Vick Or Kolb: Here's One Vote For No. 7
By Joseph Santoliquito
Somewhere you can almost imagine Donovan McNabb falling backward laughing hysterically on the floor. You can't blame him for thinking 'This is what they've replaced me with?" It gets even funnier when you consider backup center Mike McGlynn had more receptions in the first two quarters of the season than DeSean Jackson did. But you knew this was coming, didn't you? You could see it from a galaxy away and all it took was one game.
So let the debate begin: Should the Eagles start Michael Vick or Kevin Kolb against the Detroit Lions next week, after Kolb's woeful performance and seeing Vick almost singlehandedly resurrect the Eagles against Green Bay?
Kolb went 5-for-10 for 24 yards in one half, his longest completion for 6 yards, before leaving the game in the second half with a concussion. Vick, facing a 27-10 deficit at the start of the third quarter, rushed for a game-high 103 yards (the 10th 100-yard rushing game in his career) and threw for 175 yards, completing 16-of-24, including a touchdown. He made what looked like a joke of a game into something compelling. His emergence will also have Eagles Nation debating aloud this entire week who provides the best chance for the Eagles to win.
The Packers were certainly shaking their heads and pleased that they won't have to see Vick again this season. They were run ragged by what appeared to be the vintage Vick.
"The guy brought new life to that team, and the thing is, the more he gets in, the better and better he's going to look," said Packers' nose guard B.J. Raji. "He still has an ability to make plays, regardless of where he is on the field. Vick certainly adds a new dimension to their offense. I'd say it's almost a completely different offense when Vick is in there, as opposed to Kolb. Don't get me wrong, I think Kolb is a great player, but with Michael Vick, he adds an escapeability to the Eagles that they don't have with Kolb. Believe me, they were a completely different team with Vick in there than Kolb."
Troy Aikman, the color analyst calling the game for Fox, was effusive in his praise for Vick.
"I thought Vick was sensational," the Hall of Fame quarterback said. "He did a heck of a job and brought some real energy and enthusiasm to the Eagles. You saw that. But I also know the way Philly is, too. I know for certain this is going to be a point of discussion all week long in this city. But I also know Andy Reid very well. Andy is a loyal guy, and he's the kind of guy who will stick to his guns. He won't change. Andy will stick by Kolb, because that's his guy. That's the guy Andy drafted, and that's the guy Andy traded Donovan McNabb away for."
But Reid also had to see the marked difference in the way Vick ran the Eagles' offense, as opposed to the way Kolb did. Let's be honest here: Kolb was a major flop in his debut as the anointed new Eagles' starting quarterback. He seemed restless and unsure. He was tentative, doing many of the things starting NFL quarterbacks shouldn't do. His decision-making was atrocious. He looked like a little kid trying to play with men. That's how bad he looked. When Kolb left the Eagles' locker room Sunday night, he wore the glazed veneer of a fighter who just got knocked out. It was an NFL punch from a powerhouse team that said-"You're not ready yet."
The Packers' Clay Matthews was tremendous. The second-year linebacker out of USC was all over the field, and made the play of the game when he stopped Vick on fourth-and-1 at the Packers' 42 with two minutes left to play.
"I'm still gassed from running around after Vick," Matthews said. "The guy can still play. Just look around this locker room and see the faces of the defense in here. We're all a little winded trying to catch Vick. The guy can move, and the guy can play. He adds a dimension to that team that becomes really tough to stop. Vick is a threat to run and a threat to pass. You really don't know what he's going to do, and it's something we were lucky we prepared for."
Right now, right here, this is one vote for Michael Vick as the Eagles' starter against Detroit next week. Will it happen? Not likely. Reid is very stubborn, and he may even be willing to stick with his decision to start Kolb, if Kolb is physically able to start. Reid will make the choice despite the truth, just to make a point, regardless of how listless the Eagles' offense looked under Kolb.
Vick was certainly feeling good about his performance. So good that after the game, he threw a dagger in Kolb's back, saying, "I can still play at a high level. If I was out there for four quarters, I felt maybe we would have had a chance to win the game."
It's not exactly a ringing endorsement for Kolb, unlike the vocal public push Kolb gave Vick during training camp. Though what spilled out of Vick's mouth is the truth. This isn't high school or college, where a program is willing to live and die through the growing pangs of its new starting QB. This is the NFL, where wins and losses mean food on the table for the players surrounding Kolb.
And if you asked the team that beat the Eagles, a team that could very well go deep into the playoffs, what they thought and who they would rather not see again ...
"I don't want to see Vick again," Matthews said emphatically. "We knew what the Eagles would do on that [fourth-down play that decided the game]. We knew they would try a quarterback sneak. But with someone like Vick, you just don't know. That guy is problems for anyone. But that's not really a question I have to ask. It's a question the Eagles and the fans here in Philly have to ask: Who's going to be the starter next week? That's the real question."
