Photo by frank.thorp.

Donovan McNabb believes he’s going to hear cheers when he returns to Philadelphia this Sunday. He’s probably right, considering McNabb’s not the one who traded himself to Washington. And it would be asinine for Philly fans to boo the guy who displaced the Detmer brothers, among others, in the long and storied Eagles quarterback tradition. McNabb and the Redskins roll into Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday to face the Eagles and their shiny new (old) toy, Michael Vick. People are falling all over themselves to talk about McNabb playing his first game in Philadelphia for a team other than the Eagles, and Vick continuing his comeback after spending so much time away from the game. Both are great stories leading up to what, on paper, appears to be a massacre in the making. In the end, McNabb will make too many plays that remind Eagles fans why they’re happy to be rid of him, and the Redskins defense will let Vick walk right through them.

It’s kind of weird to think that Eagles head coach Andy Reid, who tried to keep McNabb bottled up in the pocket for years, would be the coach under which a Vick-run offense would look the most fluid. Philly’s offense has been firing on all cylinders with Vick under center, but keep in mind that in the last two games, Vick’s faced the 29th- and 30th-ranked defenses in the league (Jacksonville and Detroit, respectively). While that could be a red herring concerning how the Eagles will match up with higher quality opponents down the line, it certainly doesn’t bode well for the Redskins — who, statistically speaking, have the worst defense in the league.