"When Michael Vick gently descended from the podium after the Eagles' Pepe Le Pew loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the quarterback staggered as if he had a 52-man weight strapped to his back.

The actual reason for Vick's limp was the bruised quadriceps he suffered Tuesday night. But a more apt name for the cause might be carry-the-team-itis.

When the Vikings figured out how to exploit this disorder and concentrated their efforts on stopping Vick, the Eagles could not respond and the result was a woeful 24-14 defeat that eliminated any chance at a first-round playoff bye.

Coach Andy Reid has not officially stated that he's giving his starting quarterback Sunday off against the Cowboys, but it is all but certain.

"I'm not even sure he can get back from what he's got here with the quad," Reid said Wednesday. "I mean, it's pretty sore right now. . . . He'd be one that you have to look at" resting before the playoffs.

Blitzing Vick relentlessly, as the Vikings did, was not a wholly original game plan. Teams such as Jacksonville tried it very early on and were burned. But since Vick's remarkable performance at Washington in November, opposing defenses have cooked up newfangled ways to pressure and hit him, and the culmination of those efforts was Tuesday night's beat down.

Vick was sacked six times and hit 17 times - by one unofficial count - and committed three turnovers in a performance that hearkened back to his undisciplined days in Atlanta. Vick had a rough night, but the problem is a systematic one that is surfacing at the wrong time with the Eagles a meaningless regular-season finale away from the playoffs.

Vick is holding onto the ball too long and trying to do too much. But that mind-set is a by-product of Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg's reliance on Vick to bail out the offense - and the team. And in the process, the brain trust has done very little to protect its most important piece.

"There are going to be certain games where teams are going to bring extra guys and it's just a matter of getting it out of your hands and not taking the hits that he's taking right now," Reid said. "And then, some of it's protection; some of it's calls. I mean, we can do a better job with that and give him an opportunity to get the ball out of his hand quicker.""