It aint easy being brilliant...

That so called elite Eagles defense sure is getting carved up this season.

The so called “dream team” is 4-7 and pretty much certainly eliminated from any playoff conversation whatsoever.

Question is….will it cost Andy Reid his job?

My prediction…NO.

  passionandbeauty replied to your post: THIS is why pre season predictions and assumptions…

yes! must insert the relevance of the Eagles “dream team” label during preseason here…

Indeed.

Things aren’t looking so good for the “Dream Team,” right now, are they?

1-2, and their $100 million dollar starting QB cant finish a game.

A huge deal was made over Philladelphia Eagles starting QB Michael Vick’s playing status for Sunday’s showdown with the Giants, after he exited Week 2’s game with the Falcons due to a concussion.

So naturally, the Giants took notice.

They blitzed Vick early and often on Sunday, and there was most certainly NO “miracle in the meadowlands” on this day.

And for the second week in a row, Vick failed to finish a game, as he exited with what was initially feared to be a broken hand, later feared to be a fracture, and now is nothing more than a deep bone bruise that probabaly want even cause him to miss a game.

Vick was sacked twice, fumbled 3 times, and tossed an interception on a day that he will be best served to forget as the Giants defense did what they are more than capable doing each and every week. They made life a living hell on the opposing QB.

Eli Manning tossed for 254 yards on 16-23 with 4 TD’s in the Giants victory.

The Giants improved to 2-1.

The Eagles dropped to 1-2.

Michael Vick will most likely start against my beloved 49ers on Sunday.

The Philladelphia Eagles, the pre-season, media proclaimed “Dream Team” in reference to all of the talent that they were bringing to the team, are 1-2.

Of those two losses, in consecutive weeks, Eagles QB Michael Vick has failed to finish both.

Let’s take a quick look at a small list of things that make the electrifying Vick a little more injury prone, than most…

1. Michael Vick, in a day where most top level QB’s are between 6’3 and 6’6 and weigh anywhere from 225 to 250 pounds, is LISTED as 6’0 and 215 pounds. BOTH numbers are being quite generous. To give you an example of where Vick’s sie ranks him amongst NFL QB elites, Peyton Manning is 6’5 230, Ben Roetlisberger is 6’5 241, Tom Brady is 6’4 221, and though not quite an NFL elite YET, Panthers rookie sensation Cam Newton is 6’5 248. Hell, Michael Vick is even small when compared to other QB’s that are considered “mobile.” Again Ben Roethlisberger is 6’5 241, Donovan McNabb is 6’2 240, Cam Newton is 6’5 248, and Vince Young is 6’5 232. And of the mobile QB’s, Michael Vick is THE most mobile. BY FAR. Over his 10 year NFL career, Michael Vick has 4,783 yards on 677 attempts for 32 TD’s.
2. Michael Vick does not slide. EVER. It simply is NOT his style. I don’t think that he could do it if he practiced it for 8 hours a day, every day. Michael Vick does not look for the first down marker, get there and slide to avoid a hit. He is EXTREMELY confident in his ability to get more yard than required for the first down. He is EXTREMELY confident in his ability to take it all the way to the house. And why wouldn’t he be?? This is what we as football fans, LOVE about Michael Vick. But to be perfectly honest, he needs to start sliding, or running out of bounds. There is a reason that NFL running backs generally hit the ceiling at 30-32. They take TONS of punishment. They turn, change directions, spin, and get hit on nearly every play. And for the most part, those guys are WAY bigger than Michael Vick.
3. Michael Vick does not “throw the ball away.” Another thing we love about his style of play. Where as Tom Brady or Peyton Manning would see that nobody is open, throw the ball away, and live to fight another down. That is a language Michael Vick simply does not speak. If a guy is not open, he looks for a quick lane, and hauls ass in hopes of getting the 1st down with his feet. It has worked quite well for him during his playing days, but is leaving him out there to be hit, more and more often.
4. Finally, a point that I haven’t heard many bring up, when the Eagles signed Michael Vick to that huge $100 million dollar deal in the offseason, you HAVE to believe that the Eagles have preached to Vick to stay in the pocket and throw more often in hopes of limiting the hits that he takes in the open field, thus limiting the amount of injuries that he may suffer. Quick reminder…both the concussion he suffered in Week 2 and the bruised non throwing hand that he suffered yesterday were suffered IN THE POCKET, not moving around, TRYING TO THROW A PASS. The Eagles plan for protecting their $100 million dollar investment ARE NOT WORKING.

Bottom line, with Vick’s physical limitations in regards to his size, I simply do not think it is in the Eagles best interest to beat it into his head that you want him to stay in the pocket and make the throws even with 300 pound lineman and blitzing linebackers bearing down on him. If you’re the Eagles, you didn’t give Vick the $100 million dollar deal for his pin point, Tom Brady like accuracy. You gave it to him because of his ability to make things happen, elictrify the crowd, and extend plays. If you liked THAT Michael Vick enough to give him a $100 million contract, why would you wanna change him??

Bottom line, if the Eagles are going to beat ANYTHING into his head, it should NOT be to stand in the pocket and take hits. It should be to make the throw if it is there, run if it is not, and for the love of Eagles fans, slide or get out of bounds!!

Why the Eagles think that a man that is smaller than me is safer standing still and taking hits from 300 pound lineman, and linebackers who are three times stronger and just as fast as he is, rather than pssibly taking hits from corners who are the same sie as him, and half of them can’t tackle anyway, is WAY beyond me.

Michael Vick was once the face and future of the very Atlanta Falcons franchise that sent him to the locker room with a concussion and more importantly, back to Philly with a loss on Sunday.

Matt Ryan (who has had the corniest nick name in all of sports bestowed upon him. “Matty Ice??” What the fuck is that all about?), and the Atlanta Falcons found that despite the numerous pro bowl caliber corners that they have, the interior of the Philly defense is actually quite weak.

And oh boy did they exploit that.

Matt Ryan tossed for 4 TD’s including 2 right down the middle of the field to the greatest Tight End in the history of the NFL, Tony Gonzalez.

Before Michael Vick was sent to the locker room with a concussion, he tossed for 242 yards and 2 TD’s in front of many supportive Vick fans in the Georgia Dome, many of whom were sporting #7 Atlanta Falcons jerseys in support of Vick.

At this point, Michael Vick’s status for Week 3 is unknown.

What IS known, is that the so called Philly “dream team” that was put together during the incredibly short offseason, is STILL a work in progress.

Andy Reid is one of the league’s best coaches and offensive minds, and with a healthy dual threat like Michael Vick and offensive weapons such as Desean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and LeSean Mccoy on offense, putting up points will be of zero concern to the Eagles.

And with Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie NOBODY is completing any passes on the corners.

Quite simply, the Eagles need to sure up the interior of the defense, and develop chemistry amongst the defense as a whole.

When it comes down to it, they will be right in the thick of the hunt.

So will the Falcons.

Michael Vick became the only player in the history of the NFL to sign 2 $100 million deals during his career.

His 1st $100 million deal, and it’s nearly immediate aftermath have been almost too well documented, so I’m not gonna bore my wonderful followers to death by dragging it out anymore. So for the 3 or 4 of you on planet Earth that have been living on motherfucking Mars for the last 5 years, here’s a quick summary…

• signed a $100 million deal with the Falcons
• won a playoff game in Lambeau against Brett Favre and the Packers
• busted for dog fighting, and sentenced to 2 years in prison
• got out and the Eagles signed him to be their 3rd string QB
• Starter Donovan McNabb gets dealt, new starter Kevin Kolb goes down to injury, Vick steps in and takes that motherfucker’s starting job and never looks back on his way to a near MVP season

Alotta people were outraged when Vick was allowed back in to the NFL. Alotta people were outraged when the Eagles initially signed him. Alotta people are REALLY pissed that Mike is getting $100 million deal now.

I AM NOT.

Mike’s last $100 million deal when he was young and the king of Atlanta may very well have taken him down.

Let’s hope that he doesn’t let this $100 million del do the same.

I love dogs. My Golden Retrieve is sitting ride beside me as I am typing up this post. But Michael Vick has payed his dues, and has risen to elite status as a player despite around the clock scrutiny from ignorant people who thought that he should never be allowed back in to the league.

Michael Vick fucked up.

Plain and simple.

But I GENUINELY feel like he has come out of this a better person, that would never make the same mistake.

I sincerely hope that he plays like a player worthy of a $100 million deal on the field, and carries himself like a citizen worthy of a $100 million deal off of it.

GOOD LUCK, MICHAEL VICK!

Are you motherfucking kidding me?

They are either going to have Rex Grossman or John Beck as their starting QB in a division that also has the Cowboys, the Giants, and the new and vastly improved Philladelphia Eagles.

The Skins will finish NO BETTER than 4th.

No way, no how.

Michael Vick, in an interview with GQ magazine, said that the Philladelphia Eagles were not his first choice.

Upon being released from prison and reinstated into the NFL, Vick said that the Cincinatti Bengals and Buffalo Bills initially seemed like better options. On either of those 2 teams, Vick fealt that he had a great chance to immediately be the starting quarterback.

Going to Philly at the time meant that h would have to sit behind long time established starter, Donovan McNabb and the guy that many thought would soon be the starter, Kevin Kolb.

It’s funny how things work themselves out though.

Donovan McNabb was traded to the Redskins, Kevin Kolb was injured, and Michael Vick took over the starting job and never looked back.

Vick finished 2nd in MVP voting last season, and had it not been for an out of this world season by Tom Brady, theaward would have been his.

This just goes to show you Mike…Cincinatti and Buffalo are NEVER better options than ANYWHERE.

One day after acguiring pro bowl corner, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the Kevin Kolb trade, the Eagles swooped in and stunned the NFL world by snatching up another pro bowl corner, Nnamdi Asomugha via a 5 year $60 million deal on Friday.

Asomugha was considered the top prize of this offseason’s free agent class, and had been highly sought after by the Cowboys and New York Jets among others.

With Asomugha and Rodgers-Cromartie now in the mix, the Eagles now have 3 pro bowl corners, Asante Samuel being the 3rd, in what will almost certainly be a dominant secondary this season.

Michael Vick, arguably the league’s most dynamic offensive threat at QB, Desean Jackson at Wide Reciever once he brings his ass to camp, and three pro bowl corners in their secondary, the Philladelphia Eagles WILL BE a force to be reckoned with in the NFC this season.   

And in an absolute double WIN for Asomugha, he gets out of NFL Hell, also known as Oakland.

Vince Young, in a move that every person walking the planet knew was going to go down, was released by the Tennessee Titans yesterday.

He will reportedly not be a free man for long.

According to numerous reports, Vince Young has signed on to backup the resurgent Michael Vick for the Philladelphia Eagles this season.

This move makes since for both Young and the Eagles.

With Kevin Kolb now in Arizona, the Eagles need a backup, and even though Young doesn’t do the things that Vick does nearly as well, he is still as similiar a QB to Vick as can be found in the NFL. Vick’s balls out, sliding is for pussies style of QB play is bound to land Vick on the sidelines at least for a series or two this season, and you can do far worse than another mobile QB in Vince Young that is a proven winner, tostep in and temporarily fillthe void for Vick in a situation like that.

For Vince, all of the starting QB jobs were gone. Kolb is in Arizona, McNabb is in Minnesota, the Dolphins appear to have their sights set on acquiring Kyle Orton from the Broncos, and the Wahington Redskins suck and will suck regardless of who plays QB for them next season.

So Young can backup Vick on a super bowl contender for an incredible head coach in Philly and wait and see what the starting QB landscape is like in the NFL next season.

The Arizona Cardinals picked up Eagles back up QB in a trade on Thursday.

Kevin Kolb will become the newest attempt by the Cardinals to add stability and good play to a position that has GREATLY lacked those things at the QB position in Zona since Kurt Warner hung up his cletes to waltz with hotties on dancing with the stars.

Matt Leinart?

Didn’t work.

Derek Anderson?

Didn’t work.

Max Hall?

Didn’t work.

John Skelton?

Didn’t work.

So certainly, the Arizona Cardinals can do FAR WORSE than Kevin Kolb lining up behind center on Sundays!

But I DO take somewhat of an issue with 5 years and $64 mill for a man that has only started 7 games and played .500 ball in his NFL career.

That simply isn’t much different than paying a rookie, and Kolb has played under a far more capable system with a more versatile selection of weapons in Philly than he will in Zona.

Personally, I wonder how ANY QB can NOT succeed in Arizona with a motherfucking beast like Larry Fitzgerald to toss the ball too.

I guess you will have to act the coaches on the Arizona Cardinals staff.

They are EXPERTS on how to put unsuccessful QB’s on the field that fail to succeed with one of the 3 best wideouts in the game.

 cosmic—lovee replied to your post: ]]>cosmic—lovee replied to your post: Brett Favre…

Yeah I agree that he could easily be someones starting quarterback.. but who knows, maybe somehow he strangely wants to be a backup and not work as hard.. I totally just made that up but whooo knows lol

Maybe. Who knows with Favre? He is as unpredictable an athlete as I have seen in my nearly 27 years on this planet. Being a backup would certainly seem to go against everything that I have noticed of him during his career, but with FAVRE, you NEVER know.

cosmic—lovee replied to your post: Brett Favre is NOT going to come back to be ANYBODY’S backup! Chill people!

His agent said today that hes retired, end of story

Yep, I read that. The point of my post is simply that Favre had thought long and hard about retiring the past 5 seasons. But he was ALWAYS lured back by big money as a starting QB on a contender. The Eagles are CERTAINLY a contender. But ANYBODY who thinks that Favre is going to come back as a back up certainly hasn’t paid much attention to the NFL the past 15 years. As long as he is still breathing, I will NEVER rule him out of a potential comeback. Just NOT as a fucking back up. EVER!

So…Michael Vick tweeted a couple of days ago that he would be “honored” to have Brett Favre be his “backup” in Philladelphia.

Michael Vick’s comeback, both on AND off of the field is arguably the greatest story in football right now, and I am on his side all the way. Of course he would love to have Favre as his back up! What QB wouldn’t love that?

That’s all nice and all, but there is just ONE ENORMOUS PROBLEM WITH THAT….

Brett Favre will NEVER, EVER come back to be a team’s back up.

EVER!

Why the hell would he??

Why return to back up a team when you’re the most accomplished QB of all time and could easily command a $15 million pay day to START for nearly a dozen teams??

Here is a list of teams that Favre could EASILY start on:

1. Washingto Redskins
2. Buffalo Bills
3. Miami Dolphins
4. Arizona Cardinals
5. Oakland Raiders
6. Minnesota Vikings
7. Cincinatti Bengals
8. Cleveland Browns
9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
10. Jacksonville Jaguars
11. Tennessee Titans

That list doesn’t even include a few teams that have recently drafted high priced QB’s that they may want to give the Aaron Rodgers treatment too. That is, sit him behind Favre, let him watch the master at work, and hand him the reigns next season.

It certainly worked in Green Bay, right??

I personally, for the first time in the last 5 seasons, DO NOT think that Favre will come back and QB this season. I think that he is genuinely and sincerely embarrassed by both his and the Vikings performance last season and has accepted the idea that it is over.

But IF he were to come back, he DAMN SURE would not come back to hold a fucking clipboard next to the Gatorade bucket on the sidelines.

He DAMN SURE earned better than that.

#2…MICHAEL VICK

Few will doubt that there is no bigger matchup nightmare for an NFL defense than Michael Vick.

A cannon for an arm, throws the long ball with zero effort, hits the hole faster than a running back, is the fastest man on the field most Sundays, and apparently when they wrote the part in the NFL QB handbook that said that they should slide to avoid the hit, they didn’t tell Mike they did so.

Vick is the only QB in the history of the NFL to run for a thousand yards and pass for a thousand yards in the same season.

Michael Vick is a freak of nature.

Plain and simple.

But for the last several years, nobody ever brought up any of the things listed above when talking about Michael Vick.

For the last few years all anyone wanted to talk about were the 2 years that Michael Vick spent in prison on dog fighting charges. Vick was one of the heads in a huge ring of dog fighting that operated for over 5 years.

Upon being sentenced to prison for his role in the dog fighting ring, NFL commisioner Roger Goodell suspended Michael indefinitely, and the team that made him the first African American in the history of the NFL to be selected with the number one pick, cut all ties with him.

In a country where most people love their dogs and other animals more than they do other humans or even other members of their family, most wanted Mike in prison longer. Most wanted Mike banned from professional football for good. The more info that came about about the dog fighting ring that Vick was one of the heads of, the worse Vick looked to the public, and the worse it looked torward Michael’s attempt to return to the NFL upon release.

After 21 months in prison and 2 months in a half way house, Michael Vick was a free man. And upon deciding that Michael had payed his debt to society, Commissioner Roger Goodell allowed Vick to be reinstated into the NFL, free to sign with whomever was brave enough to take the chance that he could still play, as well as the possibility of a HUGE public backlash amongst it’s fan base for signing Vick.

The team that was brave enough to take these risks was the Philladelphia Eagles, and as of Week 3 of the 2009 season, Michael Vick was cleared to play professional football.

Vick was able to work his way back to full strength slowly on a contending team with a pro bowl caliber starting QB in Donovan McNabb and was most often used in the wildcat formation that is designed for mobile QB’s who are able to use their ability to both run and pass to deieve the defenses and keep them guessing.

The 09 season ended, the Eagles traded franchise QB McNabb to Washington and named backup Kevin Kolb the starter and Vick his backup.

Vick did not remain the backup for long.

After Kolb went down with an injury early in a game in which the Eagles were getting drug early in the season, Vick stepped in and rallied the team all the way to a near victory. Kolb never got the starting job back.

Vick finished the season passing for 3,018 yards, 21 touchdowns and six interceptions with a passer rating of 100.2. He had 100 carries for 676 yards and nine touchdowns on the season. He went to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in his career and had Tom Brady not played out of his mind all year, Michael Vick would have been the MVP of the league.

Vick is now loved in Philly, and has almost come completely full circle. Vick coming second in fan voting to land the cover of this year’s MADDEN football game is even further evidence as to just how far Michael Vick has manged to come in such a short time.

Despite all of the things that I just mentioned, there are still tons of people that loathe Vick’s involvement with dog fighting, and even further loathe the fact that Michael was allowed to return to the NFL. Further evidence to not just football fans, but society in general that once you have been a part of something bad, no matter how much time you spend working your ass off to turn your life around and become a better person, there will still be a million hypocrites that are still somehow able to overlook all of the wrong that they themselves have done in their lives to cast stones of judgement at you.

You simply cannot please everybody.

But Michael Vick is earning support back one act of charity, one touchdown pass, and one touchdown run at a time.