I'm Back
Mike Vick is Back and Soaring With The Eagles In Philadelphia
333 Yards, 20/28 pass completions, 80 yards rushing from 8 carries, 4 passing and 2 running touchdowns. These numbers posted last Monday night in a wet Washington D.C have the NFL world talking about one thing . Michael Vick is back and ready to tear apart any defence that tries to shut him down.
Mondays record breaking evening began quickly and never showed signs of slowing down for the Philadelphia Eagles and their mobile, agile offence. After faking the ball to LeSean McCoy on 1st and 10 from their own 12 yard line, Vick rolled left, paused and hurled a 60 yard bomb to DeSean Jackson who left a flapping LaRon Landry lying in the dust as the Eagles stepped out to a 7-0 lead.
Vicks pass (the longest TD pass of his career) was a perfectly weighted rocket that came almost effortlessly from a flick of his left wrist. It marked the beginning of arguably the most impressive game of his career and sent a chill down the spines of defensive coordinators around the league. Monday night we saw again, the Quarterback that evolved the position, paved the way for players such as Vince Young and JaMarcus Russell and changed the way defences play more then any other player.
These are bold statements to make about one player. There have been scrambling quarterbacks in the league before; Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon, and even Steve Young are on a short list of a number of Quarterbacks who could out run the odd linebacker or two. Vick however runs circles around all that scrambled before him.
Vick was very much a run first, read later style quarterback. The slightest hint of pressure and he was out of the pocket and on the move. Initially this was impossible for teams to handle, as Vicks mobility, agility and speed left most linebackers that he faced one on one, flat footed and to immobile to bring him down. However as teams wised up to Vicks panicky nature and instinct to run he became less effective. It was at this point the Jim Mora Jnr. Head Coach of the Falcons at the time, began to try and hone in Vicks passing ability. The man had a cannon for an arm, but lacked the confidence to stay in the pocket and set up to pass. Vicks accuracy posed another problem to Mora's attempt to turn Vick into a slightly more conventional Quarterback. The cannon lacked direction and when he did pass it was rarely to the same standards being set by the leagues top quarterbacks such as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning. Over the '04, '05, and '06 seasons Vick threw 36 interceptions, 49 touchdowns and completed only 54.7% of his passed. Compare that to Tom Brady who, over the same period of time, threw 40 picks, 2 more than Vick, but also managed 78 touchdowns, and completed on average 61.2% of passes, almost 10% more then Vick, despite Brady attempting 424 more passes then Vick over the 3 seasons.
Although the Falcons tried to slow Vick down, steady him, and focus his game toward the aerial threat Vick was unable to find the proficiency in his arm to take the Falcons aerial attack to the next level.
After the '06 season Vicks world turned upside down after the star pleaded guilty charges of financing and running of an illegal dog fighting ring. Vick was suspended from the NFL indefinitly, and was eventually sentenced to 23 months in federal prison, although he was released early and allowed to complete his sentence under house arrest. Vick also filled for bankruptcy after the Atlanta Falcons forced him to pay back $19.9 million, initially given to him in bonuses before his suspension and arrest.
However last year after much encouragement from long time friend Donovan McNabb and coach Andy Reid the Philadelphia Eagles brought Vick's two year nightmare to an end when they offered him a one year contract with an option of an extra year in Philadelphia should all go to plan.
2009 saw Vick play sporadicly in the Eagles regular season. Featuring on just a few downs per game, Vick played a Wildcat style role, with the option to give the handoff, pass or run the ball himself. On week 13, against his old club the Atlanta Falcons Vick threw and ran for touchdowns, his first scores since December 2006.
At the beginning of the 2010 season, Eagles starting Quarterback Donovan McNabb was traded to Washington, with Reid naming Kevin Kolb as the Eagles new starter. However in week 1 of the regular season, Kolb was injured by Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Mathews suffering a concussion. Vick came on and stole the show. Throwing for 175 yards, completing 16 of 24 passes one for TD and racking up 103 yards from 11 carries, Vick looked back and in complete control, narrowly missing out on a huge comeback win for the Eagles.
Since then Vick has been the chosen starter for the Eagles offence. In week 4 he suffered a rib injury at the hands of the Washington Redskins, forcing him to miss weeks 5,6,7. However in his return on Week 9 after the bye week, Vick led the Eagles to a massive win over the heavily favoured Colts.
This Monday marked what will surely be the peak of Vick's comeback to the NFL. Every game he's started this season the Eagles have won, defences seem to have forgotten how to shut down the scrambling Quarterback and his arm looks as powerful and more accurate then ever with Vick yet to throw an interception this year. As John Grudden pointed out to the many viewers on ESPN's Monday broadcast “he's checking down through receivers and looking to run only when the pass isn't on”, something Vick has never really done throughout his career in the NFL, but something that the Eagles trained McNabb to do in his later years at the club.
Vick has come back from the dead, a man that had it all and lost it all in a flash. But whatever he did before has to be left behind. He's paid his debt to society and to those involved. Now he's playing the best football of his life, seems focused mentally both on and off the field and is playing like a league MVP. Vick may not top his showing from last Monday, (if he does the NFL Hall of Fame might need a new jersey to replace the one they took off him after the game on Tuesday) but what he is doing is showing the NFL and the rest of the world that he has grown up, he still has the drive and the talent to be the best in the NFL, and right now, no one has as big an impact on the Quarterback position in the league then him. The real question to ask now is how much will it cost the Eagles to keep hold of him for next year, and how far can he take them this year; an NFC East title, an NFC championship game, or dare I say, a Super Bowl?
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