Mora: Vick-over-Kolb scenario possible

As Kevin Kolb tries to clear the cobwebs from his head, everyone in Philadelphia is playing the "what if" game.

What if he misses this week's game against the Lions and also next week's game against Jacksonville? What if Mike Vick goes out in his place and lights it up in both of those games, running and throwing for a bunch of yards and leading the Eagles to back-to-back victories? What then? Who will be their quarterback in Week 4 against the Redskins - Vick or Kolb?

Andy Reid, of course, suggests we all stick our what-ifs where the sun don't shine. Says Kolb was his starting quarterback in Week 1 and will be his starting quarterback when he's healthy again, regardless of how bright Vick lights it up in his absence.

But at least one former colleague of Reid's isn't so sure.

"If Mike just comes out and lights it up, I know they've made a financial investment and a time investment in Kevin, but if Andy wants to win, and he and [offensive coordinator] Marty [Mornhinweg] determine that Mike gives them the best chance to win down the road, that's where they're going to go," said Jim Mora, who coached Vick for 3 years in Atlanta and now works as a game analyst for Fox Sports. "No one is that stubborn."

Mora, whose father once famously labeled Vick a "coach-killer," is a big fan of Vick's unique style of play. And why not? With Vick averaging more yards per carry (7.5) than yards per pass attempt (7.2), Mora's Falcons made it all the way to the 2004 NFC Championship Game before the Eagles neutralized him with a brilliantly executed fence-him-in-the-pocket, Jim Johnson game plan.

The Falcons supposedly ran the West Coast offense during the three seasons Mora and Vick were together in Atlanta. But in actuality, it was the Michael Vick offense. Mora and his offensive coordinator, Greg Knapp, catered the offense to play to Vick's strengths, which essentially were running and throwing on the run.

"Mike has a unique set of skills," Mora said. "We felt in order to magnify his skill-set and give us the best chance to win and enhance what he could do on the field, we had to create an offense specifically for him. And that's what Greg did.

"Mike isn't a straight-dropback, scan-the-entire-field-and-throw-it-down-the-field [quarterback]. We tried to cut the field down for him, and at the same time, get him on the move where he could put tremendous pressure on the defense because of his ability to run or pass."

Vick never had a passer rating higher than 78.1 in the 3 years he and Mora were together. Never had a completion percentage above .564. Never even threw for 2,500 yards. But he twice rushed for more than 900 yards and kept defenses on their heels with his running ability.

"I just know that when he's on the move, he strikes fear in defensive coordinators' hearts," said Mora. "You have to have a special plan for him when he's on the move. It takes you out of some of your man-to-man coverage and forces you to play zone so you can keep eyes on him. And it makes you be very, very sound in your principles of containment.

"It makes you rethink every pressure that you want to run to make sure all the gaps are filled because he can take off and find that crease that a lot of guys can't find. When he finds it, he can explode through it."

Most coaches don't want their quarterbacks taking off and running, no matter how fast they are. They want them to stay in the pocket and go through their progressions.

"I used to [hiss] Greg off at times because I would tell Mike, 'Look, dude. If it ain't there, run.' Because I knew as a defensive coach what it felt like to have a guy that could run like him and how dangerous it is to everything you're trying to do defensively," Mora said. "Greg, as a quarterback type of guy, wanted him to go through all of his progressions and develop nicely into that little package that everybody wanted him to be."

Vick isn't that little package, and never will be. The problem with letting him run, of course, is that he can get hurt. Mora said he and Knapp tried to have Vick move toward the sidelines with the ball so that he could either turn the corner or run out of bounds and avoid the big hits.

"Some of his greatest runs were up the middle, because he dropped back to pass and there was nothing there and he'd go," Mora said. "But most of the designed runs we had for him were outside types of runs."

Mora believes Vick can be a starting quarterback again in league, if not in Philadelphia, then certainly somewhere else.

"The issue with him is are you willing to design your offense around his skill-set?" Mora said. "The initial hesitation with that would've been that he was perceived as a risk off the field. But now that he has, in my mind at least, kind of re-established himself as a productive citizen and someone you can trust again, I think it's worth it. But it does take a commitment.

"You have to have the coaching staff be willing to say, 'OK, this is his skill-set. And we're going to stay within the confines of what he can do, which is different than how you would try to win with other, more prototypical quarterbacks.' "

"We have confidence in Mike. We realized in the preseason that Mike could be a pretty good center. He's come a long way. He's actually turned into a pretty decent center. He works real hard on the mental part of the game. I don't want this to come out wrong. But some people aren't as athletically gifted as others, so they try to work on other areas of the game. I'm not saying Mike's unathletic. I'm saying he's a hard worker and he's a smart player. He works hard to make sure he's got his technique right." - Eagles guard Todd Herremans, on center Mike McGlynn

"No team's going to go undefeated this year. Our goal's the same. We think we can win the Super Bowl." - Jets coach Rex Ryan, whose team lost its season opener to the Ravens

-- Cowboys right tackle Alex Barron, whose holding penalty on the final play negated a game-winning touchdown pass against the Redskins, had three holding penalties in the game and has 10 in the last two seasons. In six NFL seasons, he's been penalized 66 times for 427 yards. He's also allowed 33 career sacks.

-- Eleven of the 16 games in Week 1 were decided by seven points or less. That's the most in the first week of the season in league history.

-- Since realignment in 2002, 55 of the 96 playoff teams (57.3 percent) began the year at either 1-1 or 0-2. Four of the past nine Super Bowl champions opened 1-1 or 0-2.

-- Texans running back Chris Johnson already has eight touchdown runs of 50 yards or more in his young career. If he notches one more, he'll become only the third player in history with nine runs of 50 yards or more. The other two: Hall of Famers Barry Sanders (15) and Jim Brown (12).

-- With 103 rushing yards last week, Eagles quarterback Mike Vick outrushed every running back in the NFC.

-- Teams with a 300-yard passer were 1-2 in Week 1. Teams with a 100-yard rusher were 3-1.

-- Of the last nine Super Bowl runner-ups, seven failed to make the playoffs the following year.

We asked an NFC personnel chief to list his five top-rated 2011 draft prospects. His five:

1. Jake Locker, QB (6-3, 226), Washington

2. Prince Amukamara, CB (6-1, 200), Nebraska

3. Andrew Luck, QB (6-4, 235), Stanford

4. A.J. Green, WR (6-4, 207), Georgia

5. Marcell Dareus, DE (6-3, 303), Alabama

To the NFL Players Association, which announced a "partnership" with the National Fraternal Order of Police this week for the NFOP to show its support for NFL players in their labor negotiations with the owners. Yet another publicity stunt by NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith. This isn't an election. It's contract talks. Smith needs to focus on getting a deal done with the owners instead of trying to get worthless union endorsements.

To Redskins running back Clinton Portis for his idiotic comment on women reporters in the locker room. With any luck, he'll take a knee to his "package" Sunday when the Redskins take on Houston.

1. Packers (1-0)

2. Saints (1-0)

3. Texans (1-0)

4. Ravens (1-0)

5. Colts (0-1)

6. Patriots (1-0)

7. Bengals (0-1)

8. Vikings (0-1)

9. Titans (1-0)

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11.Dolphins (1-0)

12.Cowboys (0-1)

13.Steelers (1-0)

14.Eagles (0-1)

15.Cardinals (1-0)

16.Jets (0-1)

17.Chargers (0-1)

18.Falcons (0-1)

19.Bears (1-0)

20.Redskins (1-0)

21.49ers (0-1)

22.Chiefs (1-0)

23.Lions (0-1)

24.Jaguars (1-0)

25.Seahawks (1-0)

26.Bucs (1-0)

27.Browns (0-1)

28.Bills (0-1)

29.Broncos (0-1)

30.Panthers (0-1)

31.Raiders (0-1)

32.Rams (0-1)