There is no chance Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles front office envisioned all of this. No one is that smart. Reid took a calculated risk last summer that Michael Vick — still just 29 at the time after serving 21 months in federal prison and another two under house arrest on animal-cruelty charges — could become a capable NFL quarterback again. Maybe he knew even then that Donovan McNabb wouldn’t last beyond 2009 in Philadelphia and the team needed an insurance policy in case backup Kevin Kolb faltered.
Well, Reid got more than an insurance policy. He used the waiver wire to acquire the best player in the league. Hard to argue otherwise at this point. As easy as it is to kill the Redskins’ defense after an embarrassing 59-28 loss to the Eagles on Monday night, sometimes it really just comes down to this: Vick made every throw. The opening bomb to DeSean Jackson was a thing of beauty, dropping into the speedy receiver’s hands in stride for an 88-yard touchdown. That’s the longest in team history.
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Accuracy and decision-making were always Vick’s undoing in his first incarnation in Atlanta. Now? He’s never had a completion percentage above 56.4 percent. This year he sits at 62.7 percent through six games. He has 11 passing touchdowns, which is just nine off his career-best mark of 20. Vick has yet to throw an interception or lose a fumble in the 18 games he’s appeared in since his return from prison. Those four rushing touchdowns are halfway to his career-high of eight. Vick leads the NFL in quarterback rating (115.1) and is second in passing yards per attempt (8.82).
We have no idea how this season will ultimately end for Philadelphia. It is one of many flawed Super Bowl contenders. What we do know is that Vick’s jaw-dropping performances the last two weeks against Washington and Indianapolis are the long-awaited merging of his immense physical gifts with a true feel for how to play quarterback.
