Shock! Horror! Chaos! (Robble Robble Robble, Aw, Calm the Hell Down)

Well, everyone and their dog has weighed in on the subject, guess I might as well write something too...

Interesting developments coming out of South Philadelphia these days, arent they?  The national sports media, ESPN in particular, would have us believe that the Eagles replacing Kevin Kolb with Michael Vick is the equivalent of one of the Old Testament signs of the apocalypse.  John Clayton, who sees himself as the Yoda of sportswriters, thinks the Eagles are a team "in chaos."  Matt Mosley, who is normally a more objective and less opinionated writer, thinks that Andy Reid has "bowed to the demands of the Eagles' rabid fan base" and that this plan will "blow up in their face."

Mosley has also said that Reid is taking a "short cut to the playoffs" through a "knee-jerk" reaction.  He has described Reid as "overreacting" to Vick's recent success, and that Kolb has been betrayed.

Allow me to play devil's advocate here: our offensive line isn't just shaky, it is downright bad.  If one thinks about it, this could be a move to protect Kolb's viability as a healthy young quarterback.  The Packers defense manhandled the o-line, and Kolb sustained a concussion in the process.  The Detroit defense tallied six sacks on the elusive Michael Vick, and if not for Vick's athleticism and playmaking ability, they could have had at least three or four more.  I am an ardent Kolb fan, as I've said before, but had he played against Detroit, double-digit sacks would have been an almost foregone conclusion.  There comes a point where you have to consider the player's well-being above all else, even though you anointed him the starter.  Kolb has already had one brain injury; another could be a lot more costly.  Reid saw what happened with Brian Westbrook, once the pride and joy of our offense.  Maybe he's taking precautionary measures with his young, inexperienced QB.

The Eagles organization has been called many things over Reid's tenure as head coach: stubborn, defiant, unbending, business-minded, disloyal, to name a few.  Now it seems we can add "reactionary" to this list.  At first glance, this might seem like a bad thing, but is it, really?  Reid has never been prone to knee-jerk reactions concerning his players, but whether it was on the field or in the film room, I firmly believe he's seen something that spooked him badly.  You have to wonder if Reid thinks the offensive line could actually put Kevin's health in serious jeopardy.

If this is the case, going with Vick is the logical choice.  He is far and away more equipped to offset the shortcomings of the o-line.  And, contrary to what every professional sportswriter thinks when they start hooting and hollering about Kolb's days being numbered as an Eagle, there is no definitive proof that  Kolb will never become a successful starting QB for this team.  Who knows?  Maybe Cap'n Andy figures that he can put Kolb on ice for one more season, and address the offensive line big-time through free agency and the draft during the off-season (he pretty much has to).  The Eagles always play things close to the vest, and I agree with Mosley that Reid thinks, but won't admit, that he's replacing Kolb with Vick because he has very little confidence in the big men up front, but it is too simplistic and easy to say that Reid is overreacting to Vick's fine performance thus far.

Now, I am not without misgivings.  Nor am I letting Reid off the hook.  The offensive line is of Reid's making; he drafted these guys, or in the case of Jason Peters, signed them away from other teams.  He should be taken to task for using subpar or inexperienced talent to protect his inexperienced quarterback.  Of course, I'm aware that he can't help injuries, particularly in the case of Jamaal Jackson.  Reid didn't have confidence in Nick Cole as a center, and Mike McGlynn became his best option.  I had written in a post last Sunday that McGlynn would have problems, and I was right.  But these are the kinds of "growing pains" to which so many people have referred.  What makes me upset is the play of Cole at guard and Justice and Peters on the ends.  Cole was eaten alive by Ndamukong Suh, Justice is making last year look like an aberration, and Peters should be included in the Oscar nominations next year.  Furthermore, Justice will now be the protector of Vick's blind side, which is a thought that keeps me awake at night.

The depth on the line isn't too impressive, either.  King Dunlap is a joke, Austin Howard is unproven and inexperienced, and for some reason Reid hasn't seen fit to give Reggie Wells a shot.  Reid needs to answer for the play of the offensive line, as does longtime o-line coach Juan Castillo, who many regard as one of the best at what he does.

Also, I think this situation reeks of Reid saving his own rather expansive hide.  He painted himself into a corner with these quarterbacks.  He traded away the face of the franchise, the best QB in Eagles history.  He knows that if Kolb plays behind the line he's chosen to field this season, the team stands a very good chance of losing double-digit games, and that Kolb could wind up hurt.  He doesn't want that kind of egg on his face, so part of this scheme may be related to making him look not as bad as he could otherwise.  He could be using this situation as an excuse to jimmy open that window of opportunity to win the Super Bowl that has been slowly closing on us for the past six years.

There may be a method to this madness, though, a way in which everybody wins.  For example, Reid can accept the fact that his o-line is a liability and therefore he chooses to use the quarterback who can elude the pass rush skillfully and expediently.  Meanwhile, Kolb doesn't have to worry about sustaining another concussion as a result of poor protection and lack of mobility.  Perhaps Vick exceeds expectations and actually leads the Birds to the playoffs; this would be a nice surprise, considering practically no one picked us to make it there.  At season's end, Vick could be a hot commodity again, and he gets to be a starter somewhere else, and as I suggested earlier, Reid gets some stud o-linemen in the offseason, unloads our dead weight, and gives Kolb the protection he needs to succeed next year.

Now, this may be naive optimism, but I don't think Clayton and Mosley are correct in prophesying total gloom and doom (weird for an Eagles fan to say, I know).  The situation is obfuscated and confusing, I realize that.  But if Vick can win games with a bad o-line, and Kolb stays healthy (and alive) until he can take the reins behind a bolstered line next season.  Might not come true, but none of us have a crystal ball here.  The best thing for us to do is live in the now, and take it one game at a time, if I may be permitted a cliche.  For those of you who are ready to panic, fear not, for if nothing else, we'll be in for some excitement this season.

Oh, and on a personal note, I owe a sincere apology to the BGN blogger known as Lombardi and Broad.  In a post I wrote on March 26, I stated in the comments that Michael Vick didn't have a shot in hell of becoming this team's starter.  He was skeptical of this statement, and he wound up being right.  So, I humbly apologize for my shortsightedness.

Talk amongst yourselves...discuss.