Eagles-Steelers Pre-Season Reaction: Mike Kafka Shines as Eagles QB’s Struggle

In a game where Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks threw four interceptions, you would think there would be nothing to praise among that group whatsoever. Well, once Andy Reid took Mike Vick and Vince Young out of the game and put in third-string quarterback Mike Kafka, that all changed.

The former Northwestern quarterback completed 14 of his 19 pass attempts for 160 yards and two touchdown passes, along with rushing twice for 24 yards. Kafka is an intriguing prospect, and not just because of this game. He had a very similar stat-line in his first outing of the pre-season, completing 13 of 19 passes with an interception, but he showed in this game that he could finish drives and work the sideline even in a late-game, two-minute drill situation.

His throws were crisp, his timing was perfect, he had good footwork in the pocket, and he had a good feel for his pocket. He showed exceptional athletic ability and in addition to his size (6’3″ 225) he showed a great understanding of the offense and ran the two-minute drill perfectly.

Two touchdown throws to Gerald Jones, a rookie undrafted receiver out of Tennessee, kept the Eagles from getting shut-out and showed that Kafka not only has some skill, he might even be the Eagles’ true second best quarterback behind Michael Vick.

I am not willing to say that Vince Young is a third-string quarterback just yet, but through training camp and the first two games of the pre-season, I’ll let Eagles fans be the judges. I think Young’s two performances thus far have been average at best, but that is to be expected since he was just signed to the team about three weeks ago and you don’t just pick up an offense in the blink of an eye.

That being said, I tip my hat to Mike Kafka. I don’t care if he was playing against third string players–he was also playing WITH third string players. Impressive performance for the former Northwestern Wildcat.