Basically it’s a single-elimination playoff game in late December. Even if we win it, we gotta take care of business against the Giants the following week, or it all comes crashing down anyway.
The 2019 Eagles season has reminded me of the 1978 Eagles season in the sense there are many parallels.
Oh, we’re not even close to the drama factor of 1978, because it had been 18 (EIGHTEEN!!!) years since the Eagles had last seen the playoffs. But some of the other parallels are striking.
The Eagles were crushed by injuries that year.
They were 4-4 going into the ninth week of the season in 1978. They lost to the Cardinals who were winless prior to that game. Even more damaging than the loss, seven Eagles players (Mike Hogan, Wilbert Montgomery, Cleveland Franklin, Billy Campfield, Jim Betterson, Keith Krepfle and Carl Hairston) went down with injury.
The Eagles also had a big win over the contending Packers that year, in Week 10, with John Sciarra scoring the only TD of the game on a 2-yard run.
Another parallel— in week 6, they lost a close tight game to the Patriots, 24-14, in which Wilbert Montgomery fumbled the first two times he touched the ball. Frustrating kind of loss to the Pats which we revisited in 2019…
There was a turnover-fest stinkeroo loss to Dallas in Week 15 that season, too, 31-13, not to mention a 14-7 loss to the Cowboys in Week 8. But we’ve already had the crappy loss to Dallas in 2019, so I think we’ll discount the Week 15 thing as a false-positive omen.
Now what really fueled that 1978 team to dream big was the Week 12 “Miracle at the Meadowlands” win over the Giants. The Miracle, The Fumble, call it what you will, but I can still see Herm Edwards scooping up that run-out-the-clock fumble and returning it 29 yards to give the Birds a 19-17 walk-off win.
But just to get to that point at 7-5, the Eagles had to tough out a 17-9 win over the New York Jets the week before. Just as in 2019, nothing came easy. Harold Carmichael caught the win-preserving TD over cornerback Bobby Jackson as QB Ron Jaworski was seriously being leveled by LB Mike Hennigan.
They then went to 8-5 with a very gritty 14-10 win over the Cards in St. Louis.
A discouraging loss to the Vikings was next, something we in 2019 also experienced. Fran Tarkenton led a 28-27 comeback win in a snowstorm at Bloomington. Eagles blew a 27-14 halftime lead.
Then the 13-31 egg was laid against Dallas to drop the Eagles to 8-7.
That set the stage for December 18, 1978 as the Eagles had to beat the Giants at home to qualify for the 5th playoff spot in the NFC.
And although the opponent team’s name is the Dallas Cowboys this time, this is essentially where we are in 2019.
Win and you’re in,,,basically. Well, then you probably must beat the Giants in Week 17 to ice the division title. That part is a slightly new wrinkle.
Oh, draft-wise in 1978, it was much weaker than our 2019 draft. The Eagles, because of previous trades made, had to wait until the 3rd round for their first pick. They would only have seven picks in 12 rounds, and of these seven players selected, five made the team and played during the season. With the 66th pick the Eagles as their first pick in the draft selected Reggie Wilkes, a linebacker out of Georgia Tech.
It’s not an exact mirror image, but the Eagles in 1978 had to overcome a ton of injuries and inconsistent play and eventually had to beat a divisional opponent at home in the final week of the season to finish 9-7 and qualify for the playoffs. (They did so, by the way, with a 20-3 grinding decision over Big Blue.)
They broke an 18-year playoff drought that season. That exact kind of emotional motivation may be different from 2019, but if you wanna talk “underdog”, I think today’s players can relate.
By the way, Leonard Tose was still the owner of that team. Jim Murray was the GM. Dick Vermeil was in his third year as HC and was named the UPI Coach of the Year.
Pro-Bowl Selections
- Bill Bergey – LB
- Harold Carmichael – WR
- Wilbert Montgomery – RB
- Stan Walters – Tackle
League Leaders
- Harold Carmichael, NFC Leader, Receiving Yards – 1072
- Wilbert Montgomery, NFC Leader, Rushing Avg – 4.6
Omen alert:
NFC Wild Card Game: Atlanta Falcons 14, Philadelphia Eagles 13
The Falcons won their first playoff game in team history after they overcame a 13–0 deficit by scoring 2 touchdowns in the final 5 minutes of the game. Punter Mike Michel, who took over placekicker duties when regular placekicker Nick Mike-Mayer got injured in week 12, missed a possible game-winning 34-yard field goal in the closing seconds.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
