Will today be Andy’s swan song?
(Image via Black Sports Online)
This is it. The final game of the 2012 season for the Philadelphia Eagles will unfold this afternoon at the Meadowlands. Sitting at 4-11, there are no playoff aspirations for this team. There are only questions of what’s to come.
What’s in store in the year ahead for Mike Vick, who will today lead the Birds for perhaps the last time. His tenure with the team was at first electric, then fizzled precipitously over the past two seasons. It is that electricity that many of us hope to see from Vick today, one last time. Can he drive the Eagles to victory over the Giants once again and end their playoff hopes for good?
If Vick does put in a strong performance, the question of whether he will see a return to Philadelphia in 2013 will grow even more uncertain. Recent reports say that Vick is unwilling to renegotiate his existing contract with the Eagles, which would pay him a base salary of $15.5 million next year. It’s hard to imagine Philadelphia paying that figure for a quarterback with a losing record with the team. But, of course, that decision and so many others depends on who will be named head coach of the Eagles next year.
With the Andy Reid era almost assuredly coming to a close following this game, the questions about the coaching situation will come in rapid succession. When will Reid be let go (it’s widely expected to happen before the new year)? Who will be named to succeed Big Red?
The endless rumors about Oregon head coach Chip Kelly coming to Philadelphia are so plentiful that you have to wonder if it seems packaged a bit too nicely. After all, when have the Eagles ever done what was predicted, particularly when it comes to personnel?
Today, there is a game to focus on. Tomorrow, all talk about the Eagles will swirl around the many “what ifs” that surround the team following an abysmal season and a head coach whose record in the last four seasons has been 33-30, interestingly falling short of Rich Kotite‘s mark in his four seasons with the team (36-28).
Can Mike Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles go 2-0 against the Giants this season and end all hope of a return to the playoffs by last year’s Super Bowl champs? With a little help by New York’s troubled defense it certainly can happen. It won’t exactly end this long, disappointing season on a high note, but a win against the G-men is always a good thing. It won’t change Philadelphia’s losing record but the end of what has been the most successful era of Eagles football deserves to end with a “W”.
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Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War Room Sports
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