Forget, if you can, that exhirilating final eight minutes agains the Giants that captured the imagination of the nation.
Focus instead on the the first three quarters of that game, and then the four quarters the Eagles put together vs. the Vikings last night.
My conclusion? The Eagles - and Michael Vick - have landed.
With a thud!
Simply put, aside from the rabbit he pulled out of his hat to beat the Giants, Vick has not played especially well for awhile now.
Certainly nowhere near the level that vaulted him into the NFL stratosphere when he demolished the Washington Redskins in front of a national Monday Night Football TV audience.
Now all the same questions the Eagles faced at the beginning of the year - before Vick became their starter - are back again, even with No. 7 at quarterback. Their offensive line, along with their defense, too often resembles a sieve.
And if Vick is not playing out of his mind, Eagles fans are going out of theirs. That's because this team just is not that good.
Vick is the difference. He makes them something special, but only when he himself is special. When he is ordinary, as he has been for much of the last few weeks, they are even less.
Am I the only one who is starting to whisper the unthinkable, that we have seen a lot of this from Vick before, in another era, before Vick went to jail for bankrolling a dog-fighting operation?
Does anyone else remember that there were always questions about the way Vick played in cold weather? Does anyone else think the way Vick has thrown the ball the last two weeks even remotely compares to the way he played earlier in the season?
There is also the matter that Vick is beat up. He is not that big a guy. All the hits he has taken are beginning to take their toll. He started limping after getting banged around on the first series last night.
He got little help from his offensive line, nor a defense that made an untested rookie named Joe Webb look like it should be him - not Vick - who made the Pro Bowl.
Also MIA was Vick's superstar receiver DeSean Jackson, who looked like he wanted to be just about anywhere else but on the field. He was not alone on this weird Tuesday night game, one that had been postponed by the NFL after 11 inches of snow fell on Lincoln Financial Field and the region Sunday night.
Then there was, of course, Andy Reid, who once again took the time to inform us after the game that it was a pitiful performance by him and his staff of getting the team ready to play, as if we had not been able to watch that dreadful show on our own. Reid even trotted out his favorite, he has to do a better job of putting players in position to make plays. Maybe he should consider doing a better job of keeping his best player out of harm's way.
Instead Reid did what he always does. Apparently invigorated by the fact that it was not snowing, and the elements had been taken out of the equation, Reid threw the ball all over the lot. In the process he exposed Vick to still another wicked series of violent collisions. It became apparent on the first series that this was going to be a long night for Vick, who got hit on all three plays. That did not deter Reid, who dialed up a game plan that all but ignored what could have been the Birds' best option, running back LeSean McCoy.
In losing the game, the Eagles also kissed off any shot they had of gaining the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. They are now locked in at No. 3, and face a completely meaningless game Sunday vs. the Cowboys.
Good thing there is no snow in the forecast. I would hate to see the Eagles postpone the inevitable, the nagging belief that unless Vick is playing out of his mind, the rest of this lineup, along with the coaching staff, just isn't good enough.
Focus instead on the the first three quarters of that game, and then the four quarters the Eagles put together vs. the Vikings last night.
My conclusion? The Eagles - and Michael Vick - have landed.
With a thud!
Simply put, aside from the rabbit he pulled out of his hat to beat the Giants, Vick has not played especially well for awhile now.
Certainly nowhere near the level that vaulted him into the NFL stratosphere when he demolished the Washington Redskins in front of a national Monday Night Football TV audience.
Now all the same questions the Eagles faced at the beginning of the year - before Vick became their starter - are back again, even with No. 7 at quarterback. Their offensive line, along with their defense, too often resembles a sieve.
And if Vick is not playing out of his mind, Eagles fans are going out of theirs. That's because this team just is not that good.
Vick is the difference. He makes them something special, but only when he himself is special. When he is ordinary, as he has been for much of the last few weeks, they are even less.
Am I the only one who is starting to whisper the unthinkable, that we have seen a lot of this from Vick before, in another era, before Vick went to jail for bankrolling a dog-fighting operation?
Does anyone else remember that there were always questions about the way Vick played in cold weather? Does anyone else think the way Vick has thrown the ball the last two weeks even remotely compares to the way he played earlier in the season?
There is also the matter that Vick is beat up. He is not that big a guy. All the hits he has taken are beginning to take their toll. He started limping after getting banged around on the first series last night.
He got little help from his offensive line, nor a defense that made an untested rookie named Joe Webb look like it should be him - not Vick - who made the Pro Bowl.
Also MIA was Vick's superstar receiver DeSean Jackson, who looked like he wanted to be just about anywhere else but on the field. He was not alone on this weird Tuesday night game, one that had been postponed by the NFL after 11 inches of snow fell on Lincoln Financial Field and the region Sunday night.
Then there was, of course, Andy Reid, who once again took the time to inform us after the game that it was a pitiful performance by him and his staff of getting the team ready to play, as if we had not been able to watch that dreadful show on our own. Reid even trotted out his favorite, he has to do a better job of putting players in position to make plays. Maybe he should consider doing a better job of keeping his best player out of harm's way.
Instead Reid did what he always does. Apparently invigorated by the fact that it was not snowing, and the elements had been taken out of the equation, Reid threw the ball all over the lot. In the process he exposed Vick to still another wicked series of violent collisions. It became apparent on the first series that this was going to be a long night for Vick, who got hit on all three plays. That did not deter Reid, who dialed up a game plan that all but ignored what could have been the Birds' best option, running back LeSean McCoy.
In losing the game, the Eagles also kissed off any shot they had of gaining the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. They are now locked in at No. 3, and face a completely meaningless game Sunday vs. the Cowboys.
Good thing there is no snow in the forecast. I would hate to see the Eagles postpone the inevitable, the nagging belief that unless Vick is playing out of his mind, the rest of this lineup, along with the coaching staff, just isn't good enough.
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