Vick redeems himself in return to Atlanta

by Joseph Birmingham

Sunday December 6, 2009 

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The Eagles finally broke out of their fall doldrums and thoroughly dominated todays opponent.  They only led 13-0 at halftime, largely in part to penalties that called back several scores, and their own inability to finish drives.   Only a determined goal-line stand to close out the first half and keep it from being a one score game provided them with needed momentum as they came out in the second half with the first possession.

Michael Vick was welcomed back to Atlanta with a combination of applause and boos, then proceeded to silence his detractors by scoring his first touchdown of the year on a 5 yard plunge in the third quarter to give the Eagles a 20-0 lead.   Early in the fourth quarter he followed that up with his first long completion of the year with a 43 yard pass to Reggie Brown.

After contributing a mere 55 yards of offense through the first 9 games, he had 71 yards by early in the fourth quarter and then was handed the ball as the Eagles led 27-0 and Reid decided to sit McNabb for the remainder of the contest.  Shortly after that Vick completed his first touchdown pass of the season on a 5 yard pass to Brent Celek to stretch the lead to 34-0 as McNabb cheered him on from the bench.

McNabb looked fairly sharp, buoyed by the superlative running and catching of fullback Leonard Weaver including a 4 yard touchdown he retrieved off his shoelaces and a 59 yard catch and gallop on the ensuing drive.   The Eagles still had a little trouble putting it away, with 1 touchdown and 2 field goals on their first four possessions inside the 20, with Akers both setting a record for most consecutive field goals, followed by missing a field goal to break the Eagles consecutive streak of red zone possessions with a score this year.

The Eagles defense, particularly Trent Cole, harrassed Chris Redman all day long rendering him virtually ineffective.  The majority of his balls were tipped, batted down or nearly picked off.   Sheldon Brown put questions about his sore hamstring to rest with a 83 yard interception return for a touchdown on a 4th and 2 the Falcons tried after converting 2 of their first 3 fourth down attempts.  Jones followed shortly thereafter with his own interception and tip toe down the side line to put the Eagles in scoring position once again.

McNabb ended the day going 14-25 for 238 yards and a touchdown completing passes to 6 receivers in his 3 plus quarters of play and having 2 rushes for 17 yards, earning a QB rating of just over 100.

Vick lost the chance to play nearly a full quarter as he injured a thumb on a running play and was replaced by the equally capable Kerry Kolb.   The Eagles did not seem to care who was at quarterback position, just as they seemed not to care they were playing without many key players, including running back Brian Westbrook, Kevin Curtis, and DeSean Jackson.

4 Eagles shared running duty with a 4.0 or better yard per carry average, 3 guys suited up at QB, and Jeremy Maclin and Reggie Brown subbed for DeSean and Kevin catching the long balls and converting on third downs to keep drives alive.  Macho Harris showed great promise taking on one on one pass coverage assignments against Falcons tight end  Gonzalez with good results.  McCoy did not see significant action for the first time in a few weeks, but it seems that that is the norm with these Eagles; anytime a player is down and out, another previously unsung athlete steps in to fill his shoes.  It makes the Birds a truly tough team to scout, especially as the various players all bring a decidedly different playing style to the field.

I believe this all starts with the coaching staff, evident when McDonough stepped in to replace Jim Johnson after his unexpected and tragic death earlier this year.  The defense showed little if any disruption at the change and have gotten to be more and more asolid as a group as the season has developed.   The Eagles showed they understand the value in this coaching staff as well, announcing shortly before the game that they were very close to signing a significant contract extension with head coach Andy Reid; sources say this deal could be conclued within the week.

The Eagles defense nearly earned their first shutout of the season, before a late meaningless drive capped by a fluke double deflected pass resulted in a touchdown for the Falcons as time expired and they settled for a 34-7 victory.  This ran their record to 8-4 and put them in position to work their way into a tie with the Cowboys for the NFC East, if the Giants beat them later today.   Meanwhile the Redskins were beating the undefeated Saints with 2 minutes to go as the resiliant NFC East conference reared it’s head and showed why most years two or three of the best teams in the conference come from their ranks.  The Saints came back to tie it up, and the game was undecided at the time of this post.

It looks like the final four weeks are going to be a lot of fun to watch, and fiercely competative as well !

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