Who Let The Dogs Out

Yeah, I went there.  Sue me.

I hated Michael Vick.  Hated him.  Hated that he was a piece of crap as a human being and the hype of him, since he was a totally overrated football player.  He started off as an incredibly exciting and promising player, but he never got better, the media fawned all over him and then he had a series of incidents that showed he was a despicable person.  There are two professional sports teams I truly care about, the Philadelphia Flyers and Eagles.  When the Eagles signed Vick last year, I was floored, I was pissed, I was angry.  At the time it didn't make any sense from a football perspective or a personal perspective.  In the time since it's become clear that Andy Reid's personal life, in which his sons were incarcerated for being drug dealers, played a huge role in him bringing Vick in.  In that respect, it's a bit touching.  From a football standpoint, it didn't add up.  Donovan McNabb was the best player the Eagles had since Chuck Bednarik.  Behind him was starting QB in waiting Kevin Kolb.  So where exactly Vick fit in was murky at best.  He was a luxury last year and didn't look particularly good save for three or four plays.

But dear lord, what a transformation this season.  He's playing out of his mind.  Before coming to the Eagles, his turnover to games played ratio was pretty much 1:1.  This year, in 6 games, he's hasn't turned the ball over once.  He's doing things he never did in Atlanta, like progressing through reads and staying in the pocket.  He's finally a complete QB now.  There's a couple of factors involved in that: he has a real coach in Andy Reid instead of Jim Mora, and certainly going to prison can change a man.  Also it helps to have real talent around you.  But then the last two weeks happened.  First he out duels Peyton Manning.  If that wasn't enough, he leads the Eagles to a 59-28 embarrassment of the Redskins on Monday Night Football.  He hasn't played an elite defense yet, but I'm in.  I'm in on that the new and improved Michael Vick is unstoppable, that the problems with the Eagles offensive line are severely minimized with him behind center, that the inconsistent and mediocre defense can be enough with #7 at the helm.  A Super Bowl team?  Maybe.  I'm just going to enjoy the ride though, where ever it may lead.

Speaking of dogs...