PHILADELPHIA -- Michael Vick was hobbling. His kicker had missed two field-goal attempts, and big-play receiver DeSean Jackson injured his knee and wasn't much of a factor.
Vick kept the Philadelphia Eagles in the game until the end, but he couldn't pull off one final comeback.
The quarterback's magical tale ended the first weekend of the playoffs with a 21-16 loss Sunday to Green Bay when his final shot at the end zone fell short.
In a season full of personal and professional redemption, Vick didn't have enough dazzling plays to carry the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles and was intercepted in the end zone on the final drive.
"It's a bad way to go out, but, hey, I went out swinging," Vick said.
Vick dodged the rush, created some space and looked into the end zone as he went deep for the potential go-ahead touchdown, attempting a 27-yard pass to Riley Cooper. But Packers cornerback Tramon Williams was positioned in front of Cooper and picked off an underthrown ball to seal the win for the Packers.
"I tried to do too much. I got greedy," Vick said.
Vick completed 20 of 36 passes for 292 yards, ran for a TD and threw for another. He also rushed for 33 yards in his first playoff start since losing the 2005 NFC Championship Game on the same field as a member of the Atlanta Falcons.
Vick, voted to start for the NFC in the Pro Bowl, needed more help from teammates picked to join him in Honolulu.
David Akers, one of the most reliable kickers in the NFL, missed field-goal tries of 34 and 41 yards. Jackson left the game in the first quarter, returned before halftime but didn't catch a pass until the fourth.
Vick, still hampered by a late-season quad injury, was contained until the fourth quarter, when it looked like he was on the brink of leading the Eagles back -- as he did when they scored 28 points in the final 7:28 Dec. 19 against the New York Giants.
He scored on a 1-yard run that brought the Eagles within 21-16. The two-point conversion failed, and Vick grimaced and limped off the field with an injured ankle.
"I rolled it, but it was nothing that was going to stop me from going out in that game," Vick said.
His interception ended the fun.
Jackson thought Vick should have spiked the ball before the interception.
"I just feel we rushed that last play, and we didn't have to rush it, " Jackson said. "That's what I was trying to say: 'Just down the ball, just spike the ball, just kind of get back to the huddle and regroup.' But he called 'all go.' We just ran what was called, so that's neither here nor there. It's just unfortunate."
Vick, in a season when clutch plays became the norm, thought otherwise.
"You want to keep attacking, keep them on their heels," he said.
Vick found a special gift in his locker this week, an autographed jersey from Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Bryant wrote "Be Epic" on it.
Unlike Bryant, Vick is still looking for his first championship ring.
It's still hard to believe he was even in position to win a title after missing two seasons while serving 18 months in prison for his role in a dogfighting operation. He was used mostly in gimmick offenses behind Donovan McNabb last season and opened this campaign as the No. 2 QB behind Kevin Kolb.
When Clay Matthews knocked Kolb out with a concussion in another Green Bay win in Philadelphia in the opener, Vick was ready to prove he was better than ever.
After playing the final game of a two-year contract, he hopes to return to a franchise that gave him an unexpected second chance. Vick could surely command a lucrative deal, but the Eagles could simply tag him as their franchise player.
"I still feel like I can play at a high level for the next few years," he said.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
