Love him or hate him, and there's a vocal sect that definitely is in the latter category, but know that McNabb is the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles , and will be the quarterback when they play the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals on Thanksgiving night, the New York Giants on Dec. 7, and most likely when they meet the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 15.

If the Eagles are eliminated from postseason contention for the third time in four seasons, things should change. Next year will probably be quite different (although the coach probably isn't going anywhere).

Until next year? It's all McNabb.

And really, did anyone expect anything else from the coach who forever will be tied to the quarterback he selected second in the 1999 draft, molded into the West Coast offense, and rode to four NFC championship games and that single Super Bowl?

You might be clamoring for Kevin Kolb simply because you know he's not McNabb, or you might be ready for change although there are no guarantees, but the head coach? He's not giving up on his veteran. If the proverbial ship goes down this season - and boy, is it taking on water - it's going down with McNabb at the helm.

After 10 years in this town with this franchise, that's only fair to McNabb. When it is time, and it certainly appears as if that time is just about here, McNabb deserves a graceful exit.

During an atypically introspective day-after news conference yesterday following the Eagles' stunning 13-13 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals, Reid publicly backed his starting quarterback. He said there was no situation right now in which he would consider getting a look at Kolb in a game.

"No," Reid said flatly, "that's not what I'm doing right now. Donovan will continue to be the quarterback. Donovan, for every throw that he didn't make there, he'll get himself back. I know that he has already talked to you guys after the game and put the blame on his back, which quarterbacks do. He'll continue to fire and get whatever is wrong straightened out and get it right."

Sure, there is mounting evidence that McNabb is on the downward slope of his career. The Eagles' offense has been erratic this season, and McNabb has been a brutally slow starter these last four weeks and hasn't been able to lead the Eagles back from behind once all season.

His passes at times have sailed way above the heads of his receivers, and at other times have landed awkwardly at the receivers' feet or out of their reach.

Despite saying he's finally 100 percent healthy after a knee injury prematurely ended his 2006 season, McNabb hasn't tucked the Football and run often enough when plays have broken down. He hasn't been able to make something out of nothing, that unique gift that made McNabb so special earlier in his career.

And then there was the gaffe to beat all gaffes on Sunday. Every time I hear the clip, it sounds more absurd that McNabb didn't know that regular-season games that are still tied after 15 minutes of overtime end in a tie.

The man has participated in nine overtime games in his NFL career - albeit one early in his rookie season, before he was a major contributor - and not until the end of Sunday's game did he know the overtime rules? Was he serious? It was as if McNabb was using a 34-year-old rule to explain why the Eagles lost to a team with one victory.

Reid reluctantly took the blame for that yesterday, too, showing just how committed publicly he was to the 31-year-old McNabb.

"I'll take the responsibility for that," Reid said.

There will come a time soon enough, if there hasn't already, when Reid makes the decision that McNabb must go. It could be next month or early next year, but certainly before the Eagles' first minicamp of the 2009 season, McNabb will no longer be here and the offense will belong to Kolb.

But until that time, Reid is sticking with McNabb, and despite McNabb's flaws and scars, that's the right decision. See this thing through. If it destructs, as it looks like it will, then so be it. A couple of starts this late into the season wouldn't do that much to help Kolb, anyway.

"Hey, he's had a couple of slow starts here, and that's all right," Reid said of McNabb. "We'll get through it. We'll work through it. He'll continue to push. He's a competitive guy."

And the reality is that McNabb is the Eagles' starter. For now.

Ashley Fox:

See Donovan McNabb admit he didn't know a game could end in a tie at http://go.philly.com/overtime.

Contact staff writer Ashley Fox at 215-854-5064 or afox@phillynews.com.