My Favourite Games – The 2000’s

Here is an element two of the sequence I’m doing on my favourite Eagles video games for every decade. I’m solely going with common season video games.

2000 – PHI 41, DAL 14

The Pickle Juice Game. Was there any doubt that this might be the selection? The Eagles had been coming off a 5-11 season. There was optimism as a result of they’d a superb offseason, however nobody actually knew what to anticipate. Donovan McNabb was the full-time starter and that would definitely make a distinction. The staff had signed Jon Runyan to a file contract and hoped he would stabilize the OL. The first spherical decide was DT Corey Simon so he was anticipated to make the protection higher. But the staff hadn’t been good since 1996 so there have been nonetheless some doubts. Plus nobody was fairly certain what to make of Andy Reid. He confirmed promise in his first season as coach, however was removed from a certain factor.

Total domination.

The Eagles opened the sport with an onside kick, the primary time I’d ever seen anybody try this. It labored completely and set the tone for the sport. The Birds marched proper down the sector and went up 7-0. The protection got here out on the subsequent sequence and rookie Corey Simon obtained a sack on his first ever NFL snap. Troy Aikman went 0 for five earlier than he was knocked out of the sport. He was sacked 4 instances and threw a pick-six to Jeremiah Trotter. Aikman was changed by previous good friend Randall Cunningham, who threw an INT of his personal.

Duce Staley was the star of the sport, operating for 201 yards and going 4-61 as a receiver. McNabb ran for a TD and threw a brief scoring cross. He didn’t need to do a lot for the reason that Eagles ran for 306 yards. Dallas was held to 167 complete yards. Like I stated, complete domination. This recreation signaled a shift in fortunes. The Eagles would go 11-5 and turn into a perennial contender. Dallas went 5-11 from 2000-2002. It wasn’t till the arrival of Bill Parcells that they turned issues round.

I can’t stress sufficient what a enjoyable recreation this was to look at. We hadn’t seen the Eagles do something like this for the reason that wild card win over Detroit again in 1995. This recreation offered an enormous win and a ton of optimism. The Eagles had been going to be good once more.

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2001 – PHI 24, NYG 21

We don’t have a tendency to think about profitable a division title as an enormous deal, however that’s as a result of the Eagles have made it an everyday behavior. They didn’t win a single title within the 1990’s. They received the crown in 1988 and the subsequent one got here in 2001, clinched within the recreation we’re speaking about now. The Giants received the NFC East in 2000 and had been picked to win it once more in 2001. The Eagles had different concepts.

The Giants led the sport 10-7 going into the fourth quarter. The groups traded scores after than and the video games tied at 21-21 late. David Akers kicked a FG with seven seconds left to offer the Eagles a sure win. Right? Then the Giants ran a trick play on their ultimate snap and speedster Ron Dixon took the ball 62 yards and obtained inside the ten earlier than Damon Moore tackled him, saving the sport and making the Eagles division champs. I’m certain I wasn’t the one one who almost had a coronary heart assault whereas watching that play.

McNabb was clutch on this recreation, making some key throws late within the recreation. He completed ewith 270 yards and three TDs. James Thrash got here up large, going 7-143-1. TE Chad Lewis was 7-74, with 2 TDs. Jeremiah Trotter had 15 tackles, together with 6 TFLs and a sack. Hell of a recreation by the Axeman. The scary end didn’t smash a fantastic day.

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2002 – PHI 37, WAS 7

The Pepper Spray Game. Do you guys do not forget that? The cops had to make use of pepper spray on somebody within the stands and it drifted onto the sector, which brought on the sport to be paused. Weird. This was the one recreation the place Jim Johnson’s protection didn’t enable some extent. Washington’s rating got here on a punt return. The protection had 4 sacks and three takeaways. I bear in mind Darwin Walker actually flashing on this recreation, a matchup between Andy Reid and…Steve Spurrier. It is straightforward to overlook that Spurrier got here to the NFL for a few years. He didn’t fare nicely. The Eagles held his offense to only 179 yards on this recreation. James Thrash went 6-107-1 for the Birds and gave his previous staff suits. Dorsey Levens and Duce Staley mixed for 120 speeding yards. Donovan McNabb was terrific, throwing for two TDs and operating for one more. I bear in mind actually having fun with this recreation. The offense and protection had been nice. If solely the STs had stopped the one PR. Could have had the shutout. JJ by no means delivered one in his nice run with the Eagles.

I thought of the 17-3 win over the Giants the place the Eagles ran for 295 yards. That run recreation was a ton of enjoyable to look at. The Giants protection regarded helpless, which is at all times enjoyable.

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2003 – PHI 36, DAL 10

Bill Parcells took the Dallas job in 2003 and gave the franchise hope for the primary time since Jimmy Johnson. He led the Cowboys to a win over the Eagles early within the season and his staff got here into this recreation with the #1 protection within the league. The Eagles responded with a serious beatdown of Dallas and their D. Tuna realized that Reid nonetheless dominated the NFC East. It was lovely.

The Eagles piled up 403 yards, operating and passing for greater than 200 yards. McNabb threw 3 TDs and ran the offense effectively. Correll Buckhalter ran for 115 yards and a rating. The protection had 3 sacks and a pair of takeaways. Cowboys QB Quincy Carter (bear in mind him?) averaged lower than 4 yards per cross try. This win gave the Eagles a two-game lead over Dallas and led to their third straight division title. Those had been good instances.

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2004 – PHI 31, NYG 17

We may name this the TO recreation. It was his Eagles debut and he didn’t disappoint, going 8-68 with 3 TDs. Donovan McNabb lastly had a star WR and took benefit of it, going 26 of 36 for 330 yards and 4 TDs. He went on to have the perfect season of his profession. Amazing the distinction the supporting solid could make. Brian Westbrook ran for 119 yards and went 3-42 as a receiver, displaying what a dynamic weapon he had turn into.

The Eagles protection gave up 413 yards, however had 5 sacks and a takeaway. Jerome McDougle had a sack and an enormous hit of Eli Manning, who was making his professional debut. The Eagles performed nicely total and you can see some indicators that this was going to be a particular staff. The solely downer was dropping rookie OG Shawn Andrews to damage. If he had stayed wholesome, the Eagles may have been even higher. He was a particular expertise. Still, this was a enjoyable day. TO gave the Eagles some juice that they’d been missing for a very long time.

***

2005 – PHI 20, SD 17

The Eagles dominated SF in an early recreation, profitable 42-3. They had a fantastic comeback vs KC and beat the Chiefs 37-31. But the win over the Chargers was subsequent degree due to what the protection did. LaDainian Tomlinson got here into the sport with 652 yards and 10 TDs in his first 6 video games. He was the perfect RB in soccer and was brutally exhausting to cease. He had a TD run in 18 straight video games coming into this assembly, however the Eagles put a cease to that. His worst recreation to that time was when he went 8-29. JJ’s protection shut him down, limiting LT to 7 yards on 17 carries. He had -5 yards at halftime so he needed to get sizzling to stand up to 7. That is insane run protection. Jeremiah Trotter and Sheldon Brown every had 9 tackles to cleared the path.

This was an Andy Reid particular, with McNabb dropping again virtually 60 instances and Westbrook solely getting 10 carries. McNabb set the NFL file for consecutive completions with 25. He threw for 287 yards and a TD. McNabb missed on a vital 4th down play and it regarded just like the Eagles had been going to lose, 17-13. And then issues obtained wild. Quintin Mikell blocked a Chargers FG try. Matt Ware grabbed the bouncing ball and raced 65 yards for the go-ahead TD. The Eagles had been then up 20-17. Drew Brees marched them downfield earlier than Sheldon Brown got here up with a strip of a receiver to seal the sport. Unbelievable recreation. I used to be shocked at how the ultimate jiffy performed out. Absolutely insane ending.

***

2006 – PHI 23, DAL 7

The 9-5 Cowboys hosted the 8-6 Eagles, with Jeff Garcia beginning instead of McNabb. And the sport was on Christmas afternoon. I didn’t know what to anticipate from the Eagles. A loss would have given the division title to Dallas. The Eagles had received the primary assembly (TO’s return to Philly) so this felt like a revenge recreation for the Cowboys and their new QB, Tony Romo. Quite a bit was on the road.

Garcia out-played Romo in an enormous method and the Eagles managed the sport, giving us a fantastic Christmas current. Garcia completed 15-23-238 with a TD. He additionally ran 7 instances for 43 yards and gave Dallas suits. Westy ran for 122 yards. The Eagles protection restricted the Cowboys to 201 yards and seven factors, season lows. Romo was 14-29 for 142 yards. TO was held to 2-23, however he did catch a TD. The protection had an enormous purpose line cease of Marion Barber. Dawk had 3 tackles and an INT, whereas serving to to maintain Owens beneath management. The Eagles went on to win the division and a playoff recreation. I’ve to say that I loved watching Garcia because the staff’s QB. He was enjoyable, taking part in with loads of power and emotion.

***

2007 – PHI 56, DET 21

The Lions performed one of many worst defensive video games I’ve ever seen. They made McNabb seem like Joe Montana, Westbrook seem like Jim Brown and Kevin Curtis seem like Jerry Rice. The Eagles ha 42 factors on the half, and made it look simple. McNabb threw for 332 yards within the first half. The staff completed the sport with 536 yards. This recreation was such a blowout that Tony Hunt obtained 4 carries.

Westbrook completed 14-110-2 on the bottom and 5-111-1 as a receiver. The Lions had no reply for him. Curtis was 11-221-3, taking part in the sport of his life. The Eagles gave up 432 yards, however had 10 sacks, together with 3.5 from Trent Cole. The protection additionally had 3 takeaways. Sean Considine (bear in mind him?) had an INT. As enjoyable as this recreation was, it was a mirage. The Giants held the Eagles to only 3 factors within the subsequent recreation. The Eagles completed the season 8-8 and missed the playoffs.

***

2008 – PHI 15, PIT 6

From nice offense to nice protection. JJ’s protection got here up large on this recreation. The Steelers had been 2-0. They would find yourself profitable the Super Bowl, however at the present time was all in regards to the Eagles protection. They sacked Big Ben 8 instances and his backup, Byron Leftwich as soon as. The Steelers, who ran all around the Eagles again in 2004 had been held to 19 carries for 33 yards. They completed with simply 181 complete yards. The Eagles additionally had a security and three takeaways, together with a Dawkins strip-sack to seal the sport. JJ combined in blitzes together with his base rush and gave the Steelers suits. Juqua Parker led the best way with 2.5 sacks and Darren Howard added 2 of his personal. It was enjoyable to see the swarming protection simply overwhelm the Steelers all recreation lengthy. MLB Stewart Bradley had 6 solo tackles and three TFLs. He was such a superb participant. I don’t suppose individuals respect him sufficient. His 2009 damage was simply horrible.

The Eagles offense did simply sufficient to win this recreation. McNabb was environment friendly, going 24 for 35. Westbook obtained harm so Correll Buckhalter grew to become the function again. He completed with 87 complete yards and a TD. This was a troublesome, bodily recreation. The Eagles would end a Top 5 protection in each factors and yards. This efficiency was an indication of issues to  come.

It was exhausting to cross on the 44-6 win over Dallas, however I needed to combine issues up and never do too many Dallas video games. That was an epic day, although.

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2009 – PHI 40, NYG 17

The first place Giants got here to Philly and left in second place after getting their butt kicked by a dynamic offense. McNabb went 17-23-240 with 3 TDs. He threw to his key weapons, DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek and rookie Jeremy Maclin. They mixed for 11 grabs and all three scores. Rookie LeSean McCoy was 11-82-1 on the bottom, together with a formidable 66-yard TD. Leonard Weaver was 8-75 with a 41-yard TD. What an explosive offense.

The protection gave up some yards, however Asante Samuel snd Quentin Demps every picked off Eli Manning and he was sacked twice. LB Akeem Jordan led the staff with 9 tackles for brand new DC Sean McDermott. The protection spent a lot of the season trying to find a MLB to switch Bradley. Will Witherspoon obtained the beginning on this recreation, however was extra of an OLB. Thankfully on at the present time the offense was so good that the protection simply needed to be adequate. And they had been.

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