Eagles vs. Browns: Eagles Survive, but Can They Still Trust Michael Vick?

The Philadelphia Eagles deserved to lose today. In fact, against almost any other NFL-caliber opponent, the Eagles would have fallen in their opener. It's true that a win is a win, a loss is a loss and everything else is window dressing, but the details can indicate whether or not a team is legit.

Only 60 minutes into the 2012 NFL season, I'm beginning to wonder if the Eagles are for real. I'm beginning to doubt they have the mentality and the focus required of a Super Bowl contender.

If the Eagles perform the way they did Sunday next week against the Baltimore Ravens, they will not compete. 

What's most concerning is that while Philadelphia started poorly last year, too, it was a whole new set of issues that plagued the team Sunday in Cleveland. 

Had the Eagles lost to the Browns, you wouldn't have been able to pin it on Juan Castillo's defense. This had nothing to do with poor tackling or weak run defense. The Eagles defense gave up only nine points, holding the Browns to 210 total yards while limiting quarterback Brandon Weeden to a passer rating of 5.1.

That's right, 5.1—and Trent Richardson averaged just 2.1 yards per carry, and the Browns still nearly took down Philly. That's because a 32-year-old Michael Vick also looked like he was making his NFL debut Sunday, throwing four interceptions to a defense that recorded just nine of them in 16 games last season.

In addition to turning the ball over five times, the Eagles were docked 110 yards on 12 penalties (the Browns only had three) and failed to properly utilize reigning NFL touchdown king LeSean McCoy, who ran the ball only six times in the first half.

Unacceptable.

Here's the bright side: The penalty issue is correctable, and last year's penalty stats indicate Sunday's game might have been an anomaly on that front. And the defense exceeded expectations in every respect, running over the deer in headlights that was Cleveland's inexperienced offense. 

Here's the problem: This team will only go as far as Vick takes it, and I just don't trust him at this point.

Do his teammates? What about his coaches?

While they'd never admit it, you have to wonder if these types of performances are causing these guys to lose faith in their quarterback. So much of successful quarterbacking is related to good decision-making, and I just don't have confidence in Vick's ability to make the right decisions in the split seconds that separate Super Bowl quarterbacks from everyone else.

The older Vick gets, the less impact he can make with his extreme physical attributes and the more reliant he becomes on his head. It continues to appear as though he doesn't possess the awareness nor the mental discipline to reach that next level. 

I'm fully aware that Vick isn't the only problem in Philly. He was running for his life far too often Sunday afternoon, but the Eagles still could have won the game handily had Vick opted to play it safe. This team is good enough to succeed without Vick continually making something out of nothing. He was hit 11 times, which isn't sustainable over the course of the season.

"I have responsibility to this to team to lead them, not hurt them." Vick said after the game, per the Philadelphia Daily News. But he's failing to realize that his Superman antics are often doing more harm than good.

In his defense, two of Vick's four picks were deflected, but he also had a pair of potential interceptions that the Browns failed to execute on. He's escaping pressure like a champ, but avoiding sacks and picks should be his only goals when the pocket collapses. I know that's not how he's wired, though, and that's why I'm concerned.

It's almost enough to cause you to wonder what would have happened Sunday had Nick Foles been leading the Philly offense instead.