Babb: Eagles didn’t need any tricks from Vick to beat Chiefs

[Tribal Warfare]

Eagles didn’t need any tricks from Vick to beat Chiefs
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star

PHILADELPHIA | Michael Vick saw the Chiefs coming. Neither he nor the Philadelphia Eagles were fazed.

The Chiefs spent part of the previous week preparing for the unusual options the Eagles offense had at its disposal — the wildcat offense, an eligible Vick three seasons removed from the dazzling performances that made him a superstar, and a slew of versatile players and creative formations if all else failed.

But the thing that hurt the Chiefs most was two backups who didn’t wilt under the pressure of being headliners. Quarterback Kevin Kolb, starting in place of the injured Donovan McNabb, passed for 327 yards and two touchdowns. And LeSean McCoy, the rookie running back who played in place of Brian Westbrook, rushed for 84 yards and scored a touchdown.

As the Eagles proceeded to throttle the Chiefs 34-14 on Sunday, it turned out that they didn’t need all that creativity to beat Kansas City.

“I’ve pretty much seen everything that Kansas City was going to do,” Vick said. “I wouldn’t say that everything they did was pretty much vanilla; it’s somewhat complex, but similar to a lot of the different looks I’ve seen in the 3-4 defense.”

Vick didn’t play much in his first game since having his NFL eligibility restored, but he didn’t have to. He jogged onto the field a handful of times in the first half, each time to loud ovations. Vick missed the last two seasons while he served a prison sentence for his involvement in a dogfighting ring.

Vick misfired on both of his pass attempts and ran 7 yards in his only rush. The Eagles reintroduced Vick to the NFL life, and the Chiefs allowed Philadelphia to do it without too much pressure on him.

“To get the jitters out was a good feeling,” Vick said.

The Chiefs spent time last week practicing for and talking about the wildcat and Vick’s part in it, and they made it clear that they wouldn’t be caught off guard.

“We prepared for everything, pretty much,” Chiefs nose tackle Tank Tyler said. “We just failed on a couple of instances as far as rushing the passer and as far as preventing them from catching the ball.”

Eagles coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg experimented early with their unusual toys, but it didn’t take long to realize they didn’t need them.

Kolb was spectacular, McCoy was ferocious, and DeSean Jackson was terrific. Jackson, who was limited in practice because of a strained groin, zipped through Kansas City’s defense for a 64-yard touchdown, flying past free safety Jarrad Page on a play that Page said later was an all-round blunder.

“We had some technical breakdowns,” said Page, who fell down while chasing Jackson.

Page said the Chiefs weren’t surprised by anything the Eagles did. It’s just that Kansas City couldn’t stop Philadelphia, even at its most basic.

“You can’t expect the wildcat or any other thing to be the meat of their offense,” Page said. “They do what they do. Those are a couple of little wrinkles in there. That’s not going to be what they’re going to do to you all day.

“They came out and ran what they ran. They ran their offense, and we didn’t do a very good job of stopping them.”