Donovan McNabb and his Philadelphia Eagles teammates would prefer not to be remembered as a team that played in three straight NFC championship games and lost every one of them, including two at home.
"Really, it doesn't motivate me," McNabb said Wednesday as the Eagles prepared to play the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, with a trip to the Super Bowl in the balance. "At times, it ticked me off. I'm just being a man about it. You go on and prepare and you can't get it done. Well, you use that as a little fuel to the fire. . . . I'm sure everyone would like to get rid of that [losing feeling]. Here's an opportunity."
Still, McNabb and virtually every Eagles player queried Wednesday insisted he preferred to look forward and not dwell on the past, particularly last year's disheartening upset at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the final pro football game at Veterans Stadium.
"What happened the last two years is over," McNabb said. "There's nothing we can do. We all have high goals and at the top of our list obviously is to win the Super Bowl. . . . You're willing to lay down or die for these guys and that's the way we all feel."
The Eagles are still alive mostly because of McNabb's heroics in one of the more memorable plays in NFL history on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. That would be his late fourth-quarter pass to wide receiver Freddie Mitchell on fourth and 26 from the Eagles 26. The play went for 28 yards and picked up a first down that allowed Philadelphia to keep the ball and eventually send the game into overtime. The Eagles won on David Akers's 31-yard field goal in sudden death.
Those are the sort of plays that will land a man on the cover of Sports Illustrated, which is exactly where McNabb's picture is displayed this week.
"As a kid, that's a dream, to look up on Sports Illustrated and see yourself," McNabb said. "If there's a jinx, it's time to erase it."
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His coach, Andy Reid, said, "it didn't look like [a jinx] slowed down Michael Jordan."
Not much has slowed down McNabb this season. Not Rush Limbaugh saying he was overrated because he was a black quarterback. Not a thumb injury that bothered him early in the season and not the team's 0-2 and 2-3 start, losing at home to Tampa Bay and New England in the first two games by a combined score of 48-10.
The Eagles have won 11 of their last 12 games, including a nine-game winning streak, and are 41/2-point favorites over the Panthers, a team they beat in Charlotte, 25-16, on Nov. 30. The Panthers outgained the Eagles in total yardage, 336 to 283, but Carolina's normally dependable place kicker, John Kasay, missed field goals of 32, 38 and 49 yards, as well as an extra point.
McNabb played his best football down the stretch, leading the Eagles to a 5-0 record in November while completing 64 percent of his passes in that run, with six touchdowns and only one interception. In his first seven games, when the thumb was an issue, McNabb had a 54.8 quarterback rating. Over the last nine, he averaged 247 yards passing a game and threw for 13 touchdowns, with only four interceptions.
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"He's a special player because he's not a big-timer," tight end Chad Lewis said. "He'll talk to anyone and everyone in the organization. He treats everyone the same -- with total respect. You don't have to be a Pro Bowl player to get his attention. You just have to be there, and that's one reason people gravitate to him.
"He came into the league with these abilities, and he's not changing a whole lot. He's always been a great leader, he's always had the ability to win games and rally the troops. It's easy for people to take him for granted. He's so strong, has such great athletic ability and speed. He just keeps making these plays."
Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme said Wednesday he's always been a McNabb fan.
"I admire him to the utmost," Delhomme said. "It seems like he wills his team to win. [Against Green Bay] he put them on his back and he feeds off of them. When I was in New Orleans, a guy named Bubba Miller who played for them told me [McNabb] wanted to win at everything. He said he'd be in the steam room and say to you, 'I'll bet I can stay in there longer than you.' I enjoy watching him play."
Carolina Coach John Fox has been watching McNabb for years, first as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants and now in his second season with the Panthers. Against Carolina on Nov. 30, McNabb completed 18 of 26 passes for 247 yards with one touchdown and an interception. He ran twice, for six yards, far less than the playoff-record 107 yards rushing on 11 carries against the Packers.
"He's definitely improved and matured over the years," Fox said. "You could tell very early he had a wealth of ability. I've seen the most improvement in his passing game. He was always a threat to run the ball. You have to admire his leadership and how he takes control of a game."
Reid insisted that it was never his intention to put most of the offensive load on McNabb's shoulders against the Packers, but if the situation dictates it again this week, "he can survive doing that."
"We didn't go in saying everything was going to be on Donovan McNabb," Reid said. "It was the different situations the defense gave us that allowed that to take place. . . . He's a competitive guy, and if it ends up working out that way again, that's okay. Will we go in feeling that way? No. We'll go in saying everyone will have an opportunity to make plays."
NFC Notes: Fox said running back Stephen Davis did not practice Wednesday and is listed as questionable with a strained quadriceps suffered against St. Louis last weekend. Fox said Davis would be reevaluated Thursday and his status was "day-to-day." . . . Eagles cornerback Troy Vincent (hip) practiced Wednesday and Reid said he was "feeling a little better. . . . We'll just see how he does."