This year was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Eagles. Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook were gone, replaced by Kevin Kolb and LeSean McCoy. They were also missing several 2009 starters from their defense, including cornerback Sheldon Brown. However, Michael Vick had something to say about that.

Vick took over for an injured Kevin Kolb week 1 against the Packers and made an immediate impact, almost completing an amazing comeback, passing for 175 yards and rushing for another 103. Vick would stay on as starter, abusing both the Lions’ and the Jaguars’ weak defenses in weeks 2 and 3 before getting hurt on a run (that ironically didn’t even count because of a penalty) week 4 against the Redskins.

Kevin Kolb came in and did a solid job in his next 2 starts, winning both games and pushing the Eagles’ record to 4-2. Michael Vick would return soon, but many, including me, argued that they should stick with the young Kolb because Vick was a free agent after the season and Kolb, a 2007 2^nd round pick, had never gotten his fair shot. Well, all of us, including me, were wrong. Nothing against Kolb, but when Michael Vick came back to the 4-3 Eagles week 9, they were noticable better.

In Vick’s first start, he outdueled Peyton Manning in a 26-24 Eagles victory over the Colts. The next week, however, was Vick’s Madden Bowl. Vick abused the Washington Redskins like he was playing Madden, scoring 4 first quarter touchdowns in route to a 59-28 Eagles win IN Washington. Vick was 20-28 for 333 yards, 4 touchdowns, 8 carries for 80 yards and 2 more scores. All of a sudden, a potential Super Bowl trophy was in sight.

Vick wouldn’t be quite the same down the stretch, but it’s hard to say 137-219 (62.6%) for 1668 yards (7.6 YPA), and 10 touchdowns to 6 picks in his final 6 games was a bad performance. The Eagles had clinched the NFC East once again by week 16, thanks to an amazing comeback against the Giants. Down 31-10 with 8 minutes left in the game, the Eagles once again showed their explosive potential, winning 38-31.

Despite a loss to Minnesota week 16, the Eagles still had high hopes heading into the playoffs as a #3 seed. They had Michael Vick at quarterback, and explosive playmakers like DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, and Jeremy Maclin all over the field. However, they would still fall in the first round of the playoffs to the Green Bay Packers, 21-16.

Still, it was a very impressive season for the Eagles. Michael Vick was impressive enough to make most of America forgive him for dogfighting. Andy Reid cemented his status as an elite developer of quarterbacks. Say what you want about him, he’s fat, he doesn’t know how to manage a clock, he hates to run the football, Michael Vick completed 6.2% more percent of his passes this season than any season before and Donovan McNabb had arguably his worst season of his career in Washington without Reid.