Consider the circumstances favoring the selection of McNabb over Kolb in the short term:

Kolb is still in the fragile, developmental stage of his career, and should be spotted into action much like McNabb was as a rookie in 1999 before finally taking over as the starter late in the season.

In short, it's still coddling time for Kolb, like it was coddling time for Eli Manning when he was Kurt Warner's understudy for most of 2004 with the New York Giants . In the big picture, the McNabb and Manning early career scenarios worked out pretty well.

With a Thursday game, there is little -- not just relatively little, but precious little -- of the planning and meeting time necessary to put together a plan that would maximize Kolb's chances of succeeding.

There's little question the game plan will have to change for Kolb to emphasize those pages of the playbook that have rollouts and sprintouts and quick releases over the dropback-style that makes better use of McNabb's late-career skill set.

Kolb's performance Sunday was the perfect example of the result of a backup having to use the scraps of plan tailored to the starter's strengths.

The New York Giants ? at Giants Stadium ? are up after the Cardinals, and that's a difficult enough assignment for a veteran quarterback, let alone one of Kolb's inexperience.

With a banged-up Brian Westbrook averaging just 44.5 rushing yards over his last four games, and Correll Buckhalter's availability also now in doubt because of a sprained knee, there's little chance the running game would take any pressure off Kolb.

If McNabb and the offense doesn't get their collective act together in these next two games, the Dec. 15 home game against the Cleveland Browns represents the perfect soft spot for a young quarterback to make a starting debut, even if that game is on Monday Night Football. And MNF is just another cable show any more, all but lost in TV's tundra, so it shouldn't be all that daunting of an extra dimension.

Reid, of course, did not share any of that wisdom with the masses Monday when he announced the decision to go back to McNabb, who was benched for the second half of Sunday's 36-7 loss at Baltimore.

"No," was all Reid offered when asked if the short week factored into his decision to start McNabb against Arizona.

On whether McNabb will be the starting quarterback for the rest of the season, Reid said: "As I said here right now, he's my quarterback.

"I'm telling you he's the starting quarterback. If I thought different, then I would start the other guy."

The "right now" leaves Reid some wiggle room, and that wiggle room could come into play after the Eagles face the Giants.

By then, the Eagles will either be back in the periphery of the playoff race, or clearly out of it.

By then, the future courses of a coach and his formerly connected at the hip quarterback should be easier to chart.

If Kolb becomes the starter after the game at Giants Stadium, he faces a Cleveland team that already is mired in despair, and then can get a firsthand experience of what the NFC is all about with a road game at Washington and a home game against a Dallas team that might have clinched a playoff spot and therefore be a relatively soft spot.

Better safe than sorry.

larry.orourke@mcall.com

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