Three weeks ago the football world was buzzing about the electrifying Eagles, who are led by their electrifying quarterback, who pumps more electricity into a stadium than an electric generator.
But lately the high-flying Eagles have been grounded. After scoring 28 points in 7:28 to shock the Giants in Week 15, they’ve managed just 27 points in the past eight quarters against doormats like the Vikings and Cowboys.
Suddenly, Andy Reid’s squad looks rather vulnerable.
What happened? For starters, Michael Vick traded in his Superman cape for one of Batman’s yellow Speedos. (What?) After not throwing an interception in over 200 attempts, he’s thrown at least one pick in his last five starts and six in total. Granted, the Eagles still went 3-2 over that span and he has thrown 10 touchdowns to go along with those six picks, but he clearly isn’t the same invincible player he was earlier this season.
And really, that was to be expected. Nobody outside of Tom Brady could sustain the numbers that Vick was putting up earlier in the year. The law of averages were bound to catch up with him, which they eventually did. The bigger problem is that he’s taking too many hits and he’s failing to diagnose where opponents are blitzing.
That’s a huge issue with Clay Matthews and the Packers’ stout defense coming to town this weekend. Green Bay is Philadelphia’s polar opposite at the moment. Instead of losing their last two games like the Eagles have, the Packers enter the playoffs on a two-game win streak. After suffering a concussion against the Lions in Week 14, their quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, has thrown 16 touchdown passes to just two interceptions in his last seven games.
While the Eagles have a major advantage playing at home, the Packers have a ton of momentum right now and if the quad injury Vick suffered in the Minnesota game last week is still bothering him, Philadelphia could be in serious trouble. Vick ran all over Green Bay in the first meeting between these two teams, but the Packers hadn’t prepared for him either. (That was back when the Eagles still thought Kevin Kolb was good.) It stands to reason that Vick and the Eagles will see a more-prepared Green Bay defense this weekend, which is scary considering the Packers managed to win the first meeting (27-20 in Week 1).
Three weeks ago, nobody wanted to play this Philadelphia team. Now it looks like they’re primed for the taking.
