The Daily Philadelphian

Kevin Kolb gets fired up after a play in Sunday's loss. Kolb earned another start with a solid game against the Saints.

Early in the second half during Sunday’s 48-22 thumping, boos cascaded down from the upper bowl of Lincoln Financial Field.

Surprisingly, Kevin Kolb was not the main target. Even more surprising? Chants for Jeff Garcia didn’t overtake the stadium at any point on Sunday. That’s how well Kolb played.

Making his first career start, the third year quarterback from Houston completed 31-of-51 passes for 391 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

The maligned signal caller who many, including your Daily Philadelphian, thought would be replaced by Garcia during the game and ultimately released by the Eagles, completed 60 percent of his passes and put up the 12th most passing yards in a game by an Eagles quarterback, according to Comcast SportsNet’s Ray Didinger.

“He did some good things today, and some not-so good things,” said Eagles coach Andy Reid.

Kolb acknowledged that he made some poor decisions, and needs to improve.

With the exception of the interception at the beginning of the third quarter, Kolb did a good job protecting the ball. The interceptions late in the fourth quarter, especially the one on the Hail Mary pass at the end, were during desperate times.

Otherwise, he took sacks and threw the ball away when needed. Rarely did he try to force a pass into double coverage. He looked for the check-down receiver when needed. He played smart most of the game and looked poised for a guy in his first start.

Having a full week of practice and working with the first unit made him look like a completely different player than the one we saw against Baltimore last year, or even Carolina last week.

The Eagles didn’t lose the game because of Kolb. He didn’t miss tackles on defense. He didn’t fumble the ball away to start the second half. He didn’t call seven Wildcat plays in the first half, which may have impacted the offensive rhythm. He didn’t drop a pass in the end zone. He didn’t miss blocks on the offensive line.

Is Kolb going to push McNabb for the starting spot? Is he the next coming of Randall Cunningham or Ron Jaworski? Not even close.

Is Kolb the next Bobby Hoying? Is he going to roll over and let Vick pass him on the depth chart? Not a chance.

As long as McRib is out, Kolb will start. He earned that right on Sunday.