The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

While he's appeared to show some hesitation in the past few days regarding his decision, Michael Vick has officially retired from the NFL. While the quarterback's affiliation with dogfighting will forever mar his image to a good number of people, I thought I'd try to temporarily remove that from the equation and look back at Michael Vick the player. Being born in 1981 and watching football since the late-80s, I'd have to say, to this point, the three most exciting players I've had the pleasure of watching are, in descending order, Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders, and Michael Vick. In 1999, Michael Vick burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman quarterback for the Virginia Tech Hokies, leading them to an unblemished regular season, and their first (and only to this point) national title game appearance. While Vick's team might have fallen short in their 46-29 defeat at the hands of a far superior Florida State team, Vick led his Hokies back from a 28-7 deficit to...

I haven't had a strong feeling one way or the other with regard to Chip Kelly during his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles. When he was first hired, I admit to being quite curious how his style of offense would transfer to the NFL, but at the same time, didn't firmly believe one way or the other on the matter. This curiosity was partly due to the talent and speed he would coach on the Eagles offense. Let's not forget, when Kelly first took over, the Philadelphia Eagles had: Michael Vick at quarterback, LeSean McCoy at tailback, as well as DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin at receiver. The team was fun, fast, and exciting in Kelly's first season there. Even when Vick went down with an injury, Nick Foles filled in admirably, playing so well he remained the team's starter for the remainder of the season. The Eagles went on to win the NFC East with a 10-6 record, only to lose in the 1st round of the playoffs. To the surprise of many, speedster DeSean Jackson was re...

I've been quite fascinated with the Philadelphia Eagles ever since they hired former Oregon head coach Chip Kelly. Kelly was known as one of the most innovative college coaches to come along in quite some time. So in 2013 when he teamed up with Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Brent Celek, I'll be the first to admit I was excited to see the team play. I've written three extensive blogs about Chip Kelly since the hiring, one in each of the past three seasons (two now this season), and I have to say, I've been rather accurate with all three to this point. In 2013, after Chip Kelly won his debut game with the Eagles, defeating the Washington Redskins 33-27, many ESPN analysts started comparing him to current South Carolina and former Washington Redskins head coach Steve Spurrier (http://thekind-heartedsmartaleck.blogspot.com/2013/09/why-chip-kelly-steve-spurrier.html). I said this comparison was ridiculous on multiple fronts, mostly because ...

It seems that much of the talk this week surrounding the NFL has been with regard to coaches. So, I thought I'd put in my two cents on the hot topics of the week: 1) Is Bill Belichick and Tom Brady's successful run over? After the New England Patriots were dominated on Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, falling 41-14, which dropped them to 2-2 on the season, I can't tell you how many times analysts asked the question, "Is that it?" My response? Let's not jump the gun quite yet. While it's true that the Patriots have looked like anything but their old selves this season, they do play in the AFC (L)East and are currently tied for the division lead, alongside Buffalo and Miami. To start the year last season, while New England was 2-0, they had beaten the Buffalo Bills (who went on to be 6-10) and the New York Jets (8-8) by the combined score of 36-31 (average of 18.0 - 15.5), and many people were asking, "Is that it for Tom Brady and the...

While I can understand the Philadelphia Eagles' concerns regarding DeSean Jackson's alleged ties to gang members, I have a hunch it was just a cop-out, and the team will pay a heavier price for letting him go - especially since he just signed with fellow NFC East foe Washington. It had been rumored in the weeks preceding his release that the Eagles were listening to trade offers for the Pro Bowl wide receiver. Once this "report" came out about Jackson maintaining friendships with gang members, he was immediately released. The timing of it all seemed too impeccable to be true. I have a gut-feeling Jackson didn't get along too well with head coach Chip Kelly, so the team decided to do everything in their power to dispose of him. Yes, while it's true that Jackson can be loud-mouthed at times, and may often times be demanding of more money, that's true of a number of star receivers in the league. Sometimes coaches have to sacrifice those minor annoyances f...

Many Philadelphia Eagles fans had to shake their heads and chuckle some after seeing Andy Reid's Kansas City Chiefs blow a 38-10 3rd quarter lead against the Indianapolis Colts yesterday, probably saying to themselves, "Well, it looks like nothing's changed there. Same old Reid!" However, after watching the Eagles fall to the New Orleans Saints last night, these same fans also had to realistically say, "We improved this year, but still have a long ways to go." The New Orleans Saints appeared to be the superior team for close to sixty minutes last night, however, penalties and turnovers almost killed them. New Orleans gained 178 more yards than Philly, converted nine more first downs, was much more efficient on third down, held onto the ball for almost ten more minutes than the Eagles, etc. However, the Saints were also -2 in turnovers (two Drew Brees interceptions) and were penalized seven times for 85 yards. The Eagles offense wasn't nearly as explo...

It seemed only fitting that the Philadelphia Eagles' crazy regular season ended the way it did - with a 24-22 road win against the Dallas Cowboys to win the NFC East and head to the playoffs to face the 11-5 New Orleans Saints at home. While the Cowboys were severely hampered by injuries entering the game, one has to give credit to back-up quarterback Kyle Orton and the much criticized Cowboys defense for playing pretty well in a losing effort last night. Orton threw for 358 yards and two touchdowns, while the Cowboys defense limited the Eagles to 366 total yards of offense. Overall, the Eagles offense was mediocre and inconsistent throughout the game. While they looked explosive at times, they looked almost lost at others. Numbers wise, Nick Foles had another very efficient outing. He completed 17 of 26 pass attempts for 263 yards (10.1 per), and two touchdowns, for a rating of 124.4. He did lose a fumble deep in Eagles territory, which led to a Cowboys field goal. While Foles...

From the two teams' first drives, where the Chicago Bears went three-and-out and the Philadelphia Eagles scored a touchdown, the now 9-6 Eagles dominated the Sunday night game at home against the now 8-7 Bears. Through a little over three quarters of action, the Eagles lead 40-11. They've been so dominant in every phase of the game, they currently lead the Bears in time of possession by over 9 minutes (28:58 to 19:43). For anyone who has been watching the Eagles all year will know, if there's one stat the team has not fared well in this year, it's time of possession. Offensively, the Eagles, outside of a lost fumble by tight end Brent Celek, have been nearly flawless. They've converted 27 first downs, gone 5 for 9 on third down, 1 for 1 on fourth down, generated 451 yards of offense on 60 plays - 225 through the air and 226 on the ground. They're also 5 for 5 scoring touchdowns inside the red zone. Nick Foles has completed 21 of 25 pass attempts for 230 yard...

The Philadelphia Eagles' wild, crazy, and unpredictable season continued on Sunday, as they followed a 5-game win streak with a 48-30 loss to then 3-9-1 Minnesota on the road to fall to 8-6 on the season. The Vikings, whom were without Pro Bowl running back Adrian Peterson, had no problem racking up yards and points against what had been an improved Eagles defense. The Vikings took control of the game early and forced the Eagles to go away their game-plan, as, due to falling down by 18 points midway in the 3rd quarter, they had to all but abandon the run game. For the game, Philadelphia rushed the ball just 13 times for 79 yards (6.1 per). To Philly's credit, they did fight for all its worth to come back in yesterday's game. Scoring two quick touchdowns late in the 3rd quarter, the Eagles closed the gap from 18 to 5, before Minnesota put their closing touches on a gem of an offensive performance by scoring 14 straight points in the 4th quarter to go back up by 19. The t...

Yesterday's white-out in Philadelphia appeared to be a perfect depiction of the crazy season to this point - both for the league, in general, as well as the Philadelphia Eagles, whom scored 28 points in the 4th quarter to defeat the Detroit Lions 34-20 yesterday to improve their record to 8-5 and temporarily take over first place in the NFC East. With blizzard-like conditions throughout the game's duration yesterday, the game seemed to be much more fun for spectators (at home) than players on the field. Players were slipping and sliding around more than a drunken clown in an ice skating rink. There were so many fumbles and missed tackles, scorers reportedly lost track of them midway in the first quarter. The conditions were so bad, only one kick was attempted in the game, and that extra point attempt by Detroit's David Akers was blocked, as he slipped and fell on his backside directly following it. It appeared as if Philly's offense couldn't get anything going u...

It's much too early in the guy's career to label Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles the next great NFL QB. However, for as unbelievable as the second-year player's stats have been to this point in the season, they could be even better. For the year, Foles has completed 124 of 196 pass attempts for 1,791 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions, for a quarterback rating of 125.1 Keep in mind that a perfect quarterback rating is 158.3. Many seem to forget that Foles had one awful start against the Dallas Cowboys a few weeks back, where he completed just 11 of 29 pass attempts for a mere 80 yards and no interceptions. If we were to exclude that seeming aberration in an otherwise great string of games, Foles' numbers would look like this: 113 completions in 167 pass attempts for 1,711 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions, for a quarterback rating of 139.0. While Michael Vick's 86.5 rating this year is very respectable, as he'd find himself right arou...

The Philadelphia Eagles kept their winning ways in tact with a 24-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. It was their fourth straight win, moving them up to 7-5 on the season, and allowing them to keep pace with the Dallas Cowboys, whom had beaten the Oakland Raiders earlier in the week.  The Eagles offense wasn't nearly as efficient this week as in weeks past, but their defense was able to give Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer problems early and often, forcing three turnovers - with the team finishing +3 in that department.  Quarterback Nick Foles didn't play quite as well as he had been, but overall, still had a very efficient afternoon, as he completed 21 of 34 pass attempts for 237 yards (7.0 per), 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions, for a quarterback rating of 112.0. He ran the ball 9 times for 22 yards (2.4 per). He was also sacked 5 times for a total of 35 yards. He spread the ball around to six receivers, with tight end Zach Ertz leading the way wit...

While Michael Vick had a great start to the season, which his pre-season performances which earned him the starting quarterback job under first-year head coach Chip Kelly, and his grand showings against Washington and San Diego to start the regular season, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback has been hampered with a hamstring injury which has given back-up Nick Foles an opportunity to show his progression as an NFL quarterback, and outside of a very poor showing against the Dallas Cowboys, the young slinger has shined. With Foles at quarterback, the team has reeled off three consecutive wins to improve them to 6-5 and tie them atop the NFC East with Dallas. With Vick's hamstring being close to 100% again, there was some talk among sports-writers and analysts on what Kelly was going to do at quarterback. Well, it appears as if Vick is making that decision a whole lot easier for the first-year head coach. Talking on WIP-94.1 FM late last week, Vick said this regarding the current s...

The Philadelphia Eagles enjoyed a week off this past weekend. With all the upsets that have occurred in recent weeks, perhaps this was a double blessing, as it also allowed some injured players another week to heal. Speaking of which, it sounds as if Michael Vick will be close to 100% again, but due to how efficiently Nick Foles has run the offense of late, he'll start in this coming weekend's game against Arizona. With the Dallas Cowboys' nail-biting 24-21 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday, Dallas is again atop the NFC East with a 6-5 record and a tie-breaking win over the Eagles earlier in the season. Dallas will face 4-7 Oakland at home on Thanksgiving, which should move them to 7-5. Philadelphia, meanwhile, will have to take on the 7-4 Arizona Cardinals, whom are coming off four consecutive wins - outscoring their opponents 121-62 in that span. Their only four losses this year have come against teams with a combined 31-13 record (St. Louis, New Orleans, San F...

If one thing is for certain about the Philadelphia Eagles this season, it's that they know how to dominate the Washington Redskins for three quarters, only to almost blow the lead in the 4th quarter. This happened in Week 1 of the season and again yesterday, when the Eagles led 24-0 after three quarters, only to see the 'Skins rally to make it 24-16, before RGIII got picked off in the end zone late in the contest to seal the deal for Philly. Regardless of how many nails were bitten late in the game, the win placed the Eagles over the .500 mark for the first time since their 33-27 win against this same Washington team to open the season. At 6-5, and with the Dallas Cowboys having a bye week, the win temporarily places the Eagles atop the NFC East. If Dallas wins on the road against the New York Giants next Sunday, however, Dallas will retake first place in the division via the head-to-head tie-breaker. Unless Dallas helps Philadelphia out along the way, the Eagles may need to wi...

With the Philadelphia Eagles winning back-to-back games and scoring an impressive 76 points in that stretch under the guidance of Nick Foles, it's going to be awfully difficult for head coach Chip Kelly to replace Foles as the team's starter, no matter how healthy Michael Vick is. My guess is Kelly will rest Vick for the team's next game against Washington before evaluating things further over the team's bye week. If Foles plays well again and the team wins, I have to believe Kelly will stick with the young quarterback after the bye week. However, even if that's the case, I think it would be a shame for Kelly to not utilize a healthy Vick's talents. In saying that, so long as Foles continues to play well and Vick is healthy, I feel Chip Kelly may want to think about going the unconventional route of having a dual-quarterback system. I'm almost never in favor of such a system, especially at the pro level, but if there's anything most people can agree on...

While the Philadelphia Eagles appeared to be well on their way to a top 10 draft pick not long ago following back-to-back division losses to the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, where they scored a combined 10 points, if the Cowboys lose to the New Orleans Saints tonight, the Eagles will find themselves in a first-place tie atop the NFC East alongside Dallas. Following up on their dismantling of the Oakland Raiders just a week ago, Philly went to Lambeau Field and defeated the banged up Green Bay Packers by the final score of 27-13. The Packers, whom lost Pro Bowl quarterback Aaron Rodgers to an injury just a week ago, saw their backup Seneca Wallace go down in the game today, which left them in the same undesirable position the Eagles found themselves in just a couple of weeks ago - playing their 3rd string quarterback. To his credit, Scott Tolzien played fairly well in a losing effort. For the Eagles offense, Nick Foles played very well for the second consecutive game, after h...

After tonight, we'll have made it through Week 9 of the regular season, and after nine games, I'm still clueless on how to accurately evaluate the Philadelphia Eagles, who are 4-5 following their 49-20 crushing of the Oakland Raiders.  Prior to this game, the Eagles had been outscored 32-10 in their previous two games - both losses. In those two games, Michael Vick re-aggravated his hamstring injury, Nick Foles suffered a concussion, and rookie Matt Barkley looked like a definite rookie. LeSean McCoy was ineffective in the running game. DeSean Jackson seemed to limp over to the sidelines every third play. The special teams unit was more inconsistent than Mitt Romney during election season. The lone bright spot for the team appeared to be their improving defense. But, my, how things can change in a week. With Vick still nursing the hamstring injury, Foles was cleared by doctors to start the game, and following the worst outing of his NFL career in the team's 17-3 loss...

While watching the game yesterday, for some reason the theme song from the old show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? kept playing in my mind with a change in the lyrics, as the chorus went, "Where in the world is Philadelphia's offense?" For the second straight game, the Philadelphia Eagles offense went without scoring a single point in the team's 15-7 loss to the New York Giants yesterday. Quarterback Michael Vick never looked right and didn't last very long due to re-aggravating his hamstring injury. With back-up Nick Foles sidelined due to a concussion, the team had to resort to 3rd-string rookie quarterback Matt Barkley. To Barkley's credit, he played better than he had the previous week, but still played like a rookie. The former USC star had some nice moments, completing 17 of 26 pass attempts for 158 yards (6.1 per), but lost a fumble deep in Giants territory, had another pass picked off, and had a tendency to hold onto the ball for far too lon...

ESPN.com's Philadelphia Eagles writer - Phil Sheridan - may have a man-crush on second-year back-up quarterback Nick Foles. There's nothing wrong with that. I have discovered I may indeed have the same man-crush as Stephen Colbert - himself. So, I won't judge Mr. Sheridan on this crush. However, when he's attempting to write objective news on the Philadelphia Eagles football team, he may want to distance himself from Foles love-notes. He also seems to hate starting quarterback Michael Vick with a passion, which is understandable, since he's the main competition of his man-crush, Nick Foles. In a recent writing of his, entitled, "QB Watch: Eagles' Foles, Vick, Barkley," Sheridan wrote these bits: - "It would be premature to hail Vick as a savior, though. He completed just 6 of 14 passes for 105 yards against the Giants' defense in the game. Vick and coach Chip Kelly will have to find ways to get the passing game back on track." Trans...