The
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
was the franchise's 46th season in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). The Eagles reached the postseason for the first time since their championship-winning season in
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
, which ended the longest postseason drought in the franchise's history and one of the longest in the history of the NFL. The Eagles ended their playoff drought by winning their final game in the regular season and needing either the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
or
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
to lose - both teams ended up losing and thus earned a wild card entry. This was also the first season since
1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
in which the franchise finished the season with a winning record.
The Miracle at the Meadowlands
The
Miracle at the Meadowlands
The Miracle at the Meadowlands was a fumble recovery by cornerback Herman Edwards of the Philadelphia Eagles that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978, National Football League (NFL) game against the New York Giants in Gi ...
is the term used by
sportscasters and
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
fans for a
fumble
A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...
recovery by
cornerback
A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...
Herman Edwards
Herman Edwards Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former cornerback who was most recently the head football coach at Arizona State. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Phil ...
that he returned for a
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
at the end of a November 19,
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
NFL game against the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
in
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...
.
It was seen as miraculous because it occurred at a point in the game when the Giants were easily capable of running out the game's final seconds. The Giants had the ball, and the Eagles had no
timeouts left. Everyone watching expected
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Joe Pisarcik
Joseph Anthony Pisarcik (born July 2, 1952) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League for eight seasons, from 1977 through 1984 after playing high school football at West Side Central Catholic H. S. (late ...
to take one more
snap
Snap or SNAP may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Snap'', the original release title for the 2013 film ''Enter the Dangerous Mind''
*''Snap'' (TV series), a CITV programme
* ''The Stanly News and Press'', a newspaper in Albemarle, North Carol ...
and
kneel with the ball, thus
running out the clock
In sports, running out the clock (also known as running down the clock, stonewalling, killing the clock, chewing the clock, stalling, time-wasting (or timewasting) or eating clock) is the practice of a winning team allowing the clock to expire thr ...
and preserving a 17–12 Giant upset. Instead, he attempted to hand it off to
fullback Larry Csonka
Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Mem ...
and botched it, allowing Edwards to pick up the ball and run 26 yards for the winning score.
The Eagles were 6–5 going into this game, and the win was crucial in that it ultimately allowed the Eagles to get the fifth-and-final playoff spot in the
1978 NFC playoffs.
Off Season
The Eagles held their last training camp at
Widener University
Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania. The university has three other campuses: two in Pennsylvania (Harrisburg and Exton) and one in Wilmington, Delaware.
Founded as The Bullock School for Boys in 1821, the school ...
in the city of Chester, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania)
NFL Draft
The
1978 NFL Draft
The 1978 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 2–3, 1978, at the Roosevelt Hote ...
The draft was held May 3-4, 1978. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season. The draft was 12 rounds long with a total of 334 players selected.
The Eagles, because of previous trades made, had to wait until the 3rd round for their first pick. They would only have 7 picks and of these 7 players selected, 5 made the team and played during the season. With the 66th pick the Eagles as their first pick in the draft the Philadelphia Eagles selected Reggie Wilkes, a linebacker out of
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
.
The number 1 overall pick in the draft was taken by the
Houston Oilers
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...
who selected the 1977
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
winner,
Earl Campbell
Earl Christian Campbell (born March 29, 1955), nicknamed "the Tyler Rose", is an American former professional football player who played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints. Kn ...
[Earl Campbell, 1977 ]Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
winner a
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
out of the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
Future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, in 2006,
Warren Moon
Harold Warren Moon (born November 18, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played professionally for 23 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Edmonto ...
, a quarterback from
the University of Washington, went undrafted. Moon is also in the Canadian Football League’s Hall of Fame.
Player selections
The table shows the Eagles selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick. It is possible the Eagles' pick ended up with this team via another team that the Eagles made a trade with.
Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away.
Preseason
* On August 5, the NFL played its first game in Mexico City.
The New Orleans Saints defeated the Eagles by a score of 14–7.
Regular season
Schedule
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game recap
Week 1 vs LA Rams
Week 3 at NO Saints
*Television:
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
*Announcers:
Gary Bender
Gary Nedrow Bender (born September 1, 1940) is a retired American sportscaster and 2008 inductee into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. He officially retired, April 13, 2011, from Fox Sports Arizona after 18 years calling the NBA's Phoenix Su ...
and
Hank Stram
Henry Louis Stram (; January 3, 1923 – July 4, 2005) was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the Dallas Texans / Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (N ...
Former Youngstown State University star Ron Jaworski threw three touchdown passes two to Harold Carmichael one from 6 yards and the other from 18 yards as the Eagles got their first win of the season. The bitterness stemmed from the fact that one of their teammates, kick return specialist Wally Henry, suffered a broken leg when he hit illegally from behind. Henry was playing on the kickoff team in the third quarter when he was hit and carried from the field. Only minutes earlier, he had set up a touchdown with a 55-yard punt return to the Saints 20-yard line. The Eagles also had a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jaworski to Keith Krepfle and a Nick Mike-Mayer 21-yard field goal. The Saints also scored with a 47-yard pass from
Archie Manning
Elisha Archibald Manning III (born May 19, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints. He played for the Saints from 1971 to 1982 and al ...
to
Tinker Owens
Charles Wayne "Tinker" Owens is a former professional American football player who played wide receiver for four seasons for the New Orleans Saints (1976, 1978–1980) in the National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) ...
Touchdown connection, a nine-yard score from fullback
Tony Galbreath and a 21-yard field goal by
Rich Szaro
Ryszard "Rich" Szaro (March 7, 1948 – April 7, 2015) was a Polish-born professional American football player who played placekicker for six seasons for the Philadelphia Bell of the WFL, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets.
Szaro moved w ...
. The Eagles had to make two last minute interceptions to halt the Saints drive to a tying score.
Week 5 at Baltimore Colts
*Television: CBS
*Announcers:
Tim Ryan,
Tom Matte
Thomas Roland Matte (June 14, 1939November 2, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) in the 1960s and 1970s and earned a Super Bowl ring. He attended Shaw High School in ...
and
Roman Gabriel
Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Jr. (born August 5, 1940) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was the second overall pick in the 1962 NFL Draft and played for the Los Angeles Rams for eleven seaso ...
Colts quarterback
Bill Troup
Paul William Troup III (April 2, 1951 – December 14, 2013) was a professional American football player. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. An undrafted quarterback from the University of South Carolina, Troup played in seven NFL seas ...
moved Baltimore 71 yards in nine plays for the first touchdown, on a two-yard run by
Roosevelt Leaks
Roosevelt Leaks Jr. (born January 31, 1953) is a former All-American running back and 2005 inductee to the College Football Hall of Fame. He was the first black All-American player in University of Texas history and went on to play in the Nat ...
, the drive started after Nick Mike Mayer missed a 46-yard field goal. Two plays later the Colts have the ball again when Philadelphia quarterback Ron Jaworski fumbled and defensive end
John Dutton recovered at the Eagles 38. Pass interference on a razzle-dazzle play in which running back
Joe Washington
Joe Dan Washington Jr (born September 24, 1953) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Diego Chargers, Baltimore Colts, Washington Redskins, and Atlanta Falcons.
Early career
Washington gradua ...
took a handoff and pitches back to Troup who then threw a pass to
Roger Carr, put the ball on the Eagles 1 yard line but couldn't score. They quickly got another chance when Wilbert Montgomery fumbled and
Derrell Luce Derrell is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Derrell Dixon (born 1970), US American Heavyweight boxer
*Derrell Griffith (born 1943), former Outfielder and Third Baseman in Major League Baseball
* Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (born ...
recovered the ball and carried it to the 4 where Troup threw to Leaks for a 14-0 Colts lead. But the Eagles came back roaring in the 4th quarter when Jaworski threw a 20-yard pass to Krepfle and then Mayer kick a 26-yard chip shot and then Montgomery who rushed for 144 yards on the day scored a 14-yard touchdown run with 2:39 left in the game to secure a must win for the Eagles who now trail the Redskins by 2 games (5-0) in the NFC East standings.
Week 9 vs St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals come into the game with a win–loss record of 0–8 against the 4th place, 4 wins and 4 losses Philadelphia Eagles.
Week 11 vs NY Jets
Week 12
The
Miracle at the Meadowlands
The Miracle at the Meadowlands was a fumble recovery by cornerback Herman Edwards of the Philadelphia Eagles that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978, National Football League (NFL) game against the New York Giants in Gi ...
is the term used by
sportscasters and
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
fans for a
fumble
A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...
recovery by
cornerback
A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...
Herman Edwards
Herman Edwards Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former cornerback who was most recently the head football coach at Arizona State. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Phil ...
that he returned for a
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...
at the end of a November 19,
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
NFL game against the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
in
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...
. It was seen as miraculous because it occurred at a point in the game when the Giants were easily capable of running out the game's final seconds. The Giants had the ball, and the Eagles had no
timeouts left. Everyone watching expected
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
Joe Pisarcik
Joseph Anthony Pisarcik (born July 2, 1952) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League for eight seasons, from 1977 through 1984 after playing high school football at West Side Central Catholic H. S. (late ...
to take one more
snap
Snap or SNAP may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Snap'', the original release title for the 2013 film ''Enter the Dangerous Mind''
*''Snap'' (TV series), a CITV programme
* ''The Stanly News and Press'', a newspaper in Albemarle, North Carol ...
and
kneel with the ball, thus
running out the clock
In sports, running out the clock (also known as running down the clock, stonewalling, killing the clock, chewing the clock, stalling, time-wasting (or timewasting) or eating clock) is the practice of a winning team allowing the clock to expire thr ...
and preserving a 17–12 Giant upset. Instead, he attempted to hand it off to
fullback Larry Csonka
Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Mem ...
and botched it, allowing Edwards to pick up the ball and run 26 yards for the winning score.
Week 13 at St. Louis Cardinals
After the games of week 11 the Philadelphia Eagles' outlook of being an NFC playoff team was slim. They were in 3rd place in the NFC East and behind 4 teams for a Wild Card team spot. That was some of the reasoning why the placekicking duties were given to the punter
Mike Michel
Michael Walter Michel (born August 4, 1954) is a former American football punter who played for two seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Stanford. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round ...
when regular kicker Nick Mick-Meyer got hurt. At the end of week 13 the Eagles found themselves trailing division leading Dallas by one game, and tied with the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins for 1 of 2 Wild Card team playoff spots.
Standings
The Eagles were hampered by the loss of their placekicker (Nick Mike-Mayer) in the closing weeks of the season and his replacement (punter Mike Michel) missed an extra point kick in each of the last three games of the season.
Roster
Postseason
NFL Wild Card Game
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
Michael Walter Michel (born August 4, 1954) is a former American football punter who played for two seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Stanford. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round ...
, 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.
Awards and honors
*
UPI
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...
Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award.
Some of the ...
: Dick Vermeil
League Leaders
* Harold Carmichael, NFC Leader, Receiving Yards – 1072
[''NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book'', Workman Publishing Co, New York, , p. 452]
* Wilbert Montgomery, NFC Leader, Rushing Avg – 4.6
References
External links
Eagles on Pro Football ReferenceEagles on jt-sw.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1978 Philadelphia Eagles Season
Philadelphia Eagles seasons
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
Philadel