Andy Reid, Michael Vick and the Eagles literally are dropping the ball.
On Sunday they had a chance to put themselves near the top of the heap of the NFC by going into Pittsburgh, one of the toughest places in the NFL to get a win, and escape with a victory. They had it in their hands. And they dropped it. First it was Vick, then it was the defense on that last Pittsburgh drive.
The Eagles would have made puffing out their chest at 4-1, the clear leader of the NFC East and one of the ‘big dogs” in the NFC.
Instead it literally slipped through their hands. Or maybe better said, through Vick’s hands.
For some reason the quarterback has developed a nasty case of fumble-itis. On Sunday he put the ball on the carpet three more times, although only two of them counted (one was reversed after he was ruled down after he slid head first and lost control of the ball).
The killer was the ball he coughed up while diving for the goal line in the first period. The Eagles were making an early statement, driving the ball down the field on their second possession and looking to cash in with seven.
Instead they got what they have too often had this year, a killer turnover in the red zone.
You just knew as soon as the Steelers fell on that loose ball in their own end zone that they had dodged a bullet and the Eagles had once again blown a golden opportunity that would come back to haunt them.
They lost 16-14. Think they would have liked to have had that TD, or even a field goal? Three points means the Steelers would have had to go for 6 instead of milking the clock and then kicking that chip shot field goal to win the game.
In his day-after post mortem, Reid again said all the right things about getting a few things fixed on offense. You can read about them here.
I am assuming that curing Vick of the dropsies is part of that. The problem is how? Vick is not in any way your normal pocket QB. Part of what makes him special, a game-breaker, is the threat he always poses to defenses.
But his explosiveness these days too often is blowing up in the Eagles faces.
A lot of people have wondered what Reid would have done had his QB coughed it up one more time early in the Steelers game. Yesterday Reid looked to extinguish any such brush fires, again maintaining that Vick is his guy.
After the game Vick seemed to invoke some kind of divine intervention when it comes to his rash of fumbles.
Bet on one thing. Vick is not going to change the way he plays. Hell, he can’t even come to grips with sliding feet first.
And defenses are now going to be zeroing in the ball, looking to dislodge it from the suddenly butter-fingered quarterback.
Vick has cured his early-season woes in terms of throwing interceptions. Now he needs to go a game without putting the ball on the carpet. Sunday at home against the Lions would be a good time, sending the Eagles into their bye week with a 4-2 slate.
To fail to do so just might leave Reid, who is on a short leash from Eagles owner Jeff Lurie, to mull dropping his QB out of the starting spot.
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