Jason Whitlock Is An Ignoramus On Kolb/Vick "Controversy"

Surprisingly, the Philadelphia media did not get into a major Michael Vick frenzy, instead focusing on blaming Andy Reid for putting Kolb and Bradley back in the game, although are forgetting the annoying little fact that Andy Reid is not a doctor and is not in charge of determining whether or not a player is healthy to play). Andy Reid may not be a bad play caller and may not be great at game management, but as much shit as he is fairly given, he is given just as much unfairly. Anyway, I digress. The main focus of this post is the incredibly bad column written by Jason Whitlock written on the media-manufactured controversy between Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick. The title of this article, is "Don't Be Thick, Go With Vick." That alone should be enough to suggest it is barely worth a read, but because I have been dying to do this all day, I shall proceed.

The teflon coach is now on the clock.

With Donovan McNabb banished to our nation's capital, Philadelphia football fans have no choice but to examine the work of the man wearing the headsets.

Why is Whitlock bringing up Donovan McNabb here? This is supposed to be (and is) a column about Kolb and Vick. What on earth does a QB who threw for less than 50% completion percentage in the first game of the season have anything to do with anything? The answer: Jason Whitlock is Donovan McNabb's biggest fan. He loves him like none other. So when the Eagles traded McNabb (never mind that the Eagles got a much needed starting safety out of the deal), he has been upset and determined to go after the Eagles ever since. Anything to take down the man who replaced his boy, he will do.

Andy Reid is 0-1 today largely because he still can't manage the clock, committed to Kevin Kolb as his starting quarterback with little supporting evidence and allowed an atrocious fourth-and-1 play-call late in Philly's 27-20 loss to Green Bay.

Andy Reid is 0-1 because a bad 4th and 1 play call had worse blocking. But little evidence that Kolb should have been the starter? I've made my point about McNabb enough both here and in yesterday's live blogs, I won't re-make them, but let's see this "little supporting evidence" of Kolb as the starter.

First of all, there was a consensus on the part of everyone that Kolb outperformed Vick in Training Camp, and no one had been clamoring for Vick to start after watching him Training camp. Secondly, here are the pre-season stats for both Kolb and Vick. Sure the sample size here is not great, but it is better than one that will be brought up later.

Kolb combined in 3 pre-season games: 28/53 for 324 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
Vick combined in 4 pre-season games: 16/28 for 189 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT

None of them put up flashy numbers, but it is painfully obvious that Kolb put up the better numbers in pre-season. Though Vick's completion percentage was marginally (57% to Kolb's 53%), and the yards per completion is equal at 11, there is one glaring stat that says Kolb is the better option. In 53 throws, Kolb threw only 1 INT. In nearly half as many throws, Vick through 3 interceptions. Yikes. Couple that with the overall better performance by Kolb over Vick per every Eagles beat writer out there, and the evidence was clearly there that Kolb should be the Eagles starter.

Making matters worse is Reid watched Michael Vick's electrifying second-half performance and concluded Kevin Kolb is still the Eagles' starting quarterback (if he's healthy).

Andy Reid is either clueless or blind.

Andy Reid's biggest mistake (at the time) early in the game was using Vick as often as he did. It certainly did not help Kolb any, though it may have let Vick get into the game. Also, the Green Bay defense prepared fully for Kevin Kolb with only marginal time for Vick. There was hardly no blitz when Vick entered the game (it had gotten to a 17-point game) and they had not prepared extensively for Vick like the Lions will if Kolb is forced to sit next week due to medical reasons. Dom Capers can't flip a switch in 5 minutes and go from the Kolb scheme to a scheme for Vick playing every play. You wanna find an explainable reason why Vick lit the world on fire last night? The Packers were unprepared and because of his over-usage early in the game, Vick had a rhythm and had gotten into the game already.

In an NFL opening weekend filled with interesting twists and turns, nothing tops the unveiling of Michael Vick 2.0.

The Cowboys' coaching blunders, the Texans' thumping of the Colts and Calvin Johnson's stolen game-winning catch all take a backseat to the finest performance we've ever seen from Michael Vick.

What is Whitlock smoking? The biggest talking point nationally has been the Calvin Johnson play. It has been the main story on pretty much every NFL related show thus far. And Vick 2.0? What has Vick done now that he has not done before? Michael Vick has always been an overrated, inconsistent passer who makes throws, misses others badly, but has incredible mobility that makes up for his iffy passing enough to make him serviceable on most teams.

I'm no Vick fan. Even during his Pro Bowl years in Atlanta, I contended Vick was a wide receiver masquerading as a quarterback. When he took over Sunday after Kolb suffered a concussion, I anticipated an interception, a fumble and a 41-10 Green Bay runaway.

I was shocked. I still am.

Get out of shock and think about things rationally. I said it before and I will say it again, how many back-up QBs in the NFL are better than Michael Vick? Put another way, who would you rather have as your back-up (focusing purely on a skill perspective)? Michael Vick or Max Hall? Michael Vick or J.T. O'Sullivan? How about Michael Vick or Jordan Palmer? Michael Vick or any of the McCown brothers? What about Jim Sorgi or Michael Vick? If that is what Whitlock expected when Vick enters the game, I shutter to think what kind of prediction he will have the next time Luke McCown enters a game. Like I said, Vick is an at best average passer with incredible speed, mobility, and athleticism, all of which it seems is close to being what he used to have in his pre-prison days. He rushed for 100 yards last night. It is impressive for a guy who had it all and lost it all for 2 years, but Vick did not do anything last night that he did not do earlier in his career.

Vick looked like Steve Young, a real authentic quarterback, on Sunday. As best I could tell, Vick made one serious mistake. Down around the goal line, he forced a pass into the end zone when he could've pump faked and made a dash for the goal line. But that's just nitpicking.

Nitpicking??? IT WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST MISTAKES OF THE WHOLE DAMN GAME! Vick had 3 wide open receivers and a running lane more gaping than Lindsay Lohan's legs, and what does he choose? Throw it to the one player Green Bay actually accounted for. That's not a nitpick, that is a game-changing error. Who knows how different the strategy is for the Eagles on their final drive if they only need a FG to tie the game instead of a TD to tie?

Vick completed 16 of 24 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown. He ran for 103 yards on 11 carries.

Philly was down 20-3 when Vick took control of the game.

Kolb, The Anointed One, picked up right where he left off in the preseason, connecting on half of his 10 passes for 24 yards and running for a yard. DeSean Jackson, Philly's big-play receiver, didn't catch a pass in the first half. Philadelphia's offense went nowhere with Kolb.

Are all opening day starters "anointed," or just ones that replace his boy?

Vick turned the momentum of the game on Philly's second possession of the second half, hitting Jackson for 12 yards on third and five and setting up the Eagles for first and goal with a 31-yard scramble.

Vick put 17 points on the board in the second half and had a shot at 24 until Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg settled for a super-conservative QB isolation run on fourth and one at the Green Bay 42 with two minutes to play. The Packers stuffed Vick for no gain. As sharp as Vick was throwing and running Sunday, Philly should've spread the field, emptied the backfield and given Vick the freedom to improvise.

Vick made some sharp passes, but he missed some as well. And the 4th down play call from Andy Reid would have picked up a 1st down if Brent Celek bothered to do his job and block Clay Matthews.

Green Bay simply kneeled on three straight plays, running out the clock, because Reid had burned all three of his timeouts on a Packers' possession that started with 5:43 to play.

Yep. The best way to help a backup QB shaking off three years of rust is to send him on a potential game-tying drive with no timeouts.

Vick had over 4 minutes on that drive to work with. He may have had no timeouts, but it was not like he had 1:30 and no timeouts. Even with no timeouts, over 4 minutes is plenty of time and no cause for panic or alarm at all. It was a mistake to burn the timeouts, but it did not lead to a no win situation as Whitlock is sarcastically suggesting.

Andy Reid coaches like he's won three Super Bowls. And we, the media, talk about him like he's won four.

Huh? Since when does Andy Reid act like he has won 3 Super Bowls? Again, Andy takes a lot of unnecessary shit. He does not carry himself with that kind of complex. Ever. And he does not coach like someone who has won it all countless times. The only thing more non-sensical is Whitlock's assertion that the media treats him like he has won 4. When is he compared to the only coach who has ever done that, Chuck Noll? When? Reid takes a ton of media heat, especially locally. Whitlock has no idea what he is talking about. Absolutely none.

What's the difference between Andy Reid and Marty Schottenheimer? A hundred pounds, Ernest Byner's fumble and different coaching specialties.

Late in Schottenheimer's Kansas City tenure he had a choice between Rich Gannon and Elvis Grbac. Schottenheimer chose Grbac.

Elvis quit football at age 31. Between the ages of 34-38, Gannon earned four Pro Bowl berths, one league MVP and led the Raiders to the Super Bowl.

Michael Vick is nowhere near the kind of QB Rich Gannon is. Vick can't throw consistently. He's never had that ability. He probably never will have that ability. Are you really telling me that after an iffy pre-prison passing career, a horrendous passing career up to last Saturday in the post-prison era including by what was all accounts an abysmal training camp is suddenly erased and Michael Vick is capable of leading a team to the Super Bowl? Whitlock could not be more delusional.

Reid has an easier decision between Kolb and Vick. One guy has an on-field resume and the other is just a draft-day theory.

Performance in brief regular season appearances and 3 years in training camp and practice is more than just a "draft-day theory." And that "guy with the on-field resume" is not a great passing QB.

I haven't forgotten Vick's past. He's capable of doing something totally stupid off the field. Cross that bridge when it comes. He's on the Philly roster. If Vick gets in trouble off the field, the Eagles are going to take the same public-relations hit whether he's the starter or the backup. Reid might as well play Vick and justify the risk of signing him.

The signing was intended to make Vick Reid's toy while Vick got back into football shape, not to be the starter of the Philadelphia Eagles. He was essentially 3rd on the depth chart of long-term solutions when brought in. Just like Donovan McNabb, the starting QB of the Philadelphia Eagles is just not the job or the fit for Michael Vick.

Vick's teammates responded to his energy and big-play capability. The Eagles were clearly a more confident offense and defense with Vick in the lineup.

Yeah....cause Vick made people who were quiet in the 1st half show up in the 2nd half. It was all Mike Vick. He got the defensive stops in the 2nd half and he woke up DeSean Jackson. Yeah. Right. Everyone in that Eagles locker room knows Kolb is the starter and they have the utmost respect for him. To suggest otherwise is to have not followed the Eagles for the past several months.

Andy Reid would be a fool to enter the Eagles locker room and tell 53 players Kolb is the starting quarterback. Reid had the guts to permanently dump McNabb. Why not bench Kolb (or use his concussion as an excuse) and let the Vick situation play out for at least another week?

No. No. No. No. No. No. And no. Kolb may not be medically cleared, and if that is the case, Vick should start. That is the job of the back-up, to fill in when the starter is not healthy to start. But what kind of message does it send if you give up on your starting QB after only 10 passes, 3 of which he threw while thinking that the capital of the United States was somewhere in Montana? What message does that send to the locker room? What message does it send to Kolb? Not only does it create turmoil, but you do not bench someone after 10 passes? 10 PASSES! TEN! PASSES! Bench your QB after 10 passes! That is what Whitlock is suggesting. I will say it again to get it through the incredibly thick skulls of people who think Vick should start next week regardless, to bench a healthy Kolb after only 10 passes for Mike Vick is to throw your future out the door. Goodbye, future Eagles, it was nice knowing you! By benching Kolb you are hindering his development. He can't become and effective QB if all he does is take minimal snaps in practice and ride the bench on Sundays. It is unheard of, unethical, and down right stupid given the nature of things. Not only is 10 passes the smallest of sample sizes, but Kevin Kolb is deemed the future. Michael Vick is a free agent in 6 months who wants to start elsewhere. Vick is not the Eagles starter. Vick is not going to lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl. In the future, Kolb has that ability. Vick does not have that ability now and he has no future with this team. But luckily, Andy Reid is not Jason Whitlock. He knows he cannot bench his healthy starter after 10 passes. If Kolb is cleared medically, he will play against Detroit. Reid understands that his QB can only go up from here. It was a bad 10 passes, but it was 10 passes. How many QBs can have had a bad half consisting of 10 bad passes? I would be willing to bet all of them. Give it time. Let your player develop. The Eagles are not winning the Super Bowl this year. Get over it and let your proper QB, Kevin Kolb, develop so he can win the Super Bowl in the years to come. And if anyone suggests otherwise, that Vick should be the starter from here on out regardless of Kolb, then they are just as much of an ignoramus and know as much about the situation and the proper way to handle it as does Whitlock. Which is to suggest, they know nothing.

(For a collection of similarly stupid articles, please check out this post at Bleeding Green Nation, which has been collecting and posting snippets from these hilariously uninformed articles all day.)