Sports Then and Now

The 4 Major Sports Teams In Philadelphia.

For years, the thought of Philadelphia as a sports city was unheard of and rare by national fanatics. Now, with the recent surge from the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and possibly even the Sixers, Philadelphia is finally becoming known to the sports nation.

We’ll start with the Philadelphia Phillies, baseball’s best team. With only 2 championships in hand, the Phillies reputation is diminished and scarce. In 2008, doubters were quieted after a postseason field day was brought to the city of brotherly love, with the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win the 2008 World Series. After a year of heartbreak, the Phillies are back for more. At 74-39, Philadelphia is completely destroying Major League Baseball, and a 9.5 division lead over the Braves is showing it. With a more than solid pitching rotation, including Hamels, Halladay, Oswalt, Lee and outstanding rookie Vance Worley, Philadelphia has a 3.06 team ERA. Recently acquiring OF Hunter Pence from Houston solidifies the lineup and brings more power and consistency for the postseason. For the Phillies, it can’t get better than this.

Now we turn to the Eagles, a team getting national attention for the big named players recently acquired by the organization. Philadelphia was keen on defense, bringing in CB Dominique Rodgers- Cromartie, CB Nnamdi Asomaugha, and DE Jason Babin along with shipping out unhappy QB Kevin Kolb in the process. Don’t forget the pickup of QB Vince Young, which is solid security for the injury plagued, mobile Quarterback Michael Vick. With Desean Jackson ending his holdout, and WR Jeremy Maclin getting healthy, Philadelphia has emerged as the team to beat. Granted, the season hasn’t even started yet, but the Birds new look is hard to argue against. I’m not sure with the “Dream Team” phrase that has rumored around the city of brotherly love, but a Playoff Caliber team is surely in store for the Eagles. Read the rest of this entry →

DeSean Jackson completed the latest Philadelphia Eagles comeback win over the New York Giants with a 65-yard punt return.

The game may not have been played at the original Meadowlands, but the shocking late rally on Sunday afternoon by the visiting Philadelphia Eagles over the New York Giants proves that the new Meadowlands still is a place where the Eagles can perform miracles.

After taking a 24-3 halftime edge and scoring a touchdown to take a 31-10 lead with 8:43 remaining in the game, it looked like the Giants would make their first game against the Eagles in the new stadium a statement victory.

However, anyone who ever saw Eagles-Giants games at the old Meadowlands knows that when the Eagles come to visit strange things can happen.

Michael Vick tossed two touchdown passes and ran for another in just over six minutes of game time to tie the contest at 31-31 with 1:24 remaining.

The Giants had one final chance, but were unable to move the ball and punted to the Eagles with 14 seconds remaining.

It looked like overtime was inevitable, especially when punt returner DeSean Jackson mishandled the line-drive punt from rookie Matt Dodge. However, Jackson instead became the latest Eagle to break the hearts of Giants fans with an electrifying 65-yard return to complete the comeback and give Philadelphia the inside edge to winning the NFC East.

It is the most recent in a series of Philadelphia miracles that began with the original “Miracle at the Meadowlands” on November 19, 1978. In that game, the Giants led 17-6 entering the fourth quarter and had the ball and a 17-12 lead in the final minute.

Needing simply to take a knee and run out the clock, quarterback Joe Pisarcik instead tried to hand the ball off to Larry Csonka. The ball fell to the turf and bounced nicely into the hands of Herm Edwards, who took it 26 yards for the game winning score. Read the rest of this entry →

One of the most memorable moments in the 2009 NFL season was the Indianapolis Colts scoring a last-second touchdown to pull out a 35-34 victory against the New England Patriots after the Patriots were stopped on 4th-and-2 at their own 28-yard-line, despite holding a six-point lead  with about two minutes to play.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s decision to go for the first down in this game was reminiscent of former Cowboys head coach Barry Switzer’s gamble to go for a first down in his team’s own territory with the game tied in the final minutes of a December showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The former Oklahoma head coach became head coach of the Cowboys following the departure of Jimmy Johnson after the 1993 season.

Johnson had led the Cowboys from a 1-15 season in his first year in Dallas to two straight Super Bowl titles, behind the famed “Triplets”; quarterback Troy Aikman, wide receiver Michael Irvin, and running back Emmitt Smith.

In Switzer’s first season, the Cowboys finished with a 12-4 record but were knocked off by the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.

In 1995, the Cowboys jumped out to an 8-1 start before being humiliated by the 49ers 38-20 in Dallas, leading owner Jerry Jones to come out and say that the team was outcoached.

The Cowboys would win the next two games before dropping another home game, this time against the Washington Redskins, as they entered their late-season showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Under first-year head coach Ray Rhodes, the Eagles had complied a 8-5 record entering this game,  but had gone 7-2 ever since Rhodes had benched starting quarterback Randall Cunningham and replaced with veteran backup Rodney Peete.

Still, Rhodes played the “no respect” card for the Eagles as they hosted the Cowboys on a 13-degree afternoon in Veterans stadium, with a wind chill of minus seven degrees. Read the rest of this entry →

The Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants renewed their bitter rivalry in a pivotal game for the NFC East title in week 12 of the 1988 NFL season.

The Giants entered the game with a 7-4 record and tied for first place in the division, thanks to quarterback Phil Simms and their stellar defense, lead by All-Pro linebacker Lawrence Taylor.

Meanwhile, the Eagles entered the game one back of the Giants, with a 6-5 record.

Like the Giants, the Eagles had a great defense; the “Gang Green” defense constructed by head coach Buddy Ryan and featured a lineup that included defensive tackle Jerome Brown, linebacker Seth Joyner, rookie cornerback Eric Allen, and sack master Reggie White at defensive end.

But the biggest star on the Eagles was quarterback Randall Cunningham, perhaps the most exciting player thanks to his rocket arm and scrambling ability.

The Eagles met the Giants earlier in the 1988 season on a Monday night in Philadelphia when Cunningham pulled off a play for the ages.

On a play at the Giants’ five-yard-line, Cunningham scrambled right where he was met by Giants linebacker Carl Banks who hit him on the legs, appearing to be knocking Cunningham to the ground. Read the rest of this entry →

In 1978, the National Football League expanded not only its regular season from 14 to 16 games, but also its playoff format from eight teams to 10. With the inclusion of one extra playoff team per conference, a game between the two wild card teams would be played one week before the three divisional winners began their postseason.

Thus, the Wild Card playoff round was born and in the very first NFC Wild Card Game the Atlanta Falcons would host the Philadelphia Eagles in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.

The Eagles were making their first postseason appearance since they won the NFL championship back in 1960.  Following that season, the Eagles went into freefall as the franchise had only two winning seasons from 1961-75.

After a 4-10 season in 1975, the Eagles hired UCLA head coach Dick Vermeil, whose team had just defeated #1 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, to the same position.

By his third season, Vermeil had turned the Eagles into a winner as the team finished with a 9-7 record to clinch one of the two NFC Wild Card spots for the team’s first playoff appearance in 18 years.

While the Eagles were returning to the postseason, the Atlanta Falcons were making their first foray into the playoffs. Read the rest of this entry →

Instead of facing the Washington Redskins, Donovan McNabb will instead be wearing their uniform in 2010.

It has been known for weeks that Donovan McNabb had played his last game as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, but it is quite a surprise that he will remain in the NFC East for 2010. A trade between the Eagles and Washington Redskins was finalized on Sunday that will give the Eagles the 37th pick in the second round and a third or fourth round choice in the 2011 draft.

That the Eagles would be willing to trade McNabb to a division rival seems to illustrate that the Eagles truly believe they are stronger under the guidance of fourth-year pro Kevin Kolb as in the six-time Pro Bowler McNabb.

With three high caliber quarterbacks on the roster-McNabb, Kolb and Michael Vick-the Eagles had a backlog that needed to be purged.

Originally the Eagles were shopping all three quarterbacks to see which might bring the best offer, but it quickly became clear that McNabb would be the one to go. With only one year remaining on his contract, the Eagles risked losing him for no compensation if they did keep him for one more season. Read the rest of this entry →