The Body Bag Game was a ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

'' game that was played on November 12, 1990, between 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 play ...

and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

Veterans Stadium Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The seating capacities were 65,358 for foo ...

. The Eagles defeated the Redskins, 28–14. Its nickname comes from a pre-game boast from Eagles head coach

Buddy Ryan James David "Buddy" Ryan (February 17, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). During his 35-season coaching career, Ryan served as the head coach of the ...

, who told reporters his team would inflict a beating on Washington so bad "they'll have to be carted off in body bags". Then during the game, nine Washington Redskins players left with injuries, and an Eagles player reacted to one of those injured Redskins by yelling, "Do you guys need any more body bags?"

Background and game

This was the second game of the year between the two NFC East rivals. The Redskins were two years removed from winning Super Bowl XXII, but were an aging team, behind a new quarterback,

Jeff Rutledge Jeffrey Ronald Rutledge (born January 22, 1957) is a former American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football at Alabama, where he was the team's starting quarterba ...

. The Eagles were in their fifth season under defensive mastermind

, but coming off two straight early playoff exits. In the previous game, on October 21, the 3–2 Redskins beat the 2–3 Eagles 13–7, behind a rushing touchdown by Gerald Riggs and two

Chip Lohmiller John McLeod "Chip" Lohmiller (born July 16, 1966) is a former professional American football placekicker in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints, and St. Louis Rams. He played college football at the Univ ...

field goals. The rematch came three weeks later, on

, with the second-place Redskins being 5–3 and the third-place Eagles being 4–4. The Eagles scored first, on a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown by cornerback

William Frizzell William Jasper Frizzell (born September 8, 1962) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1984 to 1993. He played college fo ...

. In the second quarter, the Redskins tied the game 7–7 behind a Rutledge pass to tight end Don Warren. However, by the third quarter, the Eagles took control with three touchdowns. The first came on a trick play, with fullback

Keith Byars Keith Alan Byars (born October 14, 1963) is an American sports broadcaster and former American football fullback in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets. Early life ...

throwing a 9-yard pass to Heath Sherman. The second came via the defense, with defensive end

Clyde Simmons Clyde Simmons Jr. (born August 4, 1964) is a former American football defensive end and current college defensive line coach. Playing career College Simmons played college football at Western Carolina University helping lead the Catamounts to th ...

returning a fumble 18 yards. The final touchdown was another pass to Sherman, this time by quarterback

Randall Cunningham Randall Wade Cunningham Sr. (born March 27, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles and is also known for ...

. The Redskins finished the scoring in the fourth quarter, with Brian Mitchell scoring on a one-yard run, but it would not lead to a comeback, with the Eagles winning 28–14. During this game, nine Redskin players were injured, including starting quarterback Jeff Rutledge and backup

Stan Humphries William Stanley Humphries (born April 14, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers.. He played high school football a ...

. Washington, already playing without quarterbacks

Mark Rypien Mark Robert Rypien (born October 2, 1962) is a Canadian-born former American football quarterback who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington State and was drafted by the Washington Redsk ...

(who was injured earlier in the season) and

Gary Hogeboom Gary Keith Hogeboom (born August 21, 1958) is an American former football quarterback, real estate developer, and television personality. He played in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts and Phoenix Cardinals. ...

(inactive), had to end the game with rookie running back Brian Mitchell at quarterback. Mitchell, who had played quarterback in college, went 3-for-6 for 40 yards passing and ran for a touchdown.

Aftermath

Following the Body Bag Game, the Eagles won five of their last seven under Cunningham, finished the season 10–6 and earned a wild card playoff berth, the fourth seed in the tough NFC. The Redskins meanwhile also won five of their last seven to finish the season 10–6, losing the number four seed spot to the Eagles. Despite this, the Redskins would return to Veterans Stadium and defeat the Eagles in the Wild Card playoff game, 20–6. The Redskins lost to defending Super Bowl champion

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in the divisional round. However, as told in the NFL Network presentation ''America's Game: The Story of the 1991 Washington Redskins'', coach

Joe Gibbs Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional football coach. In football, he was head coach for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992, and ...

and others pointed to this game as the foundation for the successes of the 1991 Redskins, who would go on to win Super Bowl XXVI. After the season, the NFL addressed the problem of two quarterbacks being injured in the same game by instituting the

third quarterback rule The third quarterback rule was a rule in the National Football League from 1991 to 2010 that governed the use of a third quarterback in addition to the starter and the backup. The rule was abolished for the 2011 season, when the NFL increased the ...

, which would allow an NFL team to dress a third quarterback outside of the 45-man game-day roster. Under that rule, the third quarterback could be played, but if he entered the game before the fourth quarter, neither of the other quarterbacks could return to the game. That rule was changed again for the 2011 season when the game-day roster size was increased to 46.

Scoring summary

*PHI: Frizzell 30-yard interception return ( Ruzek kick) *WAS:

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

8-yard pass from Rutledge ( Lohmiller kick) *PHI:

Sherman Sherman most commonly refers to: *Sherman (name), a surname and given name (and list of persons with the name) ** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General *M4 Sherman, a tank Sherman may also refer to: Places United St ...

9-yard pass from Byars (Ruzek kick) *PHI: Simmons 18-yard fumble recovery (Ruzek kick) *PHI: Sherman 2-yard pass from

Cunningham Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham. Notable people sharing this surname A–C * Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player *Abe Cunningham, American drummer * Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian ...

(Ruzek kick) *WAS:

Mitchell Mitchell may refer to: People *Mitchell (surname) *Mitchell (given name) Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate * Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst * Mitchell, Northern Territo ...

1-yard run (Lohmiller kick)

Officials

*Referee:

Jerry Markbreit Jerry Markbreit (born March 23, 1935) is a former American football referee in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons and became one of the most recognizable referees in the game. Markbreit officiated football games for 43 seasons. F ...

(#9) *Umpire: Bob Boylston (#101) *Head Linesman: Leo Miles (#35) *Line Judge: Dale Orem (#51) *Back Judge: Doug Toole (#4) *Side Judge: Bill Quinby (#58) *Field Judge: Bill Schmitz (#122)

References

External links