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.
National media call for Vick to start
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
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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Hmmm, seems to me the national media is on to something. For everyone who says Vick messes up Kolb's rythem and we shouldn't keep switching out qbs every couple of plays, you guys are losers and forget that this is exactly what Donavan dealt with last year and he put up career highs for yardage. PapaBear has spoken!!!— papabear702- Kolb will never lead this team the way DMac did, air guitar or not. I can't wait til Kolb's tough guy demeanor rubs DJax and JMac the wrong way and both guys shut down on him and Jolly old Saint Nick. Big Red will be begging Vick to start by week 8. Watch it unfold.— papabear702
- if you want to win now, Vick has to be the starter... Kolb really hasn't earned the starting job.. we ran off a good citizen mcnabb so character obviously is not our main concern.. winning must only be!— DjCj
- "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that Mike Vick do well." Sorry, couldn't resist. Go Vick! Go Kolb! Go Birds!— dragoon6
- You can never believe what Reid says in these press conferences. But if I were him I would be worried about losing the locker room, and in the process the team if he sticks with Kolb and he can't produce. I hope like heck for the eagles, the fans, and for all the wild boars in texas that Kolb proves Andy's decision right. If KK makes it through this he will have earned a lot of people's respect. This is about as bad as Mcnabb ever had to deal with in his 10 years. They call this the West Coast offense but the personnel is developed for a mobile QB who can cover up a weak o-line with no running game. Who on the eagles roster fits that bill...
- Whitlock is a total McNabb homer.— Tech_Triumph
- Does anybody believe that with Vick as the starter this team is going to compete for a super bowl this year? I'm not a Vick hater. I can seperate what he did at home from what he does on sundays but I dont believe he should lead the team the rest of the year, not yet at least. Kolb needs more than 1 half of football to prove whether he can or cant play. Now if we get into october and Kolb still appears overmatched then i'd say its time to see what Vick can do but until Kolb is given a chance to sink or swim than you gotta let him play.— youpeoplehaveissues
- Does anyone really believe that either QB is gonna lead this team to the SB? Kolb needs more than just 1 half to prove whether he can or cant play. I'm not a Vick hater either. I can separate his crimes from what he does on Sundays. if we get into October and its still obvious Kolb cant get it done than Id say we should revisit the QB situation but until that happens I say Kolb should get the chance to sink or swim on his own, based on more than 30 mins of the 1st game— youpeoplehaveissues
- After watching the way the team rallied around Vick, I think Kolb already lost the lockeroom. He never earned it to start with. This is the only city where we get rid of a 6x pro bowl quarterback to hand our Porshe over to someone who's only driven a tractor! Look at the bright side, he we keep starting Kolb, we can get a good draft pick for a better quarterback!— Eaglesfan804
- I think Whitlock's comparison with Andy is right on, but that's for another day. I think you start Vick until you know Kolb is 100% healthy. Vick is exciting, but excitement doesn't win Super Bowls. Not saying Kolb is the answer either, but Vick is not the long term solution if this team is going to actually become the "gold standard".— jimmydugan
- Freakin traded Donovan McNabb. I can't believe he was ever traded.— trungy
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It took Vick ONE GAME to DOMINATE Kolb. A lot earlier than I expected— elijah29- This is an easy one. Kolb stunk up the place. He was 5-10 24 yards. Equate that to 100 yards passing on 20 completions. Vick came in the game and gave the team new life. Remember they may not play next year and other teams are watching. If the eagles don't want to play Vick then trade him because as I said before teams will adjust to Kolb and I don't see him getting any better.— gwilli1234
Wait, I thought the locker room was rallying around Kolb last year or was that just more media BS. What happened to DJ and JMac going to Kolb for "advice". Riddle me that.— tpizza- The only advice DJ had for Kolb on Sunday was can you get me the ball for once! I'm telling you, it's not looking good for Kolb in the locker room. If your a player (and most of the dumb commenters on here never played), you only want a quarterback who gives you the best chance to win, not because your the "chosen one". That doesn't sit well with the players...— Eaglesfan804
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- Sure let the dog killer play, the Eagles have no class— chris_mcc_03
- Reid, MM and company are being exposed and they no longer have #5 to blame or make them look good. If Kolb starts I see a huge division in the locker room.— Ghostface
- BABY FACE! BABY ARM! AND BABY BRAINNNNNNN!— BooDuhBud
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- 804 makes an excellent point. Reid's commitment to Kolb might be premature. What's kind of interesting here is that McNabb's first year saw a veteran QB (I forget his name)initially being chosen by Reid as his starter. He eventually failed and McNabb stepped in. This time around Reid designates the inexperienced QB as his starter to begin the season, over a much more seasoned QB.— Beck
- reid has a safe out because of the concussion. he can ride that for as long as he wants. he'll say one thing to the media, but you know they are already installing the full package around vick for this weekend and next.— djack10
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- Did the national media also see the clip of Vick standing alone inside the 10 with nobody close enough to stop him from running it in, and then firing a terrible pass into the end zone instead? Once again Vick showed that he could win the game for either team on any given Sunday.— atp2007
- We are all a large experiment. Andy and Marty use the short-yardage, game-on-the-line, up-the-gut play calling to punish us when we ask for more cheese. I want out.— dooger
- Did Kolb really look any worse in his first half against the Packers than McNabb looked in the first half against the Cowboys? Or even McNabb in the second half. Redskins did not win as much as the Cowboys gave ot away, that team lives or dies with what Romo does either good or bad.— atp2007
- I have to agree with the National Media. In light of the performances Sunday it would be a no brainer to run with Vic and see how he does. Of course it might not matter much when the offensive brain trust comes up with plays like they did on 4th and 1 with the Eagles driving for a tie. I can't remember all the dumb plays called by the Eagles over the last couple of years but considering the personnel in the backfield, that one has to rank with one of the dumbest. Did anyone else notice Reid staring at his laminated cheat sheet after that play as if it was the sheets fault.— mtbill
- After watching the eagles for all these years under this regime and seeing the same issues over and over again, does anyone else believe that maybe the coach is the biggest problem this franchise has? Yes, he's won alot of games and come up small in a lot of big games. can you be a good enough coach to win games but have some fatal flaws at the same time? I think so. I think alot of the time Reid is actually stating the truth when he does the weekly "I have to do a better job". It might not matter who the QB is.— Sewellmatt
- i think the national also picked the jets and cowboys to go to the super bowl. yeah, let's listen to them.— snakeplissken
- I AM THE VOICE OF REASON FOR EAGLES FANS, PLEASE READ, FEEL FREE TO COMMENT: WWW.BERTMONEY23.BLOGSPOT.COM— bertmoney23
- I don't see Maclin and Djax supporting Kolb now....— phigglesfan75
- I don't see Maclin and Djax supporting Kolb now....— phigglesfan75
Good lord, I think I might take a break from the Eagles for a year and follow just the Phillies, Flyers and (gulp) the Sixers this year. It seems anymore the story with the Eagles is more about QB controversies than the actual games. It's becoming a waste of energy...- I kinda feel bad for Kolb.When he was drafted,Andy was in the middle of a series of bad life decisons...a procession of them.Kolb was just another of them;a product of a mind that wasn't engaged.I hope he can find his feet and get going but to call him the "future" of this team before he's proven anything is reckless.— red rock
- There is no question that Michael Vick brings more, way more to the table than KK who will unfortunately only ever be as good as a back-up. When he had a chance to claim the throne, KK folded and punked out. On another note, the Badassitude Blog is running a poll for the Badassitude Pro Football player of the week at http://is.gd/f9Bjs. Michael Vick is one of the nominees along with Wes Welker, Chris Johnson and Arian Foster. So if you feel your QB, you know what to do.— coolster
- Well KK has a concussion so he can't play week 2 unless he passes some tests, and with him not even gonna practice till Friday Vick is our QB! I personally think Vick is a terrible passing QB, but he is what this team needs now with our terrible O-line.— SWIM
- the same national media that picked the cleveland cavaliers-sd chargers-ny mets-ott.senators to win their championships last season the national media have as much knowledge as the nitwit bloggers(ppizza-madanout-philigirl-callout-birdsh**-babyfaceboodah-etc)....BIG RED said 'KK is the number one QB' and he doesn't listen to the national 'experts',there's only one expert i listen to and that is HOFer ray didinger.....wolf.— wolf 4
what pro football player would want an award from something called "Badassitude"? what the hell is that supposed to mean anyways?— bboybeballin- Sure, let Vick start another game. Give a team a week to game plan for him so we can all remember what kind of QB he is.— bc3030
- The only reason Vick had such a big is becuase the Packers were not prepared to face him. One a team has a whole week to scheme against his talents an abilities compared to Kolbs. Its one half of a game. Give Kolb some protection and see what he can do!— Murrayag11
- youpeoplehaveissues - I am sure you were one of the people saying Kolb was better than McNabb "after only 1 half" last year too...shut up and realize who makes this team better. Kolb hasn't shown ANYTHING this year, Vick has.— EaglesBleedMoney
- The National Media is about as stable as a mud slide. Thye love you today, hate you tomorrow. They are the same yahoos that have ben generating QB controverseys here since Mcnabb first missed a game and Feely played well. The hold no merit in my book.— PhillyFanSouth
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Whitlock is talking about weight. Ha that is funny. Totally agree with his comments though. Spot on with Reid. This is really a non issue for this week anyway...Let's see how it plays out.- you have 0% chance of winning a super bowl with vick this year. you also have 0% chance of winning a super bowl with kolb this year. kolb is the QB this organization has committed to, for better or worse. vick is gone next year. no chance of him coming back. so why play him just to win a few more games and ruin kolb's confidence for the future? anyone who thinks vick should be the starter going forward is a moron. that includes all of these so-called experts.
- Vick did a good job as a backup. That's what he is here for. Start Kolb even if he doesn't practice this week. He needs the experience and he should look miraculously better against the Lions. The press wanted Kolb and they'll foster a QB controversy because they are lazy and only care about making their job easy. They love that there's all this soap opera drama that they can write about. These are the same guys that were pushing for Kolb because he's much better suited for the West Coast offense that they used to run several seasons ago. One half later, Kolb doesn't cut it. Go with Vick. Vick coming in is a great idea. If they get it working, and they will, it will be a nightmare for opponents. It's not all on Kolb's shoulders either. If Vick produces 2nd and 3rd and short, it's great for Kolb.— MikeP
- oh dog killer is going to start! I hope the Lions eat him up and beat these losers. These losers don't have a team anyway!— MRD
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