Can Vick Contribute?

Lost in all of the Vick discussion is whether he will actually be a difference maker this year. Surely, Vick out of the wildcat won’t be enough to catapult the Eagles over the Giants, though some have them as NFC East front runners anyway. For now, we’ve eliminated Dallas and Washington from contention. The Cowboys just don’t have the playmakers to compete in a division where 12 wins seems to be the magic number for a division title and their OL seems to fade towards the end of the season. Washington’s OL is a hot mess and they still have Jim Zorn calling plays. It will be interesting to see how FA acquisition Albert Haynesworth performs in the Skins gap control system. The Titans tried like crazy to get Haynesworth to stay disciplined in his gap assignment for years and finally gave up on it in 2008. Big Al is much better when he’s simply allowed to penetrate...but I digress.

 The best that Eagles fans should hope for is for Vick to hold down the fort when McNabb takes his 3 game sabbatical for rib/ hernia/ knee issues as he is want to do. This division is the toughest in sports and Vick keeping his team in a couple of games that they would have lost were Feeley or Kolb behind center could be the difference between a post-season trip and an early vacation in January. The Bears and Vikes should both finish with more than 10 wins. Atlanta, Carolina, and New Orleans all expect 10 or more wins as well. The wild card selections in the NFC will most likely each finish with 11 wins or more. Brining in Vick won’t put Philly over the top, but it may keep their season alive and Andy Reid employed if and when McNabb goes down.