‘Michael Vick Era’ Comes And Goes In Philly
Added on Sep 19, 2010 by Jason Kearney in
No Comments
Credit where credit is due–Michael Vick looked like a reasonably competent NFL quarterback in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 35-32 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Vick passed for 284 yards and 2 TDs–with no interceptions–in his first NFL start in ages. He was playing against arguably the worst secondary in the NFL, but he did what he had to do. His performance and the victory over the Lions was really all that Philadelphia has to be happy about their performance in this game. The offensive line, as predicted, was horrible and allowed Vick to be sacked 5 times. Considering that Vick is nothing if not ‘mobile, a more traditional quarterback would have been sacked six or seven times. And then there’s the defense–the Eagles ‘stop unit’ (a term I’m using loosely) allowed Shaun Hill to throw for 335 yards and 2 TDs and gave up a pair of rushing touchdowns to former Cal Bears standout Jahvid Best. While a win is a win, there’s much that doesn’t bode well for Philadelphia going forward.
And according to Eagles’ head coach Andy Reid, the Vick era in Philadelphia has already come to an end. Kevin Kolb will return to the lineup as the starting quarterback for next week’s game at Jacksonville. We seldom give Reid any props, but this is the right call. Kolb in particular, and the Eagles’ offense in general, is young but talented and the only way they’re going to develop is to get the playing time and take their lumps. Credit to Vick for not throwing any INTs on Sunday, but we’re not sure that would continue behind the Eagles’ horrendous OL when he faces a competent NFL secondary. In any case, the last thing this team needs is a ‘quarterback controversy’ especially involving Kolb who is still learning the ropes as a NFL starter.
Reid did say that Vick will be involved more in the offense this year:
“We’ve got more plays for him than we did a year ago, so he’ll be on the field. It isn’t going to be five or six plays this year.”
Not sure that this is the smartest move either–Vick makes better decisions and generally plays better when he’s in ‘the flow’ of the game. If you’re going to use Vick to best advantage you need to make a decision to build your offense around him like the Falcons did. Otherwise, bringing him in for ‘gimmick plays’ in an offense built for a traditional NFL QB like Kolb may be counterproductive. Having said all that, Vick isn’t a longterm solution at QB for any team in the NFL at this point. He has some value as a backup, but against a tougher defense he wouldn’t be nearly as effective as he was today.
Another real head scratcher about the Eagles’ QB rotation–with a young starter in Kolb and a talented rookie in #3 QB Mike Kafka why doesn’t Philadelphia bring in a ‘solid pro’ veteran QB to be backup? Even Vick fanboys have to concede that he’s not the best team leader and he’s most definitely not the guy you want young quarterbacks learning their craft from. I’m no Vick fan, but he’s a unique athlete and more traditional type quarterbacks like Kolb and Kafka would benefit from having a guy like Pittsburgh’s Charlie Batch or Rams’ QB–and former Philadelphia Eagle–A.J. Feeley (pictured) in the locker room.
No Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
