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National media call for Vick to start

After Michael Vick's performance in the second half of the Eagles' loss to the Packers, many in the national media are calling him to take over as the starter.

Normally, I wait until later in the week to round up what the national media are saying about the Eagles, but there's really no sense in delaying it after the Birds' loss to the Packers Sunday.

The primary topic dominating conversation is (you guessed it) Michael Vick.

Several writers from around the country are calling for Andy Reid to hand Vick the starting job based on his performance in the second half of Sunday's game. Here's a roundup of what they're saying.

Jason Whitlock of FoxSports.com calls for Vick to start and rips Reid in the process:

Andy Reid coaches like he's won three Super Bowls. And we, the media, talk about him like he's won four. What's the difference between Andy Reid and Marty Schottenheimer? A hundred pounds, Ernest Byner's fumble and different coaching specialties.

Andy Reid would be a fool to enter the Eagles locker room and tell 53 players Kolb is the starting quarterback. Reid had the guts to permanently dump McNabb. Why not bench Kolb (or use his concussion as an excuse) and let the Vick situation play out for at least another week?

ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski says Reid's decision is easy: start Vick:

"I think we all had a piece of this [defeat]," Reid said. "And like I mentioned before, I need to make sure that I put all of them in the right position."

Here's an idea for the Week 2 game at Detroit: Put Vick in the starting quarterback position. After watching him Sunday, it's the only right thing to do.

Michael Lombardi of NFL.com thinks the locker room could support Vick over Kevin Kolb:

Vick and McNabb worked well together in terms of the style of offense that most benefited them. Conversely, Vick and Kolb are oil and water, and it looked bad against the Packers. My sense is that Vick is going to have the locker room behind him as the starter unless Kolb breaks out of this funk. Kolb hasn't been good all summer, too eager to run around and too inconsistent in the pocket, his eye level is way down. Kolb has to prove to his teammates he can be the best player, not be given the job. Keep an eye on this one.

Pat Kirwan of NFL.com says Vick gives the Eagles the better chance to win now:

Vick, a three-time Pro Bowl QB with the Falcons, looks like he gives the Eagles a better chance to win than Kolb at this time. The concussion Kolb incurred against the Packers probably means Vick starts next week against Detroit and maybe even the following week against the Jaguars. If he wins both games and generates the kind of offense he did on a limited basis against the Packers, maybe Vick is the realistic choice when the Redskins and McNabb come to town in Week 4. No doubt, Kolb is the future in Philadelphia, but after I saw Vick go 16-for-24 for 175 yards and eclipse 100 yards on the ground, I think he might be the present.

SI.com's Don Banks doesn't expect Vick to quietly accept a backup role when Kolb returns:

Reid's artful dodge of the quarterback controversy topic is understandable. This was Week 1, and the Eagles have invested three years developing Kolb and his game. You can't throw it all out the window when he struggles in the first half of his first game as the team's new starter. But having had a real taste of playing time again, you wonder if Vick's patience will allow him to revert back to his modest role as the team's Wildcat quarterback? My hunch is he won't go as quietly as he did in 2009.

Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports says Reid's plan has blown up after one week:

If you are a dog lover or a Donovan McNabb hater, Sunday was a very bad day. And if you are Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid, a man who devoted his offseason to eliminating a potential quarterback controversy – only to have one appear in bright Kelly green before the regular-season opener was over – you are wondering if this is going to be a very long year.

Earlier today, I posted Man Up on the defense. Man Up on the offense comes Tuesday morning.

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