Mora, Sr. Refers to Vick as "Coach Killer"

Atlanta Falcons head coach Jim Mora, Jr.'s father let his views be known this past weekend that he sees Falcons quarterback Michael Vick as a "coach killer" and how this worries him, since his son is the coach in Atlanta.

For those that don't know, ex-Falcons coach Dan Reeves was fired after Vick's first three years in Atlanta. The thing about it is, Vick hardly played in his rookie year. He played and led the Falcons to the playoffs in year 2 (his first year starting), where he led them to the first ever playoff win at Lambeau field in a 27-7 win over the Packers. In year 3, Vick got severely injured in the Falcons' final pre-season game against the Baltimore Ravens. He was unable to play for most of the season when the Falcons went 2-10, but went 3-1 with him back in the lineup. Reeves was fired for the dismal season. So, a rookie (redshirt basically) season, a playoff season where they became the first team to beat the Packers at Lambeau, and an injury-plagued season was the reason for Reeves' early departure? Reeves had been their years prior and with inconsistency. Inconsistency has been the Falcons' forte, as they have never had back-to-back winning seasons.

Jim Mora, Jr. then jumped aboard and his first season there, the Falcons finished 11-5 (led by Vick), got a first-round bye in the playoffs, trounced St. Louis at home in the second round, before losing to Philadelphia in the NFC title game. Year 2, they started the season 6-2, but due to a battered and bruised defense that started more back-ups and rookies than original starters, the Falcons collapsed in the second half of the season to finish 8-8. This season, the Falcons again got off to a good start at 5-2, but have lost three straight to fall to 5-5. Like last season, an injury-depleted defense has hindered them enormously. Vick has the sixth highest winning percentage of all starting quarterbacks in the league. How can he be construed as a "coach killer?" Joey Harrington, Alex Smith, Tim Couch, Kelly Holcombe, J.P. Losman, Daunte Culpepper, Jon Kitna, Josh McCown, Kerry Collins, Kyle Boller, David Carr, Chad Pennington, Aaron Brooks, Drew Brees, Byron Leftwich, David Garrard, Carson Palmer, Chris Simms, Tim Rattay, Mark Brunell, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner, and others have had ups and downs during their career. The only one to win a Super Bowl out of all these quarterbacks is Kurt Warner. Are any of these quarterbacks "coach killers?" While it's true that the players have to execute in order to win, the game does not sit on the shoulders of one starter. It's a team game. LaDanian Tomlinson wouldn't be able to his job as effectively if the line didn't do theirs. Peyton Manning wouldn't be able to do his job effectively if the line and receivers didn't do theirs. If Michael Vick consistently led the Falcons to losing records, then Mora, Sr. might have a point, but that's not the case. The truly funny part is that Vick is 26-years old and is 2-2 in the playoffs, taking the Falcons as far as the NFC title game (with Mora, Jr. as coach). Mora, Sr. is 0-6 all-time in the playoffs. I wonder who he'll blame for that.