Kevin Kolb Plays Like the Backup QB in Philadelphia Eagles Loss

I'm a Kevin Kolb fan. I think a lot of the Philly faithful are. He has been patient and has worked hard waiting for his time to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to the playoffs and beyond. That time just isn't now. Right now he's playing like the backup.

Coming into this week's matchup, the Eagle's quarterback circus was reaching it's peak. Every analyst, every commentator, and especially every Philly fan argued and wrestled with one another on who should be the starting quarterback. Should it be the dynamic run-and-throw show with Michael Vick or the accurate pocket passer Kevin Kolb?

Both had over 100 percent passer rating, and were ranked numbers one and two (respectively) in the NFC's QB ratings. Each had thrown for four or more touchdowns, and only Kevin had thrown a pair of interceptions. There was very little by way of stats to hoist one over the other. At the end of the day it was really just a matter of preference. Athletic quarterback, or pocket passer.

On that note if you didn't see the ESPN "rap" about Andy Reid's quarterback conundrum on Sunday morning's broadcast see it here. It's hilarious.

In his press conferences Andy Reid called this dual-threat issue "a great problem to have" and while it certainly is a luxury to have more than one talented quarterback on your roster, the problem is naming the number one guy. Then if one starts to struggle, even for a second, fans and coaches start to wonder whether a change should be made. Reid has certainly seen this with two great quarterbacks at his disposal. 

Without going into some of the other, bigger problems the Eagles had Sunday (um... defense?) DeSean Jackson's injury, add those together and it was a huge part of the loss to Tennessee.

But this isn't to dissect the loss, this is to point out that at the end of the game, Kevin Kolb left us all wondering, what if Vick were playing?

Kolb was 26 of 48 on Sunday throwing for 231 yards. Nothing to complain about there. Max Hall would kill for a game like that. It's not great, but if that were all to report on Kolb's night I might not be writing this...maybe.

Where Kolb really started to show his youth was when he threw an easy interception right after the Eagles defense had caused a Kerry Collins turnover.

Perhaps even more crucial was the fumbled exchange deep in the red zone. In the end, the turnovers were costly. How costly? To the tune of 17 Tennessee points from three Eagles turnovers. All three were Kevin Kolb turnovers. 

Those issues were a little more obvious. Lets go a little deeper.

The Titans trailed 16-10 at the start of the fourth quarter. The Eagles added another field goal near the start of the period to extend their lead to 19-10.

Stop right there. Did you catch it? the Eagles were 19, one touchdown, four field goals. Remember how many times we as Eagles fans complained about D-Mac being unable to finish drives? Five trips to the red zone. Only one touchdown. Not to mention that field goal is where the Eagles stopped scoring.  

From there, the Titans went on to score 27 unanswered points to end the game and set a franchise record for points in the fourth quarter. 

Philadelphia's defense, I know, I know.

The "unanswered" part is the point I wanted to make here. That part is up to the offense. They had chances too. Four drives, all four were three-and-outs. Oh and one last-gasp desperation throw-interception. 

I don't know if Michael Vick would have started Sunday's game if the Birds would have won. No way to tell. 

But I do know that while the defense didn't do him any fourth quarter favors, earlier in the game they did give Kolb three turnovers to play with. 

Unlike Tennessee, Kolb and the Eagle's offense didn't convert any of those takeaways into points.

In the end Andy Reid said what I was thinking. When asked who the starter is: "It's Mike".

When Kolb gets to the level of his potential. I will support him as the starter. He just ain't there yet.