Vince Young's proclamation that the Eagles were a Dream Team is turning into a nightmare. At 1-4, the Eagles can tolerate only 2 maybe 3 more losses in the next 11 games. Anymore than that and that almost certainly means no playoffs. So why did things go so wrong for the Eagles? First of all, Michael Vick is not a very good quarterback. He is an incredible playmaker, as a runner he's unstoppable (90 more yards yesterday) but he is not a good passer. Even though his completion percentage and yards per attempt stats are in line with what he did last year, and better than his Atlanta career, I still think he tries to force the ball into tight spots and thus us has thrown 7 INTs this year, as opposed to only 6 all of last year (in 12 games). I also think the Eagles may have read their own press clippings. They know how much talent they supposedly have, and think they can win on talent alone. The biggest manifestation of that comes from turnovers, 15 of them so far, by far the most in the league. They refuse to go down when tackled and often end up getting stripped. Vick refuses to take a sack, thinking he can always make something out of nothing. And they take dumb penalties. They had a chance to get the ball back against the Bills, 4th and 1, no way was Buffalo going for it. But the Eagles jumped. Just the latest stupid mistake that sabotaged their promising season.
The Anti-Michael Vick
Maybe the player least similar to Vick in the whole league is Tim Tebow, a big, strong, nice, moral guy. And I know for some reason we never compare the playing styles of players from different races but I see a lot of Michael Vick in Tim Tebow. Please allow me to explain. Like Vick, Tebow is better off as a running back. Like Vick, he is not a good passer. Like Vick, he wreaks havoc for opposing defenses when he tucks the ball and runs.
Right after Tebow was drafted in 2010, I wrote that I didn't think Tebow would ever be a good NFL quarterback.. After watching him down the stretch of the game against the Chargers, I stand behind my prediction. I also predicted (in the poll) that he would get no more than 32 career starts at quarterback. He will get number 4 in the Broncos next game. John Fox has named him the starting QB. The timing is good because the Broncos have a bye, and then a game against the weak Dolphins. So we'll see what the kid can do when given the chance.
Back to the Drawing Board
During the offseason ESPN came out with a new quarterback rating system, designed to completely eclipse the current passer rating, by being much more accurate. Taking more things into account and weighting them more accurately. I think that system needs to be reworked in light of the following result: Tim Tebow (4-10, 79 yards, 2 TTDs) had a better QBR than Aaron Rodgers (26-39, 396 yards, 2 TDs). I guess the reason is Tebow produced 2 TDs in a lot fewer plays than Rodgers, and avoided the sacks and penalties that hurt Rodgers. But any rating system that ranks Tebow's game, higher than Rodgers's is of little or no value.
A Brief Rant About the Redskins
Because of everything I said about the Eagles in the first item, they will probably beat the Redskins by 20 points this week.
Picture of the Week
Dewayne Bowe (or as I call him "Taste Dewayne Bowe" made one of the best catches I've ever seen. After being completely interfered with (a flag was thrown), Bowe shook off the defender, tipped the ball to himself a couple times and made the catch.
Ten and Oh My God That Would Be Awesome
Right now the only two undefeated teams are 5-0 Lions and the 5-0 Packers. Those two division rivals will meet on Thanksgiving Day. Because their upcoming schedules aren't that tough, there's at least a reasonable chance they will both be 10-0.
If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Green Bay 49 New England 48
Even though they fell behind early against Atlanta the Packers showed their offense cannot be stopped. Patriots looked good, but not invulnerable against the Jets.
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