The Irresistible Mr. Vick

As I started writing the picks column this week, the front page of ESPN flashed that the Eagles have turned a 180-degree turn and pivot and named Mike Vick the starter. Permanently. And while I think it's the right move on the field in the here and now of trying to win games, the way they've handled it is still kind of amazing.

First off, imagine you are Kolb. You get the job six months ago, with the nearly impossible task of taking over for the best QB in the franchise's history, albeit a guy that had somewhat worn out his welcome with mediocre playoff performances and a wildly dispiriting final two games. You watch the organization swear that he's still the guy, then change their minds when they remember that he's expensive and injury prone. You get the keys to one of the flagship franchises in the league, and while you might get cuckolded by the coach's pet reclamation project gadget QB, you still have to be liking the way things are going. There isn't even a cursory training camp battle to sift through, and in the preseason games, Gadget QB looks pretty ineffective. You don't play particularly well in the preseason either, but no one's worried. At least, not out loud.

Then you go out and crap the bed for a quarter and a half, the way just about every young and overly excited QB has in his first home start against a quality opponent. And then you get concussed, and they tell you that you'll get the job back, but you don't, mostly because Gadget QB is playing too well and the offensive line is too awful to keep you upright.

Honestly, I'm not sure he's got a career in this town now. In a quarter in a half. I've been watching football for 30 years now, and I've never seen anything like that.

I mean, there was no reason to think that Vick ever had a shot at this thing in the entire time that he's been in the laundry... and on some level, it feels just like the decision to sign him in the first place, since that was also completely out of the blue. He did play great against the Packers and Lions, and he certainly gives the team a better chance to win now. But he's also 30, and an injury risk due to the fact that he's never learned to shy away from contact and runs like a scatback. You also have to wonder how the rest of the team will react to the next assurance that a hurt player will get his job back when healthy... or if it was the locker room that caused him to change his mind after all.

You see, Vick's adorable to other football players, especially because to a football player, there is no such thing as next year, and not even next month. There's just the next game, and if you really get down to it, the next play. The injury risk is just that high, and no contract is guaranteed. Football players have seen guys like Kolb their whole lives, and maybe even won with them. But a magician, even if the guy makes bad judgment errors that cost you in big moments, or might be a really regrettable person? Doesn't matter. Did you see that play? Athletes are not math guys; they are about moments. And Vick provides moments better than anyone in the game at his position.

That's why they gave him that crazed courage award last year.

That's why they signed him in the first place, despite the baggage.

And I'm betting that's why he's the starter now.

Finally, there's this. The Cowboys are 0-2 and a thoroughly losable game in Houston next week from being 0-3 before the bye, and in likely full coaching disarray. The Giants are 1-1 and just got torn apart by rabid Colts on national television, with a running back that's in full Burress Distraction Mode. The Redskins are 1-1 and led by the QB they discarded. If all of these teams looked better, does Vick have the job?

I don't think so. But he'll have it for as long as he's healthy, they are in contention, and he plays at a near MVP level (especially for the very savvy fantasy players who just lucked into a top 5 QB off the waiver wire), he's got the gig. And Kolb's got a career as the next A.J. Feeley-esque vagabond...