The Optimistic Scenario For Vick And The Eagles Last Three Games

I believe the NFL Lockout hurt Michael Vick more than any other veteran player on the Philadelphia Eagles roster and even in the NFL for that matter.  These final three games are very importatnt in the progress and future of Vick.   The quality of Vick’s play will have a huge affect on coach Andy Reid and the entire direction of where this franchise is heading.

Let’s be honest about Vick, he had an unbelievable stretch of play last fall for about 5-6 Week period, but has been very mediocre and or injured since then, We can all agree that the Eagles probably overpaid him and the team has committed such a huge amount of money to him, that he’s the #1 quarterback and face of the franchise.

Despite the amount of money they have committed to him, if Vick is going to show reckless play with ball security and his own health, then we can all agree that this team and franchise moving forward will not compete for a championship..

I stated last week that over these final 4 games, Vick would handle the ball approx 250 times and attempt approximately 130-140 passes and that many of us would be watching his production, his decision making and his overall performance.

I was never sold that he is a true elite quarterback in the NFL..(he makes damn exciting plays) but there is a big difference of making exciting plays and being a real leader who plays all 16 games.  A signal caller, who is consistent from week in to week out and a guy, who can play and rally the team in adverse conditions; overcome sloppy play,penalties, turnovers, bad calls, hostile environments, etc, etc.

Soo far his play at home at the Linc has been pretty poor with his 1-6 record since that Viking game last December.  He is and always has been the key to this offense and this team is built to score points fast and often.  Without Vick leading the team and consistently scoring 28-30 points a game, the Eagles will not be a playoff contender..

We all knew that defensively, this team was going to be a work in progress so their struggles are not a real surprise with all their moving parts, but this Eagle offense is relatively the same at the skill positions that they were the year before.  They have the same system with the same big play players.   The problem has been that there have been very few big plays and the play-makers have let this offense and therefore the team down, big time.

He has a chance to straighten himself up over these final three games playing the Jets, the Cowboys and the Redskins as does the entire team.  The Jets and the Cowboys are fighting to make the playoffs, so let’s see how the Eagles will stand up in meaningful games that in essence are like playoff games (at least to their opponents they are).

A strong finish will go a long ways to having  a successful off-season with an eye for next season.  A collapse and a quitting team with brooding players means a major shake-up and a possible rebuilding situation could occur.  In that case most fans would say, “Let’s blow things up”.

The reality is, if you go ahead and fire the coaching staff or go with a new scheme here or there and go get another starting quarterback, then be prepared for a couple of rebuilding seasons and everyone needs to be careful what they wish for.

The better smarter scenario is to finish strong and competitive in these final three games and hopefully win them all but at least play good, hard, and fundamentally-sound football.  A good finish would be something which they can build on and then add two or three pieces on defense and one or two pieces on offense.

If all that happens, they’ll be rarin’ to go for 2012.. It’s the optimistic way to look at this team right here and right now.