Hands Off Panic Button About Michael Vick
The Minnesota game is giving people the yips.
Watching Michael Vick fail to read the blitz and fail to go through his progressions has brought out a basic fear in people that what we have been watching all season is a mirage, and it was only a matter of time before Vick reverted to his old ways (this could have greater sociological meaning, but we won’t explore it here).
This has led to speculation that Vick may even be benched against Green Bay; such is the level of Andy Reid’s frustrations and Vick’s sharp decline.
Deep breaths, people. Step away from the panic button.
Reid was frustrated with his quarterback’s play following the Vikings game. And he was frustrated with himself, and his coordinators, and his kicker, and…
It wasn’t a sign that we have reached the point of critical mass.
Besides, Reid couldn’t pin it on Vick alone or read too much into the QB’s performance because of one important fact that the world is failing to hone in on:
Vick was hurt.
He suffered a quad contusion on the first play, and was affected by it the rest of the way. For the first time all season, he didn’t keep his eyes downfield until the last possible second. He didn’t patiently go through his reads. He was in survival mode.
“It happened on the first play of the game, so your mind is telling you go and you are also saying to yourself, I have to face this defense on one leg,” said Vick. “You’re trying to figure it all out. And it was tough.”
You could see the mind short-circuiting as the offensive line broke like a levee, letting in wave after wave of purple. In the name of self-preservation Vick acted early and out of character. His fundamentals – so important to this turnaround – went out the window. He didn’t set his feet properly, and tried to use his body instead of his head to evade danger. He posted season lows in completion percentage, quarterback rating and yards per attempt as a result.
“I don’t want to make any excuses; I don’t want to take anything away from Minnesota. They did what they had to do to win,” said Vick. “But obviously I wish I could have played healthy that entire game, but it wasn’t the case and I tried to go out and get it done on one leg, and I just couldn’t.”
In an attempt to create an argument that Vick is slipping, people have pointed to the three-plus quarters against the Giants, noting that the signal-caller has produced less than one good quarter in the last eight. Apparently neither the four touchdowns nor the 372 total yards in that game is enough to convince the shaken that their quarterback is playing just fine.
And, while true that the turnovers are up over the last cluster of games, so are the heroics. Vick has led four fourth-quarter comebacks in his last six outings alone.
He now enters the playoffs off a virtual bye, which has allowed that leg and many other ailing body parts to heal up.
He is not getting benched. He is not turning into the Atlanta Michael Vick. He was hurt, and now he’s back to his new version of normal.
“Just refocusing, got the game plan, I’ll be ready for them,” said Vick. “Pick that blitz up, and we’ll be ready to go.”
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