PHILADELPHIA – For all the hype surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles, Michael Vick and his teammates know they haven’t done anything yet.

The defending NFC East champions were the talk of the NFL after a wild free-agent spending spree that brought several big-name players to Philadelphia and raised expectations to super proportions.

Now is the time to prove it on the field.

“We know we have a lot of talented guys,” wide receiver Jeremy Maclin said Wednesday. “We know if we do what we’re capable of and play to our abilities, then we can achieve what we want to achieve. But we have to go out there and do it.”

The Eagles open at St. Louis on Sunday.

Vick already has said that winning a Super Bowl and ending the team’s 51-year championship drought is his only goal. Coming off his best all-around season in which he set several career highs, was the starting quarterback in the Pro Bowl and The Associated Press Comeback player of the Year, Vick still sees room for improvement.

“I think I’ve grown tremendously over the last three or four months as far as football is concerned,” Vick said. “I had a lot of time to think about the mistakes that I’ve made, a lot of time to look over everything that needed to be corrected. You know, it all remains to be seen. Experience is the best teacher like I’ve always said and we have to go out this week and show improvement. So, can’t dwell on the past, can’t dwell on what happened last year.

“It’s all about moving forward.”

The Rams are a tough matchup, an upstart team that barely missed the playoffs last year. Considering all their new additions, a few rookie starters and several positional coaching changes, it’s difficult to expect the Eagles to be clicking on all cylinders right away.

“I think, as the year goes on, every team will get better,” Maclin said.

The newcomers include several players with impressive resumes. Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was the prize of the free-agent class. He teams with cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who was acquired in the trade that sent quarterback Kevin Kolb to Arizona, and four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel to form probably the best trio in the league.

Defensive end Jason Babin and defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins strengthen the line. Wide receiver Steve Smith, running back Ronnie Brown and quarterback Vince Young are veterans that provide depth on offense.

“We’re excited to get the season started,” coach Andy Reid said. “I think everybody’s fired up and I would say that about both teams. I think both teams will be fired up and ready to go.”

The Eagles are planning to start four rookies: Center Jason Kelce, middle linebacker Casey Matthews, kicker Alex Henery and punter Chas Henry. A fifth rookie — first-round pick Danny Watkins — was expected to start at right guard.

But he’s been demoted in place of newly signed Kyle DeVan. Reid wouldn’t say Watkins isn’t his starter, and the 26-year-old former firefighter said he wasn’t allowed to talk about it. Reid, though, gave it away with his reluctance to name a starter and other comments.

“Sometimes,” Reid said, “it’s good to take a small step back to take a big step forward.”

Since Reid arrived in 1999, the Eagles have been perennial contenders. They’ve made nine playoff appearances, won six division titles and played in five NFC championship games and one Super Bowl in 12 years. But they’re still seeking that elusive Vince Lombardi Trophy.

“Our expectations are to win a championship and I’d be lying if I told you anything else,” Vick said. “Other than that, I have no more personal goals. You know, as far as the team, I want this team to excel, I want the best for this organization, and I think every man in this locker room would tell you the same thing that I just told you.

“So it’s all about the team and what we’re trying to accomplish. We want to win it all.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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By Joel Thorman

– NFL Editor, SBNation.com

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Sep 2, 2011 – The 2011 NFL season is almost here which means it’s time to preview every team’s chances this year. SB Nation’s Bleeding Green Nation gives us the scoop on the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Record Prediction

This is an interesting year to write an Eagles preview because frankly, there’s not a lot that you don’t already know. The Eagles owned the news cycle during free agency, every media outlet on the planet seemed to write about Vince Young’s offhand “dream team” comment, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal have written features on their salary cap wizardry, ESPN has evidently decided to dedicate the full sources of their entire empire to talk about Michael Vick for the past week… So it’s likely that even if you are outside of Philadelphia you’ve been inundated with Eagles coverage. Knowing that, let’s try to look at things other than the obvious. 

Many people asked “how can the Eagles afford all these guys” as they were cleaning up in free agency. The answer is also part of the concern for the Eagles this year. For one, it was definitely in part that their front office understands the cap and planned for this year probably better than any other team in the leauge. However, it wasn’t all cap credits and “likely to be earned incentives.” Part of the way the Eagles could afford all those free agents is the old fashion way, go cheap at certain positions. They’re going to be starting a rookie at middle linebacker (Casey Matthews), two rookies on the offensive line (Danny Watkins, Jason Kelce) and starting a number of young, cheap players at the safety and outside linebacker spots. 

So the Eagles head into the year kind of top heavy. They’ve got very good, proven defensive lineman and inexperienced linebackers. They’ve got the best corners in the NFL and young safeties. They’ve skill position players on offense that rival any team, but they’ve got two rookies starting on their offensive line. How the team manages to balance their high end talent with their youth and inexperience will ultimately be what decides how far they go this year.

Oh and one more thing…

Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, LeSean McCoy, Ronnie Brown, Jason Peters, Steve Smith, Asante Samuel, Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Trent Cole, Cullen Jenkins, Jason Babin. Yeah, they’re going to be pretty good and anything less than probably 11 wins and an NFC East title will be considered a huge disappointment. But of course, the expectations are that this team is talented enough to break the Eagles now 51 year championship drought.    

Best Game On The Schedule

The Eagles home opener, which doesn’t come until week three this year, against the Giants could certainly set the tone for the early part of the year. While week two in Atlanta is a tougher game, a win over the hated Giants in the home opener would certainly feel like a bigger victory. 

Breakout Player Candidates

The Eagles drafted S Kurt Coleman and LB Jamar Chaney in the 7th round of the 2010 draft. Both players ended up in starting roles late last year and played well. They now both enter 2011 as firmly entrenched starters who both had great preseasons and look to be the young, emerging leaders on the defense. Coleman did not miss a tackle last season and I’m not sure he’s missed one in preseason either. It’s interesting that the Eagles have invested two second rounders in the safety position in the last two drafts and so far Coleman has outplayed both.

Jamar Chaney was a guy that many didn’t understand how he fell to the 7th round. He was a standout at Mississippi State playing against top competition in the SEC. So to grab him in the 7th felt like a steal and so far seems like it was. Chaney is quick enough to be a plus in coverage, but still tough against the run. Last year he played middle linebacker thanks to injuries, but this year will be on the outside, which is where he played in college.

Best Player To Follow On Twitter

I’m going to say Jamar Chaney is the most fun Eagle to follow on twitter @Jamar51Chaney.

Read More: Michael Vick (QB – PHI), Vince Young (QB – PHI), Kurt Coleman (FS – PHI), Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants

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Greg Schulze looked around at the bleachers, fences and tents that make up the Philadelphia Eagles’ training camp base on Lehigh University’s Goodman Campus.

“Usually it takes us 15, 16 days to get this all up,” said Schulze, Lehigh’s director of athletic facilities and events/assistant athletic director. “This year we did it in eight.”

The summer of 2011 will be remembered around Lehigh as the year of doing things differently with the Eagles. With all the uncertainty surrounding the NFL lockout and when or if the Eagles would be making their annual flight north as they have every year since 1996, Lehigh and Eagles officials had to scramble to pull it off.

“We had to keep juggling things,” Schulze said. “We’d develop plans and then we’d have to totally revamp them. But when the dominoes started to fall we were in the right position.”

How well did Lehigh do?

Well enough that Schulze confirmed that the Eagles, very satisfied customers, will return in 2012. Well enough that one fan, John Granahan III of Green Lane, Pa., attending with his sons and his father, said, “I wouldn’t know what they could fix up any better.”

“Sure feels like they did a good job to me,” said Granahan’s father, also named John, who made two trips to Lehigh this summer and especially praised the team for the programs for children that his grandchildren, John, 11, and Sean, 9, enjoyed.

Well enough that rookie punter Chas Henry, who knows all about top-shelf facilities after kicking for Florida, said, “Everything was great up here. The security, the food, the dorms, everything was set up beautifully for us. I had a great experience up here.”

And well enough that coach Andy Reid saluted Schulze and his crew.

“I’d like to thank the people at Lehigh for the great job that they did,” he said. “Every year I say this, and it seems that every year they take it up another notch. They do a phenomenal job with their hospitality and working with us. We’ve had rain the past few days and working with us with their sports teams using the indoor facility. Again, just thank you to all of them.”

Sounds like Schulze and the Lehigh crew did just fine — but while everyone else enjoyed the setup, Schulze’s people paid a price.

“A lot longer days,” said Shulze assistant, Allen Biddinger. “Our phones were never off. You’d get calls late Friday for something they needed Saturday morning, text messages. There was a lot of communication back and forth. We used a lot more people and a lot more overtime.”

The needs of Schulze’s staff included obvious categories — groundskeepers and security — plus some less likely employees.

“Locksmiths,” said Biddinger, pointing to the A. Haigh Cundey Varsity House. “That whole building gets re-keyed for the Eagles and after.”

Schulze and his staff caught a slight break when the Eagles broke camp a day early, but the process of cleaning up and shutting down the Eagles camp leads directly into getting the campus ready for the Mountain Hawks’ own fall teams, all of whom are practicing already.

“It will take two days to take this all down,” said Jason Gall, another of Schulze’s assistants. “But that’s 40-50 people working straight through.”

There’s cleaning and scrubbing to be done — “tougher this year with all the mud and rain,” Schulze said — and taking the tents down can take a week as they need to dry out and be treated with care.

So is it worth it?

“I think so,” Schulze said. “The Eagles help us with the fields, which helps all of our teams. But also it provides Lehigh an opportunity to demonstrate that the whole Lehigh Valley is part of the Philadelphia area, one big megapolis, so to speak, that we’re not far away, ‘over the mountain.’ The Eagles provide a showcase for the Lehigh Valley.”

Maybe the best way to tell that Lehigh’s efforts pay off is to see the joy and delight on the faces of children like the Granahans.

“I liked it best when I got to shake my favorite player’s hand, Michael Vick,” Sean said.

That’s worth any number of days assembling bleachers and tents.

Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jason Peters is free on $628 bond after being arrested in Shreveport., La., for violating the city’s loud music ordinance and resisting arrest.

Police spokesman Bill Goodin said today that Peters refused to show his driver’s license after police stopped him Saturday night because of the volume of music coming from his vehicle. The charge of resisting arrest was added because of Peters’ refusal to show his license.

Peters was a Pro Bowl selection this year, but did not play because of injuries.

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) – March 28, 2011 (WPVI) – Philadelphia Eagles tackle Jason Peters is free on $628 bond after being arrested in Shreveport., La., for violating the city’s loud music ordinance and resisting arrest.

Police spokesman Bill Goodin said Monday that Peters refused to show his driver’s license after police stopped him Saturday night because of the volume of music coming from his vehicle. The charge of resisting arrest was added because of Peters’ refusal to show his license.

Peters was a Pro Bowl selection this year, but did not play because of injuries.

 

(Copyright ©2011 WPVI-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

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Michael Vick is making plans to get ready for next season despite the NFL’s labor situation.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ Pro Bowl quarterback says he’ll work out with some of his teammates on their own if there’s a lockout. The league and the players’ union agreed Friday on a seven-day extension of the collective bargaining agreement.

“Wherever we agree to be collectively. It may be Florida, it may be Hawaii. We’ll get our work in,” Vick said. “Being on the same page, timing, which is very important. I think everybody has to be on one accord, all thinking the same. Practice and film study are important, but just familiarizing ourselves with each other, that’s going to be big for us.”

Vick was in Atlantic City to receive the Maxwell Award for outstanding professional player. Eagles coach Andy Reid also was to be honored as the outstanding coach in a Friday night ceremony.

Vick, who signed a one-year contract with the Eagles after being designated the franchise player, said a long-term deal hasn’t been discussed yet. However, it’s likely that would happen once the new CBA is agreed upon.

Under rules of the current agreement, a team must pay a franchise player the average of the top five salaries at his position. Vick would make at least $16 million under this tag.

“We haven’t talked about long-term negotiations or my future. We just talked about what can get done this year,” Vick said. “I think that anything else that happens is solely on me. I think I dictate the situation based on my play and performance and my actions on and off the field. So that ball is in my court, I think. The most important part is going out and playing good football and trying to bring something to the city that we’ve been looking for for a long time.”

Vick led the Eagles to a 10-6 record and the NFC East title after replacing an injured Kevin Kolb in Week 1. Despite missing three games with an injury, Vick had his best season. He set career highs in passing yards (3,018), passing touchdowns (21), rushing touchdowns (9), completion percentage (62.6) and passer rating (100.2).

Vick was voted The Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year after missing two seasons while serving a federal prison sentence for dog fighting and playing sparingly in 2009.

“I always felt people always looked at me the same way,” he said. “I never felt that if I was in a room full of people that they’d judge me. I think they always showed respect and appreciated my presence, regardless of what they felt. So that’s gratifying, when you don’t walk in a room and people start formulating opinions and judging you on the spot. It’s great to be in a room where it’s all smiles and positive energy.”

Vick also explained why he canceled an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” last month, and said he plans to be on it at some point.

“I just thought the timing wasn’t right based on everything that was going on with the contract, the CBA and certain things that I didn’t want to touch on at the time,” he said. “I felt like I needed to do more in order to be on the show to talk about the past and to talk about the present and how prosperous things are and how bad they were and how we can move forward. I think when I do go on, it’s going to be outstanding.”

Michael Vick(notes) is as good at dodging commitments as he is at eluding defenders. For the third time in as many weeks, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback has canceled a scheduled appearance, this time on a waiting live audience. 

Vick was scheduled to appear live on “ESPN First Take” on Friday afternoon. Late in the show, however, host Dana Jacobson talked to the assembled crowd at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and informed them that Vick was a no-show:

“We have some bad news. We were supposed to have an interview with Michael Vick, we’ve been telling you about it, and sadly the Eagles actually pulled the interview, is what I’m being told. In all honesty, we were looking forward to talking to Michael about what has been a turnaround season for him and what has been a rough few years and getting to some other stuff.”

The Eagles quickly refuted the story, claiming Vick was never asked to be on the program. “It’s ridiculous,” an Eagles spokesman said in an e-mailed statement to Pro Football Talk that never actually denied whether the team yanked Vick from the interview or not. All it claims is that Vick himself didn’t cancel. 

It’s a high-stakes game of “he said/she said.” Unless ESPN apologizes for Jacobson’s remarks, we’ll never know the real story. Either way, the Eagles need to learn from this episode and change the media strategy in place for Vick.

If he’s not going to sit for interviews, come out and say so. There’s no point in dangling Vick as an interview subject to Oprah only to pull him away at the last second. The team is cleaning up self-created messes by letting the media think they have a shot to talk with the quarterback. The truth about why he’s canceling is irrelevant now that there’s a perception that he’s unreliable.

You can’t blame Philadelphia for not wanting Vick to do interviews. His on-field play was doing enough to turn around his image. Why risk ruining all that in one soundbite? All it takes is one stupid statement or flub to make national news and erase Vick’s public rehabilitation.

In protecting Vick, the Eagles are harming his reputation. Bailing on Oprah was understandable and would have been forgotten by now if it wasn’t brought up again when Vick canceled an appearance with at-risk kids. Now it’s back on everyone’s mind again. No matter how ridiculous, the Philadelphia Eagles have no one to blame for that but themselves.

Update: The Maxwell Club took responsibility for the incident. Club president Ron Jaworski said in a statement to PFT:

“There was a communication problem that was totally the fault of the Maxwell Football Club in clearing Michael for the interview. Michael Vick was never asked to do the interview and never cancelled.

“Michael has been very cooperative in all our dealings with him in regard to winning the Bert Bell Award as the NFL Player of the Year.”

In retrospect, you probably shouldn’t expect too much from a club that willingly chose to give its NFL Player of the Year Award to Michael Vick.

Related: Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles have placed their franchise tag on quarterback Michael Vick, according to Philly.com.

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) – The Philadelphia Eagles have placed their franchise tag on quarterback Michael Vick, according to Philly.com.

Under the rules of the expiring collective bargaining agreement, the franchise tag ensures that Vick will receive a one-year contract for the average of the five highest-paid players at the position throughout the league.

The franchise tag also gives the two sides an opportunity to work out a long- term contract, if they choose to do so.

Vick threw for 3,018 yards and 21 touchdowns, while being intercepted six times, in helping lead Philadelphia to the 2010 NFC East division title in his first season as a starter since 2006. The former incarcerated star and Comeback Player of the Year earned a starting nod in this year’s Pro Bowl.

The Eagles have also reportedly placed the transition tag on kicker David Akers, which will give the team the right to match an offer from any other club around the league.

The transition tag also requires the Eagles to tender a one-year offer to the 12-year veteran for the average of the ten highest-paid kickers and punters throughout the NFL.

Akers was 32-for-38 in field goal tries and made all 47 PAT attempts en route to 143 points last season. The Pro Bowl kicker is the all-time franchise leader in games played, points and field goals.

© 2011 The Sports Network

PHILADELPHIA- The Philadelphia Eagles on Tuesday announced they have named Johnnie Lynn secondary/cornerbacks coach, David Culley senior offensive assistant/wide receivers, James Urban assistant offensive coordinator, Doug Pederson quarterbacks coach, Duce Staley special teams quality control coach, and Bobby April, Jr. defensive quality control coach … The Eagles also announced they have officially claimed CB Isaiah Trufant off waivers from the NY Jets.

Lynn joins the Eagles after a five-year stint in San Francisco, working as the 49ers secondary coach. In 2009 and 2010, Lynn also held the title of special assistant to the head coach. From 1997-2003, Lynn worked as an assistant coach with the NY Giants, including the 2002 and 2003 seasons as their defensive coordinator. Lynn also served as the secondary coach of the Baltimore Ravens (2004-05), the 49ers (1996), and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1994-95). While with the Ravens in 2004, safety Ed Reed earned NFL Defensive player of the year honors. Lynn began his coaching career in a number of capacities at the University of Arizona from 1987-93. The 54-year-old Lynn was a 4th round draft pick of the New York Jets in 1979 from UCLA and played seven seasons for the Jets, recording 17 interceptions in 97 career games.

Culley, the Eagles wide receivers coach since 1999, will continue to play a vital role in assisting offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and the remainder of the offensive staff in formulating all aspects of the offensive game plan on a weekly basis. Culley’s position group has been among the league’s best in recent years as they feature the young starting duo of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. Jackson followed up a record-setting rookie campaign in 2008 with two Pro Bowl campaigns in 2009 and 2010. Maclin, meanwhile, caught more passes (126) in his first two seasons as an Eagle than any other player besides TE Keith Jackson (144).

Urban spent the past two seasons as the Eagles quarterbacks coach and played a vital role in the rebirth of Michael Vick, who earned Comeback player of the year honors in 2010 as well as a berth on the NFC Pro Bowl squad. In 2009, he successfully integrated three quarterbacks into the Eagles offensive scheme – Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb and Vick. Urban previously worked as the Eagles offensive quality control coach (2007-08) and assistant to the head coach (2004-06). A native of Mechanicsburg, PA, he was a wide receiver and kick returner for Washington and Lee University in Virginia. He worked on the collegiate levels at Clarion and Pennsylvania.

Pederson, a former Eagles quarterback in 1999, worked as the team’s offensive quality control coach from 2009-10. Prior to the joining the Eagles, Pederson spent the previous four years as head coach and assistant athletic director of Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, LA. A 12-year NFL veteran, Pederson originally signed as a rookie free agent with the Miami Dolphins in 1991 and spent time with the Dolphins (1993-94), Green Bay (1995-98, 2001-04), Philadelphia (1999), and Cleveland (2000). Pederson was a three-sport star in football, baseball and basketball at Ferndale (WA) High School before attending Northeast Louisiana as a quarterback.

Staley, who worked as a coaching intern with the Eagles in 2010, will assist Bobby April in all aspects of special teams, while assisting Ted Williams with the running backs position group. A 10-year NFL running back for the Eagles (1997-2003) and Pittsburgh Steelers (2004-06), Staley gained 5,785 yards during his career, including  4,807 with the Eagles (4th most in team history).

April, the son of Eagles special teams coordinator Bobby April, spent the 2010 season as the special teams coordinator and safeties coach at Nicholls State. From 2007-09, the 28-year-old April worked at Portland State as the special teams coordinator and inside linebackers coach. April served as a graduate assistant coach at Tulane from 2005-06. A native of Mandeville, LA, April graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 2005 from Louisiana-Lafayette.

Trufant (5-8, 170) was signed to the Jets practice squad on 12/8/10 and promoted to the active roster on 12/30. He played in one game with the Jets and registered two special teams tackles, but was placed on waivers on 1/22/11.

Prior to his time with the Jets, Trufant was a member of the UFL’s Las Vegas Locomotives, earning Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2010 after leading the league with four interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, adding 30 tackles and one sack. In 2009 he recorded 13 tackles and four passes defensed with the Locomotives during the regular season and added two tackles in their 2009 UFL championship game victory over Florida. He also played in the Arena Football League with the Spokane Shock in 2006, the Kansas City Brigade in 2007 and the Arizona Rattlers from 2007-09.

The 28-year-old Trufant is a native of Tacoma, WA, and played collegiately at Eastern Washington where he was a first-team All-Big Sky Conference performer, after racking up 11 career interceptions. He is the brother of Seahawks CB Marcus Trufant.

While every Pro Bowl player endured a long trip to get to Hawaii, the journey for Michael Vick in many ways was the longest.

Less than two years after being released from federal prison, the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback is making his fourth Pro Bowl appearance _ and first since serving 18 months for his role in a dogfighting operation.

“This one feels great due to the fact that I’ve been through so much and trained to getting back to this position,” he said after the NFC opened practice Wednesday. “It’s paramount for me and my family and I’m just thankful.”

After starting the year as a backup to Kevin Kolb, the 30-year-old Vick is coming off the best season of his career, leading the Eagles to an NFC East title.

“I’m enjoying the guys and I’m enjoying being out here playing football,” he said. “This is what you work for. You work hard to get in this position. I’m ecstatic to be here.”

Vick was selected to start Sunday after leading the NFC with more than 1.5 million votes, far ahead of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, the NFC’s second-leading vote-getter at 948,410.

“I’m going to try to put on a great show for the fans,” Vick said.

In the past, Vick’s running is largely what got him into the Pro Bowl. He takes satisfaction that his passing was better than it has ever been this season.

“I feel like this one, I had to work hard to get it,” he said. “It came in a different fashion. I displayed different talents this year and showed really what I could do in the passing game along with doing everything else. Everything just came together and it worked out for me.”

Vick set career highs in yards passing (3,018), touchdown passes (21), touchdowns rushing (nine), completion percentage (62.6) and passer rating (100.2). The Eagles (10-6) and eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Green Bay. Philadelphia was 8-3 in games he started and finished.

His last throw, however, still stings. He threw an interception in the end zone with 33 seconds left to seal Philadelphia’s 21-16 loss to the Packers.

While Hawaii is nice, Vick’s goal is to get to the Super Bowl. The question is, whether he’ll be with the Eagles or another team.

Vick doesn’t have a contract for next season, and he could become a free agent if the NFL labor situation allows. The Eagles want him back and Vick wants to stay in Philadelphia, which gave him a shot when it seemed no one else would.

“Hopefully, I’ll be with the Eagles next year. We’ll see what happens,” said Vick, who added that he expects “everything to go according to plan.”

“We’ll see what happens over the next couple months. I just got to be patient and take it day by day,” he said.

Vick, who made his three previous Pro Bowls in six years with the Atlanta Falcons. He is being coached this week by the Falcons’ staff, though none of those coaches were in Atlanta when Vick was.

At practice Wednesday, Vick loosened up throwing passes to Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who is making his first Pro Bowl appearance in his third season and succeeded Vick in Atlanta.

“Matt is great. The coaching staff is great. We’re just having a good time,” he said. “I like what they’re doing in the offense and it’s been easy. We’re going to go out and try to have fun and everybody enjoy each other.”

Vick looked sharp and fluid as he completed a 20-yard out to Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald. On the next play, Vick faked a handoff to Peterson and then hit Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez going across the middle.

The Pro Bowl is the last stop in a remarkable comeback season for Vick.

After his 2007 arrest and later conviction, he went from living in a 20,000-square-foot mansion near Atlanta to broke and bankrupt. His reputation paid a bigger price as he went from hero to hated.

Vick served 18 months at Leavenworth, Kan.

This week he’s staying at a posh, oceanside hotel at Ko Olina Resort, savoring his experience with his teammates and soaking in the 80-degree weather.

“I’m definitely enjoying the weather. I’m about to hit the golf course right now, so we’ve got to cut the interviews short,” he said.

Things seem to be turning around for Vick off the field as well.

He just signed his first paid endorsement contract since his release from prison. He inked a two-year contract with Unequal Technologies, a provider of the shock-blocking football pads Vick wore most of the season.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdowns against the Eagles’ defense. (Clem Murray/Staff Photographer)

There will be plenty to discuss about the Philadelphia Eagles’ future in the coming days, weeks and months.

For the second straight offseason, this franchise has major decisions to make.

But for tonight, let’s focus on this game.

And let’s start with the defense.

Coming in, that was the biggest concern, and specifically the Eagles’ pass defense against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers’ pass offense. I argued for seven straight days that the Birds’ goal would be to limit Green Bay’s big plays downfield.

Well, guess what? They did that. Rodgers completed exactly one pass of 20 yards or more. STATS.com keeps a stat called Big Play Passes. Those are pass plays that pick up 25 yards or more. Guess who led the NFC in those during the regular season? Rodgers – with 40 of them.

On Sunday, he had zero. His 180 yards passing was Rodgers’ second-lowest total of the year. And his 6.67 yards per attempt was well below his regular-season average.

Greg Jennings, the league’s fourth-leading receiver in the regular season, was limited to one catch for 8 yards – both season lows.

And so you won’t hear a lot about Dimitri Patterson on Monday because he was fine.

There are three areas people will be talking about t as they pertain to the Eagles’ defense:

Red zone: A historically bad red-zone defense didn’t miss a beat. The Packers got inside the Eagles’ 20 three times and scored touchdowns on all three trips. The Eagles allowed 31 passing touchdowns in the regular season, and Rodgers threw for three more Sunday. I am going to take a detailed look at the red-zone performance in the coming weeks to try and figure out how it could have been so awful.

Third down: The Packers were officially 8-for-13, but it was actually 9-for-14 when you consider the first down they picked up courtesy of an Eagles penalty. Rodgers was 6-for-8 for 62 yards on third down. He was sacked twice, but also picked up a first down with his legs once. On their three scoring drives, the Packers went 7-for-7 on third-down conversions. That allowed them to put together drives of 10, 11 and 12 plays.

Run defense: This was the biggest surprise. James Starks entered the game with 101 yards on 29 carries (in his career). On Sunday, he picked up 123 yards on 23 attempts, averaging 5.3 yards per carry.

On the season, Green Bay totaled three running plays of 20 yards or more. That was worst in the NFL. On his first carry of today’s game, Starks went for 27. The Packers averaged 3.8 yards per carry in the regular season. Only four teams were worse. Against the Eagles, Starks averaged 5.3.

And so in no way am I arguing that it was an impressive performance by the Eagles’ defense, which showed several deficiencies.

But when Green Bay’s offense came onto the field with 4:02 left in the fourth, and the Eagles needed a stop, they got one. Overall, the Birds allowed 21 points. Green Bay came in averaging 24.2. The Packers scored on one of five possessions in the second half.

By this time of the year, a team has its identity. It has to play to its strengths and try to hide its weaknesses.

The Eagles’ strength was its big-play offense, which set a franchise record for points in the regular season. But the Birds managed just 16 points against Green Bay. That’s 11.4 below their regular-season average.

Last year, the Eagles scored 14 points in their playoff loss to the Cowboys. That was 12.8 below their season average.

The Eagles once again will need to take a look at pretty much every position on defense, aside from right defensive end and left cornerback.

But looking at this game on its own, the defense played better than expected.

Earlier I posted a quick take after the game. And this week, we’ll have one more Man Up on the defense, one more Man Up on the offense and one more Mike Check. Then it’ll be time to look ahead to the offseason.

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Largely lost in the year-end shuffle was the NFL’s decision that quarterback Brett Favre failed to cooperate (i.e., failed to tell the truth) in the Jenn Sterger investigation, but that Favre should be fined only $50,000 because of it.  (We’ve previously argued that the outcome should have been much more severe, and we continue to stand by that.)

But no story is ever over until T. and Ocho have said their peace.

In the latest edition of their weekly sit-down-and-spew-nonsense session on Versus, which has been even more overlooked than most of the other episodes of the show, Bengals receivers (for now) Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco weighed in.

“Time and time again, I’m always gonna put one of us in the situation,” Owens said, “and if it was somebody else, this right here would have been dealt with early on.  What more can you get out of Brett Favre?  They fined him 50 grand, that’s nothing.  They just gave him 4 million extra dollars just to come back and play this year.  Do you think somebody’s gonna give me an extra four million just to come back and play next year?”

Ochocinco jumped in, and he seemed genuinely agitated.  “You know why?  You want me to tell you why?  You want me to tell you why?  Listen, and you better not edit this.  You wanna know why they won’t give you an extra $4 million to come back and play?  ‘Cause you’re black.  Period.  Case closed.”

Owens and host Kevin Frazier laughed out loud, and at first it appeared that Ochocinco was perhaps poking fun at T.O.’s habit of making everything about race.  But then it seemed that Ochocinco was dead serious, that he generally agrees with Owens’ views that race is at the heart of every actual or perceived disparity, and that Chad previously was discreet about his views because the season was still going on.

“If you wanna be honest, if you wanna be real,” Ochocinco said.  “The season is over.  We can’t get in trouble.  I will say what I please now.”

He can say what he pleases, but folks with common sense can choose to reject what he says as foolishness.  Favre got $4 million extra from the Vikings in 2010 because the Vikings believed at the time that they had a Super Bowl roster that lacked a Super Bowl quarterback, and because he was coming off one of the greatest seasons of his career.  Also, Favre was fined only $50,000 because he’s a future Hall of Famer, and (in our view) because the league didn’t want to make the situation an even larger story by imposing a much larger fine or taking away a game check or suspending him for a game he wasn’t going to play in anyway.

Why would the Bengals give Owens an extra $4 million to play for the team in 2011?  As a $1-million-per-win-in-2010 bonus?

Football is about winning.  And if the Bengals or anyone else believed that Owens dramatically helped the effort to win games and ultimately championships — and if he was coming off the best year of his career in a season that nearly resulted in a berth in the Super Bowl — he’d get an extra $4 million to come back.

The most disappointing aspect of Ochocinco’s remarks is that, like Owens, Chad apparently resorts to perceived racial biases whenever he finds himself faced with a factual situation that he’s neither willing nor able to fully understand and process.

At least T.O. is brave enough to use that crutch under circumstances where he possibly can “get in trouble” for doing so.

Fifty years ago, the Eagles beat the Packers for their most recent NFL championship. Three months ago, on a weekend dedicated to celebrating the anniversary of that 1960 team, the Packers defeated the current Eagles and changed the entire course of their reason.

It was Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews who knocked Kevin Kolb out, creating the chain of events that led to Michael Vick’s rebirth as a franchise quarterback. Now the Packers return with an opportunity to deliver a pass/fail grade to Vick’s remarkable season of football redemption.

The matchup is a tough one for the Eagles. The Packers excel at the two things the Eagles have the most trouble dealing with – throwing the football and rushing the passer. But it is a matchup the Eagles brought upon themselves by losing their final two games of the regular season and any shot at a first-round bye.

“This will be our biggest challenge so far this year,” wide receiver Jason Avant said.

In between that Green Bay game and this one, Vick and wide receiver DeSean Jackson created a lot of excitement and some unforgettable moments. There was the 59-point explosion at Washington, the 91-yard catch-and-run for a game-winning touchdown in Dallas, the unprecedented comeback victory against the New York Giants two weeks ago.

With Vick and Jackson running the fastbreak and coach Andy Reid pumping his fists and chest-bumping players, a season of middling expectations blossomed into something fresh and exhilarating. After 11 years of Donovan McNabb, the Eagles were free to soar as never before.

Right?

Not so fast.

A year ago, the McNabb-led Eagles finished with an 11-5 record after an ugly late-season loss that damaged their playoff seeding. This year, for all Vick’s rocket throws and Jackson’s thrilling home-run catches, the Eagles finished 10-6. Their ugly late-season loss to the Minnesota Vikings last Tuesday trapped them in the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs and set up Sunday’s dreadful virtual exhibition loss to the Cowboys.

Because of that squandered opportunity, the Eagles must beat Green Bay and Chicago, two teams that defeated them already this year, in order to get to the NFC championship game.

The cold reality: They must do just that in order for this season to be considered successful.

Last year, a bad late-season loss and a quick playoff exit prompted Reid to ship McNabb to Washington and bring an era of Eagles football to a close. How would losing to the Packers, at home no less, be any different?

McNabb got the Eagles to the NFC championship game five times, more than half of his healthy seasons. The most recent trip was just two years ago. So that’s a pretty reasonable measuring stick for the Vick-led Eagles.

It would be different if Reid had stayed with his original plan and used this season to break Kolb into the No. 1 QB spot. Once Reid switched to Vick, and the rest of the NFC East teams stumbled into three variations on the theme of failure, the grading curve changed.

Vick is 30 years old. This would be his 10th NFL season if not for the two-year gap he created for himself. It is fair to place the same expectations on him as those on McNabb throughout his career.

It is fair, too, to apply those expectations to Reid. He has the most talented offensive unit of his tenure here. The defense has been a problem, but it was also a problem in the NFC title game loss two years ago and in that debacle in Dallas last January. So Reid has had two full years to address that side of the ball. The defense was not exactly fearsome before a wave of injuries weakened it even further.

Reid and Vick each have history with the Packers.

The coach, of course, began his NFL career in Green Bay. He earned his Super Bowl ring there. One of the great moments in Reid’s tenure, the fourth-and-26 pass from McNabb to Freddie Mitchell, came in a 2003 playoff win over the Packers.

A year earlier, Vick and the Atlanta Falcons shocked the Packers in Lambeau Field in a first-round playoff game.

Because of all that history, from 1960 through September of 2009, the Packers are arguably the most intriguing opponent the NFC could have provided the Eagles in this first-round game. They are also one of the toughest.

The Eagles might have avoided this game by taking care of business in two season-ending home games against bad teams. They didn’t. Now they must face a very good team. Now we’ll see if these Eagles really have changed or if the postseason just brings more of the same.

 

Follow columnist Phil Sheridan on Twitter: @SheridanScribe. Read his blog at http:// go.philly.com/philabuster or his recent columns at http://go.philly.com/philsheridan.