Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles' House of Cards

Everyone is very excited about the prospect of the upcoming NFL season and what it holds for the Philadelphia Eagles. While I admit I too am excited to see how all of the new additions pan out, I have some serious concerns too.

Last season seemed like a whirlwind. I looked forward to the Kevin Kolb era amd a fresh start, but had concerns about Michael Vick as a backup. Not because of Vick's skill, but because he had declared in the off-season that he wanted to start. By week 2 he was the starter and the team never looked back.

By week 5 Michael Vick seemed to be the en vogue MVP pick. Part of me felt like it was too soon and that people were getting ahead of themselves, but damn, Michael Vick is fun to watch, and I remember starting to think it was destiny. Maybe this Michael Vick really had changed on the field AND off.  I wanted to support Vick.  It was a great story of redemption, but something in my gut told me this wasn't going to end the way I wanted it to.

The first indication that the house of cards was about to collapse came in that historic New York Giants game. For the first half of that game, the Giants stymied the prolific Eagles offense. They blitzed and blitzed, and the Eagles sputtered and stalled. While Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson and company pulled a Harry Houdini act and escaped with a win, the damage had been done. The Giants had game planned well and found a way to stop Michael Vick. At least for a half. The rest of the NFL followed suite.

The Eagles would not be the same for the rest of the season. Corner blitzes and pressure to the weakened right side of the Eagles offensive line resulted in a scrambling Michael Vick. A scrambling Michael Vick resulted in a battered and bruised Vick. After not throwing an interception in 240 attempts, Vick threw 6 in the final 5 games, then added another in the Playoffs against Green Bay.

So the Eagles are now much improved defensively. They should no longer the sieve that Sean McDermott's squad was last year. And those red zone touchdowns that were such an issue last year should be significantly cut down thanks to 3 Pro Bowl quality cornerbacks fully capable of shutting down the opposition's aerial attack.

Sounds good, right?

What about the fact that the offensive line doesn't really seem to be playing much better than last year? Danny Watkins clearly has a lot of learning still to do, and that's not a shot at him. Ryan Harris, the guy who appeared to be the answer at right tackle looks like he needs back surgery now. If Michael Vick is still running for his life all season, there is no doubt in my mind that he'll will wear down again.  He always does.  At the moment, Vince Young is busy enough trying to make sure he is still #2 on the depth chart in Philadelphia.  He has his hands full with Mike Kafka, and I'm very concerned about what he could do if Vick did go down and the offense was his.

My hope is that those hopes don't come crashing down on us again.