Vick rallies Eagles past Texans, into NFC East lead

PHILADELPHIA | Michael Vick shook off all the hard hits, continued to get up off the ground and kept making plays.

Vick threw for 302 yards and accounted for three touchdowns, rallying the Philadelphia Eagles to a 34-24 victory over the Houston Texans on Thursday night.

Vick was hurried, harassed and battered throughout the game. But he never stayed down despite taking a bunch of jarring hits, and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 2-yard run.

“He got knocked around a little bit,” coach Andy Reid said. “He got back up and kept going. I loved his energy in the second half. Both sides of the ball, he was firing them up.”

It was the first time Vick led the Eagles (8-4) back from a fourth-quarter deficit. They led 14-3 in the first half before falling behind 24-20.

“We did a great job battling back,” Vick said.

Matt Schaub had 337 yards passing and two scores for the Texans (5-7). Andre Johnson had 149 yards receiving — four days after his hockey-like fight with Tennessee’s Cortland Finnegan.

The NFC East-leading Eagles were coming off their first loss in a game that Vick started and finished. He was 5-0 before a 31-26 loss at Chicago.

Vick continued his remarkable comeback story with another outstanding performance. He completed 22 of 33 passes for two touchdowns, and had his third 300-yard game. Vick, a three-time Pro Bowl pick in six seasons with Atlanta, only had two 300-yard games coming into this year. He also ran for 48 yards and a score.

“This young man is playing as good as anybody I’ve seen play in the NFL and I’ve been doing it for a while,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said of Vick. “He’s special and we just tried to contain him, but obviously he still had a big night. He’s been doing it against a lot of people so. … We had a couple of chances for turnovers. He gave us a couple of opportunities that we just didn’t take advantage of.”

After the Texans took their first lead in the third quarter, the Eagles quickly answered. Vick sneaked in from the 2 to put Philadelphia ahead 27-24 early in the fourth. Vick’s 33-yard pass to DeSean Jackson to the Texans 11 set up the score.

Vick drove the Eagles 87 yards on their next possession, and tossed a 5-yard TD pass to Owen Schmitt to extend the lead to 34-24. He celebrated with a side leap into coach Andy Reid.

A 19-yard pass to Brent Celek on third-and-19 kept that drive going. Celek was ruled stopped short of the first down, but the Eagles challenged the spot and replays showed he had enough yards.

Houston came out strong in the second half. Schaub tossed a 13-yard scoring pass to Arian Foster to complete a 79-yard drive and get the Texans within 20-17.

Then Houston’s defense made a big play. Jason Allen intercepted Vick’s deep pass and the Texans took over at their 14.

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