Eagles, Vick, Return with a win

Vick was sharp in his return

The Eagles returned to action after the bye week yesterday with a 26-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.  It was Michael Vick's first start since sustaining a rib injury against the Washington Redskins in Week 4.  Receiver DeSean Jackson also returned from a concussion, and immediately resumed his exciting connection with Vick.  Vick threw for 218 yards and a touchdown while rushing for another touchdown, while Jackson had receiving yards.

The controversial hit

Credit must also be given to oft-maligned defensive coordinator Sean Mcdermott, who had an effective game plan to contain Peyton Manning which was well executed by the defense.  Cornerback Dmitri Patterson made his first career start replacing the ineffective Ellis Hobbs, and did a commendable job covering Reggie Wayne.  Unfortunately, the most talked about play on the defensive side was the hit by rookie safety Kurt Coleman that resulted in a concussion for the Colts' Austin Collie.  A penalty was assessed on the play, and Coleman potentially faces a fine under the NFL's new rules to eliminate hits to the head.  While it is certainly regrettable that Collie was injured, the officials clearly reacted to the result of the play rather than the intent, and made a horrendous call.  It is clear while watching replays of the hit that Collie was pushed into Coleman, who made no attempts to hit or injure him, any contact to the head was purely accidental.  What should have been a fumble with an Eagles' recovery turned into a penalty which ultimately resulted in a Colts' scoring drive.  This was a potentially game changing call by referees far too anxious to enforce the league's controversial new rules.

Following this win, the Eagles are now 5-3, with key divisional matchups against the Redskins and Giants the next two weeks.

 In other news, the Dallas Cowboys were humiliated by the Green Bay Packers on national television by a score of.  The loss drops the Cowboys' record to 1-7, and reports indicate that Wade Phillips will be fired as head coach.