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Stopping Vick now Cowboys' main concern
Posted Tuesday, Dec. 07, 2010
By Jan Hubbard
jhubbard@star-telegram.com
When Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins in the off-season, it was popular to wonder if the Philadelphia Eagles had made a mistake or suckered the Redskins.
Michael Vick was not part of the equation.
Trading a top-level quarterback within a division seems risky unless a team is convinced that quarterback is losing his effectiveness.
Still, it's taking a chance. Teams play each division opponent twice. That could be two losses. There could be another meeting in the playoffs. What if McNabb led the Redskins to the Super Bowl and won?
As it turned out, the problem with that thinking was that Michael Vick was not part of the equation. And why should he have been?
He missed two seasons because he was an inmate at the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan., serving time for his role in a dogfighting scandal.
Before the 2009 season, the Eagles signed him not simply as a backup, but as the No. 3 quarterback behind Stephenville's Kevin Kolb.
During the season, Vick attempted 13 passes. He was an afterthought for the Eagles. In the overpowering culture that is fantasy football, he was not even drafted in most leagues.
But now he's a leading candidate for Most Valuable Player. McNabb is an afterthought. Kolb is an afterthought.
And Vick, who is only 30, is far superior to the player he was in Atlanta before his incarceration.
Kolb opened the season at quarterback, but when he was injured in the first game, Vick came in, played sensationally and wrested the job away from Kolb.
He missed three games with chest and rib injuries, but in the nine games he has started, he has thrown for 2,243 yards and 15 TDs. He has also rushed for 467 yards and six touchdowns. That is more yards rushing than Marion Barber, the Cowboys' usual starting running back, and only one fewer rushing touchdown than all Dallas backs combined.
Critics obviously still have problems with the crimes Vick committed, even though he served his prison sentence. On the field, however, Vick has been nothing less than great.
Twin terrors
At 8-4, the Eagles are having an excellent season and are in position to win the NFC East. But here is the scary part for division opponents.
The Eagles are very young at the skill positions.
Besides 22-year-old running back LeSean McCoy, the Eagles' top two receivers are 24 (DeSean Jackson) and 22 (Jeremy Maclin).
Maclin has 56 catches for 820 yards. His eight receiving TDs are tied for sixth in the league.
Jackson is the explosive receiver. He has only 38 catches with five touchdowns, but he ranks third in the league with an average of 20.1 yards per catch.
Those two could be together for another decade.
Younger threat
For six of his eight years in Philadelphia, Brian Westbrook was arguably the most versatile running back in the league. At 5-foot-8, 200 pounds, Westbrook was undersized. But he was excellent running the ball inside, outside and catching the ball out of the backfield.
Westbrook was a free agent after last season and the Eagles did not re-sign him, opting instead to go with 22-year-old LeSean McCoy from the University of Pittsburgh.
The 5-10, 215-pound McCoy is a larger version of Westbrook, and in his first full season as the starter, McCoy has rushed for 823 yards, and seven touchdowns and has 67 receptions and two receiving TDs. He has been every bit of the threat that Westbrook was.
New-look defense
The Eagles' defense might not be as wild and crazy as it was behind the late coordinator Jim Johnson, who frustrated opponents with a variety of blitzes and looks that kept offenses off-balance during his 10 years with the Eagles.
Johnson, who died last year, was the architect of a defense that played a huge role in the Eagles playing in the conference championship five times in six years and also the Eagles' Super Bowl appearance in 2004.
Johnson is gone, but his spirit is partially present. The Eagles are tied for eighth in the league with 32 sacks -- 10 more than the Cowboys.
They also are aggressive defenders. They have 20 interceptions, which leads the NFL.
They can, however, be victimized. They allow 23.4 points a game, which ranks them only 19th in the league.
Jan Hubbard, 817-390-7760
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/1...vick-now-boys-main-concern.html#ixzz17WFZ7ZdU
Posted Tuesday, Dec. 07, 2010
By Jan Hubbard
jhubbard@star-telegram.com
When Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins in the off-season, it was popular to wonder if the Philadelphia Eagles had made a mistake or suckered the Redskins.
Michael Vick was not part of the equation.
Trading a top-level quarterback within a division seems risky unless a team is convinced that quarterback is losing his effectiveness.
Still, it's taking a chance. Teams play each division opponent twice. That could be two losses. There could be another meeting in the playoffs. What if McNabb led the Redskins to the Super Bowl and won?
As it turned out, the problem with that thinking was that Michael Vick was not part of the equation. And why should he have been?
He missed two seasons because he was an inmate at the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan., serving time for his role in a dogfighting scandal.
Before the 2009 season, the Eagles signed him not simply as a backup, but as the No. 3 quarterback behind Stephenville's Kevin Kolb.
During the season, Vick attempted 13 passes. He was an afterthought for the Eagles. In the overpowering culture that is fantasy football, he was not even drafted in most leagues.
But now he's a leading candidate for Most Valuable Player. McNabb is an afterthought. Kolb is an afterthought.
And Vick, who is only 30, is far superior to the player he was in Atlanta before his incarceration.
Kolb opened the season at quarterback, but when he was injured in the first game, Vick came in, played sensationally and wrested the job away from Kolb.
He missed three games with chest and rib injuries, but in the nine games he has started, he has thrown for 2,243 yards and 15 TDs. He has also rushed for 467 yards and six touchdowns. That is more yards rushing than Marion Barber, the Cowboys' usual starting running back, and only one fewer rushing touchdown than all Dallas backs combined.
Critics obviously still have problems with the crimes Vick committed, even though he served his prison sentence. On the field, however, Vick has been nothing less than great.
Twin terrors
At 8-4, the Eagles are having an excellent season and are in position to win the NFC East. But here is the scary part for division opponents.
The Eagles are very young at the skill positions.
Besides 22-year-old running back LeSean McCoy, the Eagles' top two receivers are 24 (DeSean Jackson) and 22 (Jeremy Maclin).
Maclin has 56 catches for 820 yards. His eight receiving TDs are tied for sixth in the league.
Jackson is the explosive receiver. He has only 38 catches with five touchdowns, but he ranks third in the league with an average of 20.1 yards per catch.
Those two could be together for another decade.
Younger threat
For six of his eight years in Philadelphia, Brian Westbrook was arguably the most versatile running back in the league. At 5-foot-8, 200 pounds, Westbrook was undersized. But he was excellent running the ball inside, outside and catching the ball out of the backfield.
Westbrook was a free agent after last season and the Eagles did not re-sign him, opting instead to go with 22-year-old LeSean McCoy from the University of Pittsburgh.
The 5-10, 215-pound McCoy is a larger version of Westbrook, and in his first full season as the starter, McCoy has rushed for 823 yards, and seven touchdowns and has 67 receptions and two receiving TDs. He has been every bit of the threat that Westbrook was.
New-look defense
The Eagles' defense might not be as wild and crazy as it was behind the late coordinator Jim Johnson, who frustrated opponents with a variety of blitzes and looks that kept offenses off-balance during his 10 years with the Eagles.
Johnson, who died last year, was the architect of a defense that played a huge role in the Eagles playing in the conference championship five times in six years and also the Eagles' Super Bowl appearance in 2004.
Johnson is gone, but his spirit is partially present. The Eagles are tied for eighth in the league with 32 sacks -- 10 more than the Cowboys.
They also are aggressive defenders. They have 20 interceptions, which leads the NFL.
They can, however, be victimized. They allow 23.4 points a game, which ranks them only 19th in the league.
Jan Hubbard, 817-390-7760
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/1...vick-now-boys-main-concern.html#ixzz17WFZ7ZdU