With a 34-10 victory over the Washington Redskins on Sunday, the Eagles managed to recover from a 4-8 start and finish the season with a .500 record. Sadly, the team's unquestioned leader, Michael Vick, was not able to lead them to the playoffs.
The Eagles will finish second in the NFC East, one game behind the eventual winner, either the New York Giants or Dallas Cowboys. It hurts and it will make Eagles players, coaches, and fans alike feel an ache in their stomachs whenever they bring to mind the memories of the season that wasn't. But, that pain will also serve as motivation for making next season one to remember.
"It's a tough balance," said Vick about not making the playoffs despite a strong finish. "We have to take the good with the bad and the bad with the good. We just have to analyze everything that happened and make sure we never let it happen again."
Certainly, one of the reasons that this unsuccessful 2011 campaign is so hard to swallow is that there were such high hopes for this Eagles squad prior to the start of the regular season. After a flurry of blockbuster offseason moves that added even more talent to a group that largely featured the same players that made them a 10-6 team the season before, the Eagles were considered one to be one of the favorites to represent the NFC in Indianapolis this February.
Making this premature end to the season even harder to bear is the fact that the Eagles are playing inspired football as of late. The team very well could have made a great deal of noise in the playoffs if they had earned a spot.
"It just feels so right right now," Vick ardently said about the chemistry of his squad. "That's one of the most unfortunate parts about all this. Everybody is jelling right now and our team is getting closer as a unit. Luckily, that is something that can carry over to next season; I think we're going to fly under the radar and shock a lot of people next year."
For the second-straight season, Vick missed three or more games due to injury. This offseason, the Pro Bowl quarterback is going to train nonstop in order to get his body and mind in the right place and get back to MVP-caliber form in 2012.
"I plan to work harder than I've ever worked before," said the 31-year-old quarterback. "I don't think I'll be taking much time off this offseason, maybe I'll spend the next two weeks at home, but then I'll be right back to working out and getting myself into great shape. I have to dedicate myself fully to my craft and my passion. I want to take the next step and use the mistakes I made this season as a tool to learn and grow and get better."
Vick's focus is already upon next year. Not only does he end 2011 with four straight wins, but he had a passer rating of 100-or-more in the last three games. It's the first time in his career that he had a passer rating of 100-or-more in three straight starts at quarterback. After going 24-of-39 for 335 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, Vick finished the year with a career-high 3,303 passing yards. He also broke the all-time NFL record for most rushing yards by a quarterback this season.
However, Vick doesn't care about stats. He only cares about one thing … winning a championship. With this season's Super Bowl hopes squashed, hoisting the Lombardi 13 months from now is the only thing on the 10-year veteran's mind.
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