Posted by Ryan Wilson

Michael Vick has a new contract that will pay him somewhere in the neighborhood $100 million over six years. After the season he had in 2010, and all the additions to the roster this summer, it doesn't take much imagination to see that the Eagles are one of the NFL's best teams. Which is also what they were eight months ago until they ran into the Green Bay Packers.

But Vick appears more mature now, both on and off the field, and that portends only good things for the Eagles. (Although who knows if all of Andy Reid's shiny new weapons will be enough to combat the karmic curse bestowed on the team when Vince Young called them the "Dream Team.")

In addition to wideouts DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, tight end Brent Celek and running back LeSean McCoy -- who were all with the team last year -- the Eagles have added Steve Smith and Ronnie Brown, the aforementioned Young, and on defense, cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Jason Babin. Not a bad haul considering free agency was squeezed into the 15 minutes between the end of the lockout and the start of training camps.

But sometimes lost in Vick's accomplishments last season is that he struggled down the stretch. After starting 2010 with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in his first seven starts, Vick tossed 11 touchdowns and seven picks in his last six games -- including the playoff loss to the Packers. And he looked awful against the Steelers in a preseason game two weeks ago when he threw three first-half interceptions. Still, he sounds as confident as ever.

Talking to Yahoo.com's Michael Silver, Vick said last month that "You can’t design a defense to stop me, especially not on this team. We have so many weapons, and some teams have tried to make that their primary focus. That’s when we run up the score.”

On paper, he's right. Philly's roster is stacked with playmakers. The problem, of course, is that the offensive line is a mess, and there's no sign that it'll magically fix itself before the regular season.

No matter, head coach Andy Reid sounds as optimistic as his quarterback.

“People can say there’s a way to stop Michael Vick, but this is a team sport. You’ve got this beautiful mind of (offensive coordinator) Marty (Mornhinweg)’s and you’ve got to deal with what he’s gonna throw at you, and there are all these other players you have to defend. You can say you’re gonna stop Michael Vick, but you’ve got to stop the whole group.”

Again we'd like to point out the issues along the o-line.

The Eagles drafted Danny Watkins in the first round and immediately installed him at right guard. He was playing next to right tackle King Dunlap early in the preseason but that didn't last; left guard Todd Herremans replaced Dunlap at right tackle last week and Evan Mathis took over for Herremans at left guard. Oh, and Philly's starting a rookie center in Jason Kelce.

None of this is to say that the Eagles can't overcome an inexperienced front five (the Steelers annually manage to do it, the difference being that Ben Roethlisberger seems to enjoy getting hit), it just makes playing consistent football problematic. An offense built on timing and precision is suddenly thrown out of whack when the quarterback is running for his life.

So while there may not be a defense on the planet that can stop Vick, opponents only have to worry about making things difficult for the Eagles' o-line. Because when the protection breaks down Vick isn't nearly as dangerous.

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