Can Andy Reid trust Michael Vick with the season hanging in the balance on Saturday in Dallas? If the New York Jets can come out on top of the New York Giants on Saturday afternoon, the Eagles’ playoff hopes will be alive and well. One more loss, however, and we move this Eagles talk to the off-season one 
week early and try to make sense of a season that nobody expected back in August, or even September.
Saturday at 4pm, Cowboys Stadium will host either a meaningless regular season game for the Eagles or the most pressure-packed game to this date in this season for the birds. The Cowboys are still fighting for the playoffs, but they’re the frontrunners in the NFC East right now. Dallas needs one more win to eliminate the Eagles from the playoffs, and it would be their first one since the 2006-2007 season.
In that season, Donovan McNabb suffered a torn ACL in the beginning of the season and the Eagles struggled to a 5-8 record before finishing 8-8 and missing the playoffs. This year, the same scenario can play itself out, but an 8-8 Eagle team can make the playoffs, and with a healthier Vick despite his sore ribs, this team could take this season to the final week of the season with these playoff hopes.
In the first game against Dallas this season, Vick conjured up 279 passing yards by completing 21 of his 28 pass attempts. Quality numbers for a good quarterback, but the name of this game was time of possession. The Eagles held the ball for 42:09 en route to a 34-7 lambasting of the Cowboys and Rob Ryan’s ass-kicking defense.
LeSean McCoy racked up 185 yards rushing, a career high, and the Eagles offense focused on McCoy rather than Vick. When Vick was asked to make a play, he did as he threw two touchdown passes. With Vick’s good game against the Jets last week, it wouldn’t surprise me if Andy Reid rushes less in this game against the Cowboys and lets Vick try to make more plays because of how Vick played last week. Rob Ryan will probably try to gear up more on the run, leaving pressure on Vick to have a good game if the Eagles want to succeed and win.
Do I agree that Reid should put the ball in Vick’s hands? Hardly. Rushing McCoy worked last time against this defense, so why not keep it going? If Dallas shuts down McCoy, then Vick should get his chance to make a few plays. But possessing the football could be the biggest factor in this game and I just don’t see Andy making the gameplan around McCoy judging from his past.
Does Vick want in the playoffs?
“As of right now, we can’t talk about the playoffs”, Vick said yesterday. “We have to win the next game, which is the most important, and try to put ourselves in the position where we can be considered. It’s just a one game at a time attitude right here, and preparation is the key.”
That’s the kind of attitude I expect that Reid will love. Even I love it. Whether Vick believes it or not is a different story. But saying that ultimately makes everyone believe the mindset of this team is to win. They don’t care how, just win. And I think Vick embraces the pressure that Reid will put on him to make plays in order to win Saturday.
The message this week from Vick and Reid has been to focus on the Cowboys and nothing else outside of the Cowboys. When both the head football coach and the star quarterback are on the same page, it makes for good team chemistry, and I believe the trust that Vick and Reid have in each other will let them live on one more week.
But if the Giants beat the Jets, all is for naught.
