Kolb/Vick

Well, I guess it's a good thing that I didn't buy that Kolb jersey like I was planning on. Although, if I wait a few more weeks, it might be on sale. Backup QB jerseys usually aren't hot sellers, unless you're Tim Tebow.

In case you haven't realized, I am not a fan of this decision. Andy Reid obviously has made mistakes before, mostly dealing with timeouts and challenges. However, as an off-the-field coach, I think he has done a pretty good job. I'll say right now that this will go down as his worse decision ever.

I can understand why people want Vick to be the starter. He has looked great the past one and a half games. He's exciting, he's flashy, he's fun to watch, I won't deny any of that.

However, he's not a QB that can be a consistent winner in the NFL. And what amazes me, it's not like he's a rookie and we're still figuring out if he can win or not; we already know. He can't throw the ball in crunch time when it matter, he proved it time and time again in Atlanta. He got to one NFC title game with the Falcons, where he was crushed by the Eagles. And the NFC was terrible that year.

Want more proof ? Sure, he brought the team back against the Packers, but how did he do with the game on the line? On the last drive, he threw behind open receivers. He couldn't convert on 4th and 1 (although I will give a lot of the blame to Reid for the playcall). Against the Lions when the Lions were coming back, he foolishly spiked the ball after not getting a first down, costing the Eagles 15 yards and giving the Lions better field position. What if he does that against a good team?

He brought the team back against the Packers because a) they weren't prepared to face him for the entire game b) they were up by 17 points and were playing soft defense in the second half, allowing him to get his rushing yards as long as he didn't get the big pass and c) the defense played very well in the second half and got him the ball back several times.

He played well against the Lions, I'll give him that. But it's the Lions. THE LIONS. 2 wins in the last 2 seasons. Vick was throwing to wide open receivers all game. I am fairly certain that Kolb would have had just as good of a game. And he wouldn't have lost his cool and spiked the ball at the end of the game.

I'm not saying Kolb is a better QB than Vick. Honestly, we have no idea how good Kolb really is.

We have 2 games last season. He put up good numbers, but was a bit turnover prone. He didn't look good in preseason, but it's preseason. It means nothing. He threw 10 passes against the Packers. He didn't look good, but it's 10 passes. How did Tom Brady look in the second half against the Jets last week? Are we going to judge him on one half of football?

What happens to Kolb now? I doubt he gets traded. The Eagles would have a 5th round rookie as a backup. Unless Vick is terrible in his next few games, I doubt Reid puts Kolb back in. I'm sure he doesn't want to flip/flop that much.

Here's the only reasoning I could get behind for this decision. If Andy is really concerned that his offensive line is so bad that there's no way Kolb will succeed and he doesn't want Kolb turning into the next David Carr, I understand his choice. If they let Vick play this year, don't resign him, and let Kolb really be the starter next year, I understand the choice. Other than that, I can't get behind it.

Let's make one thing clear: the Eagles won't win the Super Bowl with Vick as QB. If they do, I'll be estactic and I'll eat my words. I'll buy a Vick jersey and run down Broad Street with just that on. But it's not gonna happen.

Sure, maybe they'll make the playoffs. Maybe they'll even win the East. But what's that? Haven't we been doing that for the last decade? Isn't that why we got rid of McNabb? He could take us so far, but not all the way?

Kolb probably wouldn't win the Eagles a Super Bowl this year either, but we don't know his potential. He's shown good flashes, and we have no idea what his ceiling is. Drew Brees was terrible in his first few seasons. Could Kolb turn into Drew Brees? It's unlikely, but possible.

We've seen Vick. We know what his ceiling is. I guess people just have short memory spans. The odds of him turning into a winning QB at this point are slim.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Vick will be great, maybe the Eagles will sign him to long term deal and he'll be the QB for the next several years.

But for now, it looks like the Eagles have mortaged their future for some publicity and a quick buck.