It wasn't the Super Bowl.

At the time, however, it seemed even bigger, even better.

You have to remember the circumstances. Philadelphia wasn't starving for a championship the way it is now. The city's last title - the third in eight years - had been won three months prior by the Phillies.

The Eagles weren't only in the NFC championship game, they were hosting it. The final bit of spice for this magical big-game recipe: The opponent was the Dallas Cowboys at a time when they were truly America's Team, as well as the Eagles' primary measuring stick.

All those ingredients mixed together make the Eagles' victory on Jan. 11, 1981, over the Cowboys the greatest game in the team's 75-year history.

Jim Murray, the Eagles' general manager at the time, described the event perfectly the evening before the game.

"Playing Dallas here for the NFC championship?" he said. "Are you kidding me? This is the Super Bowl. The indoor game [the actual Super Bowl in New Orleans] is nice, but for Philly, this is the Super Bowl. This town is going to explode tomorrow. Absolutely explode."

The precise moment of eruption came on the Eagles' second play from scrimmage when quarterback Ron Jaworski handed the ball to Wilbert Montgomery and he broke up the right side of the field for a 42-yard touchdown.

"When you say Wilbert's name, that's the play that comes to everybody's mind," Murray said during a recent interview.

The crowd, which endured a wind chill of minus-20 degrees that day, knew at that moment that this day belonged to the Eagles. Dick Vermeil, the popular head coach who left UCLA in 1976 to take control of a franchise that had had one winning season in the previous 13 years, knew before his team left the locker room that the Cowboys didn't have a chance.

"I don't think I've ever been in a locker room that was more focused than that locker room was," Vermeil said. "When we left there, I didn't think there was any way in hell the Dallas Cowboys could beat us."

Montgomery, whose 5-foot-10, 195-pound frame had taken a beating during the regular season, finished with 194 yards rushing. The Eagles' defense held Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett to 41 yards, one fewer than Montgomery had on his unforgettable first-quarter run.

No game before it or since has been quite as special as that one. Yes, the Eagles won three NFL titles before that and, no, they didn't go on to win the Super Bowl two weeks later at the Superdome in New Orleans. They've also been back to the Super Bowl under current coach Andy Reid, but that 2005 NFC championship win over Atlanta wasn't quite the same.

As for the three NFL title games the Eagles won, they were terrific accomplishments, but they came before the late Pete Rozelle started turning the league into the monster it has become today.

Vermeil literally remains the poster boy for how much that frigid win over the Cowboys meant to Philadelphia fans. Even though it has been 25 years since Vermeil last coached in Philadelphia, he remains a billboard pitch man for a local health insurance company. Despite leading the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl title and coaching in Kansas City, this still is Vermeil's home, and he's still treated with reverence.

An example: As Vermeil sat in a waiting room at a local hospital during a follow-up visit for his recent hip-replacement surgery, he said a couple of "elderly women" started talking to him about that NFC championship game.

"They just had their knees replaced, and they want to talk about that game," Vermeil said. "To me, it's amazing how long it has lasted. It's very much appreciated. Believe me. Sometimes it startles me."

Vermeil said he has learned to live with the Super Bowl loss to the Raiders. He said his Super Bowl victory as head coach of the St. Louis Rams in 2000 didn't feel any better than the Eagles' NFC title win over the Cowboys.

Some of his former players wish they could have that game against the Raiders back.