Michael Vick's Role With Eagles Offense Needs Adjustments

Any other year, a preseason game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars would not have a significant impact for the fans.

However, last night’s matchup may have been one of the most hyped-up preseason games fans have seen in years since Michael Vick was making his debut with the Eagles after spending 18 months in prison for his involvement with running a dogfighting operation.

Vick’s first game back since December 31, 2006 was the complete opposite of what most people expected—which may have been a great thing.

There were protesters outside of the stadium before the game, but not nearly the amount everyone expected. There were plenty of fans wearing No. 7 jerseys—even though some said “Garcia” on the back—to show their support for Vick and welcome him to the City of Brotherly Love.

Instead of a stadium divided about how they felt about Vick between cheers and boos, he received a standing ovation from fans as he made his first appearance on the field during the second play of offense for the Eagles.

Even though he was only on the field for six plays, Vick was still the man of the hour at Lincoln Financial Field. Each play, fans would anxiously wait in their seats to see if No. 7 was making his way from the sidelines to the center of the field in hope of seeing an exciting play that so many of us are used to seeing from Vick.

He may have only completed four passes for 19 yards, but it was all the Eagles needed from Vick considering he hasn’t played in the NFL for two years.

Overall, Vick had a successful return with the Eagles and did everything he was asked to do to help the Eagles win the game.

Even though the night seemed to be focused on Vick’s return, there was still a football game to be played between the Eagles and Jaguars. Even though the Eagles ended up winning 33-32, the team still has a lot to work on—both on offense and defense—if they look to be contenders in the 2009 season.

Quarterback Donovan McNabb finished 21-for-36, throwing for 244 yards and one touchdown as he played most of the first three quarters. However, he managed two key turnovers that could have resulted in points for the Eagles (he threw one backwards pass while on the Jaguars’ one-yard line that resulted into a fumble that was returned for a touchdown).

At one point, a group of Philadelphia fans began the “We Want Vick” chant after watching McNabb struggle at certain points during the game. Despite his struggles, it’s hard to blame McNabb for his performance when the entire offense looked inconsistent most of the game.

If the Eagles want to effectively use both Vick and McNabb in the upcoming 2009 season, head coach Andy Reid needs to figure out a system that will work well for everyone, especially McNabb.

In the game against the Jaguars, Reid used Vick for random plays instead of allowing him to play an entire series on his own.

There were numerous cases where McNabb would appear to get into a rhythm on offense, only to be sidelined so Vick could step in. When McNabb would return to the field for the next play, his rhythm seemed to be off again and the Eagles offense would look horrendous.

Using McNabb and Vick on offense has a lot of potential for the 2009 season, and it could confuse opposing defenses on what to expect from the Eagles each week.

However, Reid needs to figure out an effective system that will work well and keep everyone in rhythm if the Eagles want to take advantage of using Vick for the upcoming season.

Otherwise, the Eagles offense will be in for a long 2009 season, especially if they play the way they did in the first half of last night’s game.

Dan Parzych is the Eagles Fan Voice on NFLTouchdown.com

Make Sure To Check Out NFCEastFootball.com

Philadelphia Eagles: What To Expect As Vick Makes His Debut

December 31, 2006.

This was the last time Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick played a game in the NFL. Coincidentally, his last game happened to be the regular season finale at Lincoln Financial Field against the Eagles.

Now, Vick is set to make his return to the NFL at the same place he was last seen, only this time he will be playing for birds of a different pretty in the Eagles as they square off against the Jacksonville Jaguars in their third preseason game, which is seen by some as one of the most important games in the offseason.

The third preseason game is a chance for most of the Eagles’ starters to play a significant amount of time since a good amount of them will rest during the preseason finale to rest up for opening week against the Carolina Panthers.

Head coach Andy Reid and the rest of the Eagles coaching staff will be very observant tonight to see which players perform well and which players struggle.

However, if you are the media, fans of football, or even just part of the Eagles fan base, the only performance that will seem to matter tonight will be Vick’s.

Even though it’s only the third preseason game, the Eagles should expect for an interesting night at Lincoln Financial Field. What should fans attending the game expect tonight?

For starters, expect the usual die-hard Eagles fans tailgating and cheering their beloved Eagles on to victory. However, there tailgating scene may be filled with a different group of people Eagles’ fans aren’t used to seeing.

Ever since the signing of Vick, the city of Philadelphia seems to be torn on whether or not this was the right move by Joe Banner, Jeffrey Lurie and the rest of the Eagles organization.

To bring in a player such as Vick to the Eagles after his involvement with organizing dogfighting will be an issue in the headlines for the entire season. Not only are there a good amount of fans unhappy with the signing, but members of PETA weren’t exactly thrilled with the situation either.

Vick’s debut will be the most talked about story in the media for the next couple of days, whether people want to hear about it or not. For his debut, there will be a fair-share of fans who will welcome Vick with open arms as they are willing to forgive him for his previous actions in hope that his talent will be part of the missing ingredients to help the Eagles win their first Super Bowl in franchise history.

However, there will be another fair-share of fans who will express their unhappiness with the Vick signing and will show it throughout the entire game. Considering Philadelphia fans, nobody will be shocked if Vick is judged for every play made in tonight’s game.

There will be protesters outside in the parking lot before the game, which could make the entire tailgating scene interesting. Even inside the stadium, the tiniest mistake could lead to the loudest set of boos from the fans in attendance.

Vick knew it would be a rough road making his return to the NFL. He is blessed to be given another chance to show the rest of the league what he is capable of doing on the football field and has waited years for this day to come.

Tonight begins the first official night of Vick’s controversial return to the NFL. He knows the road ahead is going to be rough, but there is no better organization to help him lead the way than the Eagles.

As far as the type of welcome he will receive in the City of Brotherly Love tonight…that’s a different story that should be interesting.

Burress' Jail Sentence Is Unfair When Compared To Stallworth and Vick

What's bugging me this week? How about the latest jail sentence for former New York Giants WR Plaxico Burress?

In February 2008, Burress was on top of the world as he caught the game-winning touchdown from QB Eli Manning to help the Giants defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Now, he may never be able to step foot in the NFL again.

Last week, Burress accepted a settlement to spend two years in prison after pleading guilty for criminal possession of a weapon last season. Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh last November when he was walking up the stairs in a nightclub located in Manhattan, NY.

Burress claims he brought the gun to the Manhattan nightclub because he felt "unsafe" and wanted to protect himself.

For the record, I can understand why it's hard for some people to feel sorry for Burress when he made the decision to hang out at a place where he felt unsafe. However, his punishment for his actions on that night back in November is ridiculous when you compare them to the punishments received by Philadelphia Eagles QB Michael Vick and Cleveland Browns WR Donte Stallworth.

The way I see it, Burress' sentence was harsh because it was seen as firing a gun in a public place since the shooting took place at a nightclub. However, is it really fair for him to be sentenced for two years when Vick and Stallworth's actions appear to be far worse?

Vick spent 18 months in prison because of his involvement with a dogfighting operation at one of his Virginia homes. He was responsible for killing dogs in such ways that will make a body cringe just from thinking about it.

Stallworth spent 24 days of a 30-day sentence in jail after pleading guilty to a DUI manslaughter that took the life of 59-year-old Mario Reyes last March. He was driving under the influence early one morning after drinking at a club in Miami and struck Reyes as he was crossing the street, who was leaving from his job as a crane operator.

Vick and Stallworth have both taken full responsibility for their actions. They have both served their time in prison and have to live with their bad judgments for the rest of their lives. However, both of their sentences were less harsh than Burress, despite the fact what they did was much worse.

We're talking about two guys that were responsible for taking away the lives of a humans and animals for their actions. All Burress did was accidentally shoot himself in the leg, which only harmed him, and he is the one receiving the longer jail sentence.

I understand the fact that a law is a law. Burress illegally possessed a weapon in a nightclub and should be punished for what he did.

However, his punishment should not be longer than Vick's or Stallworth's. He harmed no one but himself and has to live with that for the rest of his life.

The man regrets what he did and has learned from his mistake. He knows bringing a weapon to nightclub was a bad judgment call on his part. Not to mention that he shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Vick took the lives of harmless animals. Stallworth took the life of an innocent man. Yet, Burress is still the one who has to spend a longer period in jail for shooting himself in the leg on accident.

If you ask me, the fact that Burress' sentence is longer than the other guys just doesn't seem fair at all.

He should be faced with some jail time, but at least make the sentence shorter than the other NFL players who committed crimes far worse than what Burress did.

This article was originally published on FantasyPros911.com

Also check out the new NFCEastFootball.com

Eagles-Colts: Live Updates and Notes From The First Half

Tonight, the Philadelphia Eagles traveled to Indianapolis for a preseason matchup against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. After falling to the New England Patriots 27-25 last week, the Birds hope to bounce back in their second game of the preseason.

For the first time, I thought it would be fun to run live updates during the game, marking key plays for the Eagles.

Enjoy!

First Quarter

15:00—A nice opening kick for David Akers as Akeem Jordan makes the tackle for the Eagles. The Colts will start at their own 19-yard line.

14:50—Peyton Manning throws a quick screen pass to Jacob Tamme for 13 yards. Not the best start for the Eagles defense.

13:13—Dallas Clark just caught a 20-yard reception from Manning to gain the first down and enter Eagles’ territory. The defense is struggling already and we haven’t even played for three minutes. Hopefully, the defense players better in the first half than they did last week against the New England Patriots.

11:35—Once again, Manning is able to find a wide open receiver as he dumps it off to Reggie Wayne on 3rd and 4. He gains 14 yards for the first down.

11:01—Manning just threw a nice ball in the end zone to Tamme, who should have hauled it in for a touchdown. Luckily, Jordan was there to deflect it for the Eagles.

10:52—Another third down conversion for Manning and the Colts. This time, he finds running back Joseph Addai on the left side to get inside the five-yard line.

10:22—Manning tries to get Anthony Gonzalez on the slant, but Asante Samuel is there to break up the pass. So close to an interception!

10:17:—A missed interception leads to a Manning-Gonzalez touchdown in the corner of the end zone the very next play. Now that Marvin Harrison is gone, Gonzalez has a chance to have a breakout season, which could be dangerous for the rest of the league.

The Colts get on the board first and lead the Eagles 7-0. Manning finishes the drive seven of 10 for 70 yards and a touchdown. Luckily, this is only a preseason game and means nothing in the standings.

10:13—Quintin Demps returns the kickoff to the 30-yardline. Let’s see if Donovan and the rest of the offense can help tie this game up.

9:25—After running back LeSean Jackson gets stuffed on the first play for the Eagles offense, McNabb finds DeSean Jackson for nice seven-yard gain.

8:54—There is nothing more frustrating than a wasted penalty flag. After McNabb overthrows Kevin Curtis on 3rd and 2, it appears the Eagles will catch a break and gain an automatic first down for the pass interference. Unfortunately, the refs decided there was no penalty on the play and the Eagles are forced to punt.

7:25—It appeared the Eagles were about to stop the Colts on a 3rd and 6 after the blitz forced Manning to dump the ball off rookie running back Donald Brown. Brown looked like he was going to fall short until he broke a tackle and ran for the first down.

6:52—Talk about a break! Jason Babin forces a fumble from Manning and Jordan recovers the ball for the Eagles. Hopefully, the offense can take advantage of the turnover.

6:12—McNabb is looking good this drive as he is able to get a couple of short passes to Jason Avant and McCoy.

5:02—Looks like I spoke too soon, as McNabb gets sacked by Dwight Freeney and fumbles the ball. Freeney must feel pretty good causing a fumble on his former Syracuse teammate. Keyunta Dawson recovers and the Colts will take over at their own 24-yard line.

4:50—Wow. First play after the fumble recovery, cornerback Ellis Hobbs falls for Reggie Wayne’s moves who is wide open down the left side of the field. An easy 76-yard touchdown pass and the Colts now lead 14-0. Manning is now 10 of 14 for 167 yards and two touchdowns. Not bad for the first 10 minutes of the game.

4:38—Hobbs trys to make up for his blown coverage and makes a nice kick return to the Eagles 39-yardline.

3:22—McNabb finds Curtis for a gain of 12 yards to get inside the Colts’ territory. Let’s see if the Eagles can take advantage of the drive and put some points up before the Colts run away with the game.

2:17—Nick Cole gets called for a holding after McCoy runs for a short gain. Looks like the Eagles are looking at a 1st and 20.

1:11—McNabb finds Jackson deep down the middle for the 39-yard touchdown! Looks like all of that hard work and determination to become the No. 1 wide receiver in the offseason is paying off for Jackson. If you think this kid is going to have a sophomore slump, you better think again. Now, the Colts’ lead is cut in half to 14-7.

1:05—Curtis Painter enters the game for Manning at quarterback. Let’s see if the Eagles can handle this Purdue stud better than they did Manning.

00:21—Painter’s first pass of the game is a 12-yard recepetion to Austin Collie. Looks like that will be the last play of the quarter.

Second Quarter

15:00—Nothing like starting off the second quarter with a false-start penalty on the Colts’ Tony Ugoh.

14:12—Painter somehow finds Tamme in the middle of the field on 3rd and 6 for the first down. The Colts are now a perfect 4 of 4 on third down conversions. Even with Manning resting on the sidelines, the Eagles continue to struggle stopping the Colts offense.

13:06—Ugoh receives his second penalty of the drive as he is called for chop blocking. Now the Colts are looking at a 2nd and 25.

12:00—Looks like Ugoh’s penalties helped the Eagles as the Colts are forced to punt. Let’s see if A.J. Feeley can help tie this game up at 14 as McNabb rests for the night as he finishes five-of-seven for 77 yards and a touchdown.

10:30—Surprise, surprise. McNabb gets interviewed on the sideline and the questions surrounding Michael Vick come out and how he is performing. Let it go guys, McNabb wants to focus on the game and worry about Vick when the time comes.

9:20—Not only did Hobbs get hurt on that last drive, but Feeley left the field a little shakey too. If he goes down and Kolb is out, they may be forced to keep Temple’s Adam DiMichele on the roster. The last thing this team needs to deal with is more injuries!

7:39—Tammy just picked up his fourth reception for a gain of 23 yards. Once again, the Eagles fail to stop the Colts on a long third-down possession. If defense wins championships, then the Eagles have a lot of work ahead of them.

6:32—The frustration continues as running back Chad Simpson rushes up the middle to the Eagles 11-yard line for the first down. Looks like the Colts are about to add on to their seven-point lead.

5:05—The Eagles do what they do best on third down by showing blitz. Painter dishes it off to Simpson quickly, who tries to push for extra yards before the ball pops loose. Unfortunately Ugoh recovers at the six-yard line and the Colts kicker Shane Andrus kicks for three, increasing the lead to 17-7.

4:42—Jeremy Maclin takes the kick back to the 30-yard line. Unfortunately, Charleston Hughes is called for holding and the Eagles will start from their own 20. On the positive note, Feeley is back in the game so his injury must not have been that serious.

4:00—Feeley feels the pressure of the Colts defense as he under-throws a pass to Maclin for the incomplete pass on 2nd and 5. Luckily, he finds Hank Baskett the next play on the right side of the field for the first down.

3:25—Eldra Buckley makes his first run of the night for the Eagles as he gains four yards. Last week against the Patriots, he finished with two touchdowns, one on the ground and one in the air. As far as making a name for yourself during preseason is concerned…so far so good for Buckley.

2:20—Feeley finds Buckley for a screen pass that turns into a 19-yard gain. Unfortunately, the play means nothing as the Eagles are called for a holding penalty.

2:00—Well, they just took a commercial break for the two-minute warning. They just showed a clip of Jeffrey Lurie’s press conference after the signing of Vick. Does anyone else get the vibe that Lurie sounds unhappy about the Eagles signing Vick?

1:50—Reggie Brown is called for an illegal formation but the Colts decline the penalty since it would have been fourth down. Does anyone else think Brown could be cut by the time the season starts in September? With Jackson, Curtis, Maclin and Baskett, Brown has a lot to prove if he wants his name to be on the 53-man roster.

1:43—The Colts take over at their own 25-yard line. On a more important note, I saw a commercial for Fox’s “The Cleveland Show,” a spinoff from Seth MacFarlanes hit show “Family Guy.” All jokes aside, does this mean that Cleveland will no longer be a character in Family Guy and just focus on his new show? I’m quite curious to see how this goes down in the fall.

1:35—Getting off topic again, one of the Fox announcer’s just did an impression of a pirate while the camera was focused on Manning stretching before the game. His impression sounded like, “Arrgh, I want to go back to training camp.” How about fewer pirate impressions and more broadcasting of the game?

1:15—Maclin trys to dazzle away from the defenders, but he gets tackled at the 34-yard line without gaining any yardage.

00:48—Another unnecessary penalty for the Eagles as they called for having only six men on the line while trying to run a quick two-minute drill.

00:34—See what happens when I call out Brown? He hauls in a 27-yard reception from Feeley to get the Eagles in field-goal range. Looks like they will be able to get one more play off before a field goal attempt, assuming they don’t accidently run the clock out.

00:00—Well, looks like I spoke too soon. Feeley has been playing long enough to know that if your team has no time outs as the clock is winding down, find the receivers near the sidelines. Instead, he dumps the ball off to Buckley in the middle of the field for a nine-yard gain as time expires. The half ends with the Colts leading 17-7.

Despite His Past, Michael Vick Deserves This Second Chance with the Eagles

The city of Philadelphia has not seen this much attention in the media since their divorce from former wide receiver Terrell Owens.

Thursday night was supposed to be a calm, relaxing night in the city of Brotherly Love. The Philadelphia Eagles were going to officially kick off their preseason by hosting the New England Patriots at Lincoln Financial Field.

Considering it was preseason, the only importance of this game seemed to be how Patriots quarterback Tom Brady would play after missing the 2008 season with an ACL injury. About halfway through the game, that main story was replaced by the shocking story of the Eagles signing Michael Vick to a two-year deal.

The city of Philadelphia entered a state of shock when the news story was first released about Vick’s deal with the Eagles. For so long, rumors had been flying around that Vick would eventually sign with a team, but the details of teams who were interested were not released.

All of a sudden, a relaxing Thursday night for most fans in Philadelphia turned into a night of confusion. Why would Joe Banner & Co. sign Vick when we already had Donovan McNabb? Better yet, how did this deal even come about?

As expected, ESPN pushed the hype of Brady’s return aside to discuss Vick flying from the nest of the Falcons to the Eagles. According to Chris Mortensen and Sal Paolantonio, both had recently asked Eagles head coach Andy Reid if the team had any interest in signing Vick. His response to both of them was simple: The team had no interest in signing the former Pro Bowl quarterback.

No wonder the city of Philadelphia has entered a state of shock; there were no signs that the Eagles were even showing the slimmest bit of interest in signing Vick. This deal was obviously completed behind closed doors, as Reid and McNabb made it clear in their press conferences that they both helped bring in Vick and the team had been discussing negotiations with him and his agent for over a week.

Whether it was through text messaging, Facebook, or Twitter, the news of Vick signing with the Birds spread quickly to the fans in the Philadelphia area. No matter how the news was discovered, one thing is for sure in the city of Brotherly Love: There is definitely a set of mixed emotions among fans about the Eagles signing Vick.

First, there is the set of fans who are excited about the opportunity to bring in a quarterback with the talent level Vick is capable of bringing to the Eagles. They have seen him perform in the past and know that the team could find a way to take advantage of him on offense, whether it be through the Wildcat offense or a quarterback who takes a few snaps every now and then.

Then there is the set of fans who are now embarrassed to even be part of cheering this team on after what Vick did in the past. They will always judge him as the player who was cruel to dogs for no other reason than self-enjoyment, and he will always be seen that way, no matter how many times he apologizes.

No matter what happens over the next couple of weeks with Vick, there are always going to be two sides with two different opinions on whether or not this was the appropriate move for the Eagles to make.

Despite all of the controversy and headlines this signing will make for the upcoming 2009 season, the Eagles organization should be acknowledged for giving Vick this second chance of new life in the NFL. He deserves it.

What Vick did in the past with his involvement in dogfighting is something that can never be taken back. However, the man has paid his dues and has done everything in his will to be given the opportunity for a fresh start.

He is starting from the bottom and pretty much has nothing left from his 10-year, $130 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons. He has sat out the last two seasons in the NFL and served a 23-month jail sentence. The man has learned from his mistakes and wants to make up for it and do good. So why can’t we let him?

What Vick in the past was cruel, and there is no question on whether or not the Eagles will have to deal with more issues now that he is part of the team. There is a good chance that there will be PETA protesters outside of Lincoln Financial Field every home game for the Eagles this season.

The team’s trip to Atlanta during Week 13 should be an interesting return for Vick considering he will be playing against a Falcons team he spent six seasons playing for before his sentence.

The Eagles should not be worried about the drama that is heading their way in the future. This is Philadelphia we’re talking about, the same team that successfully handled Owens before his eventual release.

When all is said and done, the Eagles were probably the best fit for a player like Vick to end up with. They have a successful franchise that knows how to discipline their players, and Joe Banner, Jeffrey Lurie, and Andy Reid know what they have to do to keep Vick in line.

The interviews show a different type of Vick than we saw two years ago. This is a man who knows he has done wrong and wants to do whatever he can to make things right. He realizes that the NFL is a privilege, not a right, and he wants to take advantage of the opportunity the Eagles have offered him.

Vick appears to be a changed man. In his interview, he stated he wants to get involved with the Philadelphia community and the humane society to help prevent animal cruelty. He is grateful for this second chance to turn his life around with the Eagles, and the fans should be just as grateful to take advantage of the opportunity that lies in front of them.

Obviously, Vick is not the same type of player he was two years ago and won’t be replacing Donovan McNabb anytime soon. However, we all know what he is capable of doing with the football on the field when he is at the top of his game. He makes a great quarterback to have behind McNabb, better than what they had with Kevin Kolb.

Give it time, Eagles fans; Vick may end up becoming useful for the offense in 2009.