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| 13th December, 2005 - 4:12 am |  ESPN - Michael Vick gave the Falcons the shot in the arm they needed. Then Atlanta's immediate future took a shot to the ribs.
Vick ran for two touchdowns and passed for another score Monday night to lead the Falcons over the New Orleans Saints 36-17. But a late hit knocked Vick to the turf and out of the game in the fourth quarter.
The NFL's most electric runner writhed in pain and seemed to be favoring his back. The injury was announced as bruised ribs, and coach Jim Mora appeared confident that his quarterback would be ready for Sunday's game at Chicago.
"Mike doesn't miss games," Mora said. "He'll do whatever it takes to get ready to go."
Vick was the difference as the Falcons bounced back after losing three of four games to fall behind in the NFC playoff picture.
Atlanta improved to 3-0 in Monday night games this season and Vick remained a perfect 5-0 against the Saints (3-10), who have lost eight of their last nine games. Vick had scoring runs of 2 and 17 yards, and he threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to rookie Roddy White on a flea-flicker play.
A vicious late hit from linebacker Ronald McKinnon, who drew a roughing-the-passer penalty, knocked Vick to the turf and he was slow to get up. Vick stayed in for two more plays, but the pain was too much -- he called a timeout with 9:21 left, slowly walked off the field and was escorted to the locker room.
"I landed with a guy's foot right on my ribs," Vick said. "Then I aggravated it when I took one more hit." [READ] |
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