Philadelphia Eagles: Why Michael Vick Will Get Killed Behind This Offensive Line

The ironic thing about the Philadelphia Eagles' wayward attempts to protect Michael Vick with their inconsistent offensive line is that they have the most difficult piece already in place.

High-quality starting left tackles are troublesome players to acquire, but the Eagles have one in Jason Peters. However, Peters' value to the Eagles is not as high as it would be to other teams for the simple reason that Michael Vick is left handed.

Peters does not protect Michael Vick's blindside. Last night, that job fell on King Dunlap and most likely will fall on Ryan Harris throughout the season.

The Eagles have had some issues in pass protection to this point.

Peters and left guard Todd Herremans have settled the left side and been impressive so far, which is what you would expect from two veteran players. Herremans and Peters have a combined 15 years of NFL experience in their back pockets.

However, the Eagles will potentially have just three seasons of experience combined at the other three positions.

After last night's performance, the likelihood is that rookie center Jason Kelce will lose his battle with Jamaal Jackson for the Eagles' starting center job. Jackson is an eight-year pro, which should aid Danny Watkins, who is penciled in to start at right guard.

Watkins is unusual in that he is a 26-year-old rookie. He is a former firefighter, but has been unable to put out any fires in preseason so far, despite what the Eagles' propaganda will tell you.

Once the regular season starts, Watkins will find himself at center stage of the Eagles' problem area. Ryan Harris is a very underrated tackle and despite a poor showing in his debut, since when he has been sidelined, he should be stellar in protecting Michael Vick's blindside during the regular season.

The Eagles seem determined to keep Watkins as the starter. However, he could be replaced by backup tackles King Dunlap or Winston Justice. That wouldn't be ideal, either, considering neither player is exactly impressive.

You could argue that I am nitpicking.

If Michael Vick does indeed live up to his arrogant stance on how he will destroy defenses either way, the argument will be moot. However, football remains a team game and a team is only as good as their weakest link. Just ask the Pittsburgh Steelers how it felt to have one poor position on their defense in the Super Bowl last year.

On the offensive line, this is more true than any other.

With either Jackson or Kelce winning out and Danny Watkins continuing in the form he has shown to this point, the Eagles offense will struggle to compete for any sort of championship this year.

Michael Vick may be elusive, but it's not like he's durable.

Watkins has so far struggled against Cory Redding, been destroyed by a combination of Ziggy Hood and Aaron Smith in Pittsburgh, before struggling with Phil Taylor last night against the Browns.

The Eagles managed to overcome that against weaker defenses in Baltimore and against Cleveland, but were found out in Pittsburgh. The Eagles need for all pieces of the offense to be firing on all cylinders if they are to achieve their ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl next season.

The Packers worst performer from last season was probably Daryn Colledge or Bryan Bulaga. Either of those players would walk onto the Eagles offensive line right now.

It's not always the stars that decide Super Bowls.

If it were, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning would have been sharing the Lombardi Trophy every year for the past decade. More often than not, it's the quality of role players in the team that make the difference.

The Eagles' role players on offense definitely need to step up. They need only look to Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on the other side of the football, who made plays on special teams last night. Rodgers-Cromartie didn't even know what special teams were in Arizona.

It's not how much talent you have, it's how much of that talent you can contribute.

Serial tweeting about everything and anything @Cianaf.

I also write for Irish Central and Fantasy Football Life.