Preseason: Pittsburgh Steelers Vs. Philadelphia
Eagles 8-8-2008
Preseason: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Carolina
Panthers 8-14-2008
Preseason: New England Patriots Vs. Philadelphia
Eagles 8-22-2008
Preseason: Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Jets
8-28-2008
Philadelphia Eagles vs. St. Louis Rams 9-7-2008
Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles 9-15-2008
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
9-21-2008
Chicago Bears Vs. Philadelphia Eagles 9-28-2008
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington Redskins
10-5-2008
San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles
10-12-2008
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons
10-26-2008
Seattle Seahawks vs. Philadelphia Eagles
11-2-2008
Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants
11-9-2008
Cincinnati Bengals Vs. Philadelphia Eagles
11-16-2008
Baltimore Ravens vs. Philadelphia Eagles
11-23-2008
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Arizona Cardinals
11-27-2008
New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles
12-7-2008
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Cleveland Browns
12-15-2008
Washington Redskins vs. Philadelphia Eagles
12-21-2008
Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys
12-28-2008
Their uniform consists of
colors of midnight green (jade green), black,
silver and white, with their helmet design a
white wing on a green helmet. Their mascot is
Swoop.
Conference
championships won:
1980, 2004
League
championships won: 1948, 1949, 1960
Super Bowl
appearances (2): XV (lost), XXXIX
(lost)
Bert Bell and Lud Wray,
co-owners of the Frankford Yellow Jackets, an
inactive NFL franchise since midway through the
1931 season, were granted permission to
reactivate the club on July 9, 1933, under a new
name, the Philadelphia Eagles. Neither the
Eagles nor the NFL officially regards the two
franchises as the same, citing the
aforementioned period of dormancy; however, some
observers believe the two teams should be
treated as one.
The Eagles struggled mightily
at first, not even so much as managing a single
winning season until 1943, when they temporarily
merged with the Pittsburgh Steelers to form a
team known as "the Phil-Pitt Steagles" (this
unusual arrangement being due to World War II).
But then things quickly turned around: Led by
running back Steve Van Buren, the Eagles reached
the NFL title game in each of the last three
years of the 1940s, winning two of the contests.
Their next appearance in a league championship
game would take place in 1960, with quarterback
Norm Van Brocklin and linebacker Chuck Bednarik
leading the offense and defense, respectively (Bednarik
was also the last NFL player to play both
offense and defense, lining up at center when
the offense had the ball). The Eagles won this
game, 17-13 over the Green Bay Packers, which
was played at Franklin Field on December 26,
1960.
The following year the Eagles
finished just a half-game behind the New York
Giants for first place in the Eastern Conference
standings with a 10-4 record, but would not
seriously contend again until soon after Dick
Vermeil became the head coach in 1976. Starting
in 1978, the Eagles qualified for the postseason
four consecutive times, including making their
first Super Bowl appearance ever following the
1980 season, but they lost, 27-10, to the
Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XV, played on
January 25, 1981. In a bizarre coincidence,
former Eagles head coach Joe Kuharich died on
the same day as the above game. Kuharich was the
team's head coach from 1964 through 1968; in the
latter year he became the target of demands by
fans that he be fired, who used the slogan "Joe
Must Go" as their rallying cry (the 1968 Eagles
lost their first eleven games and finished
2-12). He had signed a "lifetime contract" with
Jerry Wolman, who had owned the club at the time
he was hired; on May 1, 1969, Wolman sold the
team to Leonard Tose, whose first official act
as owner was to fire Kuharich, who continued to
draw a salary under the contract until his
death.
A period of decline set in
after this, which ended in 1988 when they made
the first of three straight playoff appearances
under coach Buddy Ryan, but did not win a
postseason game in any of those years. In 1991,
the Eagles became the first NFL team since 1975
to rank first in the league in both rushing and
passing yardage allowed, but neglected to reach
the playoffs despite a 10-6 final record.
Their next period of
prominence, which is still current, has come
under the tutelage of head coach Andy Reid and
quarterback Donovan McNabb, who was the first
player ever drafted by Reid, in 1999. With this
duo leading the way, the Eagles won the NFC's
Eastern Division for four straight years
beginning in 2001, also reaching the conference
title game each year, but lost this game on the
first three occasions.
The 2003 team lost its first
two games, both at home — but then proceeded to
become the first team ever to make the playoffs
after doing this in a non-strike year. In their
opening game of the 2003 season the Eagles were
shut out 17-0 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the
first regular-season game ever played at Lincoln
Financial Field; by reaching the conference
championship game in the same year as this
defeat, they became the first team in modern
history to get that far in the postseason after
having been shut out at home in its first game.
They achieved both of the above despite getting
only five touchdown catches all year from their
wide receivers, which tied the league low since
the regular-season schedule was lengthened to
its present 16 games in 1978 (this record would
be broken in 2004 when the New York Giants' wide
receivers caught only two touchdown passes). The
Eagle receivers even went through both September
and October without a TD catch — the last time
an NFL team had done that was in 1945.
No doubt with the latter two
facts in mind, the Eagles actively pursued — and
ultimately got to trade for — premier wide
receiver Terrell Owens, whom the team acquired
in a controversial three-way deal involving
themselves, the Baltimore Ravens and the San
Francisco 49ers, on March 16, 2004.
The 2004 season began with a
bang as Owens caught three touchdown passes from
McNabb in their season opener against the New
York Giants. Owens would end up with exactly
1,200 receiving yards and 14 touchdown
receptions, although his season ended
prematurely with an ankle injury on December 19,
2004 against the Dallas Cowboys. Their 12-7
victory in this game gave them home field
advantage throughout the playoffs (exclusive of
the Super Bowl) for the third year in a row, the
team having previously clinched their fourth
straight NFC East division title, their fifth
consecutive postseason appearance, and a
first-round bye in the playoffs. Their final two
regular-season games thus rendered meaningless,
the Eagles sat out most of their first-string
players in these games and lost them both, yet
still finished with a 13-3 record, their best
16-game season ever. McNabb had his finest
season to date, passing for 3,875 yards and 31
touchdowns, throwing only eight interceptions.
This made him the first quarterback in NFL
history to throw 30 or more TD passes and fewer
than 10 INTs in a given season.
By this time the Eagles were
well known for their futility in National
Football Conference Championship games since the
2001 season. In 2001, the Eagles fell to the
Rams 29-24 in St. Louis in the NFC Championship
Game. The next season, the Eagles hosted the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Veteran's Stadium and
were substantial favorites, but lost 27-10. The
year after that, the Eagles hosted the Carolina
Panthers at Lincoln Financial Field, but the
Panthers advanced to Super Bowl XXXVIII by the
score of 14-3.
But the Eagles defeated the
Atlanta Falcons 27-10 on January 23, 2005 in the
NFC Championship Game in Philadelphia, to
advance to the Super Bowl XXXIX, where they were
defeated by the New England Patriots, 24-21.
Armed with the world-renowned
Philadelphia Cheese steak and alcoholic
beverages, Philadelphia Eagles fans are often
considered to be among the most hostile and
violent in professional sports, prompting a
courtroom to be built inside the stadium to deal
with law-breaking fans immediately. Yet
interestingly this factor does not seem to have
provided the team with any additional home-field
advantage: From 2000 through 2004, all
inclusive, the Eagles actually had a better
record in regular-season away games than in home
games, going 31-9 on the road (best in the NFL
over that period) but only 28-12 at home.
Perhaps the most famous (many
would say infamous) example of the zealousness
of Eagles' fans is the Santa Claus Incident,
during which angry fans booed and threw
snowballs at a man dressed as Santa at a game in
1968.
Another example of the
hostility Philadelphia fans have to offer is the
drafting of star quarterback Donovan McNabb. The
Eagles fans wanted Ricky Williams and when the
Eagles announced that McNabb was drafted, fans
present at the New York City draft booed the
decision.
