IF YOU combined the Eagles’ quarterbacks into “Michael Kolb,” as Andy Reid jokingly did after Sunday’s game, you’d get a 64.7 percent completion rate, 1,603 passing yards through six games, 11 touchdowns, two interceptions and a 103.3 passer rating – which would rank this mythical QB second in the NFL, behind only Peyton Manning.
“They work together like puzzle pieces,” tight end Brent Celek said.
But it’s an odd sort of puzzle, one in which you never see the pieces on the table together, because quarterbacking is not a two-man job. Andy’s jolly jests aside, there will be some sort of reckoning soon, a choice to be made between a healthy, productive Kevin Kolb and a healthy, productive Michael Vick. It probably won’t come before the bye, because Reid, looking to avoid a circus, decreed yesterday that “there’s a pretty good chance Kevin’s the guy this week,” Vick not fully recovered from a rib cartilage tear. Sunday’s game at Tennessee is the last before the Eagles take their annual break.
Strong arguments can be made for both QBs. No question, Vick’s amazing speed and elusiveness add an element Kolb lacks. But Kolb, who still has started only five games in his career, seemed to improve dramatically these past few weeks, given the chance to play every snap. He completed 73.3 percent of his passes against San Francisco and Atlanta. That is something Vick is unlikely to do; as well as Vick has played this season, his completion percentage is 61.5 percent.
Reid noted yesterday that Kolb “got everybody involved” against the Falcons, adjusting smoothly to losing DeSean Jackson to a concussion at the start of the second quarter, even though Jackson had been a huge part of the game plan.
Full story: Les Bowen: Eagles’ Further Review: QB decision must come soon | Philadelphia Daily News | 10/19/2010