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Sunday, September 25, 2005
Vick’s road to maturity begins
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Orchard Park, N.Y. — Nobody can project when a quarterback matures. In Michael Vick’s case, we see a bottomless well of talent, and there’s a tendency to sit back and think, “OK, he wins. But when will he look like a quarterback?”
If at some point that moment arrives and doesn’t go away, remember Sunday’s game in Buffalo. It was the starting point.
Remember the times he read a defense, saw the blitz coming, stood in the pocket and completed a pass. Remember when he moved his feet, not to run but just enough to elude a pass rush and find an open receiver. Remember him not getting sacked — after being dropped seven times in the first two games.
Remember Thursday. Three days before the Buffalo game, Vick told coach Jim Mora, “You’re going to see a different kind of quarterback this week.” Mora didn’t know how much to make of it at the time, but the significance of the words became apparent almost from the outset Sunday.
“Let’s be honest,” Mora said. “He hears the things that are said about him. He hears: ‘You can’t play from the pocket. You can’t do this, can’t do that.’ While he doesn’t respond to it, he holds it inside. I don’t know if this is sort of an ‘I told you so.’ “
Vick’s final numbers in a 24-16 win over the Bills masked the significance of his performance. Completing 15 of 27 passes for 167 yards is, like, just OK. But on the Falcons’ first two possessions, he completed 6 of 8 attempts, including two touchdowns against a blitz-happy defense. He didn’t get rattled when the Bills twice were penalized for roughing the passer on Atlanta’s first drive, one of which resulted in his helmet getting knocked off.
Then Vick leveled off. On the Falcons’ next three possessions, he went 2 for 9 with an interception. In similar situations in the past, errant passes would continue flying and frustration would take over. Didn’t happen this time.
With the Falcons clinging to a 17-16 lead in the third quarter, Vick stepped up. On third down from the Falcons’ 7, he drilled a 17-yard pass to Brian Finneran. It wasn’t a scoring drive but it voided potentially disastrous field position.
That rescue was followed by another. On their next possession, Vick drove the Falcons 65 yards on nine plays for a touchdown, restoring an eight-point lead. He dug out of a third-and-11 hole again with a 17-yarder to Finneran.
Vick did things we’ve seen before. On the third play of the game, he scrambled 14 yards. On the crucial fourth-quarter touchdown drive, he had a dizzying 27-yard run in which he ran away from defensive end Ryan Denney, considered going out of bounds, then decided to cut back across the field.
Quoting: “The end who was chasing me, I thought he was faster than he actually was. I wasn’t even running full speed because I was still cautious about the hamstring. I saw there were still another 5 or 6 yards I could get. Then I almost rolled my ankle trying to do too much.”
But he also did something we seldom have seen: 5-for-5 passing — and the five completions went to five different receivers: Dwayne Blakely, Finneran, Alge Crumpler, Michael Jenkins and Warrick Dunn.
Vick remembered the words he told Mora during the week. He knew the significance at the time, and he certainly knew what this game meant to him.
“I didn’t know how my hamstring was going to feel,” he said. “I told him I would be a different quarterback. I was gonna keep my poise. I was gonna stay in the pocket. I was gonna make sure that what I was seeing was legit.”
In a strange way, the injury helped Vick.
“I learned a lot,” he said. “I was patient. I was getting guys the ball. It was me understanding the offense and learning what it takes to beat the blitz. I spent more time doing that this week. It was a big game for me. It’s going to help me in the long run.”
Mora said Vick is “developing,” calling him, “a neophyte” in this offense. “But you get glimpses of what he’s capable of.”
It was more than a glimpse Sunday.
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