Eagles vs. Browns: Full Week 1 Report Card for Philadelphia QB Michael Vick

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The Philadelphia Eagles won by one point today, but it was much more in spite of Michael Vick than it was because of Vick.

Vick may have led a 91-yard, game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, but he nearly gave the game away multiple times on that drive. His overall numbers come out as one of his worst performances of his NFL career.

Passing

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Other than the final drive of both the first and second half, there was nothing to like about the way Michael Vick played. His offensive line certainly didn’t help him out, but Vick looked brutal.

He was inconsistent, erratic, mistake-prone and everything I’ve grown to realize is the reason he’s not an elite quarterback. Vick was forced to throw the ball a career-high 56 times, but his four interceptions were inexcusable.

He had an awful pass across the body when he missed a wide-open LeSean McCoy. He hit D’Qwell Jackson in stride for a brutal pick-six, and he nearly threw another interception with the game on the line in the final minutes, but Cleveland Browns rookie linebacker L.J. Fort dropped it.

Vick’s passer rating of 51.0 was extremely disappointing for a $100 million quarterback who had the audacity to proclaim the Philadelphia Eagles as a “dynasty.”

The only thing keeping Vick from getting an F on his passing was the fact that he led a 91-yard, game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter and found Clay Harbor for a touchdown pass to win it.

Grade: D-

Rushing

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This is what I love about Michael Vick—you could make a case that no quarterback in the history of the league has been as talented and as dangerous with his legs.

Vick ran for 32 yards on five carries, including a really nice 16-yard scamper on a 3rd-and-16 play early on that kept the Philadelphia Eagles’ drive alive. The unfortunate aspect is when Vick passes like he did today, it negates much of his ability to keep the plays alive with his legs.

Grade: B+

Clutch

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Quarterbacks get graded very strongly for their fourth-quarter performance, and Michael Vick did something today that he had never done in a Philadelphia Eagles uniform—he led a game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter to bring the Eagles from behind to win it.

Vick was extremely fortunate on that drive—he needed a 15-yard penalty from the Cleveland Browns, he was lucky to fall on his own fumble and the Eagles should have lost when he threw a potential interception to Browns rookie linebacker L.J. Fort in the final minutes.

But the bottom result is that Vick pulled it off. He converted a fourth-down conversion (technically, it was on a run by LeSean McCoy) and he found Clay Harbor for a touchdown pass with less than two minutes remaining to give the Eagles the win.

Grade: B-

Overall

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Michael Vick is unofficially on the hot seat entering 2012, considering the Philadelphia Eagles finished just 8-8 last season and Vick turned the ball over an inordinate number of times while missing three games due to injury. The Eagles then drafted Nick Foles in the third round of this past year’s draft, and Vick put extra pressure on himself by declaring that the Eagles have the ability to be a dynasty.

That’s why Vick’s performance was so disappointing. Four interceptions is never acceptable, but Vick looked extremely inconsistent and at times just flat out inexperienced at quarterback.

The Eagles have all the makings of a Super Bowl team. They’re going to need a more consistent performance from Vick, especially when the Eagles go up against the Baltimore Ravens next week.

Grade: D