It was a four-up play or four verticals, where all of the wide receivers go deep down the field. Michael Vick pump faked down the middle to keep the safety in the middle of the field. He then let the ball go down the left sideline to rookie wide receiver Riley Cooper.
He was going for it all. The ball was on the 27 yard line and they had plenty of time with 44 seconds remaining. They were trailing 21-16, but they had Green Bay where they wanted them despite not playing well for most of the game.
This was headed to be another storybook ending to a Michael Vick-led game. The stadium was ready to erupt if and when the Birds reached the end zone, but Vick did showed a weakness which has hurt over the latter part of the season, impatience.
“I could have checked it down to the back. I got greedy and took a shot at the end zone,” Vick said in the news conference following the game, “I didn’t throw the ball I wanted to throw, and it got picked off. It’s a bad way to go out, but, hey, I went out swinging.”
The decision to throw it up to a rookie could be questioned, but the reason it was picked off was more caused by the throw than the decision. He underthrew the ball. The throw wasn’t high enough. Vick should have put more air under it. He should have given Cooper a chance at it by putting it high enough so only the wide receiver would have a chance at it.
Regarding the decision, the Eagles quarterback could have stopped the clock and given he and the team time to decide what they were going to do, but he was trying to attack and catch the defense sleeping.
DeSean Jackson and rookie wide receiver Riley Cooper thought he was going to stop the clock by grounding the ball, but Vick didn’t think that was necessary.
He could have checked the ball down to LeSean McCoy or looked up one of the more experienced receivers as opposed to throwing it to the kid.
Do you remember rookie wide receiver Cooper coming back and intercepting a pass which was getting ready to be intercepted against the Tennessee Titans? He should have attacked the ball in the same way last night but he didn’t.
Rookie Cooper should have played defensive back and broken up the interception. He waited behind Tramon Williams and went up while figuring the ball was going to get over Williams hands. It didn’t.
The young receiver should have come back and ripped the ball out of Williams hands. He’s got to come back and go after the football. He has to put his body up against the defensive back and refuse to allow him to pick the ball off.
“We were very confident,” Vick said. “We thought we were going to win the game. I thought we were going to win the game. I had an upbeat feeling about myself. I felt like I was in control.”
Vick said he’s eager to improve and learn from the mistake he made.
“To be on the 27-yard line,” Vick said after the game, “and for me to make the decision that I made and try to get the big play, that’s something I definitely need to work on. I try to do everything I can to protect the ball and keep the ball away from the opposing team and make positive plays, and I failed to do that in that situation.
It’s something that I’ll have to really work on in the offseason, and it’s something we’re going to have to work on. I’ve just got to deal with it on a personal level.”
man im so tired of these kind of interviews/ press conf / whatevr u wanna call it
i’ve been pulling for vick all yr loved him be4 eagles and still lovem
but welcome to choke town mike
u r now part of the team
u have now earned ur badge
cpatn andy runs a tight choke ship
ANDY REID YOU ARE DON COREYELL AND WE ARE NEVER GOING TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP WITH YOU.
A. You have to run to win in the playoffs. It is the rule more than the exception.
B, You had a RB with a 5.2 apc and a 18 rank run defense and he gets 12 touches. Pathetic
C. You had 2 weeks to prepare for this team and your QB gets sacked on the 1st play? Pathetic
D, You are hard headed. A rookie coach showed you how to protect a rookie(min) QB and win (run)
Greenbay protects a vetran qb by running. Even when they are not good at it. They ran.
YOU JUST DON’T GET IT.
MIKE VICK you don’t have to apoligize for anything. If babyarm (3 ints agains dallas) had been in there the game would have been over a long time ago. Riley Cooper should have broken up the pass or heres a thought. Fought for the football!
If you spiked the ball and gave andy time to think he would have tried a field goal and a onside kick.
Look what happened at the 2 point conversion. Time to think and it’s a disaster. Earlier in the game calls a defensive time out next play packers score. Andy stinks in high pressure situations and you knew it Mike. That’s why you took over the Giants game. Andy’s play calling all game stunk.
You made the right decision. You got one on one coverage and you gave your bigger wr a chance to make a play. Spike it and gb comes with a blitz and sacks you with no time outs. Go for the win. I can live attacking and coming up short. Not stupid play calling. I would not feel safe with dunlap protecting my blind side either.
by the way desean jackson had open field to the sideline but he cut back inside. none of the eagles seem to know when to run out of bounds and stop the clock. forget the spike.
The packers were coming with the blitz on the next play and a sack with no timeouts was coming. thats what they did for the 2 point conversion and with vicks ankle hurt you could put money on it they would have sacked him.
Taking a shot at that time was the right move. periond.
Oh yeah. I almost forgot. Ernie Sims you stink!
don’t foget Chad Hall either BSM…
bsm
Your posts are epic!
Those crossing routes were open all game long,
Even D-Jax caught one with plenty of room to run on the one he almost broke..
Did anyone else think that after he was tackled and fumbled that he could have picked-up and kept
running.. It didn’t appear that the Refs blew the whistle when he initally went down and there wasn’t a Packer within 10 yards…
Yes sir BSM, Vick doesn’t need to apologize for nothing…But I like how he handled the loss, pointing fingers at noone but himself, thats how a leader handles it,…How easy would it have been for him to make mention of Akers, two missed field goals (in reality, we may have won the game if he makes those) Akers has been reliable kicker all season long, just didnt come through in the biggest game of the season…Vick didnt mention Celek, not being focused on the two point conversion and stepped out, if we get that we only need a field goal to go to OT (that was a hell of a throw by the way) Winston Justice knucle head mistakes….It just wasn’t meant to be, when you think about the mistakes we were making all game long…Eagles, now its time to think about next season, lock Vick in or we’ll be in trouble next season…The NFC East will not be the same next season!
another vote of cofidence for BSM
The NFC East will be up for grabs again
Redksins are rebuilding and will probably have 15-20 players on their squad as they get rid of older players like McNAbb,Portis,Hayneswoth,P Daniels, J Galloway and half their O/Line.
Cowboys will also see some major changes and expect to see M Barber,Roy Williams, K Brookings, T Newman all get released
Giants have some age and health issues along their O/Line, at RB, have Free-agensts in WR S Smith, DT B Coefield and still need upgrades at LB spot…
hey bsm how bout 4 th n inches down 2 scores 5 min to go u take a time out to run a qb sneak
we waited till 6 min to run a no huddle play were playing as if we were up 10 i hate this every yr im so sick my god
PW
Time management issues continue. They did not leave town with McNabb.
I like that Vick has a killer instinct. The pass was a bad one, but he wasn’t passive and went for the jugular. Like he said, he down swinging, unlike Ryan Howard.
Well I agree with him. Vick did exactly what he should have done take a shot and at that point in the game what did the Eagles have to lose anyway? I mean really. Anyway, the Irony is that It shouldn’t even have had to come down to one desperate play at the end of the game. They had multiple opportunities to score the whole game starting right out of the gate and they didn’t get it done. End of story.
Im happy for him to have a shot at the end zone. Cooper just needs to adjust to the underthrown ball a bit better as a receiver. We used to complain for years that the 2 minute offense under McNabb would be full of checkdowns and bad use of the clock. At least this year the ball was thrown into the end zone to give us a chance.
I’m on-board that Vick doesn’t owe anyone an apology. His post-game interview was such a departure from what Eagles fans have been hearing for years. He started with pointing the finger at himself and ended it with how he’s going to improve on the focus areas he knows he has. Wow. That interview softened my criticism that I had of him during the game because I think he saw what we saw and knows he’s got room for improvement and needs work. Jeez, he didn’t even throw the young & inexperienced players under the bus in a game that he would’ve had more reason to do so than McDud ever had. I guess he missed 5’s and Reid’s classes on how to treat the reporters and talk to the fans through them.
I only wish that I didn’t know in my heart that the bottleneck on this team has always been and will continue to be Reid on game-day.
Jackson was wide open at 15
BSM,
You are exactly right! You’re saying the same thing I’ve been saying all week! It was a jump ball. a decent reciever (who was at least 4 inches taller than the defender) one on one should have had the advantage. He should have gone for the ball at it’s highest point and fought off the defender. No way Williams should’ve been allowed to intercept. Cooper could’ve grabbed him at least . This play was the whole season .