What they're saying about the Eagles
Where will Michael Vick be playing next season? Here's a roundup of what the national media are saying about the Eagles.
What they're saying about the Eagles
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Here's the weekly roundup of what the national media are saying about the Eagles after their win over the Colts last week:
SI.com's Don Banks has the Birds 11th in his power rankings:
I know the quarterback theme has been the story of the year so far in Philly, but who would ever thought we'd get to see Andy Reid's passing form this season? If you haven't seen it yet, you have to watch the just-surfaced clip of a rather large 14-year-old Reid in a 1971 Punt, Pass and Kick competition in Los Angeles. I'm reduced to near-tears of laughter ever time I see the size of the little kid standing behind Reid, who I might add is absolutely shoe-horned into a Rams uniform. Ah, the internet. What wonders you do hold.
Trent Cole is the lone Eagle on the midseason All-Pro list of ESPN.com's John Clayton:
He's had an incredible year for sacks, quarterbacks hits and pressures, one of the tops in the league.
Clayton wouldn't be surprised if the Redskins made a play for Michael Vick in the offseason:
Here's my bold prediction for the Redskins: They will be the team to go after Michael Vick. Shanahan can do a lot of things with quarterbacks who move well in the pocket. He got the best out of Jake Plummer. The only problem with getting Vick is how the Eagles handle him. Vick probably would give the Eagles a discount to stay because of how the organization gave him a chance to resurrect his career. A free agent after the season, Vick also could be franchised to block a move to Washington, but to do so would cost the Eagles around $15 million.
SI.com's Peter King has the Eagles ninth:
Eagles 12-0 after the bye under Andy Reid (Overused Stat of the Years Dept.) ... and they'd be 11-1 if not for the laser arm of Mike Vick finding DeSean Jackson in the end zone.
ESPN.com's Matt Mosley is thinking playoffs for the Eagles:
I think the Eagles have an excellent opportunity to make the playoffs. Their schedule is backloaded with division games, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. They survived that bad road loss to the Titans and they could get on a roll with a win against the Skins. I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish 10-6 and grab one of the wild-card spots. This can be one of the most explosive offenses in the league if you can keep Vick and Jackson healthy. That will be a tall order with as much punishment as Vick takes as he's racing around the field.
ESPN.com has the Eagles eighth in his power rankings:
Michael Vick is willing to take as many hits as necessary if it means winning.
Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com gives the Eagles B-minus for their first half of the season. His team MVP is Andy Reid:
Head coach Andy Reid. Philadelphia’s offensive play-calling struggles in key situations reflect poorly upon Reid. But the guy deserves credit for successfully juggling a touchy quarterback carousel between Kolb and Vick.
Adam Caplan of FoxSports.com has the Eagles 10th in his power rankings:
While they closed last week's game well against the visiting Colts, Philadelphia needs to beat the teams they're clearly better than such as this week's opponent. For this team to go far, it must get more consistent play from the defense, especially in the backend.
Jason Whitlock of FoxSports.com thinks the refs should have used common sense before throwing a pair of flags against the Eagles last week:
Goodell is correctly trying to change the needlessly violent culture of the NFL. I get that. I’m for that. But let’s do it the right way. Quarterbacks don’t get injured when hands accidentally hit the back of their helmets. The play Coleman and Mikell made on Austin Collie cannot and should not be eliminated from the game. Collie was not defenseless. The helmet-to-helmet contact was just as much Collie’s fault as it was the Philly defensive back. The contact was unintentional. You could see all of that watching the replay. The ref on the field did not have the benefit of replay, and he should have. Use the cameras! The NFL is a reality TV show. There are cameras seemingly everywhere. Use them!
Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com has the Eagles seventh in his power rankings:
Mike Vick really adds spice to the offense with his legs. His ability to scramble really complements what LeSean McCoy does on the ground. Now they get Donovan McNabb again in a revenge game.
Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports names Vick one of the best pleasant surprises from the season's first half:
It’s arguable that no star athlete has ever lost as much as the quarterback whose freedom, reputation, career and fortune were undone by a dogfighting scandal of his making. His return to the NFL in 2009 seemed decidedly underwhelming, and going into the season he was regarded as little more than a backup and Wildcat novelty act trying to get his life back together in a structured environment. Now? He’s the starting quarterback for a 5-3 Eagles team whose play has been transcendent and whose impressive statistics (60.8 completion percentage, seven TDs, zero interceptions, 261 rushing yards in five games) don’t tell the real story of his impact. As I said Monday, he’s a very legitimate MVP candidate.
Silver has the Eagles seventh in his power rankings:
Considering how few snaps they’ve played together, how uncanny is the on-field chemistry between Vick and DeSean Jackson?
Steve Wyche of NFL.com isn't sure whether the Eagles are a pretender or contender just yet:
Wins over Atlanta and Indianapolis were impressive, but their losses still beg the question if they can consistently compete with the big boys. They'll find out soon. Though the Redskins aren't a likely playoff team, they've beaten Philly and could be problematic Monday night. An Eagles victory could propel them as they enter a tough patch in the schedule. A loss could send them in the other direction. Nine wins on the season might not be enough to make the playoffs.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has the Eagles eighth:
When this up-and-down team is up, they’re really, really up.
National Football Post has the Eagles ninth:
Andy Reid moved to 12-0 coming off of the bye week, and Michael Vick might be playing the best football of his career.
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Have your say: Eagles fans' midseason grades Poll: How will Jason Garrett fare as coach of the Cowboys?
I agree with most of these assessments. The big question is who the next big letdown will come against. Hope it's not one of the NFC East teams.— dlscholt- Ever look closely at John Clayton in HD? It's a scary thing. Looks like an alien, or at the very least a muppet.
Comment removed.- Hopefully Vick will be playing in Europe somewhere, or maybe Turkey with the other thug from Virginia Beach since they have a overpopulation of wild dogs.— jwatson
jwatson -- get a life. for a man that you dont like, you sure spend enough time thinking/writing about him. you are vick's emotional slave until you let it go. i actually feel sorry for you. must suck to have to comment on every article of a man that you hate yet cant change anything about it. yeah, that must suck.- Most have the Eagles ranked too high. We're somewhere between #12 and #18 in reality. Capable of beating anyone, but you need to have a serious defense to be in the top ten. Have to agree with the writer who said the chemistry between Vick and Jackson is pretty impressive. Jackson is a great match for Vick or McNabb because you can't cover him for more than 4 seconds, and both have the arm to get it way downfield to him. Nothing more fun than seeing Mike Vick taking a deep drop and flicking the ball 55 yards to DeSean.— tacklinjoe
- Up and Down? Looks like a typical Eagles season, so far, to me. Lost to the Redskins, beat the Colts and blew it against Tenn. They will beat the Redskins, split with the Giants and that leaves the Cowboys. Playoffs yes, Super Bowl, not a chance. But we knew that all along.— craig123
- Even though the Eagles have three losses it's a reach to say this team has the same chemistry or ability when Vick is under center vs. when Kolb is in. 1st loss Vick came in at the half vs. the Packers. 2nd loss was when Vick was injured early vs. the Redskins. 3rd loss was purely on Kolb panicking vs. the Titans Defense pressure. Kolb did in fact have two very good games, although the offense needs gimmick plays for him to hit big plays. Plus the red zone percentage drops off drastically. As Everyone has noticed there is a different intensity level on the field. Now it looks like the defense is catching up. Now it only needs the offensive line and special teams to catch up.— danthony930
- Comment removed.
- TYPICAL EGALS FANS OVERRATE A PLAYER LIKE THE CONVICK DUE TO TWO GOOD GAMES, LOSERS DID THE SAME WITH LJ SMITH, BRIAN WESTBROOK ETC, ITS NO WONDER WHY YOU ARE THE DUMBEST FANS IN THE NFL.— ImAllabouttheTruth
- Hey "Truth" have a nice day! ~@!#@$$^%— DJ
- From Dan Graziano at cnnsi.com: "But the dirty little secret of the NFL -- the thing nobody wants to say because the league is so "popular" -- is that it's not good. It's a mediocre product -- a hype-driven league in which the quality of the product doesn't match up with the promotion. Each week brings a good game or two -- or, perhaps more accurately, a thrilling finish or two. But for the most part, even those games with great endings are, for the first 45-50 minutes, poorly played, poorly coached and not very entertaining to watch. The end result is mediocrity -- an inescapable truth that the league and its apologists somehow succeed in painting over with the word "parity." The NFL has convinced its audience that it's a good thing there's so little separation between the teams, because it gives each fan base hope. But what it actually does is reduce the incentive for anyone to get better. It encourages mediocrity and short-sighted decisions such as the one the Dolphins made Wednesday. The right thing for Miami to do is develop its talented young quarterback and build the team around him."
He's talking specifically about the benching of Chad Henne, but the background he paints is what many of us see. And it leads to a win-now attitude on teams like the Eagles who have no business thinking Super Bowl this year. The new NFL makes it possible for Peter King to put the Eagles 9th in the current rankings, even though everyone knows we're not all that good. But who is arguably way better? Only eight teams can say they're clearly better.
— tacklinjoe - Brian Westbrook overrated???? that says enough about your comment to be ignored. Talk about dumb— peteike
- thats why nobody reads si anymore. stupid articles like that, he must miss dynastys of san fran and dallas in the old days, I dont. I dont care if its parity or not. The product is great and does so well because the sport is so great, end of story— peteike
- enough with the dog comments, I will admit I have never been a big fan of Vick, but he is playing well. If that means the Eagles keep winning I am all for it. You animal lovers are a little ridiculous.— kramer65
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