Remembering the top five moments of the Michael Vick-DeSean Jackson era with the Eagles

A setting that was once collaborative for Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson is about to turn competitive.

As Eagles teammates from 2009-13, the work that Vick and Jackson did together at the Linc turned them into one of the NFL’s prolific quarterback-wide receiver combinations. When Vick’s Norfolk State Spartans (1-7, 0-1 MEAC) face Jackson’s Delaware State Hornets (5-3, 1-0) at the venue on Thursday night, their roles will switch to those of enemy combatants.

» READ MORE: Norfolk State vs. Delaware State: Everything you need to know about Michael Vick vs. DeSean Jackson at the Linc

Vick threw 59 touchdown passes during his tenure with the team (57 during the regular season and two in the playoffs), and 13 of those went to Jackson. Only Jeremy Maclin (18) caught more TDs from Vick as an Eagle.

Jackson totaled 37 touchdown receptions over two separate stints as an Eagle (2008-13, 2019-20), 13 of which came from Vick. Only Donovan McNabb (11 regular-season touchdown passes plus two in the playoffs) connected with Jackson on as many scoring strikes.

In honor of their renewed acquaintance and their past exploits at the Linc, we took a look at five great moments in Vick and Jackson’s shared Eagles history:

Vick’s first win as the Eagles’ starting quarterback came in Week 2 of the 2010 season at Detroit, and the first touchdown pass of that first win went to Jackson. The wide receiver took a 12-yard slant and ran away from the Lions secondary for a 45-yard score in what would eventually hold up as a 35-32 victory at Ford Field.

In what would stand as one of the most memorable games of the Vick era in Philly, it was an 88-yard Vick-to-Jackson connection that got the scoring started … on the first play from scrimmage. Vick’s effortless flick traveled 60-plus yards in the air, staking the Eagles to a lead that would swell to 35-0 just nine seconds into the second quarter in Washington, and eventually culminate in a 59-28 final.

If you’re ranking Vick-to-Jackson connections for both impact and historical significance, it would be hard to argue with this 91-yarder as No. 1. It would stand as the longest touchdown pass of either man’s career. It broke a 20-20 score in the fourth quarter of a game the Eagles would win, 30-27, in Big D. The quick out that saw Jackson run 80-plus yards after the catch (punctuated by his “Nestea plunge” into the end zone) was the big bang in what would hold up as Jackson’s only career 200-yard game, and in what was also Vick’s lone Pro Bowl season in Philly. The win moved the Eagles (9-4) closer to an NFC East title and clinched what would be their final winning season of the Andy Reid era in Philly.

Vick and Jackson were front and center during an era when the Eagles owned the Giants, with this narrow 19-17 win marking their eighth victory against New York in the previous nine games. While Jackson’s 65-yard, game-ending punt return touchdown in the 2010 meeting doesn’t qualify for our survey (remember, this is Vick and Jackson’s shared history), the lesser remembered 19-yard TD hook-up from Vick to Jackson in Week 4 was Philly’s lone touchdown in the Sunday night win – and was also the highlight of Reid’s final home victory as Eagles head coach.

The 61-yard touchdown pass from Vick to Jackson that tied the score at 20-20 against the San Diego Chargers might not have felt like the end of an era, but it was. The Eagles would lose the 2013 home opener, 33-30, and Vick would weeks later succumb to a hamstring injury that prompted first-year coach Chip Kelly to make a permanent move to Nick Foles under center. Jackson would catch seven more TD passes in 2013 en route to a Philly playoff appearance, but all would be from Foles. Vick would depart in free agency in March 2014.

» READ MORE: Michael Vick bringing Norfolk State to Philly is special in more ways than one: ‘Like a second home for me’