What was the best game in Eagles' history?
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No win felt sweeter
BEST GAME: The Eagles' triumph over the Cowboys in the NFC title game in 1981 was a masterpiece.
No win felt sweeter
BEST GAME: The Eagles' triumph over the Cowboys in the NFC title game in 1981 was a masterpiece.
"After that [Dallas] game, we were whooping and hollering and it was almost like the Super Bowl was an afterthought," said Bill Bergey, an inside linebacker on that team.
"I've got my playbook for that '80 season, and the preface of that book was the short-term goals and the long-term goals," quarterback Ron Jaworski said. "Our season-ending goal was to win the NFC championship. It was amazing. It was not to win the Super Bowl. And I really believe at that time, Coach probably didn't think we were good enough to win the Super Bowl, or else that would've been the goal. I'm sure, in hindsight, Coach wished he would've said the goal was to be the champions, but in his honesty he was like, maybe, at that point, we just weren't good enough. Maybe in November, he would've reevaluated it, but I'm talking about back in early July."
Inquirer file photograph
As the Cowboys' John Dutton is blocked, Wilbert Montgomery hits the hole at the start of his 42-yard touchdown run.
The 1980 Eagles weren't good enough to win it all, but they were good enough to take down America's Team, and it's a moment that still burns brightly more than a quarter century later.
The Next-Best Games
1948 and 1949 NFL title gamesDec. 19, 1948: Eagles 7, Chicago Cardinals 0
Dec. 18, 1949: Eagles 14,
Los Angeles Rams 0
Yes, it was two different games, but they had one thing in common: the number zero.
The Eagles remain the only team in NFL history to post shutouts in consecutive league title games. The win over the Cardinals in 1948 at snow-covered Shibe Park was revenge for a loss the previous year in the title game. Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren scored the only touchdown after showing up late because he slept in thinking the storm would force a postponement. Eight inches of snow fell during the game.
A year later, the Eagles duplicated their shutout performance by beating the Rams in a driving rainstorm at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Proof of how different the NFL was then: The announced crowd was 27,980 and most accounts claim there were considerably fewer than that in attendance.
Dec. 26, 1960: Eagles 17, Green Bay 13
The game fittingly ended with a crunching hit by Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik that stopped Packers fullback Jim Taylor inside the Eagles' 10-yard line. Bednarik held Taylor down as the final seconds ticked off, then impolitely invited him to get up. The Packers, under coach Vince Lombardi, won five of the next seven titles, including the first two Super Bowls. The Eagles haven't won a title since.
Jan. 23, 2005: Eagles 27, Atlanta 10
For Andy Reid's Eagles, this was NFC Championship IV, and the team finally ended its frustration by earning a trip to the Super Bowl with an impressive win over the Falcons on a bitterly cold and windy afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field. Tight end Chad Lewis, in his final postseason game, caught two touchdowns from Donovan McNabb, but missed the Super Bowl because of a sprained left foot.
Dec. 31, 1988: Chicago Bears 20, Eagles 12
This will stand the test of time as the most memorable loss in franchise history, even though few people saw all of it. This was the Fog Bowl. It also was the Eagles' first playoff appearance in seven years and, like all the other playoff games with Buddy Ryan as a head coach, it ended in defeat.
