National Football League

Vick's courage takes Eagles past Texans

Published Dec. 2, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

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Michael Vick spent much of the first three quarters of Thursday evening’s game picking himself up off the ground, pounded by a relentless Houston pass rush intent on saving the Texans' season while silencing the MVP talk surrounding the story of the 2010 season in the NFL.

But in the game's final 15 minutes, it was Vick bringing his team back after giving up a lead, willing Philadelphia to a 34-24 victory that keeps his team in first place and ensures that MVP talk will now only get louder.

“He got knocked around a little bit,” Eagles head coach Andy Reid said about his quarterback. “(Houston) has a real good defensive front. They blitzed a little bit, and he kept getting back up and kept going. I loved his energy in the second half. He was firing up (players on) both sides of the ball. He brought a lot to the table.”

Vick’s numbers were again superb (22 of 33 for 302 yards and two touchdowns; 10 carries for 48 yards with a score on the ground). It was his second straight 300-yard passing performance, his third of the season and fifth in his career.

But this game wasn’t only about big numbers for Vick. He was noticeably vocal with his teammates in the huddle, showing the kind of leadership that’s expected from a starting quarterback.

“Well, I just wanted the guys to believe in themselves,” Vick said. “I have all the belief in the world in those guys. I think the world of them, and I’ll go to battle with them any day. So, I try to encourage them and say whatever I can to keep them upbeat, keep them confident and keep them with their will to win.”

The southpaw continues to be hard for opposing defenses to get a handle on — thanks to his arm and legs.

“Well, it’s easy to have a plan against him, it’s hard to execute,” Texans head coach Gary Kubiak said. “The bottom line, I mean, we’d like to keep him in the pocket, make him throw the football. But even when you’ve got him there, he still finds a way to make plays. This young man is playing as good as anybody I’ve seen play in the National Football League, and he’s been doing it for a while.

"He’s special. We just tried to contain him, but obviously he still had a big night and he’s been doing it against a lot of people.”

But the continued beating he took was something new this season. It was something Vick was prepared for.

“There are a lot of games like this,” he said. “You get knocked around a couple times, you get put in the position that you almost have to come back and score. You find out a lot about yourself playing this game. Times you think you can’t do it, there’s something always in the back of your mind saying, ‘Yes, you can.’ That’s what drives me, that’s what motivates me. The opportunity at achieving greatness is what I strive for.”

His greatness was achieved at his team’s greatest time of need. The Eagles, after surrendering 14 points to the Texans (5-7) in the third quarter, entered the fourth trailing, 24-20, with the ball at the Texans 46. Four plays later, Vick put the Eagles back in front with a two-yard touchdown run. It capped a six-play, 60-yard drive in which Vick accounted for all but five yards on the drive.

After the Eagles (8-4) forced a punt, Vick continued his dominance. With LeSean McCoy and Jerome Harrison rushing for 23 yards on the drive, the Eagles went 72 yards, with Vick hitting fullback Owen Schmitt for a five-yard touchdown for the game’s final margin with 4:11 to play.

While it was perhaps Vick’s brightest moment in the season thus far, he certainly wasn’t the only one shining on Thursday.

Second-year running back McCoy showed tremendous versatility with 130 yards and two touchdowns on 20 combined touches. He’s leading the team with a whopping 67 receptions for the season. But even more impressive, he continues to make unblocked defenders miss in the open field.

“It’s a natural feeling,” McCoy said of running in space. “You see a guy and you know what you are going to do. You are just trying to get past them. All I need now is that extra burst to get me to that end zone.”

McCoy has now eclipsed 100 yards from scrimmage in eight of 12 games this season and three in a row.

The unsung hero for Philadelphia, however, may have been tight end Brent Celek, who converted a crucial third-and-19 (with a review reversal giving him the necessary yards for the first down) in the fourth quarter to set up the game-sealing touchdown.

That catch, along with Celek’s blocking, impressed Reid.

“He’s done a nice job,” Reid said. “(The blocking has) been solid, he’s getting better every week.”

So, too, have the Eagles.

These exceptional efforts have Philadelphia in first place in the NFC East — a far cry from where the many “experts” expected them to be this late in the season.

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