NFL Network's Mike Mayock is one of the best analysts in the game and he took three plays from Monday night's win over Washington to highlight what impressed him the most about Michael Vick's performance.
The first play was the obvious choice - the 88-yard touchdown to DeSean Jackson on the game's opening play.
Just before the snap, Mayock noted that the Redskins certainly were cautious of Jackson trying to stretch the field.
"They're playing as deep as anybody you ever want to see," Mayock said of the safeties in the Redskins' Cover 2 look.
The problems for the Redskins began right at the snap as Jackson blew by cornerback DeAngelo Hall without being touched. Video Player : Playbook: Eagles-Redskins
"You have to get a piece here, re-direct," Mayock said.
LaRon Landry, the deep safety, committed what Mayock said was the "Cardinal sin" when he turned his back to the line of scrimmage losing sight of the quarterback. Vick rolled to his left and aired the ball out 63 yards. Jackson did the rest.
"Coverage isn't horrible, but you can't throw and catch it any better than that," Mayock said.
The second play, Mayock's favorite, wasn't a touchdown. It was a 27-yard pass to Jason Avant late in the first half. Vick took the snap and the offensive line did a great job of picking up the zone blitz. Vick looked to his left and there were two defenders. He looked to his second option over the middle and there were two defenders. Even the third option to the right was covered. But the second level of the defense was creeping in, leaving a vast amount of room between the linebackers and the secondary. Avant sat and Vick hit him for the big gain.
"This was not drawn up, but the patience to hit Avant 27 yards deep blew me away," Mayock said.
The last play Mayock highlighted was the 7-yard touchdown run by Vick in the first quarter. Mayock pointed out that Vick initially did have a small window to thread the ball to Avant between two linebackers.
"Every once in a while, I'll say Michael, you could have made a play with your arm instead of your legs," Mayock said.
But the ankle-breaking move Vick made to score is one of the reasons why he is arguably the most difficult player to defend against in the NFL.
"I look at those plays. The first play to DeSean Jackson. That was a beautiful throw-and-catch. The one to Avant, I love that one," Mayock said. "The last one, there's not a quarterback in the league who can score from there the way he did."
-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 8:00 a.m., November 20
