Andy Reid’s Trust In Vick Was Never More Evident Than In This Jets Game

Wow, where was this Eagles team all season?

Michael Vick completed 15 of 22 passes, totaling 274 yards with one touchdown, one meaningless interception at the end of the first half, and an impressive 107 quarterback rating. It seems like the pressure of needing to win to keep the team’s playoff hopes alive didn’t faze Vick at all, as he played maybe his best game of the season on Sunday.

While Andy Reid only gave the ball to LeSean McCoy 18 times, McCoy made the most of it, scoring three touchdowns to set the Eagles franchise record for touchdowns by a player in a season (20), with 17 of those rushing touchdowns. Ronnie Brown had six carries for 18 yards, but it was largely Michael Vick who won this game for the Eagles. Oh yeah, and that defense.

The defense came to dominate the Jets, and that they did. Four turnovers were the Achilles heel for the Jets, as the Eagles capitalized to the tune of beginning the game on a 28-0 run. The Jets made it a game by scoring 13 unanswered points, but the Eagles pulled away in the second half.

Reid wasn’t worried about Vick’s ribs as he stuck to his game plan of pass, pass, pass like he always does. But it worked against a Jets defense that many experts said were vulnerable to the Eagles offensive weapons of DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, McCoy, and even Brent Celek. Reid holds true to his trust in Vick and this season proves that. While Vick hasn’t had a big season by any means, this game was a must-win and Reid let Vick lead the charge.

Vick’s play made it easy for Reid to give the ball to McCoy in and-goal situations. Reid’s trust in Vick and Vick’s trust in Reid is evident in this game, as the Jets have one of the best and top-ranked defenses in the NFL, and the boys made them look like a college football team. By continually giving Michael Vick a chance to make plays, Andy Reid obviously thinks games like this are what the outcome will be rather than what games like the Bills, 49ers, and the Cardinals outcomes were.

The boo-birds weren’t out at Lincoln Financial Field at this game. The fans cheered wildly for Vick and never booed Reid’s decisions. This was the type of game we were used to in the early 2000’s because the Eagles handled every team virtually the same as they handled the Jets yesterday. Reid took Vick out of the game with a large lead after Vick got hit in the back and shoved to the ground. Vick scrambled around to try to make a play with a big lead, something he did not need to do.

Replays clearly showed Vick should have just thrown the ball out of bounds when his receiver wasn’t open, but Vick scrambled around and tried to make a play with a double-digit lead. Vick got up slowly and Reid made the decision to go to Vince Young, something he rarely does with as much time that was left in the 4th quarter. Vick is expected to play next week against Dallas, barring a setback with his rib injury. Other than that ridiculous play Vick tried to make, I largely think this was his best game of the season.

“It’s just one of those injuries where it continues to bother you,” said Vick. “I’ve been dealing with it and hopefully it’ll get better as the week goes on. I’m hoping.”

So, we’re certain that Vick will probably be playing with hurt ribs the rest of the year. If the Eagles make the playoffs, our quarterback will not be 100%. Is it worth it? To some, it isn’t. But I’ll be damned if I wasn’t sitting there watching this game cheering the hell out of the Eagles because of the effort they had. This is the Eagles team we were hoping for this season. Do they have any magic left?

Eagles need to beat Dallas and Washington, the Giants need to lose next week and then beat Dallas in Week 17, and the Eagles are NFC East Champions. Who would’ve thought?