For Andy Reid, staying with Michael Vick is staying in character
Andy Reid felt it necessary to pop his head out of the bunker on Wednesday morning and say that Michael Vick is still his starting quarterback.
For Andy Reid, staying with Michael Vick is staying in character
Bob Ford, Inquirer Sports Columnist
Andy Reid felt it necessary to pop his head out of the bunker on Wednesday morning and say that Michael Vick is still his starting quarterback.
Maybe it was DeSean Jackson going on the radio to say he supported Vick but, hey, that Foles guy doesn't look so bad, either. The last thing the Eagles need right now is more tumult, even if unintended, so Reid decided to tell everyone to calm down.
Staying with Vick is staying in character for Reid. Changing quarterbacks at the moment would be either a sign of panic or resignation, and Reid is fond of neither.
As I wrote in this column: "Somehow, that doesn't seem like the choice Reid would make. His history is to try to punch his way out of setbacks, and Vick represents the best chance to do so. The next eight opponents have losing records at the moment. If the defense emerges from its fog, the offense can be tweaked to allow Vick to work better behind an offensive line that is barely semipro right now."
The whole Is-Mike-Out thing was overblown from the start. It was the result of Reid being asked at his press conference Sunday whether he would consider a change at quarterback. Reid said he was going to go back and analyze everything, meaning everything about the whole team. He didn't give a specific answer, which is one of his specialties.
When Vick took the podium shortly after, he was told that Reid was contemplating a change, or hadn't ruled out a change, or whatever was necessary to put the question in front of Vick without coming right out and saying Reid hadn't done much more than shrugged. Vick took the high road and said he'd support whatever decision the coach made and, well, that started things rolling downhill.
Reid isn't changing quarterbacks for the very good reason that the quarterback isn't the problem. He hasn't been great, but he isn't the biggest problem.
In his first 81 pass attempts this season, Vick threw six interceptions and, yes, that is beyond awful. In his 185 pass attempts since, he has thrown two interceptions and that is very, very good.
Much of the difference is that Vick has learned not to trust his offensive line and he is getting rid of the ball quicker. If the coaching staff would like him to stay in there a little longer and pop a few down the field, Vick might invite them to try it for themselves.
This season, Vick led the team to three wins – that would be all of them – with fourth quarter drives, and turned a fourth-quarter lead over to the defense on two other occasions, only to see the defense squander it. In the other two losses, the Eagles trailed 24-0 to the Cardinals and 14-0 to the Falcons because the defensive script apparently isn't any better than the offensive one.
The offense is far from perfect, but Vick is still the best quarterback to lead it. He'd be better if Reid would let him take off and run more to keep defenses honest, but that's an old complaint. The head coach, in a week when nothing is changing, isn't changing that, either.
Comments (40)
Very good, very honest, and very objective article. Thanks Bob Ford for being reasonable.— Eaglemaniacle- DUMB ARTICLE... Vick has been an awful 11-15 over the past THREE YEARS....Vick leads the entire NFL in TURNOVERS...Vick has now LOST THREE GAMES IN A ROW...you don't reward Vick for this awful production by starting him on Monday Night Football...any other coach would have sent a message to his team that poor play will not be tolerated and would have BENCHED Vick. — Bob112
- Thanks, Eaglemaniacle ... I totally agree with you and Bob Ford ... you aren't the only reasonable fan around .... of course, none of this means Reid won't be gone or that following the current script will turn things around -- also doesn't mean it won't work .... but it is a balanced, rational look at where the Eagles stand today. — Texas Edit
- Thanks, Eaglemaniacle, but you have no place in this comments section. They will eat you alive.— Bob Ford
- I'll have my Eaglemaniacle with mushrooms and onions.— tommy_the_k
- I would love to see the change, but Mr. Ford was dead on. You have to give Vick another chance. He will never be the guy that has great pocket awareness, top-notch ability to read defenses or be the most accurate, but, he is the leader of the team and needs to be in the game. I could see a similar event to the McNabb benching in favor of Kolb in Baltimore. My expectation is a HUGE game from Vick and the Eagles.— Clt Philly Fan
- Bob, do you have an answer to why Plaxico Burrus was never considered by Reid and co.? I like Maclin, but I don't see him as a possession WR or a true #2... I think he's better suited for the slot.— Eaglemaniacle
- At last some writer on the site that has some sense. Anyone else read the other article that claimed the "season may well be over"? What a joke. Who hires this slime? Thanks Bob Ford for being a voice of reason. Thank God they don't let the fans run the team.
— brewnami - Reid, players, writers, posters. Doesn't matter, it's Groundhog Day all over again.— drenner
- Wrong decision..again....Vick is an awful 11-15 in his last 26 games over the past THREE YEARS when he even had Jason Peters and a very good O line, plus the most explosive offensive weapons in football in Jackson, McCoy, Macklin , Celek and Avant...now Vick has the Eagles LAST IN POINTS SCORED in NFL...Vick has LOST THREE GAMES IN A ROW..Vick leads NFL in TURNOVERS .Wow, that's awful...yet Vick is rewarded with starting on Monday Night Football...any othet QB would have been BENCHED already.— Bob112
- i was just wondering if you're aware that there's a whole team of guys out there playing, not just vick? idiot
— AlexSp - Eaglemaniacle is on the money. Bob is hitting all the nails on the head here. Vick has had his moments of mediocrity and made some head-scratching mistakes, but the bottom line is, if the D could have done their jobs against Pittsburgh and Detroit, the Birds would be 4-2. Vick is inconsistent, but he has been consistent in one aspect of his game this season - if he has the ball in his hands with the game in striking distance at crunch time, he is finding a way to get it into the end zone. He can't go out and stop the other team's offense at the end of the game.— eaglesphreak23
- Reid gave the loser Vick an insane $100 million contract...now Reid is stuck and has to stay with Vick or he will look like the dumb moron he is.— Bob112
- Vick is lucky he had some easy interceptions dropped or Eagles would be 0-7.— Bob112
- Bob you need to do a better job of putting yourself in positions to write articles. Thank God he's going with Vick again because it assures another loss and we need a few more of them so Andy can be fired. I long for that day.— power808
- Bob.... They also could be 5-2 very easily, if they make one stop at the end vs. Pitt and Det.— cdedrick05
- "and Vick represents the best chance to do so."
You and Reid are the only ones to think that. If they fall on their face in New Orleanaand get blown out for the third time this year, will you start your next column with, "I was wrong." Probably not. But hey, we disgruntled fans want Reid to keep sticking with Vick as long as he is coaching this year. It's good to see Reid look so pathetic. Don't you hate when all your presictions look stupid. However, you can help us now backing Vick and making Reid think he is right. After all, you are a quarterback expert, right?
— mario1239 - You are what your record says....Eagles have less wins than the Colts and Cardinals.....Eagles are 3-4.— Bob112
- It was not until just now that i finally understood the infamous "For Who , For What" comments. Philly sports fans are stupid and don't deserve a winner. J Rolle had it right too. A bunch of front-runners. As soon as a little adversity sets in let's point fingers, pout and quit. If I had it my way, Foles would start on Sunday so all of you can get the "Great White Hope" that you have been clamoring for. Cue the "Lone Ranger" music— mrbuylowsellhigh
- The only decision worse than bringing Vick into Philly was allowing Reid to stay with all his power. We need to gut the team, at seasons end, and call it what it is.... a .500% team at best. Rebuild through the draft with young guys and not high-dollar recycled superstars (same thing should be said about Phillies...no recycling).
Oh, and Cindy Crosby sucks!
Go Birds!!— Dr. D. - The second we are officially out of playoff contention....IF I were Jeff....Id TELL Reid to start Foles, and would be interviewing candidates to replace him NOW.
— RealizticFan - Vick Sucks....Colts, Dolphins and Cardinals have won more games than the loser Vick and eagles....LOL.— Bob112
- VICK is partly to blame. The real blame should be directed at MORNHINWEG. H e calls the plays. Eight man defensive front,and he has VICK dropping back 7 steps to try a 40 yard pass.No one would have the time to succeed in that situation.[NO ONE] All I have to remind is that MARTY, as head coach of DETROIT,won the tossup going into overtime, and he decides to kick off. Game lost. Need I say anymore?— tudj
- Time's yours, next commenter.— HeelYes
- There has to be a coach out there looking for work. I never thought I would be nostalgic for Rich Kotite.— coachie
- Get Andy out of our city— shawnmac
- This whole thing just shows why sports reporters need to get back to REPORTING the news and quit trying to CREATE the news. Reid never said he was seriously considering starting Foles...end of story. All this speculation was nonsense. Vick never conceded the starting job. Some bonehead reporter deceived him at a post-game press conference by claiming that Reid was thinking about changing QBs and Vick just responded by saying he supports whatever decisions Reid makes...end of story.— JimG
- Reid is toast. Should have been fired 6 years ago. in 14th year of 5 year plan and still can't draft, manage clock, score in red zone, adjust during game and refuses to run the ball.
1)Letting your QB get hit 10 times a game is not the way to win.
2) A Predictable pass happy offense allows dee to tee off on QB and is not a way to win.
3) If you are not putting pressure on the QB, what's the point of the wide 9?
4) When your Dee can't get off the field and your offense can't score...it's time to go...you have failed as a coach to put them in position.
5) Marty needs to go as well. Neither of you will ever win a big game.
6) you've had plenty of chances and have worn out your welcome, sick of the lame coaching and game plans.— Fan74 - You guys are very hung up on great stats. Example: Eli Manning has tossed as many picks as Vick this season (8). He just has a better team around him. When he marches down the field to grab a 4th quarter lead, his defense doesn't choke it away. His offensive line keeps him pretty upright. When it doesn't, he fumbles. Most QBs do when they get pounded. Stats don't matter, wins matter, and the whole team has to be decent to get wins. The Philly D is very overrated. They quit often. Watch how much they jog after guys when they ought to be sprinting to make a play during a long gain. You can cry all you want about #7, in 7 games he's had the team ahead in spite of a porous offensive line, lousy special teams, and unbalanced play-calling with only minutes left to play (up 10 against DET with 5 to go, up 1 against PIT with a minute or so). Defense didn't hold. As for the turnovers, look no further than Eli Manning as to why you stick with your guy: he has 8 picks, same as Vick. He tossed 25 picks in 2010 (25!) in 2007, when he won his first title he threw 20 INTs and lost 9 fumbles. Imagine if you guys were his fans and he got benched and you celebrated but...then the Giants do not win a title that year nor in 2011. Team's 3-4. The D can pick it up and hold the lead. The offense can get the team ahead when it matters. The sitch is not hopeless. Winning ugly is still winning and many teams have proven you can win a championship that way.— thealphawolf
- Whoops, meant in 5 of 7 games Vick had the team at the end. Also, anyone else notice our wideouts and tight end no longer get separation much? I watch other teams and the guys GET OPEN. I watch the Eagles and see jogging, or jostling, but not wide open guys streaking for a sure TD being missed. Can we trade for Victor Cruz? That guy is always open.— thealphawolf
- Not sure Vick is playing better, he has gotten worse in the 4th 1/4 and has not mounted anything close to a come back with the game on the line. That being said, he isn't the worst part of this team. Clearly the blame of the unraveling is Reid, but the ultimate blame is on Lurie, who despite a very clear decline over the last 5 years elected to bring him back
- I agree that changing QBs would be a bad choice. But honestly it doesn't matter who the QB is. The season is done. Schedule doesn't get any easier and media and fans will crush AR & Vick with each sunday performance. Fans only want to see a QB change to see what Foles can do but is it in his best interest to put Foles in now with the clunker of a season that is at hand. Best case scenario, Lurie makes the call and lets go of AR and the organization starts fresh. Whoever comes in next better be ready b/c he will have a roster that can win with 2 capable QBs but needs to push the right buttons to get everyone back on track. The real issue here is AR the talent evaluator vs AR the coach. Seems like AR is screwing himself over with each contract and personnel decision he makes.— PhillyinBmore
- Vick didn't lose games all by himself. It's been a TEAM effort all along. Ofefensive Line, Defensive ineptness, Special Teams incompetence. Of course, Vick made his contributions as well but, all in all, it's been a TOTAL TEAM EFFORT and that includes the Head Coach and his idiot side-kick, Moronweg.— essell
- Reid is not a risk taker. He deserves to lose his job for putting such a rotten product on the field.
— fafink - These are the decisions that prevent Reid from having fan support.— Taser
- If Vick lost games by himself did Vick win every Eagle game won by himself? Only a hater would believe that one player is to blame for every TEAM loss! Just move the Eagles to Los Angeles or another city or trade all of the Black players so fake fans can have the all-white team that they want and love, I visit this site often and I've never read a post calling white O-linemen dopes, morons, dumb or stupid even though the white linemen can't block a pee wee league D-lineman!.— allworld2
- Whatever they do it's our team, such is life, just sayin'...— DJ
- I'm no Vick hater, nor is he the sole reason that the Eagles have performed the way they have. Nor do I feel it is somehow a mistake to leave him as the starter. However, he is being paid to be a much better player than he is and his experience and skills should allow him to perform far better than he does. And while Vick hasn't thrown a bunch of interceptions in the last 180+ attempts he does have a bunch of fumbles in that time and not a whole lot of stand out plays.
So, I don't think it crazy to think about Foles at this point. Yeah, he might stink it up. It's a possibility. But Vick's performance has come down so far that Foles could reasonably be an improvement.— dkerrigan - Reid fiddles while the Eagles burn.— jman
blah blah blah blah. times yours.— Justicek
1
Popular Posts
About this blog
Bob Ford has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 1981, and is still trying to figure it all out. A former beat writer covering the Phillies and the 76ers, Ford became a general sports columnist for the Inquirer in 2003, following in and occasionally falling in the deep footsteps of Bill Lyon, Frank Dolson and many distinguished others. He comes to the Philly.com blogosphere after award-winning success as designer/editor of the fabulous Pen & Pencil Club softball blog. Likes: Palestra, inside-the-park home runs, sunny days. Dislikes: phony people, cloudy days, rewrites.
Reach Bob at bford@phillynews.com.
Bob Ford
Inquirer Sports Columnist
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners:
Powered By:
