Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy both became Eagles in 2009. They both established themselves as full-time starters in 2010. In 2011, the two have both taken their game to another level, combining to form the league's most potent rushing attack and leading the way for an offense that is on pace to set a franchise record for yards. For both Vick and McCoy, a third season in Philadelphia has brought increased responsibility.
With Vick, start with the first touchdown of Sunday night's 34-7 thrashing of the Dallas Cowboys. Lining up under center, Vick read a blitz from the Cowboys defense to his right. So he audibled to a wide receiver screen to the left. The result? An easy 12-yard touchdown for Jeremy Maclin, who ran behind a convoy of offensive lineman that outnumbered the defenders in the area. Asked if Vick would have been able to make that same read last season, head coach Andy Reid said "probably not."
After an offseason dedicated to improving his pre- and post-snap blitz recognition, Vick is slowly taking his quarterback play to the next level.
"It was tough in the beginning," said Vick following the game. "Everything that I went through over the last two months, as far as protections and checks and things that I've been asked to do. It was tough in the beginning. It wasn't easy. You know you just have to watch a lot of film and tune your mind to understanding what your coaches want you to understand. You almost have to think like they think. It's been a process, but it's been fun and I've been enjoying it. I enjoy playing the quarterback position even more now than I did in the past."
It's also easy to enjoy the game when you can hand the ball off to a player as dangerous with the ball in his hands as McCoy. Through seven games, McCoy ranks second in the league in rushing, behind on Adrian Peterson, who has played eight games. He also leads qualifying running backs with 5.6 yards per carry and is tied for the lead among running backs with 10 touchdowns. Simply put, McCoy is on the very short list of best running backs in the entire league.
Over the last three seasons, McCoy has matured both physically and mentally. Starting with his body, the running back has strengthened his lower half, something that assistant coach Duce Staley had been preaching for two seasons.
"In order to (run effectively), you have to be able to bend, and he's always been able to bend, but the stronger you get you can even do it better," said Reid of McCoy. "So, he plays low and drives his belly button closer to the ground (which) gives him better support and so on. So that's how he's able to stop and go in a different direction.
"There are not a lot of guys who can stop, and then with speed go sideways and stop on a dime I mean, he's going full speed, boom-boom, he puts it down, and makes his cut sideways and is able to generate speed from that point. And he has good vision on top of that."
As for his command of the game, consider that McCoy chose to attend the weekly Tuesday blitz meeting ahead of the Cowboys game. The meeting, run by offensive line coach Howard Mudd, is typically only for quarterbacks and centers.
"Well listen, you guys know him, he's got a smile on his face when he comes to work, he loves to play the game, and he wants to be the best," said Reid when asked about the meeting. Against the Cowboys, you're going to see a lot of different looks, maybe more than you see throughout the year ... It was important that he came in and he wanted to make sure he stayed up on that, and that's a compliment to LeSean."
Together, McCoy and Vick have led an Eagles rushing attack that leads the league with 179.9 rushing yards per game and 5.78 yards per rush. Combine that with the added dimension to Vick's game and you're led to a scary question for the rest of the league - what happens when they keep getting better?
