Vick had another outstanding game!
Vick goes to the ground to beat Vikings
MINNEAPOLIS -- Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick taught the Minnesota Vikings a lesson Sunday that every other NFL defense would be wise to learn quickly: Don't ever turn your back on him.
With the game tied 24-24 in overtime, Vick dropped back to pass at the Minnesota 46-yard line. Facing pressure, Vick was flushed out of the pocket and saw a Vikings defender turn his back to cover a receiver.
Game over.
"When he turned his back, I just took off with it," Vick said. "It seems like I am a running back, too. On the ground, in the air, I'll take it. I'm sure my team will, too."
Vick sprinted toward daylight, splitting three defenders, then burst past free safety Ronnie Bradford for the game-winning touchdown.
“ When I get in the open field, I see end zone. It goes back to playing in the back yard with the boys. All I wanted to do was score. ”
— Michael Vick, Falcons quarterback
The play capped an incredible performance for the league's newest sensation. He shook off three turnovers and set a modern NFL record for yards rushing by a quarterback with 173 on 10 carries, carrying the Falcons to a 30-24 win. The 173 yards rushing were the most by a quarterback since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. The previous mark was 127 by the Bears' Bobby Douglass in 1972.
"All I can say is, 'Wow,"' Atlanta coach Dan Reeves said. "I've never seen anyone turn the jets on like that. It was a great individual effort to get in the end zone."
That effort erased a lackluster passing day. Vick completed 11 of 28 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown, fumbled twice and had a pass intercepted that should never have been thrown.
"He certainly had bad plays today," Reeves said. "But he just didn't let it bother him."
Vick accounted for three of the Falcons' four touchdowns and had 346 of their 379 yards from scrimmage. His two TDs rushing came on superb runs of 28 yards and the 46-yarder in overtime.
"When I get in the open field, I see end zone," Vick said. "It goes back to playing in the back yard with the boys. All I wanted to do was score."
Vick was in the open field one too many times for the Vikings on Sunday.
"When you're sitting on the sidelines and he takes off, it's like, 'Great, he'll get a first down," defensive end Brady Smith said. "But then he hits another gear. Everyone in this locker room is in awe of what just happened."
What just happened was the latest in what is fast becoming a long line of brilliant plays from the young quarterback who can do so much more than just throw the ball.
Linebacker Nick Rogers was one of at least four Vikings that had a shot at Vick on the game-winning run, but he knew what he was up against.
"Yeah, I can chase him," Rogers said. "But you're chasing something that is almost impossible to catch from behind."
Or from any angle, for that matter.
"Mike didn't have his 'A' game passing," said receiver Brian Finneran, who caught a 39-yard touchdown from Vick just before halftime. "But that run at the end of the game was something special." |
