Last night, a neck injury to Philadelphia Eagles superstar quarterback Michael Vick forced him to leave the nationally broadcast night game at the Atlanta Falcons. The Eagles lost, and Vick’s injury was revealed to be a concussion. Who knows if he’ll be back for next week?
The Eagles #QB2 Vince Young, was not active. (Not sure when he’ll be back either) Meaning the emergency QB, the second year man from Northwestern Mike Kafka had to go in. His NFL debut came with a couple minutes left in the third quarter, and his performance drew favorable reviews.
Get ready for the most “Kafkaesque” post ever, this is what you need to know about the Chicagoan signal caller.
Kafka worked with obviously a limited repertoire. Andy Reid obviously scaled down the play-calling some what for a guy getting his first NFL action: more hand-offs, less aggressive passes. But Mike looked really good on the one long pass completion. His arm strength looked much more than NFL adequate, and he finished 7-9 for 72 yards, no TDs or picks, 1 rush for 2 yards.
NBC announcer and Bengals legend Cris Collinsworth closed the broadcast by saying “Kafka deserved better. What would have happened if Jeremy Maclin would have been able to hold on to that pass for Philadelphia?”
The play Collinsworth referred to was a fourth down slant route in which Kafka hit Maclin right in the numbers, but the usually sure-handed receiver just lost concentration and dropped it. Kafka’s only other incompletion was the last second desperation heave.
But I was most impressed by his escapability when the pocket collapsed as Kafka showed off his dual threat ability. He turned a bad sack into a two yard gain by his elsuiveness and speed. The man from St. Rita high school in Chicago made a lot of plays in college too.
Perhaps the most exciting and interesting bowl game of the 2009-10 season; and in NU school history. Mike was “Kafkaesque” going 47-78 (all-time bowl records) for 532 yards (school record), 5 INTs (bowl record) and 4 TDs in the 2010 Outback Bowl, an OT 35-31 loss to Auburn, the year before the national title season. Yes, Kafka almost 80 passes, 621 net yards, and tons of school and bowl records. His final year in college, Kafka led the Big Ten in passing and finished fourth in league MVP voting.
His junior year, starting in place of the injured C.J. Bachér against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Kafka ran for 217 yards on 27 attempts, a league record for quarterback rushing yards in a game. The record has since been broken by the Wolverines Denard Robinson in the 2010 win at Notre Dame.
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