The Eagles quarterback usually twists himself into a pretzel trying to avoid saying anything controversial. But in the last two weeks, McNabb acknowledged that he had never registered to vote until the most recent presidential election, and he said he did not know NFL games could end in a tie.

And on the last two Sundays, his arm has gotten him into as much trouble as his mouth.

In a loss to the Giants and a tie against the Bengals, McNabb was intercepted four times and lost a fumble. In those two games, he completed 45 of 94 passes (47.9 percent). His passer rating against the Giants was 80.1. Against the Bengals, it was 50.9; he went 28 for 58 with three interceptions.

For the season, McNabb's passer rating is 84.7, which is 18th in the NFL and would be his lowest rating since 2003. He is 22d in completion percentage at 59.4. On third down, his passer rating is 78.4, which is 15th in the NFL.

But McNabb still has the backing of coach Andy Reid , who said he is not thinking about turning to second-year backup Kevin Kolb .

"The easy thing is to point fingers at Donovan," Reid said. "I'm not saying he isn't responsible, but there are other people that also have a piece of that, and we need to get that straightened out."

Bad combination The Eagles will play the Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday, and the statistics suggest they are going to have a hard time running the Football - even if they try.

The Giants gashed the Ravens for 207 yards on the ground Sunday in their 30-10 win, but they are the Giants. No team runs the ball better.

But the other nine teams that played the Ravens averaged 65.4 yards rushing. Baltimore is ranked third in the league against the run at 79.6 yards per game.

The Eagles rank 25th in the NFL in rushing, averaging 95.3 yards, and last week Brian Westbrook said he was still feeling the effects of a sprained ankle he suffered early in the season.

Here and there The good news for the Eagles is they had no injuries to report yesterday. . . . They have converted on only 35.1 percent of their third downs. Only seven teams in the league are worse. . . . For the season, the Eagles have run 391 pass plays and 239 running plays. . . . The Eagles continue to have problems scoring touchdowns from inside the red zone. They are 20 for 40 (50 percent), which is tied for 20th in the NFL. . . . Twelve of DeSean Jackson's team-high 42 catches have come on third down, averaging 16.4 yards. . . . David Akers leads the NFL with 94 points and is 22 for 26 on field goals.

- Ray Parrillo