Michael Vick breaks hand as Eagles lose to Giants

Mike Vick strode to the postgame podium with his broken right hand wrapped tightly.

The quarterback wasn’t able to predict when he could return. However, he did have a message for the rest of the league following the Eagles’ 29-16 loss to the New York Giants: The late hits have to stop.

For the second straight week, Vick was forced out of the game. This time, the knockout blow came courtesy of Giants defensive tackle Chris Canty, who appeared to hit Vick after he delivered a bullet to Jeremy Maclin late in the third quarter. The play didn’t draw a penalty flag.

“Everybody seen the game, I’m on the ground constantly,” Vick said. “I don’t know why I don’t get the 15-yard flags like everybody else do, but I’m not going to complain about it. I’m just making everybody aware, and hopefully somebody will take notice.”

The official word on Vick was a fractured hand. Coach Andy Reid said it wasn’t displaced, but he’ll have a CT scan today. Vick left the game with 1:42 left in the third quarter to get X-rays. Minutes later, he was back on the sideline and led the Eagles’ next offensive possession.

Vick stayed in for five plays in the fourth quarter before leaving for good.

“I was trying [to play with the broken hand] but the next series was a long series and it started to swell up more and more, and my hand had no range of motion,” Vick said.

On Vick’s final series, the Eagles turned the ball over on downs, after Reid elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Giants’ 43. The Eagles, with a 16-14 lead, should have punted.

“That’s on me,” Reid said. “It’s my responsibility there to make sure that we call those in the right situations.”

What went wrong

1. Dead zone

The Eagles were running all over the Giants early, including a stretch of seven straight run calls. But when they needed to grind it out late, they couldn’t do it. Especially in the red zone, where the Eagles went 1-for-5. Owen Schmitt and Mike Vick were both stuffed at the goal line late in the third quarter. “If anyone watched the game, you have to score when you’re down there,” Schmitt said.

2. Second opinion

The revamped secondary, featuring Nnamdi Asomugha, gave up four more passing TDs. That marks eight in the past two weeks. Victor Cruz outjumped Asomugha and Jarrad Page on one aerial strike. Safety Kurt Coleman was also beat badly, and then benched in favor of Nate Allen.

3. Kick me

Clinging to a 16-14 lead, Andy Reid rolled the dice and lost on a fourth-and-1 call late in the fourth quarter. The conservative decision would have been to punt, but Reid went for it and LeSean McCoy was thrown for a 3-yard loss. Two minutes later, the Giants scored to make it, 22-16.