Before the Eagles free agent bonanza this offseason many people felt as if the success of this season would depend on the performance of quarterback Michael Vick. Heading into week 9 of the season, this feeling has never been more validated.
There is no denying that the Eagles have an abundance of talent especially on the offensive side of the ball. DeSean Jackson has proven he is a Pro-bowl caliber receiver, Jeremy Maclin is quickly turning into one of the better receivers in the NFC and LeSean McCoy is a budding superstar. With that being said, this offense and this team starts and ends with number 7.
Looking back at the painful four game-losing streak that the Birds endured, all of the losses were because Vick either turned the ball over or he was injured and unable to finish the game. This is not to say that Vick lost four games in a row single-handedly and it is understood that a few of his interceptions were not all his fault either, however the games were greatly impacted by his decision making or absence from the lineup.
There are two versions of Michael Vick. There is Michael Vick; top 10-15 starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. That Vick showed up for the early part of the season.
Sunday night unveiled the season debut of “beast-mode” Michael Vick. “Beast-mode” Vick is one of the most dynamic weapons the NFL has ever seen. When “beast-mode” Vick shows up to play, there might not be a defense in the NFL that can stop him.
So what is “beast-mode” Vick? “Beast-mode” Vick is fast. Not normal Vick fast, but a step faster than everyone on field. So fast that he’s 20 yards down field and back in the huddle practically before the defense knows what hit them.
“Beast-mode” Vick is accurate. Not normal Vick accurate, accurate enough to zip a ball past the ear hole of linebacker into a window only inches big to a receiver on the back line of the end zone. Accurate enough to place the ball wherever he wants 50 plus yards down field with no more then a flick of the wrist.
“Beast-mode” Vick is sharp. Not normal Vick sharp. So sharp, he can look at a defense and check to another call he knows the defense cannot stop. So sharp that he lines up in a shotgun and runs up six yards to recover a fumble when the center snaps it off his own rear.
“Beast-mode” Vick offers something to the quarterback position that not even Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees or Ben Roethlisberger can bring. “Beast-mode” Vick is the player that had himself in MVP contention last year. “Beast-mode” Vick is what the Eagles and the fans are depending on to lead the against the Chicago Bears tonight. He’s the guy who will overcome all obstacles and lead the Birds to that Super Bowl victory at last.
No worries! Vick is settling in, more patient the last two games, not forcing the ball down 40+ yards, taking the 10+ yarders instead. Fact is we’ve been moving the ball well all season. The entire offense has to take care of the ball! As long as Vick is comfortable in the pocket (run the ball and the O line protects) he’ll carve up the Bears secondary tonight. Peppers vs Peters (suppose the Bears will move him around a bit though) But would you rather have any other offensive linemen with that assignment? I’m really interested in seeing how the defense comes out tonight…looking for a strong performance from Jenkins, Babin, Cole, Samuel, Nnamdi…Get some pressure on Cutler make him throw early, make him uncomfortable back there and we’ll see a pick or two.
Finally, Monday night has gotten here!
Lets go Eagles!
DOn’t go overboard with yout Vick love realtalk. He’s “settled in” the past 2 games. Against Washington and Dallas. Take a look at last 4 QBs vs Washington
17/24 200 8.3 1 0 109.7
21/27 262 9.7 2 1 116.4
18/23 256 11.1 1 0 127.5
18/31 237 7.6 1 1 79.6
Guess which one was Vick. Washington is terrible and have given up on the season. Vick didn’t exactly light the turn on fire. In fact he’s the wors of the last 4 QBs on the list….one of which is a rookie.
Dallas, I’m going to adjust a little, because in their last 4 they faced AJ Feely and Tavaris, and neither of them count as NFL QBs. Lets look at the last 4 decent teams (NE, Phil, SF, Det)
27/41 289 7.0 2 2 82.3
21/43 240 5.6 2 1 71.9
16/24 179 7.5 2 1 99.1
M. Vick 21/28 279 10.0 2 0 129.9
Here Vick did better than his peers. Probably his best game as an Eagle. Better than the Monday night game (wsh didn’t try) or comeback (fluke). But I’m going to need to see it a lot more over the next 8 weeks to be convinced.
Vick will have a good dame tonight (22-34 for 226 yards 1 TD Passing, 1 TD Rushing and 1 Int)
Celek/Harbor with 8-9 Catches between them and yes, a Steve Smith sighting with 4-5 Catches and the usual good play from Maclin/McCoy out of the backfield..
D-Jax 2 Catches (1 of which is a 45 yard play in which he gets tackled at the 2 yard line)
Vinnie, all I have ot say to you is…shut your dumb ass up!
vinniethehater — care to compare kevin kolb and vicks stats this year?
this article is bs, if eagles need Vick to be a beast, they lose, he played a great game on Sunday, but Reid helped a lot with a new found running game, if Reid takes the pressure off Vick so he doesn’t have to be a beast, not press, eagles win a close one, figure it out, if the eagles are going to advance it will not be by Vick alone, screw this beast talk
Beast – Mode.?? This sounds like an article from my 13 y/o nephew
Ok. Just for your amusement. But I will only comapre their stats on similar games. That only seems fair. That way we can match their work against similar opponents. In fact, this could be a fun game…we can call it:
Which is shitty ass Kolb and Which is the Superstar Vick.
Be careful, its harder than you think. Oh and just for fun, I added the Rams game, so we can expand the game to: Which is shitty ass Skelton and which is the superstar Vick.
Washington:
18/31 237 7.6 1 1 79.6
17/30 251 8.4 2 1 92.5
Giants:
20/34 237 7.0 0 1 67.9
16/23 176 7.7 0 1 73.8
Rams
14/32 187 5.8 2 0 83.7
20/35 222 6.3 1 0 85.7
This is a fun game! I can’t tell who is who.
I’m glad we’ve set the bar at Vick being better than the awesome Kolb/Skelton combo. And he doesn’t clear it!
Pretty similar
I agree with Jake & Gotta about expecting Vick to have to carry the team to Victory..I disagree 100%, The Eagles Offense is most effective is when the balll is being spread out amongst their 5-6-7 weapons and makes opposing teams have to cover the entire field,makes the play calls unpredictable and really put opposing Defenses on their heels… Vick doesn’t have to do it alone, toss a few deep ones, work the middle of the field with the WR & TE’s, Hand it off to McCoy, thrown some Screens run a few misdirection plays and then on occasion,make a couple plays with his legs… I think He plays a good, solid game tonight and makes some plays, distributes the ball and most impotantly, protect the ball and stays away from neagative plays and if Vick does that, the Eagles have an excellent cheance of winning tonight and beating most teams..
Anyone can “win” an argument when they pick and choose what facts they want to put out your canadian imbecile.
I’m not ‘winning’ anything. I’m just playing a game. and awwww….you didn’t like my game Birdo? I’m sad.
Who would you like to have Vick play the game against? Name the QB…I’ll set it up!
Vinnie I think vick has shown that he
can execute a game plan and compliment it with his athleticism. Move on to something else
Round 2 of Guess which one is Vick!
This round getting tougher. The prizes have doubled. Mixed up with Vick are guys named Dalton, Brady, Eli, Campbell and Sanchez. Where does Vick rank??
VS Buffalo
20/28 230 8.2 1 1 92.9
23/33 323 9.8 2 1 108.5
18/36 298 8.3 1 2 64.4
21/32 292 9.1 0 0 94.8
26/40 315 7.9 2 4 66.1
30/45 387 8.6 4 4 86.0
Now for the double secret probation bonus round!! Ho’d he stack up on one of his ‘good’ games? This time Vick up against Freeman, Rodgers, Stafford, Cutler, and the incomperable Tavaris Jackson!
VS Falcons
19/28 242 8.6 2 1 103.6
22/32 312 9.8 2 1 107.8
26/39 396 10.2 2 0 117.0
25/38 319 8.4 3 2 96.3
15/32 183 5.7 1 0 75.4
And finally, lets look at Vick’s Piece de Resistance this year against the Cowboys. Lets see how his peers stack up against the ole Boys:
26/44 335 7.6 2 1 88.7
21/43 240 5.6 2 1 71.9
21/28 279 10.0 2 0 129.9
27/41 289 7.0 2 2 82.3
No doubt…Vick’s best game…way out in front of his peers here…a far cry from the other games mentioned…can he keep up the pace????
And that leads us to the back to the future round!!
A look ahead to tonight. Here’s how Vick’s peers have performed against the Vaunted Chicago defense:
M. Ryan 31/47 319 6.8 0 1 76.5
D. Brees 26/37 270 7.3 3 0 118.1
A. Rodgers 28/38 297 7.8 3 1 111.4
C. Newton 27/46 374 8.1 1 1 83.1
M. Stafford 19/26 219 8.4 2 1 107.7
Some QBs able to put up same gaudy numbers on the Bears this year. I believe the term for the Bears D is, over-rated.
Where will Vick fit in to the above list?
They need Vick to be the controlled and accurate QB that he was last week, and that means that the gameplan stays the same. McCoy, Celek, short passes and long drives. Then as soon as the defense, starts to cheat, nail’em with D-Jax or Maclin over the top. The birds don’t need Vick to be superman tonight to win.
if vick didint have 4 tipped interceptions and 3 dropp touchdowns by desean jackson.. his stats would be pretty damn great.. but i agree with what G is saying vick does go into a beast mode when he is in vicious command he is unstoppable when he gets in that zone
All the Bears can do is run the ball so Juan Castille but 9 in the box you idiot.
This offense looks like they’re sleep walking and have no spark. Surely hope they don’t they’re all that after last weeks big win.
Oh well, here we go again…
This defense SUCKS tonight!
DRC flat out stinks. He doesnt want to tackle anyone. He should be benched.
Juan Castille plays friggin zone again. Is he clueless or what. Didnt he learn at 1-4 it wasnt working? Blitz friggin Cutler and play man. They have no pass rush.
daggolden, I’m with ya buddy he shouldn’t have let bennet get that twice. Someone needs to tell him that this isn’t the cardinals. This is mean green time. He may need to sit on the bench. We stink as a team tonight. This is pathetic. I have a 8’oclock chem lab, paper and a presentation due tomorrow afternoon and this is the kind of crap I get stuck with on Monday night NFL. I’m close to throwing the towel in on this whole “shabang”. Over the last two years, I took off monday nights from work to see the Bears skunk us. Now back in school and have a day job and this is the kind of crap I get stuck with. If we don’t score by halftime, the TV goes off and I’ll here about our possible loss tomorrow…CRAP; we’re making Urlacher look like a real playmaker. Good job Maclin on the 3rd and 9 though.
Celek too…
I have a question for Andy…..
Is linebacker a important position?
Why are we throwin footballs to Ronnie Brown?
glad we got the field goal, but that kicker is kind fishy with his accuracy. I’ll take the 3 though.
The Bears look like a team coming off a bye and having 2 weeks to prepare like we did against Dallas.
I was asked at work today what I thought of tonight’s game. My reply was that I had no expectations. I know how good AND how bad this team can play. So far, it’s looking like the bad team tonight. Let’s hope they can figure this out on O & D.
Yeah Baby! Role in the right place at the right time!
The national media just ride our jocks non-stop. Its over bearing. If I was an opposing fan watching thier team play vs the Eagles it is sickening. Especially since we are a 3-4 team.
Jackson’s pathetic 5.7 yards return avg per punt now turns it over. Been a long time since he stepped up and made a game changing play. I’d be reluctant to iron out a contract with him too.
THANKS FOR GIVING THE BEARS 7 POINTS DESEAN. YOU’VE BEEN PLAYIN PATHETIC LATELY TOO. GET IT TOGETHER MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Check that, 5.3 yds / punt return for Jackson
DION LEWIS IS GARBAGE AS WELL. WE NEED A REAL KICK RETURNER. RENO MAHE ALL OVER AGAIN.
TV’s off I’m out gang. PEACE
You get what you pay for for 600,000 a year WTF do you want. Im not trying to get hurt.
Dag – Then put someone out there that’ll play with some heart.
Yeah you’re right dag…it sucks though. I don’t think we’ll resign him. Maclin is a beast and we might be lookin to get another beast. Wish Djax got his though. As a fan I hate the way he’s playin; but it’s his life and money I guess.
You’re right too MaybeTheyCan. Heart is all us fans are asking you to play with…Heart. Give us a reason to love our birds like the good ol Buddy Ryan days when we played with heart despite knowing we’re not going into the post season. Me and my brothers would go crazy over BR and his antics back in the day…miss those days of heart man.
Well, the defense has played better, let’s hope the offense get it going.
Eagles get the ball t ostart the 2nd half..
The way I look at it, Forte’s Fumble was a gift 7 Pts to the Eagles
and D-Jax stupid play gave the Bears 7 points… Maclin drops a 30 yard pass with room to run, Celeke catches the ball and should have ran out of bounds.. Some questionable blocking assignments up front… EAgles are fortunate to be in this game.. Why do the Bears Receiver look like the old 49ers WR’s every time we play them and why can’t the Eagles WR ever get any separtation for their Secondary.. Every year Eagles WR’s do nothing versus the mediocre Bears DB’s…. Let’s see what happend 2nd half and where is the pass rush, The Eagles need to blitz Cutler more for when he has time, he is finding WR’s open .. when he’s rushes he’s forcing the ball out early.. Need pressure on him and the Def front 4 is not bringing it..
Make a play Maclin.
Gotta give it to em’. That was a gut it out old time football drive for a touchdown and they stuck with the run. My hat’s off to the team and coaches for that drive.
I dont understand why Juan doesnt just keep blitzing this team. Why wouldnt you run blitz? Why wouldnt you man up against these recievers and blitz Cutler?
Graham isn’t doing anything.
dag – I think you answered that question earlier tonight when you where bragging about DRC.
I say bring back mahe as our kick returner. This is crap