Vick-less

Photo courtesy of deadspin.com

Michael Vick's homecoming started as a warm welcome; however, it concluded with a bitter, disappointing ending.

Sunday night, the Philadelphia Eagles lost 35-31 to the Atlanta Falcons in a back and forth game that came down to the wire.  Except this time, the Eagles were without Vick on a potential game-winning drive.

Midway through the third quarter, Vick was tackled by one of the Falcons' defenders causing him to fall downward, slamming his head straight into his own lineman's shoulder.  Walking off the field, Vick spit up blood because of a tongue bite.  It was confirmed after the game that Vick had suffered a concussion from the blow.

The loss of Vick was a factor in the defeat to the Falcons, but that wasn't the only reason.  

Turnovers played a huge role.  The game-changing play happened in the winding minutes of the second quarter.  Vick had his offensive squad lined up for another touchdown in the red zone and possibly a ten point lead.  Andy Reid, the Eagles coach, decided to go with 2 running backs in the backfield.  Vick faked the pitched and tried to give it off to the other runner.  The play took too much time, enabling the Falcons defense to pounce on Vick and strip him of the ball.  Ray Edwards, the Falcons defensive end, scooped the ball up, and ran like a mad man all the way to the Falcons twenty yard line before being tackled by the speedy Eagles wide receiver Desean Jackson.  That later turned into a Matt Ryan to Tony Gonzalez one-handed touchdown grab.  

Defensively, the Eagles corners and linemen did a decent job covering as well as getting pressure on Matt Ryan.  They forced turnovers in key moments of the game.  However, the linebacking core had their issues.  Michael Turner, the Falcons running back, ran down the throats of linebacker lane.  Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez exposed the poor coverage ability of some of the Eagles linebackers.  Guarding athletic tight ends have always been a problem;  this is something defensive coordinator Ron Rivera has to preach in film sessions.   

With Vick possibly out for a couple of weeks, Mike Kafka becomes the starting quarterback.  Vince Young is still out with a hamstring injury.  Kafka performed with poise and confidence as he ran the offense up the field in the closing minutes on Sunday night.  He made impressive throws, releasing the ball quickly from attacking blitzes.  But on a fourth and four, Kafka threw a pass that hit the number 18 of Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin's chest.  Maclin dropped a guaranteed first down, which could of changed the game dramatically.     

I feel this loss will benefit the Eagles in the long run.  They will learn from their mistakes and hopefully, correct them.  Sunday's loss was a tough one against a Falcons team that excels on their home field.  

Now, the real test begins...

      

Dream Team

"To the 10, to the 5, touchdown Eagles!"  Spoken by the beloved voice of Philadelphia, Eagles radio announcer Merrill Reese will finally be calling the action to all die-hard Eagles fans come Sunday afternoon against the St.Louis Rams. A voice that has been missed and would've been even more deeply missed had the NFL owners and players not struck a labor deal for the 2011 season.

The Philadelphia Eagles come into the 2011 season fully-loaded.  After performing a historic number of moves to acquire prized free agents, the Eagles organization has one goal in mind for this season: to win it all.  Adding faces like Nnamdi Asmougha, Ronnie Brown, Vince Young, Cullen Jenkins, Dominique-Rodgers Cromartie, Jason Babin and Steve Smith are just some of the ingredients in making a championship caliber team. In a city that has competitors in different sports such as baseball, the Phillies, a recent World Series champion as well as the favorites to win it all this year, have stolen the spotlight.  The Phillies swept under and grabbed Cliff Lee from the Yankees in free agency, making their 5-man rotation a force to be reckoned with.

Joe Banner, the Eagles president, realized the possibility of Philadelphia transforming into a baseball town rather than staying as a football town.  It seems as if there is a sense of urgency for his organization to bring the city a championship before the window of opportunity closes.  The pain that many Eagles fans had to endure their whole lives may finally come to an end this year.  By going all out and pursuing excellent talent, Banner has impressed fans, removing his label from many fans as a "cheapskate," for now.  The city of Philadelphia wants to see their Eagles as world champions.

Hopefully, this will finally be their year of destiny.  Rather than being fixated on the "dream team" persona, let's hope our Eagles make this a dream season.