(Image via NMA.tv)

The good folks over at Taiwanese “news service” NMA.tv have lent their journalistic eye toward the Philadelphia Eagles, breaking down the club’s metamorphosis from “Dream Team” into nightmare.

As usual, the piece is fairly simplistic and somewhat ridiculous, but this one earns extra points for their Kafka-eque references, based on the Eagles backup QB (Mike) who shares his last name with the author of “The Metamorphosis” (Franz). Let’s see the boys over at ESPN draw those type of high-brow literature allusions!

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

Michael Bolton: That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Tom (Image via blogspot.com)

Every year, we try to refrain from pulling a Tom Smykowski from Office Space, and jumping to any conclusions about the upcoming NFL season prematurely. In a sixteen-game season, it usually takes several games for teams to figure out their identity, and a lot longer than that to determine a realistic playoff picture.

So, while it’s tempting to draw knee-jerk reactions from a couple of games, we at least try to wait until the quarter-point mark to start making our hyperbolic and definitive statements about the season ahead. Even with the lockout-shortened off-season, four games is enough to get a sense of which teams are back in the driver’s seat (Packers, Patriots), and which teams are going to have trouble living up to expectations (Jets, Rams).

So without further adieu, here are our top 5 observations on the ol’ Jump To Conclusions mat:

1. 

   (Photo: Philly.com)

   The “Dream Team” is actually a Nightmare: This pre-season, the Philadelphia Eagles were crowned as NFC East Champions based almost solely on the big name signings made by GM Howie Roseman, who apparently attended the Dan Snyder school of Free Agency. Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Jason Babin and Cullen Jenkins were among the stars to join the Philadelphia roster, and Eagles fans were planning trips to the Super Bowl before a down had been played.

   Well, after a 1-3 start, the Eagles are proving that it takes more than just raw talent to win in the NFL, and chemistry can be the most important thing for a team to succeed. Plus, in the age of the salary cap, spending huge money at certain positions inevitably results in deficiencies elsewhere (see the Eagles LB corps), and so far the Philly defense has been a big disappointment. It will be interesting to see how Andy Reid – and the egos in his locker room – handles their early adversity.



(Photo: WashingtonPost.com)

2. The Detroit Lions will compete for the NFC crown: Yes, the Lions bandwagon is already starting to get crowded after starting the season 4-0 for the first time since 1980, and completing consecutive comebacks of 20 points or more against the Vikings and Cowboys.Ndamukong Suh and Calvin Johnson are unquestionably young superstars in this league, and if Matt Stafford can remain healthy, they give Jim Schwartz’ team a chance to compete in any game. And first round draft pick Nick Fairley could return from injury this week, making Detroit’s defense even more imposing. Bottom line: the Lions will make playoffs this year.
3. The Buffalo Bills are for real: The Bills are off to an impressive 3-1 start, and after defeating their hated rival Patriots in Week 3, they’re a fashionable pick to surprise in the AFC this year. Chan Gailey’s offense is clicking with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Fred Jackson and Steve Johnson off to a hot start, and the Bills defense has been opportunistic with 8 INTs. But those takeaways could be covering up for bigger problems on defense, and Buffalo faces a brutal schedule late in the season which will really test their road toughness. So while the Bills are definitely improved, and there’s reason for optimism in Buffalo, the division still goes through New England until someone proves otherwise.
4. Cam Newton is a superstar in the making: It took us a while to come around on this one, but Cam Newton is making believers out of even his biggest doubters after getting off to the best start of any rookie QB in NFL history.
   

   (Photo: CBSBoston.com)

   Newton has thrown for 1,386 yards and 5 TDs through four games, and has added 133 yards and 4 scores on the ground, making it look relatively easy along the way.  But as impressive as these numbers are, it’s Newton’s poise and presence on the field that is most mind-blowing to see from a rookie quarterback being thrown into the fire. So although the Panthers (1-3) still have a lot of holes ill, they know they have their leader for the next ten years in Newton.

5. Tim Tebow will start in Denver this season: Let’s face it – the Broncos just aren’t a very good football team right now. With the John Fox/John Elway era in it’s infancy, this is clearly a transitional period in Denver, and after a 1-3 start with Kyle Orton under center, the Broncos faithful are already clamoring for Tim Tebow. Billboards notwithstanding, if the Broncos continue to struggle, Fox has nothing to lose by giving the former Heisman trophy winner a shot. If nothing else, it will put to rest the questions, and give everyone a chance to see what Tebow can do in the NFL … and the Broncos can move forward with our without him.

Samir: Yes, this is horrible, this idea (Image via tumblr.com)

And a few more random early conclusions we’re not afraid to jump to:

• Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are making it look frighteningly easy so far. The defending champs are showing no signs of a hangover, and you can pencil them in as the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
• Jerry Jones will be dealing with questions about his boy Tony Romo all season, and the Cowboys will go as their manic QB goes (8-8)
• Not surprisingly, the Colts are screwed without Peyton Manning.

(Image: NY Post via SportressofBlogitude)

Following Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants – which he left early with an injured right hand - Eagles QB Michael Vick took some time to complain about the officiating in the game, wondering why the hits he takes don’t draw the 15-yard penalty flags that most quarterbacks in the league get.  Since that time, pretty much everyone in the world – including most current and former NFL QBs – have been rolling their eyes at Vick, and suggesting that he keep his mouth shut.  The banner pic above was the back cover of today’s NY Post, in which the Giants players show no sympathy for Vick, and expresses what a lot of us have been thinking for the past two days.

Leading the charge is former super-bowl winning QB and ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer, who seems to be making it his personal crusade to make sure that everyone knows how out of line Vick was with his comments. Yesterday, Dilfer went on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio to call Vick out, saying that a simple look at the numbers would prove that Vick draws as many penalites, if not moreso than the rest of the QBs in the league. He also suggested that Vick broke every QB man code in the book by complaining about hits, especially in a league that goes out of its way to protect quarterbacks.

And on last night’s Monday Night Countdown, when Tom Jackson and Keyshawn Johnson started to defend Vick’s statement, Dilfer launched into another tirade, pointing out video of a helmet-to-helmet hit on Falcons QB Matt Ryan from last week that didn’t draw a flag, and essentially calling Vick a big pussy:

“Michael Vick does not have a case here. It’s perception vs reality. He’s not taking any more hits than anybody else is taking from the pocket. It happens all the time, it’s a subjective call, and it’s not happening more to Michael Vick than anybody else. Frankly, I’m a little disgusted that a quarterback’s going to get up there and complain about that after the game when the Eagles have other issues.

But Dilfer is not alone in his opinion. Former NFL VP of officiating Mike Pereira went as far as to call Vick’s complaints “ridiculous”, and launched into a tirade of his own:

“He’s a quarterback that’s on the move, he’s going to get hit more,” Pereira said. “Yes, there are a couple that may be missed but the fact that a ton of them are missed and that he’s hit late all the time is absurd. And he comes out and kind of does the mea culpa yesterday but at the same time what did he say? ‘I was being too candid.’ Well, that doesn’t sound to me like much of an apology. And also the damage is done. I don’t want to be the referee that goes in there now next and works with him. If he calls a roughing the passer penalty for a hit on Vick everybody’s going to say, ‘Well, Vick taunted him into that.’ If he doesn’t [call it] there’s going to be more criticism. So I think it was a bunch of bull and it didn’t sit well with me and it still doesn’t.”

For his part, Vick has since backed off his statement, saying “You won’t hear me complaining about it no more”.  Smart move.

Vick got roughed up again today in Philly (Photo 30fps.com)

2nd UPDATE: According to Eagles HC Andy Reid, Vick’s hand is NOT broken, it’s just a bruise, and Vick could possibly play in Week 4

____________________________

Remember when everyone was prematurely handing the Eagles the NFC East crown – and some the Super Bowl – during the off-season??? Well that’s why they play the games, folks.

Eagles QB Michael Vick left the game during the 4th quarter with a broken right hand and the New York Giants beat Philadelphia 29-16 today at Lincoln Financial Field. Eli Manning threw 4 touchdowns as the Giants improved to 2-1, while Philadelphia falls to 1-2 after back-to-back losses.  It is unknown how long Vick  - who came into the game dealing with the effects of a concussion – will be out. UPDATE: According to reports, Vick could miss 3-4 weeks.

The Giants jumped out to an early 14-0 lead on the strength of 2 big plays – a 40-yard passing score to Brandon Jacobs and a 74-yard touchdown reception by Victor Cruz (video after the jump). Cruz, who was starting in place of the injured Mario Manningham and Domenik Hixon, had a breakout performance today, finishing with 2 TDs and 110 yards receiving. Vick and the Eagles were able to regain the momentum, battling back to take a 16-14 lead midway through the third quarter, but from there the Giants defense tightened up, and their front four continued to reign down blows on Vick, with Chris Canty seemingly delivering the knockout shot:

[Video via CosbySweaters]

Vick went to the locker room for X-rays shortly after this hit, but returned to the game without missing a play, only to exit for good a few minutes later. Most speculated it was Vick’s head (or possibly mouth/tongue) after the hit from Canty, but we later learned he had broken his right – non-throwing – hand.  It’s difficult to tell whether that injury came on the same play or not, possibly when Vick put his right hand down to break his fall.

Without Vick in the game, the Giants were able to put things away with 4th quarter scores from Cruz and Ahmad Bradshaw, with the vaunted Philadelphia defense putting on a shoddy display of tackling in the process. Watch the first TD by Cruz, where the Eagles secondary looks more like the keystone cops than a bunch of highly paid all-stars.

(Image via Gifulmination.com)

WATCH VICTOR CRUZ’S 74-YARD TD AFTER THE JUMP

The Eagles are hoping Michael Vick's comeback is long-term. (AP)

The Eagles and Michael Vick are officially an item.

Vick has agreed to terms on a six-year, $100 million contract that replaces his one-year franchise tender, NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi reported, citing a league source.

Lombardi reported that nearly $40 million of the deal is guaranteed.

It’s undetermined how the money breaks down over the life of the contract or how it impacts the Eagles’ cap space. The team was about $2.1 million under the cap at the start of the day.

It’s not the last big-name signing the Eagles must tend to, with star receiver DeSean Jackson next in line for his payday.

(Image via ESPN.com)

In their neverending quest to provide the most hard-hitting sports journalism possible, the team over at ESPN The Magazine are tackling the controversial subject of race in sports & society with their latest article (to appear in the Sept 5 issue of the magazine), entitled “What If Michael Vick Were White?”, by noted african-american cultural journalist Toure.  It’s a thoughtful piece that’s guaranteed to stir up chatter across the interwebs, if only for the unbelievably creepy photo illustration they used for the header.

In the online preview, we get to see what the ESPN art department imagines Vick would actually look like as a white man (banner pic above).  It’s a strange editorial choice, especially considering that the point of the whole article seems to be that his race is an integral part of any conversation about Vick and the culture of dogfighting that surrounded him.

In fact, Toure (the author) was among those who questioned the magazine’s use of the image, tweeting:

 ”I had no idea they’d put a pic of Vick in whiteface. Makes no sense w an essay saying it’s impossible to re-imagine him as white?”

Toure also tweeted that he had asked ESPN not to use the title the chose for the article, but to no avail:

So it seems that perhaps an over-enthusiastic member of the graphics department up in Bristol, with a penchant for creating vaguely Korean-looking Madden players, turned this story into something it was never intended to be.  At one point today, the image was pulled from the website in response to the initial backlash, but it’s since been returned to its pageview-generating glory.

(Image via waitingfornextyear.com)

In what amounts to a total shocker, Cleveland Browns RB Peyton Hillis was chosen to grace the cover Madden ’12. This year, the cover boy of the popular EA Sports’ video game franchise was put up to a fan vote, with 32 players (one from each team) entered into a March madness-style tournament, with fans deciding who would advance.  And after five weeks and 13 million votes, the undrafted RB out of Arkansas was crowned the winner.

Hillis, a 10th seed, went through a gauntlet of higher-ranked opponents, defeating Ray Rice, Matt Ryan, Jamaal Charles and #1 seed Aaron Rodgers in a stunner to reach the finals, where he soundly defeated Eagles QB Michael Vick to win the cover with 66% of the final round votes.  The victory over Rodgers stunned everyone the most, leading many to speculate that Packers fans rallied to vote against Rodgers in fear of the dreaded “Madden Curse”.  

But regardless, Hillis – who burst onto the NFL scene last season with over 1,600 total yards and 13 TDs – clearly had his own viral support team of Browns fans, and is eager to disprove the existence of the curse:

“For people to believe in this so-called curse, I can’t wait to prove people wrong,” he said. “From what I believe and where I am in my spiritual life, it would be good to prove them wrong in that sense.”

You’ve gotta know that the folks at EA sports had something else in mind when they started this tournament. But Hillis is pretty much a prototypical “Madden Guy”, so he actually fits the brand perfectly. And at this point, Browns fans will take anything that could even be considered a positive sign for their franchise, and Hillis is the best thing they’ve got going right now.

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE MADDEN ’12 COVER ANNOUNCEMENT AFTER THE JUMP

(Photo: KansasCity.com)

Here’s another one for the “winning forgives everything” file: ESPN’s SportsNation is running a poll to find out which current NFL quarterback is the least likeable: Ben Roethlisberger, Michael Vick or Jay Cutler. And in what really should come as no surprise at this point, America thinks that Cutler is the worst of the bunch. By a large margin.

So according to this unscientific sample, Cutler’s moping and perceived tap-out in the NFC Championship game is less forgivable than (alleged) rape and (convicted) electrocution of dogs. Gotcha.

(ESPN Image via FoulBalls.com)

The persecution of the Bears QB has reached a fever pitch this week, with FoxSports.com’s Jason Whitlock openly calling Cutler a quitter, and implying that he had mentally checked out long ago. Then there’s this video from TMZ, which is getting all sorts of attention today. Apparently Cutler doesn’t exhibit enough of a limp while walking around town for some people’s liking. And on Monday there was an uproar when he went to dinner with his family after the game, and had the gaul to use the stairs to walk up to the private dining area … when there was an elevator available (gasp)!

Nevermind the fact that any doctor will tell you a patient can walk normally with a Grade II MCL tear. Don’t let that get in the way of a good media execution. Disgruntled Bears fans are just looking for a fall guy to blame the loss on, when the fact remains that Chicago was losing that game with or without Cutler.

Meanwhile, Roethlisberger and Vick can violate any number of legal and moral codes, win a few football games, and all is forgiven. I’d say our priorities as a nation seem to be perfectly in line, wouldn’t you?

[H/T FoulBalls]

The Eagles season came crashing down today (Photo: Philly.com)

Cheeseheads and dog lovers everywhere rejoiced tonight as the Packers knocked Michael Vick and the Eagles out of the playoffs with a 21-16 win today in Philadelphia. Green Bay jumped out to a 14-3 halftime lead and their aggressive defense was able to contain the explosive Philly offense and hold off a late comeback attempt. Andy Reid’s club was unable summon the same 4th quarter magic they used to defeat the Giants in week 15, as Vick was picked off in the endzone by CB Tramon Williams with :33 seconds to go.

Aaron Rodgers threw 3 touchdowns and rookie RB James Starks set a franchise rookie record with 123 yards rushing for the Packers. Meanwhile, the usually reliable K David Akers missed TWO field goals (41, 34) that would have given the Eagles enough points for the win.

The controversial comeback player of the year was game until the very end, finishing with 292 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT passing, plus 33 yards and another score on the ground. The Eagles had cut the lead to 5 points and got the ball back with 1:45 to at their own 34 yard line, but Vick had seemingly injured his ankle on the previous two-point conversion attempt. He taped it up, eluded team trainers and re-entered the game for the game-winning drive attempt … which ended like this:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

Let’s face it , anyone who expected anything more from Vick with a playoff game on the line was delusional. His performance this regular season was remarkable, but you somehow knew the old Vick was going to rear his head and throw a game away when it mattered most. Regardless of how much the guy may have matured during his time in prison, he didn’t suddenly get smarter, and his judgement didn’t magically improve. After the game, Vick himself said he “got greedy” on the final play … and anyone who has watched Vick throughout his career knows that’s always been his trademark move. Unfortunately, that’s no solace for Eagles fans right now.

The sixth-seeded Packers advance to meet the Atlanta Falcons next week in the NFC divisional playoff on Saturday.

Thank goodness that one guy showed up, huh?

It looks like Eli was just going to launch into his best Nuke Laloosh canned press spiel anyway, so he was probably psyched he might not actually have to answer any questions. Besides, Eli threw for 289 yards and 4 TDs, so he shouldn’t take too much heat … that comeback is on the Giants defense.