Eagles’ Michael Vick will face tough crowd in return to Atlanta

Michael Vick’s journey of exorcising negativity reaches another crossroads Sunday night when the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback ventures back to Atlanta as a starter to meet the wounded Falcons and their jeering fan base.

“He’ll be excited,” Eagles Coach Andy Reid said of his quarterback this week on a Philadelphia television show. “Michael is a competitive guy. Quiet. But very competitive.”

Atlantans embraced Vick’s fire when he took them to the NFC championship game in 2005 (against the Eagles), but he left town on awful terms when his leadership of a dogfighting ring landed him in federal prison.

The disgraced exit necessitated a rebuilding job that replacement quarterback Matt Ryan engineered brilliantly … as long as you’re not counting last Sunday.

After directing the Falcons to the NFC’s best regular-season record (13-3) in 2010, Ryan was sacked five times and intercepted once in the season opener as the Falcons were beat up, 30-12, in Chicago.

Falcons Coach Mike Smith acknowledged his team’s mood was “a little somber” after a poor tackling performance on the road, but Reid excused the Falcons’ loss as “a blip on the screen … this will be a good game.”

If the Falcons can slow down the Eagles’ explosive offense. Vick opened the season by throwing for two touchdowns and running for 98 yards as the Eagles trounced the Rams in St. Louis, 31-13. The Eagles’ revamped offensive line made it through noisy environs without a false start, pushing around the hosts as running back LeSean McCoy ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns.

“It’s a long season,” Smith told reporters. “We have things that we have to correct and we are going to get them corrected.”

If not, the angst of Vick’s return to Atlanta rises to another level of despair — called 0-2.

Other key games:

San Diego at New England: As the Chargers ascended from also-ran to perennial AFC West champion in the last decade, they have found a rival outside the division quarterbacked by Tom Brady, who owns two playoff victories over San Diego.

Chargers Coach Norv Turner was hired to win this matchup, but he didn’t do it last year (23-20 in San Diego), and his 1-0 team now travels without injured kicker Nate Kaeding. Brady started strong, throwing for a career-high 517 yards Monday in Miami.

Oakland at Buffalo: An unexpected battle of 1-0 teams as Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick attempts to affirm his surprise outing (four touchdown passes) in a rout at Kansas City. The Raiders face the difficult task of winning a cross-country road game after a Monday night victory.

Chicago at New Orleans: The Saints are a touchdown favorite because they’re rested and at home, and acquired some institutional knowledge about the Bears by signing longtime Chicago center Olin Kreutz in the off-season.

Arizona at Washington: Former Cardinals running back Tim Hightower gives the Redskins a clock-controlling presence (97 rushing/receiving yards and a touchdown last week in victory over the New York Giants), although Washington quarterback Rex Grossman may be itching to air it out after rookie Cam Newton shredded the Cardinals for 422 yards in defeat.

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