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Eagles forthcoming about Sunday's loss to Giants

MICHAEL VICK whined about the officials. DeSean Jackson ripped his own defense. Nnamdi Asomugha dimed out the safeties. Now, this is more like it.

Victor Cruz makes the game-winning touchdown catch between Nnamdi Asomugha and Jarrad Page. (Clem Murray/Staff Photographer)
Victor Cruz makes the game-winning touchdown catch between Nnamdi Asomugha and Jarrad Page. (Clem Murray/Staff Photographer)Read more

MICHAEL VICK whined about the officials.

DeSean Jackson ripped his own defense.

Nnamdi Asomugha dimed out the safeties.

Now, this is more like it.

After more than a decade of Donovan McNabb calling gray skies blue, after Brian Dawkins assessing group blame, after years of Brian Westbrook saying the right thing, finally, the Eagles offer some honesty.

"I felt I got hit late. No flag," Vick said after a hard shot eventually knocked him from Sunday's loss to the Giants. "At some point something catastrophic is gonna happen. Not to blame the refs, but more precautions should be taken. I'm on the ground all the time in the pocket."

(No, he is not.)

"The defense really has to step up and . . . help us," Jackson said of the defense surrendering the lead with a 28-yard touchdown to an anonymous receiver, Victor Cruz, who was double-covered at the end zone. This, after the Eagles failed to convert on fourth-and-1. "They went down and scored on a play I kind of thought . . . it shouldn't have really happened."

Right. And, right.

The big play in question was made on Asomugha, the $60 million cornerback luxury the Eagles signed to stop just that sort of play. Asomugha's help was safety Jarrad Page. Cruz outfought both of them for the ball.

"No way he should have come away with that with two guys there," Asomugha said. "One of us should have gone up and made that play. There's no way Cruz should have come away with it."

Earlier, Asomugha missed a tackle on Cruz . . . after Cruz ran through the arms of safety Kurt Coleman. Coleman recovered in time to miss Cruz again.

"Once we missed the tackle, there was nobody there," Asomugha said.

That's right. Asomugha should have better defended the deep ball, and he should have kept Cruz pinned to the sideline, but Page and Coleman were as culpable.

So, Asomugha - who also has owned the three other plays made on him this season - made that known.

This is accountability. This is excellent.

Since Sunday, Jackson has been derided for pointing at the defense's failure. Remember this: No one is as hard on Jackson as Jackson. No one plays harder, either. Jackson is returning punts and going over the middle with the sort of abandon usually seen by players who have contracts that reflect their worth.

So, when defenseman Chris Pronger says the Flyers' forwards presented a lousy forecheck, it's leadership; but when Jackson says the defense gagged, it's finger-pointing?

Talk about codified double standards.

Vick expressed regret Monday at criticizing the officials, mainly because he disrespected them. He said he was "too candid."

Really, Vick regretted saying what he said because, if he looked at the tape from the Giants game, and if he watched the Falcons game the week before, he knows he had not been hit illegally; at least, not flagrantly.

Not once.

Twice in the past 2 weeks he has been flattened by defensive tackles as he released the ball. Once, he was hit around the hips as he let go, but not around the knee. Once, he got pushed to the ground by a lineman who outweighs him by almost 100 pounds, and that probably hurt, too.

But he has not been bullied; about that, he is wrong. That's OK. Surely, Vick feels as if he's been beaten up more than any other quarterback, but that just is not true.

Giants defensive tackle Chris Canty hit Vick with his shoulder, almost immediately after Vick released the ball. Vick's head snapped down, and Canty's helmet grazed Vick's chin. No call. Vick fell on his right hand, which, presumably, is how he injured it.

Vick put himself at greater risk on the play by ignoring tight end Brent Celek, whose responsibility it was to block Canty. Celek released Canty and had a 10-yard cushion between himself and the closest defender. That was the safer, quicker throw - and, considering Vick's health, the better throw. Instead, Vick waited two beats and threw downfield to Jeremy Maclin. He paid a hellacious price, and he was upset.

Vick speaking his mind, telling his employers how he feels, is always OK.

By the way, his employers do not drive Bentley coupes and aspire to make great films. Jeffrey Lurie is not his employer.

The people who watch him play, and who buy his jersey, and who play his character in Madden - those are his employers.

The fans.

Who, for a change, are getting a refreshing dose of candor.

The surly head coach should take notice. That would smack of true leadership.