Dec 30, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick (7) unloads pass against the New York Giants during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim O

Michael Vick, the beleaguered, oft-injured quarterback who had probably his most inconsistent season in 2012, has been re-signed by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Adam Schefter reports that Vick has agreed to a restructured single-year deal that keeps him in Philadelphia for one more year under new head coach Chip Kelly.
Vick and the Eagles are scheduled to play in Green Bay this coming season, though that date has yet to be decided.

The Green Bay Packers looked like a well balanced team in their win over the Eagles today.  We got to see good plays all around, including a  running game.  Rookie RB James Starks got the nod to start today and had 23 rushes for 123 yards.  Brandon Jackson had only 10 yards rushing, but had 27 receiving yards and a TD.

The receiving corps had two TD’s, one by TE Tom Crabtree and another made by WR James Jones.  QB Aaron Rodgers was 18-27 for 180 yards and 3 TD’s. (more…)

Erik Walden’s big game in Green Bay’s 10-3 victory over the Bears last Sunday helped propel the Packers to the playoffs this weekend: Following the game, Walden, who was signed off the street in October, was credited with 11 tackles and two sacks.

After reviewing game tape, the NFL credited Walden with 16 tackles — and his performance earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

If Walden manages to repeat his performance against Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday, there could be a lot of happy Cheeseheads.

How can the Green Bay Packers stop Michael Vick this coming Sunday when they square off with Vick’s Philadelphia Eagles in a first-round NFC playoff game? Here’s how: Personnel and scheme.

As we all know, Vick can beat you with his legs just as easily as with his arm and field awareness. In fact, in most cases, stopping him isn’t even a true option; containment is the goal.

No Packers fan will forget how Vick shredded the Green Bay defense during a furious Week 1 comeback attempt, to the tune of 175 yards passing with a score and 103 yards rushing. Granted, the Packers had game-planned for Kevin Kolb, but the defense looked bewildered at times while holding on for a 27-20 win. (more…)

Green Bay Packers QB, Aaron Rodgers has some pretty amazing stats this year; QB rating of 101.2, pass completion rate of 65.7, 3922 yards passing, 28 TD’s, and 356 yards rushing for 4 TD’s.

Michael Vick, QB for the Eagles has been equally impressive. QB rating of 100.2, completion rate of 62.6 for 3018 passing yards and 21 TD’s.  He is also the NFL’s leading QB Rusher with 676 yards, for 9 TD’s.

On paper, they are quite similar.  On the field, they are both explosive and dangerous. There is no “edge” to one or the other. They are ranked #3 and #4 on the list of QB’s.

The game between the Packers and Eagles this week will be decided by the teams. Which team steps up to make the big plays. Which team plays more disciplined, with few errors and fewer penalties.  It should definitely be a game for the ages. (more…)

It’s like when you’re high school.  There’s that girl out there.  You hear she likes you.  But nothing legitimate is coming from her mouth.  All your mutual friends are abuzz with the possibility of a relationship, but between the two of you, neither of you are saying anything.  You’re saying that you want real concrete proof she’s into you; she’s sending out mixed messages.  You hear she just wants to hook up with you and you aren’t the type she’d actually date.  Or maybe she just wants a “summer fling” with you.  Basically, you have no idea what’s going on, despite what everyone else is saying.

That’s how it is now.  Thompson isn’t giving a straight answer on what the Packers want to do.  Are the Packers even interested in Vick in the first place?  Do the Packers just want Vick as gimmick player?  Do the Packers want Vick just for this year as a backup for Aaron Rodgers that could be more reliable than Matt Flynn or Brian Brohm?  Or do the Packers see Vick as a long-term player in their scheme?  It feels like high school all over again.

Scenario 1: There is no interest.

The rumors are just the product of those curses called mutual friends.  You come to find that your friends were just throwing names out there as possibilities and liked the sound of this.  In their minds, it’s a perfect fit.  You two seem picture perfect to each other, but in reality, it would never work.  It’s your friends making something out of nothing.

The Packers aren’t interested in this scenario.  Thompson is sticking to his reputation of not commenting on personnel issues until there is something concrete.  Thompson just doesn’t want to say no to Vick because he wants to leave the door open just in case there’s that one in a million chance the Packers need Vick.  The Packers GM is just making a statement and is letting the media run with it and assume what they want.  Some of the more anti-Ted Thompson camps should have some pretty interesting things to say about these comments, but they appear to be innocuous.  Not saying anything about personnel has been his game, and he’s sticking to it.

Scenario 2: The hook up.

The girl just wants you for your body.  She’s attracted to you, but she doesn’t care about anything else that has to do with you.  It’s one night or bust.  It’s just up to you to decide whether or not you want to be pulled into this.  After all, she is a pretty enticing option and there is a bit of chemistry.  There is the slight chance it’ll go beyond that one night, but it’s anybody’s guess how far it can go.

In this option, Vick is the gimmick player.  The Packers feel they need to make a splash.  The Detroit Lions got Matthew Stafford in the draft.  The Chicago Bears acquired Jay Cutler from the Broncos.  The Minnesota Vikings drafted Percy Harvin out of Florida for some use in the Wildcat.  Yes, the Packers drafted B.J. Raji at No. 9 and traded back up into the first round (an OMG IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?!?!?! moment with Thompson) for Clay Matthews.  Both of these guys are great for the defense and really signal the turn around that is happening under Dom Capers, but offense sells tickets and makes the highlights.  What did the Packers do on offense?  Nothing.  I mean, the drafting of Jamon Meredith and T.J. Lang did do something to add competition to the offensive line, but as much as I love the offensive line, it won’t be a conversation topic on SportsCenter.  Vick adds this to the offense.  How are they going to use it?  What crazy formation does Mike McCarthy have thought up for Vick?  He is the innovator behind the Big 5 that utilizes all of Green Bay’s wide receiver talent.  What could he do with the Wildcat?  The possibilities are limitless.  But lying under all of this is the possibility of this being a one-time deal.  Vick could only be in Green Bay for 12 games as an experiment.  After the season he could be cut loose while the Packer pursue a more permanent Wildcat or gimmick player.  It could be strictly to keep pace with Detroit, Chicago, Minnesota, and the changing National Football League.

Scenario 3: The summer fling.

You and your lady friend get to talking, and you feel that you two have some chemistry and it could go places, but once you get around to school and life in general, you two don’t really have time for each other.  Summer is great because you can see each other multiple times a week and just spend a lot of “romantic” time together talking about how you wish summer could never end, but before you know it, it’s back to reality and you both part ways, never to really see each other again.  Of course, you meet randomly, check in every once in a while to see how things are going, but you aren’t too involved in each others lives.  You appreciate what happened, but it was best to be contained by that time.

Scenario 3 is similar to Scenario 2, but at the same time it is different.  The Packers bring Vick in, not as a gimmick player, but as a backup quarterback to Rodgers.  Flynn and Brohm haven’t been too too impressive, so it seems logical to bring Vick in.  Vick’s played quarterback before, so backing up Rodgers would be a good role for him.  He wouldn’t be expected to be a star contributor from Day 1, while he still could make token appearances as a Wildcat or change of pace quarterback.  Also, being a backup quarterback to Rodgers could be a springboard for Vick.  Other teams could see how he is progressing with integrating back into a team and how he is at learning an offense.  The time spent playing in games could be used as an audition period and a team could trade for him at the deadline or after the season, or if the Packers sign him to just a one-year deal he could be free to sign with a team that needs his services.  This could benefit both sides, as it gives Vick an opportunity and it gives Brohm and/or Flynn more time to become adequate NFL backups.

Scenario 4: The relationship.

You and your girl decide it’s go time.  You have chemistry, everything is great, you commit to each other.  You’ve gone over certain things that are important to you, like your allegiances to certain teams becoming more important than the relationship and what kind of music you can tolerate.  Everything is compatible, so you have a girlfriend.  For the long haul.

Vick and the Packers decide that everything looks great.  The situation is great for him.  Green Bay is the smallest media market in the NFL, and although everyone knows how much of a circus it can be (see: Favre, Brett; Summer 2008), he won’t be under a microscope as much as he would be in a larger market (although the way ESPN covers things, it’s hard to tell).  This relationship wouldn’t end with Vick in a starting job obviously, but it would end up with him being a contributing member of the Packers organization as a Wildcat/running back/wide receiver/backup quarterback.  Vick would show up in the stat sheet frequently and mesh well with Rodgers and the whole bunch.  Of course he would cost either Brohm or Flynn a spot on the team, but it would be for the greater good of the team.  Vick could use the relationship as a jumping off point, if the feeling is mutual, for something better, but he was a success in Green Bay.

Scenario 5: A break up.

So things just didn’t work out.  Turns out she didn’t really like that music she said she did and she won’t give you your alone time with your team.  Things just aren’t meant to be, right?  There’s other fish in the sea.

So Vick comes in, spends a year filling a utility role, and things just aren’t right.  He couldn’t totally mesh, missing training camp and the first few weeks of the season.  He can’t get rolling out of the Wildcat, and the team can’t pick it up in the short time period they had to learn it so everyone feels clueless.  He can’t get it going when he has to come in relieve Rodgers either and the whole just kind of fails and disappears from view.

Scenario 6: Marriage.

Scenario 4 evolves and you and your girlfriend get hitched in a little shindig.  You all live happily ever after.  There’s kids and stuff.  Fun stuff you see in movies.

Vick is a career Packer.  All is forgiven for him defeating the Packers at Lambeau back in 2003 and the public finally accepts for his mistakes.  It’s great stuff.  He gets a ring (or two) with the Packers and keeps his nose clean.  He proves Roger Goodell right for reinstating him.  The dream scenario.

Scenario 7: Divorce.  A messy one at that.

So turns out you and your girlfriend got hitched in Vegas and it’s just bad.  Fighting.  Crying.  Broken hearts.  It is definitely not meant to be.  Once you two get that annulment or those divorce papers filed, you’ll never see each other again.

The Vick experiment fails in Green Bay, epically and publicly.  Vick does something off the field that is just embarrassing and gets himself suspended again and banned from the NFL, or McCarthy and Vick don’t click at all and get in some public disputes.  The players chime (or Tweet) in their problems with the experiment and the team morale collapses.  Pretty soon it’s Top 10 Draft Pick all over again.  People lose their jobs.  Just garbage.  The last thing anyone wants to happen.

I’m hoping for Scenario 4 or 6.  They would be the best for the Packers and Vick, who I’ll have my two cents on up soon.

Any other scenarios you can think of that could happen to Vick and the Packers?  Let me know in the comments.

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Chicago Bears
The Bears brought in a franchise quarterback during the offseason in Jay Cutler from the Denver Broncos in a massive trade.  The Bears now have a face to the franchise on offense to go with Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs on defense.  Although I said that Bears receivers are bad a few posts ago (a statement I still stand behind), Cutler makes them a bit better, while the presence of Cutler takes the pressure of Matt Forte and the running game.  So would you throw Vick in this mix?

The Bears already have one gimmick player on offense in Devin Hester.  Hester is the main decoy on many plays and the Bears love to use his vertical speed to stretch the defense and give the coordinators headaches.  Adding Vick would give the Bears two potentially explosive players on offense at the same time.  Putting Vick into the offense without a full offseason and training camp to get everything to work between him and Hester would be a burden for Cutler, who’s learning a new system, and the offense in general.

Also, owner Jerry Angelo and head coach Lovie Smith are classy guys.  While I think Vick should be allowed back in the league as soon as commissioner Roger Goodell can approve of him and I don’t think he’s a threat to society, Angelo and Smith would want to avoid any backlash.  Vick could really work in Chicago, but I feel that Angelo and Smith wouldn’t run the risk of the backlash and something going wrong.

Detroit Lions
It doesn’t seem like things can get any worse for the Detroit Lions.  With last year’s debacle, there is really nowhere for the Lions to go but up.  With Matthew Stafford and revamped linebacking corps, there is hope in Detroit for a few wins here or there.  But would Vick be a fit in Detroit?

The first thing you have to look at his playmakers.  Who are the Lions playmakers?  Stafford isn’t even the starter yet, as he’s behind Daunte Culpepper.  Kevin Smith guaranteed the playoffs this year for Detroit and he does give them a steady option at running back, but he’s nothing too special yet.  Calvin Johnson is the closest thing the Lions have to a star player.  After Johnson, there’s a mess with Keary Colbert, Ronald Curry, Bryant Johnson, Dennis Northcutt, and rookie Derrick Williams.  Those guys are all going for the spots behind Calvin Johnson.  Is there room for Vick in here?  I’d say yes.

The Lions could definitely use Vick’s playmaking ability.  However, Stafford is the quarterback of the future and coach Jim Schwartz wants to use Culpepper as the stop gap.  Vick would be relegated to a Wildcat role and basically be a gimmick player.

Image-wise, the Lions can’t really get that much lower after the 0-16 season.  Getting Vick would show that they are serious about making an attempt to get better.  But then again, they might look as a risk for getting their reputation dumbed down even more.  They could use his talent, but will stay hands off, as there is enough work to do on that team already.

Green Bay Packers
First off, I don’t see Vick in a Green Bay Packer uniform.  Sure, if he was more of a traditional quarterback, I could definitely see Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy run the risk and sign him to back up Aaron Rodgers if Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn can’t improve.  But the fact that Vick is all over the place with his play, I don’t see it happening.  Vick could also serve the purpose of a Wildcat in the Packers offense, but the team has been prolific enough the last few years that they should (and will) stay with what works.

Also, I can’t see Vick meshing too well in Green Bay.  He’s done his time and deserves to be back in, but Green Bay doesn’t seem to be the town to take him.  This is a big year for the Packers, so anything to upset the balance could gain the ire of the stockholders, which the team does not want.

Minnesota Vikings
Finally, the Minnesota Vikings.  There are three reasons why I think the Vikings are the least likely to land Vick in the division: 1) Brett Favre; 2) Percy Harvin; 3) Tarvaris Jackson.

Favre.  Right now, the Vikings are waiting for Favre to notify Brad Childress and the team whether or not he will be returning to football and joining the Vikings on July 30 (or sooner).  If the Vikings get Favre, it can give them a quarterback that can hand off to Adrian Peterson and get the ball down the field and make plays if necessary.  No need for Vick there.

Harvin.  Harvin fills the role of Minnesota’s Wildcat.  He can run with the ball, he can catch the ball, and the Vikings have had him throwing in practice.  If he can do all that, why do they need Vick?  Plus, they’re waiting on Favre; why wait on Vick too?

Jackson.  The Vikings have been dealing with the mobile quarterback with shoddy decision making over the past few years with T-Jack.  Vick is an exponentially better version of Tarvaris, but do the Vikings and their fans really want to go through this ordeal all over again?  I don’t think so.  Small chance of Vick in Viking purple.

Lions, Bears, Packers, Vikings.  That’s the order (from most likely to least likely) of teams in the NFC North going after one Michael Vick.

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If this game had taken place in 2007, there would be much more meaning behind this game, as the Falcons traded some quarterback to the Packers back in 1992 who did a bunch of things while playing 16 years for the Packers. But alas, that quarterback is gone from Green Bay, thus taking much of the mileage that commentators were going to get out of this game. Instead they are going to talk about Atlanta reversing some curse of trading the aforementioned quarterback. Nothing in the NFL is a cakewalk and nothing in the NFL should ever be treated as one, but this game appears to be the easiest game on the Packers schedule to date. The Falcons were a disaster last year. First, Michael Vick. Second, Bobby Petrino. Third, the fact that they just sucked. But things are starting to look up for the team as they have a new face of the franchise in third overall pick Matt Ryan out of Boston College, who has been named the starter for the season. With a rookie quarterback at the helm, the Falcons look to be in for a long season. The key matchups:

Packers defense vs. Ryan: The Packers will have already faced a plethora of decent quarterbacks in the first four games of the season in Tarvaris Jackson, Jon Kitna, Tony Romo, and whoever the Tampa Buccaneers are throwing out there. Having a rookie in his fifth start back there will most definitely be appealing to the defense. Aaron Kampman and Cullen Jenkins will look to give Ryan hell all game long and knock him around, forcing him to make quick decisions. The quick decisions will lead to big play chances for Charles Woodson, Al Harris, Atari Bigby, and the secondary. Ryan does not even have sufficient safety blanket options. Ryan’s main targets are Roddy White, Michael Jenkins, and rookie Harry Douglas. The starting tight end listed on NFL.com is Ben Hartsock. Yeah. Free agent acquisition Michael Turner is probably Ryan’s best option in the offense. In the whole offense.

Packers D-line vs. Turner: As I said before, the Falcons really do not a sufficient supporting cast around Ryan, except for Turner. The Falcons will be counting on Turner to be a horse until Ryan gets his feet under him. Blocking for Turner is fullback Ovie Mughelli, a very talented blocker that is expected to team with Turner to form a very good backfield.  Because of this, the pressure is on for Johnny Jolly, Ryan Pickett,  and Colin Cole to stop the run up the gut while getting support from Jenkins and Kampman on the outside.  The Falcons offensive line is below average, helping out the Packers a little bit and making Ryan and Turner’s lives miserable.

Mark Tauscher & Chad Clifton vs. Jamaal Anderson & John Abraham: The Packers stout bookend tackles face a tall task in this game against the quick Anderson and the skilled Abraham.  Clifton and Tauscher’s performance this season will affect the drafts of the future by Ted Thompson and of course it affects first-year starter Aaron Rodgers.  Rodgers is going to need time to pick apart a weak Atlanta secondary, and the tackles must give him time.  The Packers O-line is a big question mark this year, but if Tauscher and Clifton show up to play, it won’t be that hard for Rodgers to develop.

The Verdict: The Packers win, 35-17.

The Packers are 4-1 through five games.