Mike Check: Examining Vick's struggles
What did the Vikings do to contain Michael Vick? And will other teams be able to follow their blueprint? Here's the weekly look at his performance.
As has often been the case in recent weeks, this is the section where we learn the most about Vick.
Overall, the Vikings blitzed on 31 of 58 dropbacks (53.4 percent). But if you take out the garbage-time final series, it was 31 of 54 (57.4 percent).
It's important to note that the Vikings blitzed differently than the Giants. Vick burned the Giants in the fourth quarter when they sent six and seven defenders at him. But the Vikings pressured with five-man blitzes on 29 of 31 occasions. In other words, they still had six defenders in coverage, but they were successful in pressuring Vick. The Vikings dropped a lineman back into coverage 19 times. And they employed a formation of three down linemen so they could better disguise who was coming after Vick.
Vick was 9-for-20 for 116 yards against the blitz. There was also the 24-yard pass interference to Maclin. But the performance against the blitz was much worse than those numbers indicate. On 10 of the 31 plays that the Vikings blitzed him, Vick failed to even attempt a pass. On those plays, Minnesota sacked him five times and forced two fumbles. Vick ran for positive yardage on five occasions, but he didn't have a run of more than 8 yards against the blitz.
Remember, when Vick turned the tides against the Giants, it was because the Eagles' offense hit on big plays against the blitz. That didn't happen against the Vikings. He often looked for Jackson when the Vikings sent extra pressure. Ten of Jackson's 12 targets came on plays where the Vikings blitzed.
The Eagles need to get better at recognizing the blitz, blocking the extra defenders and hitting on big plays. That's not just Vick. That's the coaches, the running backs, the offensive line and the receivers too.
Vick threw out of the shotgun more than he had the previous two weeks. He was 17-for-29 for 188 yards out of the gun. And 8-for-14 for 75 yards under center.
The Eagles ran 17 plays that involved some kind of play-fake. That number might need to shrink in the playoffs, considering those plays are slow-developing and require superior protection. Vick was 8-for-13 for 75 yards on throws off play-fakes against the Vikings.
The box score shows the Eagles as 4-for-11 on third downs, but it was really 6-for-13 when you consider they got a pair of conversions on defensive penalties. Vick was 3-for-8 for 48 yards and an interception on third down. He was sacked once and had a 6-yard run.
Vick targeted Jackson more than any other receiver on third down. He was 0-for-5 on those attempts.
The Eagles continue to be good in the red zone. They converted both opportunities into touchdowns and are now five for their last six in the red zone.
On the first trip, Vick was 1-for-2 for 3 yards, finding Harbor for the touchdown.
On the second trip, he was 0-for-1 but had the 10-yard touchdown run.
What sticks out here is the lack of efficiency on throws downfield. Vick was just 2-for-11 on passes that traveled more than 15 yards from the line of scrimmage; 1-for-8 on passes that went more than 25 yards. He hit Jackson on a 21-yard gain and found Maclin for a 28-yard pickup, but that was it.
He looked for Jackson on Bomb throws four times, but came up empty on all of them.