DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
PHILADELPHIA - The script was being perfectly written, just as Michael Vick had envisioned. It was just another remarkable comeback, another hard-to-believe chapter in his storybook season.
Then with plenty of time left and the Philadelphia Eagles on the verge of another miracle, Vick decided he wanted it all, and he wanted it now.
"I tried to do too much," Vick said. "I got greedy."
His greed wasn't good, either, as Vick's ill-advised shot at the end zone from the Green Bay 27 landed in the hands of Packers cornerback Tramon Williams with 33 seconds remaining. That interception thwarted the Eagles' attempt to overcome an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit and two missed field goals by the usually reliable David Akers Sunday, and it let the Packers hold on for a 21-16 win in the NFC wild-card playoff game.
The Packers (11-6) move on to Atlanta, where they'll face the top-seeded Falcons (13-3) on Saturday in the divisional playoffs - a second round which will be without an NFC East team for the first time since 1997. Vick, meanwhile, heads into the offseason as the NFL's hottest free agent despite what he said was "a bad way to go out."
It nearly wasn't such a bad way at all, thanks mostly to Vick. In his first playoff start since 2004 - and since he served 18 months in a federal prison on dog-fighting charges - the dynamic quarterback completed 20 of 36 passes for 292 yards and ran eight times for 33 yards.
He also helped the Eagles (10-7) nearly overcome that 11-point deficit in the final eight minutes. The Packers, behind Aaron Rodgers (18-for-27, 180 yards, three touchdowns) and rookie running back James Starks (23 carries for a Packers rookie playoff record 123 yards), took a 21-10 lead midway through the third quarter. And to that point, the Packers' defense (three sacks) had done a decent job keeping Vick bottled up.
Vick kept plugging away, even after Akers - who made 32 of 38 field goals this season - missed his second of the game, from 34 yards, with 13:05 to play. On the Eagles' next possession, Vick led a 13-play, 75-yard march to a 1-yard touchdown plunge to pull Philadelphia within five points. And after the Eagles defense held, he even limped back onto the field after a Packer had rolled onto his ankle on the failed two-point conversion on the previous drive, when he got the ball back at the Philly 34 with 1:45 remaining.
After starting that drive with a 28-yard pass, though, he completed only one of his next three before lining up with 44 seconds left. That's when he pump-faked to one of his other receivers, ignored his running back out of the backfield, and took his shot at winning it with one throw. "I was very confident," Vick said. "I thought we were going to win the game. I had just an upbeat feeling about myself. I felt like I was in control. I felt like everything that had happened up to that point happened so that in the end we could be victorious. But that didn't happen.
"It's a bad way to go out," Vick added. "But hey, I went out swinging."
So did Akers, in a sense. He pushed a 41-yarder and a 34-yarder wide right in a swirling wind that he said "was really all over the place today." Those two missed field goals probably contributed more to the loss than Vick's game-ending interception.
"Listen, we can all count," said Eagles coach Andy Reid. "Those points would have helped."
Vick, though, put the blame on himself in what could be his final game with the Eagles, who finished the season 0-3 after their stunning comeback win over the Giants on Dec. 19.
"This one hurt more than any of them," Vick said. "I didn't finish. It's just disappointing that we didn't finish this year the way we wanted to. I certainly felt like I could've done a lot of things better and I didn't do it. I guess you just have to learn from it. That's life.
"It was a great season," Vick added. "But the ultimate goal is winning the Super Bowl. We had a great season, but that's not enough."
