Michael Vick had his struggles against the Ravens, and turned the ball over three times. However, unlike last week, nothing could keep Vick or the offense down. Not turnovers, not injuries to starting offensive linemen Jason Kelce and King Dunlap, and surely not the Ravens defense. The Eagles were forced to fight back the whole game, and they did.
People may worry about Vick and the offense’s turnover problems, but that’s unnecessary worrying. Does the quarterback need to take care of the ball more? Of course, but there’s one quality that the former Falcon, and this Eagles team share in common that makes them different from the “Dream Team:” HEART! Were the first two wins pretty? Absolutely not. But by showing tremendous leadership and heart in the last two weeks, Michael Vick’s overall play overshadows any negatives associated with the turnovers. With his team down by six points in each of the first two games, Vick led sound, balanced and precise winning drives.
Andy Reid echoed this sentiment “Michael and the whole offense continued to battle.”
Vick did battle and, besides from the turnovers, looked pretty good. He finished 23/32 with 371 yards and one touchdown. Vick looked accurate, and poised in the pocket. He didn’t try to do it all, but instead kept his eyes downfield and trusted his reads. On the Eagles’ second touchdown, Vick rolled to his left and even as Ravens defenders came flying after him, he kept his eyes downfield and threw a perfect pass to Jeremy Maclin in the corner of the endzone. Overall I thought Vick was sharp and showed tremendous improvement from Week 1.
The best part about the last two weeks is watching this Eagles team fight for victories. No matter how ugly, or how error-prone, this team sticks together and finds a way to win. No team in the NFL (except for the 49ers) is playing lights out right now. Michael Vick understands this.
At times in 2012, Vick has looked as good or better than he was in 2010. However, the awful turnovers just look like shots from the “Dream Team” all over again. But what separates Vick and the 2012 Eagles from teams of the past is that the 2012 group is a connected unit. There is nobody pointing fingers. Instead, there is leadership from the top, starting with Michael Vick. Everyone knows what they are expected to do. As much as the turnovers are frustrating, it is admirable that Vick and the Eagles have shown they will never give up on any play, or game. Ball security can be fixed, but heart is not something you acquire. You either have it or you don’t. It is that quality that will propel Vick and the Eagles to new heights in 2012.
Id like to see chris polk get some carries next week instead of bryce brown.. brown is an explosive back but polk is a Pro.. Never fumbles, runs 4.45 weight 225 runs like hes 240 can catch the ball and is the best blocker of the trio
AGREED!!!!! This team demonstrated TOUGHNESS in the eyes of a very close game and a formidable opponent. I think that toughness will build as the season progresses. I predicted a 400 yard performance this week for Vick, and hecame damn close to it. I look forward to him shattering some passing records this year. A 97.3 passer rating along with that mental lock WOW. He is poised to do some big things. However, based on the number of hits he took yesterday that were BRUTAL, I doubt he stays healthy all season long. A shame.
Vick did take some big hits… He still needs to get rid of the ball quicker, he holds onto to it too damn long or he will hget injured by Week #4/#5..
The Cardinals Front 4 and Blitzing LB’s and Safety are very agressive and will be a real challenge for the Eagles OL and VIck..
Pman- while I agree with you… he is getting killed left and right and its not because hes holding the ball. There is NO line right now. None. You have to remember (dont worry, i know by now that PMAN knows all things) that part of the problem is that they are calling plays that take time to develop. For jackson to do a double move… that take a few seconds.
@Paulman. I think half of those hits he takes are normal hits a QB takes but its magnified because Vick is so small.. Not all but some. A hit that Flacco, Rothliesberger etc stumble back on Vick gets launched.lol Im up in the air about the Arizona game because honestly this is perfect trap game before Giants game and not uncommon to lose, But since Arizona is coming off Pats win coupled with Kolb probably being the QB with this defense Im leaning 60/40 for Eagles win at his point.
daggolden i agree that this is the type of trap game the eagles would normally lose, BUT the cards pulling one out against the pats this week i believe will be the difference maker here.. Big Red knows Kolbs strengths (not much other then saying all the right things to the media) and he knows his weaknesses and i think we will actually get a stress free game this week.. Only thing that gets me worried is the cross country travel. last year we were dead coming off the trips out west so the first few series will be the key.. I predict eagles get the ball take it down get a FG then a Kolb pick 6 by DRC and Andy giving a big smile across the field to whisenhunt saying sucked you into that trade buddy… Birds 38 Cards 10
He got hammered all day long. That needs to stop. The line is horrid, & he still holds onto the ball too long. Also, the refs were allowing alot of late hits, on both sides. Come on Goodell, get the real refs in there, you @$$hole!
Dcar…
From Pro-football focus (through MMQB)
”
On the 12 plays in which he was hit, Vick’s average time holding the ball before being contacted was 3.3 seconds; to put this in context, Matt Hasselbeck’s average time to throw last year was a league-low 2.4 seconds, meaning he takes an extra second when he’s under duress to try to find a receiver.”
And in other news…
Like Solomon, Andy Benoit, writing for FootballOutsiders.com, points to the plays dialed up by offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg as one of the culprits to Vick’s struggles.
“Just about every pass play (which there were too many of, by the way) involved slow-developing routes from the outside receivers,” Benoit wrote Thursday. “The interior routes from the slot and tight ends were also slow-developing and too easily defended. Vick had to spend the first two seconds of his dropback just waiting for routes to unfold.”
Vinne the Evicted… Clown Prince of GCobb.
As pointed out before. Very convienient of you to only post only the “Its the coaches’ fault” bit from that you saw on the phill.com website…..
…..ignoring about 4//5 of the original article, which painted a very different picture……
The “it’s the coaches fault” part was written by football outsider and referenced by the other website. How expected of you to totally misrepresent the facts.
Vinnie the Evicted – Clown Prince of GCobb.
I know who it was written by dipshit. I read it before you did. YOu – of course – didn’t read the article…only snippets found on the “Philly.com” site. When are you going to start reading entire articles for yourself instead of Parading about with the Coles Notes version like you’re still in grade 10??
If you had read the whole article, instead of just the pro-Vick snippets….you would also have seen:convieniently ignored/avoided these lines from the same article:
“This isn’t to say they weren’t sub-par, as Vick obviously made some very poor decisions.”
“To be clear, if Vick were a better presnap reader and anticipation passer, he may have found more ways to overcome these circumstances. But that’s not Vick’s game. It never has been.”
“Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg know this, that’s why they don’t call more quick-timing plays for Vick. They play to his strengths by stretching the field and allowing him to hold the ball.”
“This tacitly encourages sandlot plays. But by using these tactics almost exclusively and making dumpoff patterns somewhat of an afterthought, Vick’s strengths can become weaknesses. We saw that Sunday.”
“The Eagles don’t want Vick in a chess match with Ray Lewis and Dean Pees. So, they’ll once again be reluctant to put a lot of quick-hitting passes in the gameplan, as these tend to require pre-snap recognition.”
“Vick over the years has had trouble recognizing blitzing corners. (Remember what Antoine Winfield and the Vikings did to him on that snow-delayed Tuesday game in December 2010?) Also, Philly’s line and running backs aren’t known for their great adjustments in pass protection. The more Philly can ask their speedy ball-handlers to play without thinking, the better. ”
So the next time you want to go about taking quotes from articles to defend your hero’s “strengths” – just make sure you paint the whole picture bucko.
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Daggol;den…..to add to your point. Its also the manner in which he gets hit. Think of the 2nd last play. Ngata starts to grab him, and instead of going down and protecting himself, he stretches and tries to throw….this exposes his body adn then gets pancaked….making impact worse.
A couple of times when Vick was hit, it was on a crossing pattern to Celek…crossing patterns take time to develop, which means the QB has to hold the ball a little longer, just saying, Also you have to figure into a few plays where he scrambled, like the pass to DJ (rookie) that took probably about 6plus seconds, so that average stat Vinniethesister mentions is misleading…I def would like to see Vick taking less hits, and some plays he does extend the play too long and nothing is gained from it other than a big hit…the play that Vinniethesister mentions (2nd to last play) would be a good example of that..When nothings there dont force the ball, dont get hit, get down or throw it away….
RealTalk777 & Vinny agreeing Songs & Navy kissing —- 2 wins and zero loses bringing the cons and pros together as one
E0S – screw you – I ain;t kissing nobody – that’s songs kissing my big fat hairy ass becuase after a year of him whining like a little bitch and constantly posting negative shit about the birds, just about every prediction, statement or comment he has posted has been proven to be DEAD WRONG – his almighty claim to fame was to then resort to the ‘Kevin Kolb’ draft pick….. boy do I like DRC as a corner… and the eagles pass rush needs to make Kolb SUCK this week
its called a bandwagon.. everyone is starting to jump on to get a good view. Big wins against quality teams like the Ravens will do that.
But back to real posting – looks like Kelce is done for the year, Vollos was resigned, Reynolds will start and Bell will probably get the nod at LT – words I am reading is this is where Bell will get the chance to take that job back full time.
And as for VIck getting hit – I seriously am not worried – I think Foles is a beast and I would not have a problem if Edwards jumped in. As a matter of fact – I think any team that knocks Vick out will regret it… If I were a DC I would rather have Vick throwing then Foles – just saying… Vick is getting it done but I think Foles is going to be the HUGE in about 3 years..
Oh hell – let Vick get hit – I think the team that knocks Vick out is going to sorely regret it – Foles will pick them apart – guys will be like – holey shit – this guy checks down to RBs – damn – he can throw 60 yards on the run – he can throw over his OL man – this tall dufus steps up in the pocket… Its all good – we are three deep at QB!
What do they say? Backup QB is always the most liked player on the team? As good as Foles looked in the preseason, note that it was the preseason. He is a rookie and has not seen any defensive formations that DCs employ during the regular season. To say Foles can/will do better than Vick is unfounded.
Vick Vick Vick Vick….. thats all you guys talk about. Vinnie… y cant you ever admit a fact is a fact when its right in front of you?
There is no way Vick gets a pass for his stuggles. Noone on here is suggesting that. I dont see anyone stepping up and saying he’s great. But how can you stand here and not admit that….. a) andy throws sooo much that CB’s and Lb’s drop back into zones to pick it off. b) this Oline is so bad and beaten up that Vick is getting killed on nearly every play. c) Some of the routes that are called TAKE TIME to develope…. and with this Oline and Vick’s struggle to read D’s….. this may not be the best kinda playcall for where they are at?
Vick is not great at reading D’s. Vick struggles when Blitzed. Vick holds the ball too long. FIne! all of these are true. But your lack of football knowledge undermines your overall point that Vick isnt very good.
You hate him. We get that. To be honest, i dont care for him much myself either but at least try and understand all the pieces of the game in front of you. But…. we all know whats really going on here….. you need to be noticed. You need people to pay attention to you. Your kinda like the girl at the party that is fine with sounding dumb as long as everyone is watching her.
@Penncrow19….I agree! I like Foles but lets remember there are tons of QB’s with INT struggles…including the rookies, maybe barring RG3…to have a rookie QB lead this team will be a great deal of pressure….how about we talk about it when the moment comes, and stay away from jinxing the QB who has got it done the last two weeks!
Reid runs crossing plays (slow to develop) because that’s what gets WRs open. Vick needs to see guys wide open before he throws the ball. You could count on one hand last week the # of times Vick threw the ball as the WR/TE was meaking his break….he just doesn’t. Vick waits and waits till the guy coming across is open – and they almost always eventually come open on routes like that.
Again, Reid knows this – and tries to design plays for him. This is what I meant when I mentioned “high school – one read” plays for Vick. (these are exactly the kind of plays a hs coach will run for a new QB. Simple to read. One target (usually stationary at the time of the throw) Roll the QB a bit to either side…(Vick strength) mirroring the one WR or TE coming across. Waits till he finds the open area and throws it to the now stationary WR.
This happened countless times last week. Its almost indefensible, but gets people killed. Such late throws = hits.
I don’t know how else this can be explained. Reid is trying to adjust the offense to Vick’s “strengths” but that means he gets killed. Its what we call a double edged sword.
“Reid runs crossing plays (slow to develop) because that’s what gets WRs open”… No, that’s the scheme designed to isolate a particular player… Schemes are designed to highlight a particular players strengths get him one on one coverage… that being said…ROUTE RUNNING get receivers open. If you knew football, you’d know this. A coach can scheme all day long but unless it’s busted coverage very rarely do you see receivers wide open in the NFL.
Ok let’s talk play calling and scheme. Take note to how quickly the Eagle move down the field with pass plays. The routes that work best for Maclin and Jackson are the deeper ones… deep crossing or post and occassionally deep outs and combacks (The last two require good route runing). They play to the strenghts of the WR’s on this team. Not only are our 1 & 2 receivers are slight, they don’t run crisp routes and are not optimal for routes accross the middle. They are great at what they do, but outside of Avant they don’t run crisp routes.
“Vick needs to see guys wide open before he throws the ball.” … Is an absolute lie. On the last drive alone Vick made key stick throws… but I can see how you could be mistaken because that bomb he threw to Jackson a few series before was very easy and he was wide open.
Hey… I thought Marty was designing plays… And you are correct Vick was being fed easy plays when he was running the NO HUDDLE… In fact when Vick completed his pass to Celek where Celek hurdled Ed Reed that was pretty easy I mean Vick only went threw 2 reads before he hit Celek back side. And that bomb to DeSean was his first read right… or was it?
So Reid… with his job on the line and the supposed “Savior Golden Boy” waiting in the wings to step in and “check down” the Eagles to a SB, is willing to get his players “killed” as you say just to start Michael Vick… Job on the line, players health at risk, and supposed competent QB waiting in the wings and Reid is going to stick with what you consider the albotross around this teams neck… yeah that makes total sense.
In other news:
Vontaze Burfict now a starter for the Bengals
It’s only the second game of his career, but it’s starting to look like the Bengals were right and the rest of the league was wrong about Vontaze Burfict.
A 10-15 yrd crossing route is indefensible if the QB has time. The WR always gets open because:
1 – if its man, the WR gets the early jump to the inside and DB trails.
2 – if its zone, the crosser is most often able to sneak in behind the LB who is aware of player behind him coming from other side of field.
3 – coverage always breaks down over time
Period.
Eagles ran this shit all first half (like HS coaches do with their rooks) because these plays are:
1 – Easy for the inexperienced QB to grasp
2 – QB only has to follow 1 guy
3 – Result in a wide open player.
Coaches, myself included, run this with inexperienced QBs because the QB doesn’t have to worry him/herself with all the other reads. You would run thies too if you had ever coached anything other than a game of chance. Just roll with the blocking, and wait till the WR comes open…he will – because coverage always breaks down over time.
In the short run these plays almost always work. In the long run QBs get killed….so you wean the QB off plays like this.
10 years in and Vick is still weaning.
“route running gets wrs open”….I mean WTF does that even mean….its so stupid. Really? I didn;t know running mattered in the NFL.
Listen, You think everyone is out to get Vick. Its always everyone else’s fault and all that.
You miss the basic point. Reid and Morning are trying to protect Vick. They design (simple) plays so he can succeed.
I mean has any “superstar” QB ever been coddled like Vick? Simple plays. Simple reads. Constant praise. “I’m so proud of you – so proud” after the comeback the other day….I thought I was watching a junior high game. Maybe afterwards they could all cuddle into bed and re-read “The Little Engine That Could”
“route running gets wrs open”….I mean WTF does that even mean….its so stupid. Really? I didn;t know running mattered in the NFL.” – Ladies and gentilemen of the jury I rest my case. It is plain and clear that Giant’s fan’s knowledge of the game of American Football is rudimentary at best.
I mean has any “superstar” QB ever been coddled like Vick? – Tom Brady (and all his rules), Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tim Tebow… etc.
People are proud of this Team and how they have fought offensively and defensively showing heart and determination that has not been there for some time now…
People are proud of Vick because they know he’s overcome adversity and has shown leadership in the face of it. I for one am glad he’s had these struggles early because it gave the defense a chance to step up. They did and gave the fans even more to be confident in.
But you woldn’t know what it is to be a true supportive fan would you…. Bucko. LOL!!!!!
Let me explain in more detail Lionsden, because I know this whole, “but its not Michael Irvin telling it to me on TV so I don’tt understand/believe business if tough for you…
While a guy like Brady may walk to the line with a primary, and 2 (maybe 3 but doubtful) secondaries. (and I say doubtful because it is very seldon that a QB actualy “goes through his reads” like they tell you on TV. It happens, but the average NFL passing play is 2.9 seconds long. Phisically impossible for anyone to look at 4 or more moving targets and assess whether they are open or not in that time). The vast majority of NFL plays are 1st or 2nd reads. Most already decided upon by the QB after he gets to the LOS and reads the coverage, and determining which of his options will be open in 2 seconds later.
Vick is not good at pre-snap reads. Even you, his most ardent supporters must concede this point. Reid knows this. So Reid doesn’t give him the opportunity – sure he gets to change from a pass to a run if he sees a LB dropping off, but every JV gets to do that too. So, Vick walks to the line with a primary and perhaps one secondary.
Reid then runs “slow developing” iso plays because he:
1 – believes in his O-line to be able to hold blocks much longer than league average (Something you clearly do not believe in, constantly saying VIck gets no protection)
2 – he knows he has a mobile QB that can extend plays a little while longer.
So he runs them. Nice. Easy. One read. Sends Mac and Desean as decoys deep and then Celek across the entire field underneath. Couple short hooks to pull up the Safities and Desean deep……whatever.
Remember that early play in Washington last year…deep to Desean. This was a prime example. That was to Desean and Desean only….He was given one target.
This probably also explains other plays that leave us scratching our “why didn’t he see that open guy” heads…most noteably the ill-fated throw to Cooper when Desean and Maclin open underneath. Was locked in from before the snap.
Very different from Brees who I guarantee you walks to the line with a lot more going on in his noggin.
My experience tells me, that when things heat up…and defenses tighten….This kind of simplistic O will not work.
Eagles do well with no-huddle attack
“…the Eagles unleashed a hurry-up offense of their own. On the first drive, quarterback Michael Vick called plays at the line, and the Birds marched down the field. The series, of course, ended with Vick’s first interception, but the offense had some success.
The Eagles brought it out later in the game, and, when they needed it on the game-winning drive, Vick ran the no-huddle effortlessly.”
articles dot philly dot com/2012-09-18/sports/33903711_1_dominique-rodgers-cromartie-ravens-quarterback-joe-flacco-torrey-smith
Giant’s Fan…when I’m bored and there is little else to do I can always count on smacking you around to perk me up…
Vinnie the Evicted, Clown Prince of GCobb
Well, if it was in the newspaper it must be true.
When are you going to come up with an independant thought that you haven’t palgerized from the local paper.
You new name is “Coles Notes”
Damn, when is this guy just gonna shut the hell up? blah, blah, blah, blah, all the time!
Eagles 2-0, shut the hell up!
But to add to your point about the quick reads….Its not simplistic offense, its game planning and play scripting….just give coach AR and MM creidt!
Fact, in the beginning of each game, AR scripts the first 10 plus plays of the game…Scripts them so well, that he knows who will be open….This is what AR does, as a coach, give him credit and stop making it out to be a bad thing….so what? fact is Vick has plays where there are multiple reads….
2-0 “Its all that matters!!”
Always with you its the end, disregarding what came before.
The Eagles’ won “despite” Vick, not “because of” Vick.
If not for the butter fingers of a Cleveland LB, and the inexperience of some new refs on the two second last plays of the game, the birds would be 0-2 with a QB whose thrown 7 picks.
“doesn’t matter – Didn’t happen – He Won he won hw won!!” yells Realtalk!!
Realtalk, if Iran one day gets a Nuke and lobs it at Tel Aviv, but it splashes into the Mediterranean….(Ok, I’ll wait while you find it on Google Maps)….will you say, “Hey it doesn’t matter, Tel Aviv is still there?”
The only reason Vick is still a starting QB at this point is due to blind luck on those 2 plays. You do know that don’t you?
He wont Real…. he wont because he’s the chick at the party that doesnt care about sounding dumb as long as everyone is looking at her. Im going to ignore him for a while. Ill poke fun at him next week when baby arm gets wacked but….. we should just ignore him… hes not a bird fan.
Did anybody notice that in the Eagles first series on Sunday without a huddle, they’d set up, then step back, look to the sideline, and then set again? It looked an awful lot like what teams in college do with a spread offense. Maybe it gives AR and MM a peek at the D, and then they can help Mike out a little? Have two plays called, and then MM signals him which one to run? Just a thought, i could be way off base, but it is how it looked to me.
The advent of speakers in the helmets has diminished the need for the traditional huddle. Most teams now run some version of the “no-huddle” O. But its not like they’re running the “blur” from Oregon or anything…they’re still taking the full time between plays, just in a different formation.
Vick is not – repeat not – calling offensive plays from the LOS.