The decision, announced at a tense little news conference yesterday, was based on circumstances and not commitment. It would be folly to start Kevin Kolb after a short practice week - folly even greater than throwing the young quarterback into the fire against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

McNabb is officially plugging the hole until Reid decides it is sink-or-swim time for Kolb. Since Reid swims or sinks to the bottom along with his hand-picked successor for No. 5, that is a decision he'd like to put off as long as possible.

And so: McNabb.

For now, at least.

"As I sit here right now," Reid said, "he's my quarterback."

Minutes later, Reid wasn't sitting there anymore. That's how flimsy his vote of confidence sounded.

The bigger question is how much bad can be expected to result from this decision. And it turns out there isn't all that much risk.

It really is not fair to make McNabb start in front of what figures to be a deeply disgruntled home crowd - not four days after stripping him of his rank in front of his teammates, the NFL and the world at large. Fans will be waiting to pounce on every mistake McNabb makes.

Then again, having seen Kolb play a half Sunday, the fans might be less likely to chant his name. A.J. Feeley could find his popularity rising once again.

Other than that, though, Reid's yo-yoing of his quarterbacks won't do any real long-term damage to McNabb, to Kolb or to this team. It changes almost nothing about the situation beyond Thanksgiving Day.

If the Eagles still have a chance, however slim, to make the playoffs, McNabb will likely remain the starter. If the Eagles are eliminated, Reid will almost certainly let Kolb play out the meaningless rest of the season.

When the off-season comes, McNabb almost certainly will be gone.

What happens Thursday won't change that, and it won't really change his prospects for 2009 and beyond.

Look around the NFL. The team with the best record in the AFC, Tennessee, has Kerry Collins starting at QB. Collins is on his fifth NFL team. The Titans' first loss of the season was doled out Sunday by the New York Jets' Brett Favre - who has found new life after a full career and twilight in Green Bay.

This week's Eagles opponent, Arizona, is 7-4 with Kurt Warner (third NFL team) at quarterback. Tampa Bay is 8-3 and in the playoff hunt with Jeff Garcia, who is with his fifth NFL team.

There is every reason to believe McNabb can go somewhere else and thrive, especially if he finds a situation with a balanced offense and a good defense. Changing cities will mean shedding all the baggage and all the history, good and bad, that is attached to him here.

It comes down to this: McNabb will have a better chance to step in and win somewhere else in 2009 than Reid and the Eagles will have of returning to serious contention right away without him.

Even if Reid is right about Kolb - and there's no way to know - it could take a year or two for the kid to reach whatever his upside is going to be. By then, the Eagles could look very different from the team that got crushed in Baltimore.

Actually, the Eagles had better look very different. Reid's reputation as a head coach depends upon it - assuming of course that Reid is still the guy in charge of fixing this team.

Reid will have to address the aging of Brian Westbrook and the glaring decline of his offensive line. If he has learned anything from his 10 years with McNabb, he will reconsider some of the tenets of his Football faith. That means commitment to a running game and a willingness to tolerate fast, talented wide receivers on his roster.

What Reid and the Eagles did mid-decade isn't easy. They had a franchise quarterback, offensive tackles, cornerbacks, a star running back and a great free safety. They could score points and rush opposing quarterbacks. Getting all that right at the same time is tough. Doing it all again is going to be even tougher.

McNabb could go to Chicago or Minnesota, St. Louis or a half-dozen other places and be the final piece that completes a contender.

Reid will have a much more difficult puzzle to solve. Of course, it's a puzzle - and a mess - he created for himself.

Contact columnist Phil Sheridan at 215-854-2844 or psheridan@phillynews.com. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com