Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was one of the millions who witnessed history on Monday night as Michael Vick became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 300-plus yards and four touchdowns while running for 50-plus yards and two touchdowns in the same game. And just like everyone else, Coughlin was amazed by what he saw.
The only difference? Coughlin is the one man in America who has to game plan against Vick the following week.
"I watched the first half the other night myself," Coughlin said. "So it was outstanding, what can I tell you? They played extremely well. I think someone reported that it was 35-0 and the Redskins had 12 plays. That was enough to give me indigestion right there."
The evolution of Michael Vick, the quarterback, has been of much discussion the past two weeks. After two brilliant performances against Detroit and Jacksonville in Weeks 2 and 3, the football world was aware of Vick but proceeded with caution, fully understanding that he looked good against two defenses that had very little recent history of Vick to help them prepare. But after beating Peyton Manning two weeks ago in Philadelphia, and following that performance with one of historic proportion against Washington, no one now is doubting the return of No. 7.
Every football pundit in America has offered his or her opinion of the "new Michael Vick" this week, and Coughlin argues that his decision-making and throwing ability is what makes Vick a far more dangerous quarterback now than he was in Atlanta.
"I just think that his accuracy was much improved the other night from any experience that I had (facing him) back (in Atlanta)," Coughlin said.
"Certainly the first play of the game was an outstanding play between two outstanding players. So I see that … I see that if the play is there and it's a pass play, he's following through with that. If it's something that disrupts the play, he'll pull it down and think about running, which he's done before but I think he's a little more patient."
At the end of the day, Vick is just a piece of the Eagles offense and only part of what defenses must plan to stop. With speedy receivers like DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, a versatile running attack with LeSean McCoy and Jerome Harrison, and a solid tight end in Brent Celek, simply focusing on Vick could prove costly. Coughlin said that at the end of the day, it comes down to pressuring the quarterback and disrupting the offense.
"They have a good football team, they have a lot of weapons and there are a lot of things to have to try and defend," Coughlin said. "So you do the best you can with all of them but you do have to depend on some kind of pressure. You can't let people have things exactly how they want it, and in doing that it becomes a little bit of a guessing game. But you have to take those chances and hope that you've called the right thing (against) the right offensive play."
-- Posted by Josh Goldman, 11:30 a.m., November 18
