Michael Vick made the play at the end of the game to win it.
But he made enough of the kind to lose it throughout the day to allow an inferior team to hang around and nearly steal one.
Vick’s touchdown pass to Clay Harbor with 1:18 left gave the Eagles a 17-16 win over the Browns, but he did his best to give them the game the rest of the day.
The Eagles turned the ball over five times, with four interceptions by Vick.
The last of those was returned for a touchdown by linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, giving the Browns a 16-10 lead in the fourth quarter of a game that looked like it was never going to end.
Vick was 29-of-56 for 317 yards and a pair of touchdowns (51.0 rating). That may excite fantasy owners (if your league doesn’t take points away from picks), but in reality football, it won’t hold up long.
For one thing, the Eagles struggled to protect him, and for a guy already wearing a Kevlar vest, that kind of treatment won’t last. They had problems with penalties (12 for 110 yards), and even getting the snap to him was an adventure.
They were fortunate to be playing who they were playing.
The Browns’ rookie class didn’t have a great day, the kind of struggles they should expect.
Quarterback Brandon Weeden was 12-of-35 for 118 yards and four interceptions (5.1 rating).
Running back Trent Richardson had an unspectacular 19 carries for 39 yards. Other than a 9-yard burst which took off the helmet of Eagles safety Kurt Coleman, he averaged 1.7 yards per attempt.
But Coleman had the final pick, allowing the Eagles to escape with one they should have lost, and will against better competition.