Reid and Vick

Forget about the broken hand. It was the fact that Mike Vick played at all that should be the real source of concern and controversy with Andy Reid's coaching.

Vick clearly wasn't himself at the start of the game and probably still feeling the effects of his concussion the week before. Vick took a couple of hard hits that may have aggravated his condition in the first half. Indeed, the hypothesis of us in the stands was that on the helmet to helmet hit Vick took in the 2nd quarter that he was a little groggy and that the Eagles didn't want to call attention to it and force them to re-test his cognitive baseline as part of the concussion protocol.

How else to explain the 8 straight running plays Reid called to end the 1st quarter and begin the 2nd - a streak over two possessions?!?!?

Reid NEVER calls that many running plays, certainly not IN A ROW!!!

Indeed, for a coach who is famous for his incredibly unbalanced 65/35 pass/run ratio, it is remarkable that Reid called an even 50/50 game. The Eagles ran 33 times. Add in Vick's 2 QB sneaks and that is 35 running plays. I can't remember if Vick's 5 other carries were scrambles or designed runs, but including all of them as original pass plays with the rest of the Vick/Kafka attempts totals 35 passes. When was the last time the Eagles ran the ball the exact same number of times they passed it?

Thus, the most criminal part of last week's game, besides Reid starting Vick at all, was calling for 2 QB sneaks from Vick at the goal line: 1) cause he had suffered a head injury concussion the week before and 2) likely aggravated it earlier in the game. The fact that Reid thought it best to plunge one of the fastest players in the league into the middle of the line is just icing on the cake for his ludicrous play calling. With as many playmaking speedsters the Eagles have, why not spread the defense at the goal line?

Hopefully Vick won't have long-lasting damage from Reid's negligent mismanagement of a player's injury.