Three weeks ago, after Michael Vick performed his amazing fourth-quarter magic against the Giants, after he brought the Eagles back from 21 points down in the final 8 minutes, everybody couldn’t wait to spend Jeff Lurie’s money for him. Everybody couldn’t wait to make the bankrupt Vick a rich man again. From the bricklayer in South Philly to the lawyer on the Main Line, the message was loud and clear: Re-sign Mike. The sooner the better. The longer the better. Put enough zeroes on the end of an offer to him to get a deal done. Don’t blow this one like you blew it with Brian Dawkins 2 years ago. Truth is, Vick probably isn’t going to be getting a long-term deal from the Eagles any time real
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Vick probably playing for franchise tag
JEREMY CLARK said yesterday he thinks he remembers the Eagles’ defense well enough, even though Clark has been a Giant, a Falcon, a Giant again, a Cardinal, a Cowboy and a Redskin since he last practiced at NovaCare. Clark is a 27-year-old defensive tackle who spent the 2007 season on the Eagles’ practice squad as a free-agent rookie out of Alabama. He returned to the team yesterday, signed after rookie Jeff Owens went on injured reserve, Owens having ruptured a patellar tendon only a few snaps into his NFL debut, Tuesday night against the Vikings. “Once you learn something, it kinda sticks with you. Even though I’ve learned a few other schemes, even playing in a couple of 3-4 defenses,
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Clark’s NFL journey back where it started with Birds
MICHAEL VICK COMPILED four 100-plus passer ratings in his first six games this season, culminating in that awe-inspiring Monday-night game at Washington, in which Vick tossed a 150.7 at the Redskins, with four TDs. Since then, things have been different. Teams are blitzing from everywhere, stunting, flying in late, after the blocking decisions have been made, as Antoine Winfield did so effectively Tuesday. Vick’s passer rating has reached triple digits exactly once since Washington, and that was against the no-defense Texans. All six of Vick’s 2010 interceptions have come in the last five games. He was extremely lucky to throw just one pick against the Vikings; at least two other balls
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Further Review: Pick up blitz or pick up Vick
When Michael Vick gently descended from the podium after the Eagles’ Pepe Le Pew loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the quarterback staggered as if he had a 52-man weight strapped to his back. The actual reason for Vick’s limp was the bruised quadriceps he suffered Tuesday night. But a more apt name for the cause might be carry-the-team-itis. When the Vikings figured out how to exploit this disorder and concentrated their efforts on stopping Vick, the Eagles could not respond and the result was a woeful 24-14 defeat that eliminated any chance at a first-round playoff bye. Coach Andy Reid has not officially stated that he’s giving his starting quarterback Sunday off against the Cowboys, but it
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Downer in blitzin’
ONE OF THE purported byproducts in delaying last night’s game by 2 days was an enhanced chance at one of the two first-round byes in the upcoming playoffs. Better weather meant better use of the Eagles’ weapons, better rest for their banged-up quarterback and top playmaker. Having secured the division championship Sunday by remaining docile, the Eagles figured they would recycle the formula in last night’s walk-through against the Vikings. Didn’t work as well this time. For one, the Vikings didn’t get the walk-through memo. They played as if their only chance of escaping our city was by beating our playoff-bound team. Decisively. Minnesota beat the Birds, 24-14, in front of 69,144
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Eagles earned a bye, earlier than hoped
Heavy snow didn’t blanket the field. Wind didn’t gust or swirl. And despite a frosty game-time temperature, conditions were ideal for a football game. And yet the Eagles still played like they were slowed down, sloppy and unfocused with a chance to secure a first-round bye in the playoffs — and home-field advantage until the Super Bowl — still within reach. The Eagles were already NFC East champions. But by losing 24-14 at Lincoln Financial Field to a Vikings team that had already been knocked out of the playoffs, they also guaranteed themselves a first-round matchup. Nine days after their miraculous win against the Giants at the Meadowlands and two days after a major snowstorm postponed
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Vick & Co. miss out on bye
There was going to come a time when Michael Vick’s freestyling ways were going to hurt the Eagles, and it came Tuesday night in a game that never felt right from the start. The Eagles lost a stinker to the Minnesota Vikings, 24-14, on a crisp, clear evening at Lincoln Financial Field. But they lost so much more – any shot at a first-round bye in the playoffs, and the illusion that Vick is perfect. A few hours after he was named to the Pro Bowl, the quarterback had easily his worst game as an Eagle. The throws were off-target, the decisions a split-second too late, but it was the swashbuckling quarterback’s ball security that ultimately cost the Eagles. Vick fumbled twice against Minnesota
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Vick turns it over and over and over
There’s no reason for Eagles head coach Andy Reid to rest his starters or give his team a break tonight against the Vikings. Even though the Eagles clinched the NFC East title on Sunday without playing, they can still improve their playoff seeding by winning their last two games of the season, starting with tonight’s make-up game against the Vikings at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles clinched the division on Sunday when the Giants lost to Green Bay and currently hold the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, but they can still move into the second seed and secure a first-round bye and home-field advantage for the divisional playoff round. They’re already in a better position than last year and
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Eagles have eye on a bye
There is no question the Minnesota Vikings have offended the gods of football this season and are sentenced to sail ghostlike through the rest of their schedule, a lost Flying Dutchman of a team paying for the hubris of its (former) captain. Navigating the treacherous Straits of Favre is not a mission for the fainthearted, apparently – or the very bright – and the Vikings are getting what they deserve for putting the rest of us through another season of All Brett All the Time. There are always innocent victims standing by the side of the road, of course, and here we are, trying to figure out if the Eagles will ultimately be helped or hurt by the Vikings-induced blizzard and the league’s
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The sins of the Vikings may bite the Birds
Moise Fokou only watched a small sample of footage from Monday’s game between the Giants and Vikings, but he observed enough to determine that the Giants aren’t the same team they played almost five weeks ago. They’re more reliant on the running back tandem of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, a tag team that pounded away at the Vikings’ defense for almost 220 rushing yards and two touchdowns. And when they’re running the ball with authority, they’re awfully tough to stop. “Those running backs are really doing something right now,” Fokou said Wednesday. “Jacobs is back on track. He started off slow this season but he’s their main runner, their main guy right now.” Since rushing for a
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Improved N.Y. ground attack to test Eagles
The news that the Minnesota Vikings had dismissed head coach Brad Childress broke during Eagles coach Andy Reid’s day-after news conference yesterday. Afterward, when Reid spoke with reporters, he was understandably supportive of his former quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. “I think Brad’s record, collectively, has been unbelievable,” said Reid. Childress was 40-37 overall, just 3-7 this season. “Sometimes, situations get a little crazy. But I know he’s a heckuva football coach, tremendous football coach, and again, just look at the teams he’s put out. They’ve been very, very good.” The Vikings visit the Eagles Dec. 26 and the Childress and Reid families had been planning to
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Eagles coach Reid supports Childress, and his Vikings replacement Frazier, too
It is hard to know what to believe these days with the Donovan McNabb trade rumors, but here is an interesting sidelight that does not exactly involve McNabb, but does involve one of the teams reported to be in hot pursuit. Michael Lombardi reports in his Sunday column for the National Football Post that the Oakland Raiders are discussing the availability of quarterback Sage Rosenfels with the Minnesota Vikings. Lombardi writes that the Vikings would only trade Rosenfels if they knew for sure that Brett Favre is returning. Of course, the Vikings have not really given Favre a timetable and say they have no idea what he will do. Most league observers think he will return. Rosenfels was …
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Another McNabb trade wrinkle
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