He had barely hung Brett Favre's scalp from his rearview mirror when the quarterback of the future turned his gaze on the present.
Next up for Vick: a piece of Donovan McNabb.
``You would have great quarterbacks on both sides of the ball,'' Vick said, already looking ahead to Saturday night's Falcons-Eagles playoff game, ``guys who can change the game with two or three plays.''
This could be the start of pro football's version of Magic vs. Bird, the beginning of a spectacular rivalry, the two best of their era locked in a tug-of-war almost every year over some of the biggest spoils the game has to offer.
But that's only if McNabb is healthy enough to do the things that made him special in the first place. And at the moment, that's a big if.
McNabb hasn't played since breaking his right ankle Nov. 17, missing the final six games of the regular season. He began working with Philadelphia's first-team offense during the off week, an indicator that he'll start against the Falcons.
``Guys have filled in admirably, but this is his team to run,'' Philadelphia safety Brian Dawkins said. ``He's the man.''
But if Vick has anything to say about it, McNabb's reign as el supremo could be short.
Just last year, McNabb was being hailed as the prototype for the next generation of quarterbacks. This was a guy whose legs let him motor through a defense and whose arm could reach any corner of the field from any other -- throwing off either foot. He was that rare hybrid of speed, power, mobility and guile that could turn busted plays into the biggest ones. Guys like the 26-year-old McNabb were supposed to come around only once in a generation.
Barely a season later, the 22-year-old Vick is crowding that platform, threatening to bump McNabb off just as unceremoniously as he did Favre and the Green Bay Packers.
``This was his first playoff game, and there's no telling how many more he's going to be in,'' Falcons coach Dan Reeves said after Atlanta stopped the Packers' streak of home-field playoff wins without a loss at 13.
Just as impressive was the way the kid melted Favre's streak of wins when the game-time temperature is 34 degrees or under. That had stretched to 35 games.
``He pulled some unbelievable Houdini acts out there,'' Reeves continued. ``You think he's about to be tackled and, boom, he's looking like he might score a touchdown.''
When Reeves coached in Denver, he had another quarterback like that early in his career by the name of John Elway. But given the speed with which Vick has proceeded along the learning curve, even Elway might suffer in the comparison a few years down the road.
``It's sure exciting to be on the same team with him,'' Reeves said of Vick, ``though I'm not sure how exciting it is for the other team.''
The Eagles are interested in finding out. Their defense has chased McNabb for years in practice, wondering how they would cope with his blend of speed, skill and strength. This time, they won't have to wonder -- or pull up on their hits at the last minute.
``He's a fast guy, he makes things happen,'' Hugh Douglas, Philadelphia's Pro Bowl defensive end, said of Vick. ``At the same time, no man can win a football game by himself. He has to have a supporting cast.''
And so will McNabb.
As admirably as A.J. Feeley performed in relief, the Eagles know he has limits. In the last regular-season game, the New York Giants stacked the defense at the line of scrimmage, took away Philadelphia's running game, and dared Feeley to beat them. He didn't get much help and could only do so much by himself.
That extra dimension, the sheer unpredictability that both McNabb and Vick bring to an offense, is what separates them from the rest of the league's quarterbacks. It inspired the teammates around them.
Favre brought that to the line of scrimmage the last few years, but at age 33, he's finding it increasingly tougher to produce. After Green Bay's season came to a stunning end, he uncharacteristically left the stadium without saying a word.
The club said Favre would talk Monday, and while retirement is something he's said is at least a year away, you have to wonder how dispiriting Saturday night's pounding by the Falcons turned out to be. Favre glimpsed the future of quarterbacking close up, and more than almost anyone else, he knows how much more work even he will have to ``go out on top,'' the way he wanted to.
Competition brings out the best in some people. The Falcons' mouthy cornerback, Ray Buchanan, said he hoped to face McNabb, but only because he expected the Eagles' front-line QB to be less mobile than Feeley.
McNabb welcomed the chance to confront those expectations.
``I'm going to have a lot of fun with it.''
Jim Litke is the national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org
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