Faced with a disappointing 1-3 start to the season, quarterback Michael Vick believes the "Dream Team" label no longer describes his Philadelphia Eagles.

Before the season began there was talk that the free-agent team the Eagles had assembled to surround Vick had made them the favorites to reach the Super Bowl. Now, they are just trying to figure out a way not to fall apart in the fourth quarter.

"I think the Dream Team — that word is dead now," Vick said to reporters in Philadelphia on Wednesday. "You can't talk Dream Team anymore. Maybe it put pressure on some players, maybe it didn't. But I think just the fact that it was lingering around and people were talking about it creates a sense of pressure."

"So, it's over with now. We're one of the teams that has to scratch and kick from the bottom now and try to figure out how we're going to get ourselves back to a position where we can compete with the best teams in this league."

Free agent acquisition Vince Young, who is backing up Vick as quarterback, was the first to label the talent the Eagles assembled during the summer as the Dream Team. It was hard to dispute the name at the time, looking at the pieces the Eagles organization had added to a team that came up short in last season’s NFC championship game. The Eagles landed coveted free agents like cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, along with defensive end Jason Babin.

The Eagles as an organization seemed uncomfortable with such a label from the start. But it was catchy.

What no one considered is what Eagles coach Andy Reid and others already knew — and that is, chemistry plays a major role in how well a football teams plays. This Eagles team is showing signs of still not knowing how to play together, thus they’ve had three consecutive fourth-quarter collapses.

"I don't know what the theory was behind it," Vick said. "Obviously we all know that it surfaced, and that term was lingering, and we just have to deal with it. So now it's just over and done with, now we can focus on being the Philadelphia Eagles and playing good, hard football."

Contact Terrance Harris at terrancefharris@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @Terranceharris

(Photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images)