PHILADELPHIA - With the
Philadelphia Eagles trailing by
five points, with less than a
minute to go, and with
Michael Vick dropping back -
looking squarely downfield -
there was little reason to
believe a ball wouldn't drop
from the sky and settle into
the hands of rookie wide
receiver Riley Cooper.
"I was kind of by my guy,"
Cooper said, and that he was,
drifting to the back of the end
zone with Green Bay defensive
back Tramon Williams gliding
with him. Vick, the Eagles
quarterback, let loose from
the 35-yard line. He didn't
need to go for the end zone,
but he did.
"I got greedy," he said.
Why, in this season of Vick's
personal and professional
turnabout, wouldn't he? He
needed one more play in a
season full of them. Just one
more.
"I thought we were going to
win the game," Vick said.
They did not, however,
because Williams intercepted
the ball, sealing the Packers'
21-16 victory with 33 seconds
remaining Sunday evening in
an NFC first-round playoff
game, the last play of Vick's
comeback year. NFL seasons
end abruptly, not with the
seven-game grind of Major
League Baseball or the NBA.
And when Vick's pass settled
into Williams's hands, his first
season as a starter since he
pleaded guilty to federal
charges involving a
dogfighting ring - indeed, since
he spent 21 months in prison -
crashed to a halt. In 2010, he
was more MVP candidate than
felon, and Sunday night, he
was left to answer the same
questions elite quarterbacks
deal with in such situations,
regardless of their pasts.
"This one hurt more than any
of my previous seasons that I
played a full season and had
an opportunity to play in the
playoffs," Vick said. "I didn't
finish."
Vick and the Eagles didn't
finish for a variety of reasons,
some of them self-inflicted -
missed field goals of 41 and 34
yards by place kicker David
Akers, seven penalties - and
some delivered directly by the
Packers. Green Bay
quarterback Aaron Rodgers
threw for three touchdowns
and rookie running back James
Starks, who Coach Mike
McCarthy listed as inactive as
recently as two weeks ago,
rushed for 123 yards, 22 more
than he had gained all season.
Outside linebacker Clay
Matthews was a menace, and
the Packers, a wild-card entry,
will play at top-seeded Atlanta
on Saturday night for a chance
to advance to the NFC
championship game for the
first time since 2007 - when
Rodgers still served as Brett
Favre's backup.
"This is the way it's going to
be," McCarthy said. "We're on
the road. You play uphill when
you get off the bus, and you
have to overcome the
atmosphere that you're
playing in. . . . It feels good."
A much different sentiment
rippled through the home
locker room. The Eagles lost
in the wild-card round of the
playoffs for the second
straight year, and as wide
receiver DeSean Jackson said:
"It's not almost. It is the same
feeling from last year."
Last year, though, Donovan
McNabb still quarterbacked
the Eagles, and Vick was a
backup trying to restore his
image. McNabb's offseason
trade to Washington,
however, gave Vick the
opportunity for a transcendent
season. He took the starting
job from Kevin Kolb in
September, and by midseason,
he was the talk of the league.
"Just to see how he continues
to redeem himself, that's
amazing," Packers wide
receiver Donald Driver said.
"Everybody gets a second
chance in life, and he got a
second chance to prove to the
world that he's still one of the
best quarterbacks in the
game."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010904405.html
Philadelphia Eagles trailing by
five points, with less than a
minute to go, and with
Michael Vick dropping back -
looking squarely downfield -
there was little reason to
believe a ball wouldn't drop
from the sky and settle into
the hands of rookie wide
receiver Riley Cooper.
"I was kind of by my guy,"
Cooper said, and that he was,
drifting to the back of the end
zone with Green Bay defensive
back Tramon Williams gliding
with him. Vick, the Eagles
quarterback, let loose from
the 35-yard line. He didn't
need to go for the end zone,
but he did.
"I got greedy," he said.
Why, in this season of Vick's
personal and professional
turnabout, wouldn't he? He
needed one more play in a
season full of them. Just one
more.
"I thought we were going to
win the game," Vick said.
They did not, however,
because Williams intercepted
the ball, sealing the Packers'
21-16 victory with 33 seconds
remaining Sunday evening in
an NFC first-round playoff
game, the last play of Vick's
comeback year. NFL seasons
end abruptly, not with the
seven-game grind of Major
League Baseball or the NBA.
And when Vick's pass settled
into Williams's hands, his first
season as a starter since he
pleaded guilty to federal
charges involving a
dogfighting ring - indeed, since
he spent 21 months in prison -
crashed to a halt. In 2010, he
was more MVP candidate than
felon, and Sunday night, he
was left to answer the same
questions elite quarterbacks
deal with in such situations,
regardless of their pasts.
"This one hurt more than any
of my previous seasons that I
played a full season and had
an opportunity to play in the
playoffs," Vick said. "I didn't
finish."
Vick and the Eagles didn't
finish for a variety of reasons,
some of them self-inflicted -
missed field goals of 41 and 34
yards by place kicker David
Akers, seven penalties - and
some delivered directly by the
Packers. Green Bay
quarterback Aaron Rodgers
threw for three touchdowns
and rookie running back James
Starks, who Coach Mike
McCarthy listed as inactive as
recently as two weeks ago,
rushed for 123 yards, 22 more
than he had gained all season.
Outside linebacker Clay
Matthews was a menace, and
the Packers, a wild-card entry,
will play at top-seeded Atlanta
on Saturday night for a chance
to advance to the NFC
championship game for the
first time since 2007 - when
Rodgers still served as Brett
Favre's backup.
"This is the way it's going to
be," McCarthy said. "We're on
the road. You play uphill when
you get off the bus, and you
have to overcome the
atmosphere that you're
playing in. . . . It feels good."
A much different sentiment
rippled through the home
locker room. The Eagles lost
in the wild-card round of the
playoffs for the second
straight year, and as wide
receiver DeSean Jackson said:
"It's not almost. It is the same
feeling from last year."
Last year, though, Donovan
McNabb still quarterbacked
the Eagles, and Vick was a
backup trying to restore his
image. McNabb's offseason
trade to Washington,
however, gave Vick the
opportunity for a transcendent
season. He took the starting
job from Kevin Kolb in
September, and by midseason,
he was the talk of the league.
"Just to see how he continues
to redeem himself, that's
amazing," Packers wide
receiver Donald Driver said.
"Everybody gets a second
chance in life, and he got a
second chance to prove to the
world that he's still one of the
best quarterbacks in the
game."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010904405.html
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