The Eagles just aren't going to win that way very often. Vick's legs aren't going to feel fresh all year; every field isn't going to offer the Edward Jones Dome's footing. And, not to sound like a corrupted MP3 file, but Vick can't take the dozen or so hits he took Sunday every week, and still make it through the season.
"Without question," right tackle Todd Herremans said, when asked if the offense is going to have to look less like a jailbreak going forward. "I don't think that we're trying to lean on that style of play at all. We're definitely not satisfied with how we played, but we were able to win . . . as we watch the film, there's millions of things that we can work on and that we need to work on before we go down to Atlanta."
Eagles coach Andy Reid said yesterday that he felt his players struck the right tone after the game, that he could "tell by the comments that they were humble and that they understand the situation."
Reid took heart at the way Vick, while still not sliding, exactly, went down to avoid hits a few times.
"He was about halfway down. So that's a good thing; we're getting closer," Reid said.
In general, Reid said, "when people bring an extra guy, the receivers need to be dynamic . . . they've got to make sure that they clear fast and that Michael gets the ball out fast. Sometimes you're going to have to hang onto it just a tick longer because the defense does a pretty good job, and in those cases, you're going to take a hit. You've just got to know how to get rid of it and still lean out of the hit and protect yourself the best way you possibly can."
WHO KNEW?
