December 8, 2003
A Hollow Vicktory
To call it a sight for sore eyes would be frivolous: Michael Vick was back. Firing bullets to his receivers, leaving defenders falling into turf, and breaking off breathtaking runs, including a 43-yarder where he started out the play running backwards for about 10 yards before cutting upfield, streaking towards the right sideline and nearly getting all the way to the end zone before sliding headfirst nearly into a Carolina defender's knee. In last night's game, Vick did everything we expect him to do: he created plays out of nothing, throwing for 179 yards and rushing for an astonishing 141 more. The problem is, I think we expect Vick to do too much. Remember the aforementioned Carolina defender's knee? That may have been the only hit Vick avoided all night. If he continues to get pounded like he did yesterday, he might not make it through the three games remaining in this season. Wanna know why Vick ran for 141 yards? Because he didn't have any time to sit back in the pocket and throw. At least half of his 14 runs were plays where someone on Carolina's D-line broke through and had a clear shot at Vick before he sprinted off downfield only to get popped by someone in Carolina's secondary. After each hit I hoped he would get up, and each time I saw him limp (there were several), I wondered if he'd walk it off.
It's as simple as this: when Vick's on the field, teams are going to come after him. While a lot of QB's will take a sack when their porous offensive line gets plowed over, Vick has a different approach: in the tradition of Forrest Gump, he starts running. The only problem with this is, no one on the other team wants to be embarrassed -- last night, on his 43 yard run, Vick looked like he was gone until about three or four Carolina players ran him down. Think they weren't extra motivated because of who they were chasing? Everyone wants to take a shot at Number 7. He's a target, and while each of his 14 runs was truly a joy to watch, each one was also an opportunity for a defensive player to take him out.
Michael Vick is the premier player in the NFL. The fate of Atlanta sports rests in his hands, and I think it's safe to say the rest of the nation is pretty interested as well.
I wish I could just say "be careful" and leave it at that. The problem is, we don't want careful. We watch Michael Vick because he knows just as well as we do, careful just isn't as much fun.
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