Michael Vick is having a very bad season. Before any NFL teams took one snap in the 2011 season, the Eagles, lead by Vick, LeSean McCoy and a handful of defensive all-stars were every pundit's pick to go to the Super Bowl.
And then they started playing games.
The Eagles' demise is well-documented, but now Michael Vick has two broken ribs to go along with his mediocre play and even more mediocre record.
With the way Vick plays the game at his size--getting beat up on seemingly every play, throwing his body around like a rag doll, refusing to go down, when it's the smartest play for a "superstar" quarterback to make--this was only a matter of time.
Vick can't play the way he does and expect to spend 16 games on the field. Vick's status for Sunday's huge game against the Giants is currently up in the air, like so many of Vick's pass attempts that land in the hands of the opposing team.
But is Vick a superstar? After his contrite apologies for his dog-fighting scandal, it appeared Vick had matured and attempted to use his head as much as his bionic arm and legs in an attempt to become a complete quarterback who could be mentioned in the same breath as Brady, Montana or Manning.
But it never happened. Vick still doesn't seem to read defenses. He still relies on his old physical tricks to get himself out of jams. And because of that, he's throwing interceptions and taking a beating that he can't sustain.
Eagles coach Andy Reid says the same thing after every game, taking blame for what went wrong and trying to get the media to focus on him, instead of his quarterback. But after a while, these grown men are going to have to take full responsibility for being a team that hasn't lived up to expectations.
And isn't that Michael Vick's career in a nutshell? Bit hype, lots of talent on paper, high expectations. But the reality of the situation always ends up with a mediocre end. A loss to an inferior team. Poor mechanics. Mental errors.
If there's one thing Andy Reid should be blamed for, it's putting all his faith that Vick would become the quarterback everyone thought he should be. We can learn a lot from history, and history tells us that Michael Vick will never reach expecations.
Now that his broken ribs will likely cost him now only playing time, but will hamper him from all his physical gifts, you have to wonder what kind of quarterback Michael Vick could be without his physical gifts. More than likely, it's the one you saw against a sub-par Arizona Cardinals defense who completed 47 % of his passes, threw two picks and zero touchdowns.
Vick hasn't shown the ability to dominate the mental side of the position as much as he has the physical, so where does that leave the Eagles now? Out of the playoffs this year, and probably every year they have Vick under center.
Fantasy Note: If you have a chance to pick up Vince Young, only do it if you are completely desperate. Young is not the Young of old (get it?) and while the Eagles do throw the ball, you're more likely to find a more stable option elsewhere. As a friendly reminder, Young is 0-1 in pass attempts with 1 interception this year. Yes, you read that right.
