Eagles, Packers have plenty of history

It's probably not surprising that the history between a team named for the packagers of pork and beef products and another closely associated with cheesesteaks would be a meaty one.

The 40-game, 78-year Eagles-Packers rivalry, which will resume Sunday with a first-round NFC playoff game, is populated by such colorful characters as Vince Lombardi, Steve Van Buren, Buddy Ryan, Tony Mandarich, and (Jim) Ringo - as well as John (Spagnola), George (Cumby), and Paul (Hornung).

Their games have been played on the frozen tundra and on knee-buckling AstroTurf, before crowds as small as 3,007 and as large as 70,598, during player strikes and World Wars.

And while Philadelphians prefer to focus on the Eagles' 1960 NFL title-game triumph or the fourth-and-26 miracle that won them a playoff game in 2004, the Packers historically have made mincemeat of the Eagles.

Overall, Green Bay holds a 25-15 edge in the series, which began with the third game in Eagles history, on Oct. 29, 1933.

Including its 1943 loss as the Steagles, Philadelphia would go 0-10 against Green Bay before it finally got a victory in 1947. The Eagles would lose the next four meetings before their 1960 triumph, then follow that championship-game win with three more defeats.

Here are 10 of the more interesting developments in the team's long rivalry:

Oct. 29, 1933 - Bert Bell's first-year Eagles had yet to score a point, having been shut out by the Giants (56-0) and the Portsmouth Spartans (25-0) in the franchise's first two games. That drought - though not the losing streak - came to an end in Green Bay when, in the second quarter, Philadelphia's Swede Hanson scored on a 35-yard completion from Red Kirkland. The fledgling Eagles lost, 35-9, the first of 10 consecutive losses to the Packers.

Dec. 5, 1943 - The Eagles and Steelers were combined as the Steagles for the season in the midst of World War II. And although the Steagles would finish their lone season with a 5-4-1 mark and perhaps the worst-ever team name, their final game, against the Packers, attracted remarkable interest in Philadelphia. According to Matthew Algeo's 2006 book on the Steagles, Last Team Standing, a ticket-window line started forming outside Shibe Park at 9 a.m. for the 2 p.m. contest. It was, according to the author, the first time ticket demand had exceeded supply for an NFL game in Philadelphia. Before 34,294 fans at the North Philly ballpark, the Steagles lost, 38-28, in part because future Packers Hall of Famer Don Hutson caught two TD passes and added a field goal.

Dec. 14, 1947 - The Eagles, in the last regular-season week of a year that would end with a championship-game loss to the Chicago Cardinals, finally beat Green Bay, thanks to three rushing TDs by a Honduras-born orphan. Steve Van Buren, who had moved to his grandparents' home in New Orleans when, as a 10-year-old, both his parents died, scored in each of the first three quarters and topped 1,000 yards rushing for the season. The Eagles ended their Green Bay losing streak with a 28-14 victory. That season-ending win left the Eagles at 8-4, tied with Pittsburgh atop the NFL Eastern Conference. A week later, in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia shut out the Steelers, 21-0. The following week, though, Greasy Neale's team lost the title game to Chicago, 28-21. A year later, after a Philadelphia blizzard, the Eagles would top Chicago in a title-game rematch, 7-0, for the franchise's first championship.

Oct. 26, 1958 - Perhaps it shouldn't have been surprising that a football coach nicknamed "Scooter" lost control of his team. In his only year as the Packers' head coach, Scooter McLean was a disaster. So desperate were his Packers for leadership that they began disciplining themselves. His team did, however, manage one victory in the 12-game season and it came against the Eagles at Lambeau Field. The Eagles, who would wind up 2-9-1 in Norm Van Brocklin's first season with the team, outscored Green Bay by 21-0 in the fourth quarter and still lost, 38-35. Things changed considerably for Green Bay in 1959. McLean was fired, replaced by a gap-toothed, wiry-haired New York Giants assistant named Vince Lombardi.

Dec. 26, 1960 - Every Eagles fan knows the details of the 17-13 victory that gave Philadelphia its most recent NFL title. The Van Brocklin-to-Tommy McDonald TD pass. Ted Dean's kickoff return. Chuck Bednarik sitting atop Jim Taylor as the game ended. The loss stung Lombardi, who not long afterward vowed he'd never again allow his team to lose such a significant game. In nine more postseason contests under Lombardi, the Packers never did.

1964 - After the 1963 season, Lombardi traded all-pro center Jim Ringo to the Eagles along with fullback Earl Gros for linebacker Lee Roy Caffey and a No. 1 pick that turned out to be Donnie Anderson. The trade soon became the stuff of legend. As the story went, Ringo, accompanied by an agent in an era when they were rarer then end-zone dances, went to Lombardi's office to discuss a new contract. Lombardi, infuriated by the agent's presence, excused himself. When he returned five minutes later, he told Ringo to continue the conversation with the Eagles because that's where he'd just been traded.

It's a fascinating tale but apparently apocryphal. Ringo did have an agent, but, according to a recent Lombardi biography, the negotiations took place with assistant GM Pat Peppler over the telephone. And Ringo, who grew up in Phillipsburg, N.J., had requested a trade to Philadelphia to be closer to his home. Thought to be washed up, Ringo never missed a game in his four Eagles seasons and made three more Pro Bowls.

Oct. 18, 1987 - A 24-day players' strike created a three-ring circus, and Eagles coach Buddy Ryan was one of its loudest and most willing clowns. When the NFL ordered the games to be played with replacement players, Ryan spat out his disdain for the process. He regularly disparaged the Eagles' "scabs" at every opportunity, even departing practices early and leaving the coaching to his assistants. Some teams used regulars who had crossed the strike line. Ryan didn't want any.

With an 0-2 mark in their previous replacement games, the Eagles went to Green Bay for what would mercifully be the last week of the farce. The game, before a half-full stadium, was marred by misplays and penalties. In one late, four-play stretch, five penalties were called, including offsetting fouls on consecutive plays. The Eagles tied the score at 10 on Dave Jacobs' 44-yard field goal with less than four minutes to play, but Green Bay won, 16-10, in overtime.

Dec. 16, 1990 - In the most lopsided Eagles victory in the series, Philadelphia thumped the Packers, 31-0, at Veterans Stadium. The most compelling aspect of the game was the mis-matchup between the Eagles' Reggie White and Green Bay's overhyped Tony Mandarich. White manhandled Mandarich, collecting 11/2 sacks, six knockdowns, two blocked passes, and one forced fumble. Afterward, Mandarich, who would soon be regarded as one of the NFL's biggest draft busts ever and later blamed his troubles on steroids and other abused drugs, was reeling. "I gave it my damnedest," said Mandarich, for whom the Packers had passed on Barry Sanders, among others. "He timed my step and then he'd toss me back. I could have held onto him, but why hold? Why go back 10 yards?"

Sept. 1, 1991 - Ryan finally got himself fired after another first-round playoff loss, this one to Washington at home, ended the 1990 season. New coach Rich Kotite's debut couldn't have gone much worse. Late in the first quarter of a 20-3 Packers victory at sunny Lambeau Field, Green Bay's Bryce Paup hit Eagles QB Randall Cunningham in the knee just as he released a pass. Cunningham suffered two torn tendons in his knee and was gone for the season. With Jim McMahon, Brad Goebel, and Jeff Kemp filling in, Philadelphia still managed a 10-6 record. But it wasn't good enough to earn the Eagles a playoff spot.

Jan. 11, 2004 - The Eagles, who had been stunned by an NFC championship game loss to Tampa Bay at home the previous season, were 12-4 and big favorites over the Packers in their NFC divisional playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field. But as Green Bay jumped out to a 14-0 lead, the air went out of the big crowd. Late in the fourth quarter, the Pack led, 17-14. After a sack and two incomplete passes, the desperate Eagles faced a fourth-and-26 situation from their own 26. But the Packers' defense inexplicably froze and Donovan McNabb hit Freddie Mitchell for 28 yards - the highlight of the latter's disappointing career. That led to a game-tying David Akers field goal and, after a Brian Dawkins interception of an ill-conceived Brett Favre pass, a 20-17 overtime win. But a week later, Carolina upset the Eagles, 14-3, in the NFC title game.