What is the Verdict on Mike Vick?

Last night against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Michael Vick looked horrible. He made poor decisions playing the entire first half and ended up 5-12, 47 yards with 3 interceptions and a quarterback rating of  a whooping 13.5. Look, I am glad he is back in the NFL but now that he is back in the NFL, I can stop defending his criminal actions simply because he is a black and I more often than not believe in second chances. I wanted him to get another chance and he has gotten it but now it's football time and the football reality is he never was a great passer and one year was not enough to convince me. Great quarterbacks have to consistently work hard every year and push for greatness to be consistently great every year. Drew Brees feel off in the interception category last year. Who knows why but did him becoming a true NFL star after the Saints won the super bowl play a part in that? I am a firm believer that distractions from the outside can disrupt the concentration of the best of them and that is why I predicted that the Saints would not win the Superbowl last year. The truth about last year was that Vick was getting praised all year last year and for good reason. He played well and his comeback story was a great story no matter how you look at it but now it will go back to normal…........

Now he has the regular media attention with just being a starting Quarterback in the NFL, the attention for just being Michael Vick, plus all the attention from the moves the Eagles made in the offseason and let's not forget THE GREAT Vince Young who never consistently showed a clear path or progression to becoming great saying "The Eagles Are A Dream Team".

Okay, I agree that I am persecuting fast but this is my "Lebron Reaction" to people putting him on a pedestal so fast. The first thing we have to remember is that Vick has always been an exciting football player first before anything else. he makes spectacular plays but that does not necessarily translate into consistent great QB play and most importantly, that does not translate into consistent team success. If you look at his passing numbers in Atlanta, they were not even average QB good. For the sake of argument, let's combine his passing numbers with his running numbers. Also, it's only fair to include his interceptions with his fumbles lost to come up with a stat for his total turnovers considering I am factoring his running numbers in for his total yards and total touchdowns.

2002 3713 yards 24 TD's 17 TO's 8-6-1 playoffs, lost in 2nd Round
2003 injured
2004 3215 yards 17 TD's 28 TO's 11-4 playoffs, lost in 2nd Round
2005 3009 yards 21 TD's 24 TO's, 8-7 no playoffs
2006 3513 yards 22 TD,s 22 TO's, 7-9 no playoffs
2007-2008 jail
2009 bench in Philadelphia
2010 3694 yards, 30 TD's, 17 TO's, 8-3 playoffs, lost in 1st round

In his best season in Atlanta, if you combine his rushing numbers with his passing numbers, the fact is that he is not an elite quarterback. Some people may tell you a different story but I say in terms of statistics combined with overall team success, Vick has done it one, maybe two years so stop it, " He is not elite!!!!" Not only that but you also have to consider that Vick did not play 4 games because of injury last year so everyone knows that with his style of play, he has a higher possibility to get hurt. Consequently whether fair or not, you have to factor his higher probability of injury in your evaluation.

Now, since I think I established that Vick has never been elite, my final judgement on last night is that you can't look at Vick and say "that's just preseason". Matt Schaub is not considered elite, or Eli Manning or Jay Cutler or Joe Flacco and I am sure if they had a game like that we would all be saying, "Wow, Eli had a bad game........ the Giants first team look poo." We have to remember that Vick is not Brees, Brady, Rivers, Manning and even Rodgers so we can't say the infamous "he had a bad preseason game". those quarterbacks I mentioned above have either won a Superbowl or they have been consistent for at least 3 years so honesty, they deserve the benefit of the doubt. Vick doesn't. I am not saying Vick won't become elite but he is not there now so is totally reasonable to be concerned if Vick plays pitiful which he did last night.

In addition to that, if we stop and think further, you just have to be convinced  beyond a shadow of a doubt that every defensive coordinator in the league was studying film on Vick all offseason. They will adjust so there is no sneaking up on anyone this year. The question is does Vick have the same fire, work ethic he had last year when he admitted himself that he did not before when he was in Atlanta? Bad habits are hard to break and good habits are not easy to maintain. He has his 15 million dollar contract, he is a star again, he has controversial articles in GQ and he has a dream team according to the GREAT Vince Young so the pressure to win is at an all time high. Why should I automatically believe that he has turned the corner when he has never shown it consistently before as an elite quarterback or an elite hard worker?...I don't know the answer but this season will go a long way in telling the tale.

One day you can be the hero of the sports world and the next day you might get criticized so much you can't even bare to stand it. I guess that is life as a starting quarterback in the NFL.