Frustrated Vick: 'Over my dead body'

PHILADELPHIA – Something is wrong with the Philadelphia Eagles. Something is wrong with the way they tackle, with the way they block, with the very way they play while holding what should be an insurmountable lead. Something is wrong and the answer is not as simple as bad play-calling or a couple of missed field goals from a rookie kicker who might be on the way back to Nebraska with suitcase in hand.

The rot is deeper. It is in the soul of a team that was once one of the toughest in the NFC East.

Michael Vick(notes) understands this. Whatever your opinion of the Eagles quarterback – and opinions of Vick will be forever polarized – he is the leader of the Eagles, the one the players trust most and perhaps even listen to more than the coaches. Late Sunday afternoon, after an inexcusable 24-23 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, he sat behind a small table, looked in the cameras and said the thing his coach couldn't or wouldn't.

"I heard Steve Young, a couple of weeks ago mention when he played it was a sense that came over him and the sense was: 'Over my dead body, I will not lose this game, I will not let this guy in front of me beat me,' " Vick said.

"It's just that 'over my dead body' perspective you have to take."

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Perhaps, given his past, this was not the best choice of words. But it was exactly what he needed to say. And as he said it, you could see he had carefully chosen this message, that he considered the implications and delivered it anyway because a tamer thought would not have the shock value the Eagles now need at 1-3 and in last place in the NFC East.

"That's gut check," said Vick, after Philadelphia dropped its third straight game. "Some people have it and some people don't but we're going to find out who's got it."

Before the season, the Eagles went on a spending spree bringing in players like cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha(notes), defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins(notes) and pass rusher Jason Babin(notes) along with acquiring cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie via trade. They were supposed to build the heart of a new, tough defense that would make the Eagles the best team in the division and perhaps the conference. Around here folks started calling this "The Dream Team." But dream teams need to tackle. They need to crush second-tier opponents. They need to not allow 127 yards rushing to running backs like a broken-down Frank Gore(notes). They need to dominate.

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The Eagles do not dominate. When they led the hapless 49ers by 20 points with 9:30 left in the third quarter, they needed to make sure San Francisco broke. Instead they gave up 100 fourth-quarter yards and seemed incapable of even grasping Gore when he rumbled into the secondary. Their new defense is soft and their offensive line is incapable of pushing back defenses when in the red zone. Right now Philadelphia is more like a flag football team: heavy on spectacular skill players and empty on the strong blocking and line play necessary to win games.

A month into the season the Eagles are in danger of falling far behind the Redskins (3-1) and Giants (3-1) in a division they were supposed to win. But that message cannot be given by their coach Andy Reid, who sat at the same table as Vick on Sunday and muttered over and over through gritted teeth: "I have to do a better job as the head football coach." The players are not going to listen to this. They are not going to hear Reid growling in a Monday morning meeting. They will, however, listen to Vick.

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He sat comfortably behind the table on Sunday, frustrated but not anxious. He didn't scream. He didn't intentionally look glum. He simply stared and said the thing everyone on his team needed to hear – that they weren't playing with the kind of desperation necessary to win in this league.

Across the hallway, San Francisco tight end Vernon Davis(notes) was talking about something he recently read in a book, about how water boils at 212 degrees and how that water can be at 211 degrees yet the moment it hits 212 it begins to bubble and pop.

"With that one extra degree it gets to 212 and it makes steam and with steam you can move a train," he said.

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The Eagles, who used to always be good for that one extra degree, don't have it at the moment. Vick is the one who will have to find it. He too has had his flaws this season. Teams have figured out he does not react well to blitzes up the middle and are rushing him harder than ever. He was intercepted once on Sunday and should have been a second time. But he also carried the team with 416 passing yards and 75 rushing. At this rate though, the beating he is taking will knock him out of the season by Thanksgiving. Someone else is going to have to care as much as he does or the year will be over well before its official end.

He is probably not the best one to be talking about dead bodies. Yet with the Dream Team crumbling fast, there was no one else to say the words that needed to be said and so he put them out there.

"Over my dead body."

The question is: will anyone agree?