Stephen A. Smith: Vick, Jackson Make Eagles Super Bowl Favorites
By now, we all know there’s really no debate as to who’s the greatest athlete to ever play quarterback in the National Football League. If there’s anyone who utters a name other than Michael Vick, who possesses the temerity to bring someone else’s name into the equation, consider them ignorant and dismiss them. And if they keep pushing the issue, contact the football police and have them arrested.
Just as there should not have been a doubt about Vick before the Eagles’ miraculous finish vs. the New York Giants, there shouldn’t be a doubt now: Vick is great. He’s electrifying. As close to unstoppable as there is.
We know this.
But as we dissect the Eagles’ miraculous 21-point, come-from-behind victory Sunday, marveling at every heroic play along the way, can anyone definitively say he’s the most electrifying talent on the Eagles? With DeSean Jackson on the same roster?
Let it be said right here that the Eagles’ chances of advancing significantly in the postseason will be drastically diminished if Jackson isn’t in the lineup. For all of Vick’s evasive skills, he isn’t the only one who strikes fear in the heart of Eagles’ opponents.
“Why would they kick (the ball) to DeSean,” Vick asked incredulously, after Jackson culminated a 28-point fourth-quarter explosion with a game-winning 65-yard punt return as time expired. “They were on their own from there.”
On this day, Vick was talking about a Giants team that had surrendered a 31-10 lead, had gotten outscored 28-0 in the final eight minutes and were left with the most indelible moment for New York – possibly for this season – with their coach, Tom Coughlin, screaming at rookie punter Matt Dodge on the field with no time left for punting to Jackson in the first place.
For all the hits, the pounding, that Vick had endured on this day, Coughlin wasn’t so blurred by his fourth-quarter heroics to forget the things Jackson is capable of doing.
“I’m not going to lie, I don’t know who’s the most electrifying player on this team,” Eagles linebacker Ernie Sims told me recently. “DeSean’s no joke. He’s a big play waiting to happen. We know as a team with both Vick and DeSean on the field together, anything really is possible. Who knows where they can take us.”
The projection, potentially, is the Super Bowl. The path to it is long and arduous. But as the Eagles get set to finish off this season, looking to secure the NFC East Division with a win over the Minnesota Vikings this weekend, there’s a whole bunch of things folks will be hard-pressed to dismiss when it comes to Philadelphia.
They can’t dismiss the notion the Eagles could represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
They can’t dismiss Vick as a league MVP candidate above Tom Brady.
They can’t dismiss Jackson as a lethal threat, either.
“He’s a difference maker,” Vick told me weeks ago. “You have no idea what it’s like playing with that kid.”
It’s one thing for Jackson to have blinding speed to go along with the rest of his physical abilities as a wide receiver in the NFL. You don’t register 1,024 receiving yards on the season for nothing, finishing as the leading receiver in a game on four separate occasions this season. Not unless you have the skills, the quarterback to get you the ball, and a coach – a system – that plays to your strength.
But there’s also something to be said for wanting to be a superstar, wanting the bright lights shined upon you.
As the game was tied 31-31 and the Giants were about to mistakenly punt to Jackson, he pranced back and forth on the field, exhorting Giants’ fans to bring the nose. Boo him. Egg him on.
“He seems to live for moments like that,” Eagles’ coach Andy Reid told reporters.
Repeatedly.
In big moments, Jackson steps up. Punt returns. Play-action passes. Reverses. Fly routes. It doesn’t really matter. If the ball is thrown in his direction, Jackson usually does two things: He catches it, then makes something happen.
The Eagles didn’t always have those weapons at their disposal. With Jackson – not just Vick, by himself – they have it now.
So much so that we’re no longer wondering what the Eagles will do with the Falcons, Saints and Patriots of the world.
Now the Eagles have everyone wondering what those teams are going to do with them.
Times have changed!
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