IS GLAD SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE
A little more than a week before the Eagles open the regular-season at the Linc against the Packers, head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg still are being purposely vague about their plan for Mike Vick in the offense.
We weren’t able to glean much about Reid’s plans for Vick in last night’s 21-17 preseason loss to the Jets. With Kevin Kolb getting the night off, Vick started this NFL equivalent of watching paint dry, playing a little more than a quarter before joining Kolb on the sideline. He completed 3 of 5 passes for 56 yards and rushed for 11 yards on 2 carries.
Last week’s game against the Chiefs may have offered the best clue for how Reid and Mornhinweg intend to use Vick. With Kolb playing almost three quarters of that game, Vick twice replaced him on third-and-short situations.
Entered the game on a third-and-1 at the Philadelphia 41 on the Eagles’ third possession and ran for 5 yards and a first down. Later, he replaced Kolb on a third-and-2 at the Eagle 47 and gained 8 yards.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Mike Vick, your short-yardage quarterback.
I’m sure a fair share of you think it’s a bad idea to yank your starting quarterback in key situations such as third-and-1 and third-and-2. I’m guessing it’s not an idea that really thrills Kolb to death either.
But if the Eagles want to have any hope of making a deep playoff run this season, they absolutely, positively must get better on third down. No offensive deficiency hurt them more in ’09. And no player may be able to help change that more this season than Vick.
If we’ve learned anything about the guy in this preseason, it’s that he’s got his legs back. He once again is the catch-me-if-you-can scrambler we knew before he lit a match to his life and his career.
Spread out the opposing defense with a three-wide receiver set on third-and-2 and the opposing defense is faced with a dilemma. Do they bring up the safety in the box to defend against the run and leave DeSean Jackson and/or Jeremy Maclin with a one-on-one opportunity on the outside, or do they keep the safety back and try to defend Vick with a nickel front of 4 linemen and 2 linebackers?
Read more in tomorrow's Daily News.
Les
Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News
since 2002.
Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les
only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no
penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite
what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News
from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much
lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their
two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
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