The Donovan McNabb Era ended Sunday.

And the Andy Reid Era may not be far behind.

Reid pulled the plug on his starting quarterback at halftime of Sunday’s implosion against the Ravens.

But after being joined at the hip for 10 years, Reid could not bring himself to tell his starter in person he was making the move. The move was an exclamation point on another ugly day in Eagles-land, with the disorganized Birds embarrassed by the Ravens, 36-7.

You could make an argument in favor of lifting McNabb; he was once again horrendous in the first half. No. 5 managed to complete only eight of 18 attempts. He also threw two picks and coughed up a fumble. He failed to put any points on the board. The Eagles’ lone touchdown came courtesy of a 100-yard kickoff return by Quentin Demps.

Oddly enough, even with as miserably as they played offensively, the Birds were only down 10-7 at the half, in large part because of a fairly solid effort on the part of their defense.

Reid made the move anyhow, pulling the plug on McNabb and throwing untested Kevin Kolb to the wolves – or rather the Ravens. There are probably a lot of defenses you would consider making that kind of move against. The Ravens are not one of them. They are one the best defenses in the NFL. And it showed. Kolb looked equally as confused as McNabb had been.

Reid might have made a quarterback change, but he clearly did not have a change of heart in terms of his play-calling.

With the Eagles trailing by just two scores, Kolb managed to put together a solid drive. He led the Birds down the field, arriving at the Ravens’ 1-yard-line. As has been the norm for the Eagles this year, trouble quickly ensued.

The Eagles tried a quarterback sneak on first down. They made it to about the half-yard line. You know what was coming next. Yep, Reid abandoned the run. He had Kolb drop back and try to throw for a TD. Instead, Ed Reed picked off the pass deep in the end zone and promptly motored 108 yards for a back-breaking touchdown.

It is Reid’s – and Eagles fans – own personal version of “Groundhog Day,” as they do the same thing again and again.

Faced with a third-and-one in the first half, Reid had McNabb throw deep, a ball that also was promptly picked off.

But perhaps Reid’s most egregious offense yesterday was his halftime decision to dump McNabb and throw Kolb in against one of the best defenses in the NFL. And maybe more importantly, not having the intestinal fortitude to inform your starter of that in person.

Reid admitted after the game he had not talked to McNabb. The quarterback indicated he got the word from quarterbacks coach Pat Shurmur.

Forget the economy. It’s the Eagles who are now in meltdown mode. This is an implosion.

The guess here is that Reid goes back to McNabb for Thursday’s Thanksgiving night game against the Cardinals.

But make no mistake that the Reid-McNabb Era is over. And it didn’t end pretty.