Michael Vick vs. Andy Reid: Can One Only Flourish with the Other?

The Philadelphia Eagles' disastrous season has a lot of fans calling for two heads, those of Andy Reid and Michael Vick. This prompts the question as to whether either could flourish without the other.

So let's look at the separate histories of each before their fates became linked and then pick things up at the present time.

Andy Reid Before Vick

Let's start by looking at Andy Reid's pre-Vick years with the Eagles. We'll throw out his first year as head coach and look at the 10 years from 2000 through 2009. During that decade, the Eagles:

1) Had a record of 103-56-1 (This means that an average season was 10-6.),

2) Won the NFC East five times, and

3) Made the playoffs eight years.

That is a record that most coaches and fans would envy.

However, the rap against Reid is that despite this success during the regular season, the playoff record was disappointing. The team:

1) Lost the NFC Championship game three years in a row from 2001 through 2003,

2) Had a total 10-8 playoff record, and

3) Lost in its only Super Bowl appearance.

So clearly, Reid has demonstrated that he can thrive during the regular season without Michael Vick. The lack of championships, though, might be the highlight of his career.

Donovan McNabb

Donovan McNabb was Andy Reid's first draft pick ever in the 1999 draft. McNabb was the second overall selection behind Tim Couch. This choice was loudly booed by Philadelphia fans, who were expecting to get Ricky Williams from the University of Texas instead.

McNabb was Reid's quarterback from 1999 through 2009 and played a leading role in the team achieving its regular-season success. However, during the three consecutive NFC Championship game losses, in 2001 through 2003, McNabb's cumulative quarterback rating was about 50. His defenders will point out that the Eagles corps of wide receivers was subpar during that period.

In 2004 the Eagles acquired Terrell Owens and the team sped out to a 13-1 start. Then Owens suffered an injury, returned in time for the Super Bowl but the Eagles lost to the New England Patriots.

So with these data, who is it that had a "playoff problem?" Was it Reid or McNabb?

The question will be debated for years.

Michael Vick

The Atlanta Falcons selected Michael Vick with the first overall draft pick of 2001. The team took their time breaking him in during the 2001 season.

Then in 2002 Vick flourished. He set a league record for rushing yards by a quarterback, 173, in a game against the Minnesota Vikings. He had a streak of 25 quarters and 177 passes without an interception. He led the Falcons into the playoffs, where they won a surprising road victory at Green Bay, only to bow out the next week.

Vick missed most of the 2003 season with a broken leg. In the 2004 season he led the Falcons to a first round playoff bye. They eventually lost to the Eagles in the NFC Championship game.

The Falcons finished 8-8 in 2005 and 7-9 in 2006, missing the playoffs both years.

Vick missed both the 2007 and 2008 seasons while he was serving time in prison for his involvement in an illegal dog fighting ring.

Excluding the 2003 season, the Falcons' record during Vick's time was 42-37-1. That means that a typical year was 8-8.

Michael Vick

The Eagles acquired Michael Vick for the 2009 season. He was able to join the team mid-season and played primarily as a backup to Donovan McNabb.

Vick started the 2010 season as backup to Kevin Kolb. But Kolb was injured in the first game of the season, so Vick got the job. He played so well that he received the NFC Offensive Player of the month for October. But then Vick suffered a rib injury and he was out for a while.

Vick finished the 2010 season with a quarterback rating of 100. The median rating he achieved when he was with the Falcons was 74.

The Eagles made the playoffs but lost in the first round to the eventual Super Bowl winners, Green Bay Packers.

Before the start of the 2011 season the Eagles signed Vick to a $100 million, six-year deal with $40 million guaranteed. This will certainly be regarded as the biggest mistake of Andy Reid's career.  

The Contract

Let's look at the data again. Michael Vick:

1) Had a median quarterback rating with the Atlanta Falcons of 74,

2) Led the team to a record close to .500 during his five full years with the Falcons,

3) Is highly susceptible to injury due to his stature and style of play,

4) Had one great month for the Eagles in 2010 before teams learned how to defend him,

5) Has a career 2-3 playoff record, and

6) Is 31 years old, just two years short of the age (33) at which it was concluded that McNabb had lost skills and needed to be traded.

So how does this add up to a $100 million contract for six years?

Who Will Flourish ?

Andy Reid stuck out his neck to hire Michael Vick. He stuck his neck out further to give him an extended contract.

The Eagles made the tactical "win-now" move by acquiring so many talented free agents during the offseason. However, the season has been one disaster after another. Now Vick has suffered another rib injury that might sideline him for a while.

So this brings us back to the original question: Can Andy Reid and Michael Vick only flourish with each other?

My answer is that neither will flourish and neither will survive.

The Andy Reid Era Is over

After a lengthy successful career as head coach, Andy Reid has lost his grip:

1) His promotion of Juan Castillo to defensive coordinator was very loyal but equally well-advised. The defense has given up the lead in the fourth quarter in five of the six losses. When a stop was needed, none was there.

During the game against the Chicago Bears, Castillo could find no way to bring pressure on Jay Cutler against a mediocre Bears offensive line. 

In the recent game against the Arizona Cardinals, John Skelton (who?) threw three touchdown passes and led the team on the late 87-yard scoring drive. A linebacker was covering Larry Fitzgerald during one of his two touchdowns. Castillo has no clue on how to run a defense.

2) He and his coaching staff have made too many bone-headed blunders this season. (I had started writing an Eagles bone-headed play-of-the-week column, but it became too painful).

3) His team is not giving their physical best. You only need to watch the film of Steve Smith taking a dive two yards from the first-down marker this week to see this. Maybe he figured since it was OK for DeSean Jackson to scamper out of bounds to avoid taking a hit, this must be an acceptable thing to do. If this doesn't convince you, watch Asante Samuel pretend to make a tackle.

There is no way Reid can be brought back to coach the team next year. In light of his long service, Jeff Lurie will do the right thing and let him finish out the year, but the Andy Reid era is over. Reid knows this and will probably be happy to move on with the rest of his life. This year must be as tough on him as it is on the fans.

Michael Vick Will Last One More Year

With the speed and size of today's defensive players, Michael Vick's style of play is just not safe. He needs to be a serious running threat to be effective. Take away his running, and he is an average quarterback at best.

It seems that he is suffering some sort of injury every week, but is trying to gut it out anyway he can. You've got to admire his courage to keep getting up off the turf as he is being battered every week.

His height is also an issue. At 6' even, he is too short to be able to see and throw over defensive linemen. I can't find data to support this, but I believe he must lead the league in passes tipped at the line of scrimmage.

The Eagles will give Mike Kafka a lot of playing time during the second half of the season to see what he can do.

In the 2012 draft, the Eagles will have to focus on linebackers, a replacement for DeSean Jackson and bulk on the two lines. So they will not be taking a quarterback. With a little luck the team might sneak into the playoffs next year.

The Eagles' new coach will be stuck with Vick for 2012, but after that he will be released and will never get another starting quarterback job at his age.