Why the Philadelphia Eagles Must Continue to Support Michael Vick in 2012

The Philadelphia Eagles had a disappointing season and many fans are understandably demanding that changes be made, but the Eagles must realize that their best chance is still with Michael Vick at quarterback.

It's almost unthinkable that the Philadelphia Eagles finished this season 8-8. The Eagles were 10-6 a season ago (their record could have been even better if they hadn't essentially thrown the last two games), and they added Pro Bowlers Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Jason Babin, Ronnie Brown and Vince Young in the offseason, while losing very few important players (Quintin Mikell, Ernie Sims perhaps).

Plenty of people are laying a good portion of the blame for the lost season on Vick. But if you look closely at the the Eagles season, it's clear that he was not the one dropping the ball most of the time. 

The First Four Games

The Eagles only won one of their first four games despite leading in the fourth quarter of all of them. The win, of course, came in the opener against the St. Louis Rams. In the Eagles' second game of the season, they took a 31-21 lead into the fourth quarter, but lost to the Atlanta Falcons after Vick was spun into his own offensive lineman, concussed and subsequently unable to finish the game.

With Vick out the entire fourth quarter, the Eagles defense seemed discouraged and allowed Matt Ryan to lead the Falcons on two touchdown drives, while the Eagles offense was unable to score without Vick under center.

A similar situation cost the Eagles their third game against the New York Giants. Philadelphia had a 16-14 lead after three quarters, but lost when Vick was knocked out of the game with a broken hand. The Eagles were consequently outscored 15-0 in the fourth. In both cases, the Eagles defense folded at the end of the game, and the offense could not put up any points without Vick on the field.

Vick finished the fourth game, but the Eagles still lost to th e San Francisco 49ers due to extraordinary circumstances. The Eagles had a 20-3 lead in the third quarter, but thanks to an inexplicable Ronnie Brown lateral, two missed field goals by Alex Henery inside of 40 yards, a Jeremy Maclin fumble and three touchdowns allowed by the defense in the second half, Philadelphia managed to lose the game even as Vick threw for 416 yards and ran for 75.

In those first four games, Vick did all he could to help the Eagles win. But the team couldn't hold onto leads when he was forced out of games. Against the 49ers, the entire team around him folded, while he played almost flawlessly for four quarters against the No. 4 defense in the NFL. 

The Last Four Games

Even with his broken ribs continuing to cause him pain, Michael Vick played very well in the last four games of the season. Despite the fact that their season was essentially over, he led the Eagles to consecutive victories over the Miami Dolphins (who only lost to the Eagles at home in the second half of the season), the 8-8 New York Jets, the 8-8 Dallas Cowboys (on the road) and the Washington Redskins to close the season.

In those four wins, Vick threw for seven touchdowns with only three interceptions, while posting a passer rating above 100 in three of them. This is especially impressive when you consider that all four of those teams rank in the Top 15 in the NFL in total defense. 

Statistical Anomalies

Two of the criticisms I've heard most often against Vick this season is that he's thrown too many interceptions and gotten injured too often. There is certainly truth to both accusations. However, I think both are due to specific circumstances that aren't likely to occur again next season (at least in the same magnitude).

As Eli Manning can tell you after last season, sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way.

The younger Manning threw 25 interceptions last year for the New York Giants—due to an inordinate number of tipped balls. This season, Vick was victimized by the same thing. He's thrown a career-high 14 interceptions, but six of them were tipped.

In fact, of Vick's first seven interceptions of the season, perhaps only two were really his fault.

Against the Giants, an accurate pass bounced off both of Steve Smith's hands. In the game against the San Francisco 49ers, his interception bounced of DeSean Jackson's (suspect) hands. And against the Buffalo Bills, he was hit in the midst of passing one, another was tipped at the line and a third was thrown into the defender's hands by receiver Jason Avant.

The second criticism, which has plagued Vick throughout his entire career, is that he's injury-prone. There's no doubt that Vick does get injured more than the average NFL quarterback. But that's expected with a quarterback who runs the ball, and that's the trade-off you make in exchange for his unique elusiveness.

And in reality, Vick suffered an unprecedented number of injuries this season (often under extraordinary circumstances). In just this season, he's had a concussion, a broken hand and broken ribs.

This is really the first season that Vick's been sidelined by more than one injury. He missed four games last year with bruised ribs and 11 games in 2003 with a broken fibula, but in his other four years as a starter, he played in at least 15 games each year.

It seems highly unlikely that he'll suffer from luck this bad again next season. 

Conclusion

The Philadelphia Eagles were 7-6 in games Michael Vick started this season. In games that he started and finished, they were even better (7-4). Just from watching Vince Young's abysmal performance this season, it's clear that the Eagles are better off with Vick under center.

If Eagles fans want comfort, they should look at the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers were victimized by a number of bad breaks and blew leads in four of their first seven games in 2010. They were underachievers—and like the Eagles this season—a late surge wasn't enough to get them into the playoffs.

Unsurprisingly, they experienced a significant boost this season, finishing 13-3 and the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

Further comfort can be found by realizing that Michael Vick did not play his best this season, and yet he still finished 10th in the NFL in QBR (via ESPN). He threw for over 3,000 yards and rushed for over 500 despite missing parts of five games and all of three of them.

Vick is an excellent quarterback. If this is what an off-year for him looks like, I can't imagine how good he'll play when he's on.

The Eagles had a bad season, no one can deny that. But Vick did not.

He played very well in the Eagles first and last four games, and torched the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys in consecutive weeks in October. The only bad games he had all season were against the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals. But his ribs were broken against the Cardinals, and against the Bills his offensive line and receivers failed him. He was hit constantly and had receivers literally throwing balls into defender's hands.

Vick and the Eagles are not that far from being a Super Bowl team. Fortunately, 2011 is in the books. There are some changes that need to be made for 2012, but Michael Vick is very capable of taking this team to the promised land next season.