Deja vu all over again: QB Jeff Garcia is an ex-Eagle to the rescue....

This Eagles' season is gettting stranger and more curious with every day; I'm beginning to feel like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, and I do mean hallucinogenic in every sense of the word. As if the Mike Vick saga weren't enough, now the Eagles have signed QB Jeff Garcia, the NFL's version of Rocky Balboa, to a one-year deal as a backup to the injured Donovan McNabb, who was cruelly speared in the end-zone on Sunday by a disgruntled Carolina Panther DT (who shall remain nameless) and who in the process broke a rib on McNabb's left side. Rob Maadi of the Associated Press broke this story 5 hours ago, so I must give him props....But if you go back a few posts on Eagles Eye, you may notice I was billboarding the availability of both Jeff Garcia and A.J. Feeley as ex-Eagle quarterbacks who could be brought back to the fold. At that time I didn't know that McNabb would be physically victimized in Game One at Carolina....but I definitely thought it was cavalier of Andy Reid (if not downright frivolous) to release proven back-up A.J. Feeley to free agency and go into the first two weeks of the season with only two QB's on the roster. QB #2 was/is 3rd-year man Kevin Kolb, who for the life of me is a mystery as to why Reid thinks so much of him. Don't get me wrong, Kolb is okay, a good athlete, acquired from the Dallas Cowboys organization for a high draft pick, and I'm sure someday he will get a starting shot with some team who's rebuilding in the NFL. But for now, he's just not ready to take on the responsibility of leading a team like the Eagles, a team that's shooting for the playoffs and beyond. Obviously the Eagles' top brass and I agree that Kolb is not the AFLAC insurance guy you would want for McNabb. Why else would they sign Garcia now? And I believe the Eagles would prefer to have re-signed A.J. Feeley as I had recommended earlier, except---only hours before the offer to Garcia, A.J. Feeley had already been signed by the Carolina Panthers as a backup to Jake Delhomme! Translation: the Eagles let their best prime-time and home-schooled 32-year-old relief pitcher get snatched away by the very team that put McNabb in the broken-rib ward! It's unbelievable to me (and incredibly short-sighted of the Eagles' management) that this was allowed to have happened---but it's also incredibly fortunate that Garcia was still unclaimed on the open marketplace after being released by Oakland. You may recall it was Jeff Garcia who bailed out the Eagles once before, when McNabb went down with a torn ACL in 2006, and Jeff stepped in and and went 6-2 as a starter and got the Eagles into the playoffs. Oh, he may only be around as a starter for two or three games this time around, and only God knows what Mike Vick is supposed to contribute when he is eligible to play after Game 2, but Jeff Garcia is excited about the opportunity to step in and save the Eagles for at least next Sunday against the Saints and the following week against Kansas City. "Whether it's a week or two weeks or the entire season, I'm excited about the opportunity," Garcia said in a conference call. "If there was ever a team I could go and blend in with right away, this is the team for me to do that." Gee, I was kinda hoping that quote would be coming from A.J. Feeley, who spent last season and the entire 2009 training camp with the Eagles, not to mention three previous seasons earlier in the decade as back-up QB to McNabb. But I'm not a Garcia hater. Trust me, at age 39, the guy is a proven winner who I believe plays a lot younger than his chronological age, and possesses the wisdom and know-how to keep any team close in a game, no matter what the odds. A four-time All-Pro selection, Garcia played extremely well in his previous stint with the Eagles in 2006, throwing 11 TD's vs. only 2 interceptions in eight starts. He's also a fan-favorite with the Philly die-hards in the stands, with his fiery personality and the win-or-be-damned attitude he exudes on the field of play. I just find it laughable, almost pathetic, that the Eagles thought they could let their best back-up QB go last week and assume they could get by with only 2 QB's on the roster until Mike Vick became eligible in Week 3. I remember thinking at that moment: what if McNabb gets hurt in the first game? If the Eagles had held on to A.J. Feeley, we wouldn't be having this conversation about Jeff Garcia. Feeley is 32, Garcia is almost 40 years of age...Feeley knows the Eagles' current playbook like the back of his hand, and Feeley knows the Eagles' offensive personnel like the roommate he's been to them for the past 2 seasons; Garcia has been out of the Eagles' mix for the past 3 seasons. Two years ago Feeley nearly beat the then-undefeated New England Patriots on Monday Night Football single-handedly; Garcia last sniffed prime-time TV also in 2007 when he led the Tampa Bay Bucs to the playoffs. But on balance, I think Feeley's connection to the current Eagles' game plan is a lot stronger than Garcia's. Still, I will embrace Jeff Garcia's last dance with the Eagles. Since A.J. Feeley is gone, we need Garcia now. Kevin Kolb is not battle-tested, and Mike Vick is not really a QB, but rather a halfback who can throw a pass on the run. Garcia becomes our next best hope at QB. To be honest, I'd rather we had held on to A.J. Feeley. But Feeley got snapped up by Carolina. Now there's a double whammy: Carolina busted up Donovan McNabb's rib and grabbed our best back-up QB all within the same 24-hour period! I am again reminded of the Sesame Street truism: "It's not easy being Green (and silver and white and black)"...and I have a whole new respect for the power of Carolina Blue....In the end, Carolina lost to the Eagles, but they potentially may have destroyed our season in the process. If Jeff Garcia is the one who has been annointed to pull the Eagles out of the Carolina pine-wood fire, then Eagles' fans are well advised to stock up on flame-retardant clothing and fire-proof Bibles, because together with Garcia we're going to have to believe and pray our way out of this current disaster.