It’s What They Wanted

Commentators and opposing teams criticized Michael Vick. They said he was nothing more than a running back with a strong arm. They said he couldn’t run an offense or make the touch pass. They blamed the Falcons redzone troubles on him. They criticized his scrabbling and more importantly they discounted the fact that when he plays, Atlanta wins. More and more, I saw a growing number of commentators suggest that Atlanta should either try a dual quarterback system, or should outright start back up quarterback Matt Schaub over Vick.

I’ll be the first to admit that Vick makes bad passes at times and his decision making may not always be the best, but Vick has two intangibles that most NFL quarterbacks lack – a natural instinct to invade the pass rush once the play breaks down and a natural athletic ability to make a positive play happen once the “called play” breaks down. Let’s be honest, defensive coordinators were already having a hard time stopping a “running Vick”, now they have to worry about a “running and throwing Vick”. It sucks to be them. If Vick and the offense keep up their current trend and the Dirty Bird defense continues to play big, they’ll be playing in February.

As Ric Flair use to say, “To be the man, you got to beat the man” and the Cincinnati Bengals and their wide receiver Chad Johnson didn’t do that. It looks like Johnson will have to shave his blonde mohawk. The Dirty Birds came into this game as underdogs, but left as winners as they took it to the Bengals 29 – 27. Vick went 20 of 28 for 291 yards, 3 throwing touchdowns, and 55 rushing yards. Warrick Dunn rushed for 47 yards, while Jerious Norwood rushed for 31 yards.

Falcons’ receivers continued to play with confidence for the second straight week. Tight end Alge Crumpler had 72 yards and 1 touchdown; Ashley Lelie had 55 yards, Michael Jenkins had 53 yards and 1 touchdown, Roddy “Rowdy” White finally caught some passes for 42 yards, while Dunn had 14 yards and Justin Griffith had 14 yards. The Atlanta defense continued to play strong. They held Cincinnati to 73 total rushing yards and forced a key fumble in the fourth quarter.

On a side note, get well to former UGA defensive end and current Cincinnati linebacker David Pollack. He suffered a season ending neck injury earlier in the season. It’s not clear whether he’ll play football again. While at UGA, Pollack was the heart and soul of the G-Day defense. He gave 100% every play and fought through double and triple coverage. The SEC Titles and Sugar Bowl victories can be attributed to his success on the field. Good luck and God bless on your path to recovery.