Why All The Excitement For The Return of Michael Vick?

It’s something that has boggled my mind since the moment the Philadelphia Eagles made the announcement earlier this week. The excitement surrounding the decision to start quarterback Michael Vick for the season finale against division rival New York Giants. In what is really a non-move, head coach Andy Reid had a decision to make after starter Nick Foles broke his throwing hand during the 27-20 loss to the Washington Redskins in week 16. Reid could either play Vick, who has been cleared to play by doctors, or he could play Trent Edwards who hasn’t earned a lick of playing time during the regular season. Clearly Vick is the guy that any coach at this level would choose between those two players. However, during this week I’ve scanned various sites and have taken part in chats on the Eagles official site and have seen some rather ridiculous predictions, and expectations, from Philly faithful. One fan went as far as to tell Dave Spadaro that the Eagles are going to end their season on a strong note — to the tune of putting up 45 points against the Giants. So while I hope the Eagles can end their season on a strong note and play spoiler to the Giants hopes of a post-season, I’m going to be a bit of a party-pooper and list many reasons why the excitement surrounding this game is unwarranted. First thing first. Michael Vick is returning to the starting position after missing more than a month of playing time. For those out there that believe there won’t be even a pinch of rust in Vick’s game is mistaking. Will he be fresh, absolutely, but fresh doesn’t secure a win in this league. Up next, lets all remember that when Vick was the starter of this offense the Eagles were 3-6. Nothing tells me that anything will change in Vick’s approach and I have no reason to believe that he will be able to cut the amount of turnovers he gives up. He will be playing mainly behind the same offensive line that he was at the start of the season, minus (G) Danny Watkins. Lastly, I could understand the excitement if there was even a remote possibility Vick returns to the Eagles nest for the 2013 season. However, the chances of that happening are about as slim as they are going to get. Some believe that depending on who Jeffrey Lurie brings in as the next head coach for the Eagles that Vick actually has a shot to stay with the Birds. Philadelphia will be looking for ways to create some cap space for off-season moves that need to be made to turn this franchises’ fortunes around and Vick be become part of a group known as “cap casualties”. He makes to much money, he’s unreliable as a quarterback (only one complete season in his NFL career) and he has a habit of handing the ball over far to much. Here are Vick’s stats against the Giants since becoming the starting QB in Philly in 2010; four TD’s, two interceptions and five fumbles, of which two he lost. Keep in mind Vick didn’t play in the second meeting between these two teams last season because, you guessed it, he was injured. Now lets take a look at the Giants, who will be hosting the Eagles this coming Sunday. New York is going to be looking for revenge on the team that edged out a week 4 win by a margin of two points. The Eagles hosted that game and did enough to win late in the game to walk away with a “W”, the final score on that day was 19-17. While the Eagles will be playing the unfortunate role of spoiler, the Giants will be playing all their starters to hopefully win their way in to the playoffs — enter extreme determination in front of their home crowd on the Giants part. I know, I didn’t paint a very pretty picture for you Eagles fans. But if you should know one thing about me it is this…I’m a realist!