Eagles pre-season, Vick's man hands.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Michael Vick.

        In the Philadelphia Eagles first action of 2012, they went out and got a win. In the aftermath of Garrett Reid's death, several Eagles have dedicated this season to Andy Reid and his family. With that being said, the Eagles' starters struggled against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Now most people will tell you that you really can't judge the pre-season, you have to take it for what it's worth. It's a tune-up, it's made for getting everyone in football mode. However, Eagles fans were hoping that the starters would really look good in their small appearance of game one, at least better than last year against Pittsburgh in the pre-season. Their poor performance in game three last season was the first sign that the 'Dream Team' hype would possibly crash and burn - which it obviously did. As such, the hope is that this year's preseason effort against the Steelers won't be another bad sign for the 2012 Eagles. Even though the Eagles came back and rallied for a last-second 24-23 win over Pittsburgh, the back-ups did all the damage while the big stars were shut down again.

        The big story of the season is already the health of Michael Vick. Not many Eagles fans believe that Vick can stay healthy, at least not for a full 16 games. He has only played a full season once in his career; his last season in Atlanta in 2006. However the bittersweet feeling is that this injury wasn't him being knocked out on a hard hit; this, similar to Vick's concussion last season, was a freak injury. Vick got banged up by hurting his left thumb on the helmet of the bearded barbarian, Jason Kelce. (Link: HERE) Vick probably had no business being on the field, since this injury took place in the second quarter. However, the Eagles defense struggled a bit and Vick only had one three-and-out in the first quarter and needed more playing time. Since x-rays returned negative, Vick's thumb should be fine. However, if he can't get through the first preseason game without a new bruise, how can he escape 16 regular season games - and hopefully up to three or four playoff games - unscathed? If the Eagles have to answer that question, their season may be over right then and there. With that being said, being the backup to Vick is the best gig in the NFL, you're almost guaranteed playing time and it's nice to see the other QB's step up. If Vick does go down hard this season, I wouldn't doubt if Donovan McNabb received a call to attempt to salvage this season, as this is a Super Bowl or bust team. The backup quarterbacks all looked exceptionally good in game one, but this is Vick's team and the likes of Mike Kafka, Trent Edwards and Nick Foles are not going to take the Eagles to the Super Bowl.

        In addition to the Vick concerns, the improved and revamped Philadelphia defense couldn't get off the field early on. Ben Roethlisberger was only on the field one drive, however it lasted 16 plays and contained two third-down conversions and one fourth-down conversion. The Eagles ultimately held the Steelers to just a field goal, but the defense staying on the field for that long will drain them out and during the season will only doom them. After that long opening drive, the Eagles went three-and-out and the Steelers did get that touchdown on their next drive. Then when the Eagles finally got a drive going under Mike Kafka, an interception halted that momentum and led to another three points for the Steelers. Rookie quarterback Nick Foles was impressive, and completed 6 of 10 passes for 144 yards, including TD passes of 70 and 44 yards. Rookie Damaris Johnson caught four passes for 85 yards, including the huge 70-yard TD. The backups put together 24 second-half points and got the win, which was capped off by a 51-yard field goal by Alex Henery (who is absolute money by the way), with 11 seconds to go. Yet no one will remember that in Philadelphia; what we will remember is Vick's latest bruises, a stalled starting offense and a starting defense that couldn't get a rest. Will we have to see more of the same during the regular season, or can the Eagles' regulars learn from their preseason problems with the Steelers this time?

Let's just hope Vick has his man hands ready to carry this football team, and this football city.