Record 9–7 Playoff finish Lost Wildcard Start date 1978 Owner Leonard Tose | Division place 2nd NFC East Head coach Dick Vermeil General manager Jim Murray Home field Veterans Stadium | |
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The 1978 Philadelphia Eagles season was the team's 46th season in the National Football League. The Eagles reached the postseason for the first time in eighteen years, which ended the longest postseason drought in the franchise's history and one of the longest in the history of the NFL.
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The Miracle at the Meadowlands
The Miracle at the Meadowlands is the term used by sportscasters and Philadelphia Eagles fans for a fumble recovery by cornerback Herman Edwards that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978 NFL game against the New York Giants in Giants Stadium.
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 Joe Pisarcik to take one more snap and kneel with the ball, thus running out the clock and preserving a 17–12 Giant upset. Instead, he attempted to hand it off to fullback Larry Csonka 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 playoffs.
Off Season
The Eagles held their last training camp at Widener University in the city of Chester, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania)
NFL Draft
The 1978 NFL Draft The draft was held May 2–3, 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 number 1 overall pick in the draft was taken by the Houston Oilers who selected the 1977 Heisman Trophy winner, Earl Campbell a Running Backout of the University of Texas
Future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, in 2006, Warren Moon, a Quarterback from University of Washington, went undrafted. He 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.
Pre Season
Week 9 vs St Lou 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 12: at NY Giants
The Miracle at the Meadowlands is the term used by sportscasters and Philadelphia Eagles fans for a fumble recovery by cornerback Herman Edwards that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978 NFL game against the New York Giants in Giants Stadium. 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 Joe Pisarcik to take one more snap and kneel with the ball, thus running out the clock and preserving a 17–12 Giant upset. Instead, he attempted to hand it off to fullback Larry Csonka 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 when regular kicker Nick Mick-Meyer got hurt. At the end of week 13 the Eagles found themselves trailing division leading Dallas by 1 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) was unable to make several extra point kicks and missed all field goal attempts.
1978 Roster
1978 Philadelphia Eagles Team Starters 'Offense 7 Ron Jaworski QB 31 Wilbert Montgomery RB 35 Mike Hogan FB 17 Harold Carmichael WR 82 Ken Payne WR 84 Keith Krepfle TE 75 Stan Walters LT 72 Wade Key LG 50 Guy Morriss C 69 Woody Peoples RG 76 Jerry Sisemore RT Defense 79 Manny Sistrunk LDE 65 Charlie Johnson NT 78 Carl Hairston RDE 51 Reggie Wilkes LB 66 Bill Bergey LB 55 Frank LeMaster LB 54 Drew Mahalic LB 20 John Outlaw LCB 46 Herman Edwards RCB 41 Randy Logan SS 26 John Sanders FS Kicking Team 1 Nick Mike-Mayer K 2 Mike Michel P 21 John Sciarra DB/PR 37 Billy Campfield RB/KRNFL 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, who took over placekicker duties when regular placekicker Nick Mike-Mayer got injured in week 12, missed a possible game winning field goal in closing seconds.
Awards and honors
Pro-Bowl Selections
League Leaders