NFL.com and the Philadelphia Daily News.

The move to add a quarterback isn't particularly surprising. The Eagles don't have a third quarterback available for Week Two thanks to Michael Vick's suspension and if McNabb is too hurt to start you'd understandably want to shield him from playing at all. On one hand, Garcia's not a surprising choice since he spent 2006 with the team and knows the offense.

On a couple of other hands, though, the move is awfully intriguing.