1978 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1978 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's 46th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Eagles reached the postseason for the first time since their championship-winning season in 1960, 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 or Green Bay Packers to lose - both teams ended up losing and thus earned a wild card entry. This was also the first season since 1966 in which the franchise finished the season with a winning record.

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 NFC 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 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 number 1 overall pick in the draft was taken by the Houston Oilers who selected the 1977 Heisman Trophy winner, Earl Campbell^[2] a running back out of the University of Texas

Future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, in 2006, Warren Moon, 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.

= Pro Bowler [3]

= Hall of Famer

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	8	Pick Traded to Cincinnati Bengals
2	35	Pick Traded to Cincinnati Bengals
3	66	Reggie Wilkes	Linebacker	Georgia Tech
4	92	Dennis Harrison	Defensive tackle	Vanderbilt
5	118	Pick Traded to Kansas City Chiefs
5	130	Norris Banks Acquired Pick	Running back	Kansas
6	145	Pick Traded to Buffalo Bills
7	176	Pick Traded to Oakland Raiders
7	186	Greg Marshall Acquired Vikings Pick	Defensive tackle	Oregon State
8	204	Pick traded to Minnesota Vikings
9	230	Charles Williams	Defensive back	Jackson State
10	261	Pick traded to Cleveland Browns
11	288	Billy Campfield	Running back	Kansas
12	315	Mark Slater	Center	Minnesota

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.^[4]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 3	Los Angeles Rams	L 14–16	0–1	Veterans Stadium	64,721
2	September 10	at Washington Redskins	L 30–35	0–2	RFK Stadium	54,380
3	September 17	at New Orleans Saints	W 24–17	1–2	Louisiana Superdome	49,242
4	September 24	Miami Dolphins	W 17–3	2–2	Veterans Stadium	62,998
5	October 1	at Baltimore Colts	W 17–14	3–2	Memorial Stadium	50,314
6	October 8	at New England Patriots	L 14–24	3–3	Schaefer Stadium	61,016
7	October 15	Washington Redskins	W 17–10	4–3	Veterans Stadium	65,722
8	October 22	at Dallas Cowboys	L 7–14	4–4	Texas Stadium	60,525
9	October 29	St. Louis Cardinals	L 10–16	4–5	Veterans Stadium	62,989
10	November 5	Green Bay Packers	W 10–3	5–5	Veterans Stadium	64,214
11	November 12	New York Jets	W 17–9	6–5	Veterans Stadium	60,249
12	November 19	at New York Giants	W 19–17	7–5	Giants Stadium	70,318
13	November 26	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 14–10	8–5	Busch Memorial Stadium	39,693
14	December 3	at Minnesota Vikings	L 27–28	8–6	Metropolitan Stadium	38,722
15	December 10	Dallas Cowboys	L 13–31	8–7	Veterans Stadium	64,667
16	December 17	New York Giants	W 20–3[5]	9–7	Veterans Stadium	56,396

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game recap

Week 1 vs LA Rams

Week 3 at NO Saints

• Television: CBS
• Announcers: Gary Bender and Hank Stram

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 to Tinker Owens Touchdown connection, a nine-yard score from fullback Tony Galbreath and a 21-yard field goal by Rich Szaro. 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 and Roman Gabriel

Colts quarterback Bill Troup moved Baltimore 71 yards in nine plays for the first touchdown, on a two-yard run by Roosevelt Leaks, 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 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 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 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.

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP PHI NYG 1 Giants Hammond 19-yard touchdown reception from Pisarcik, Danelo kick good 0 7 1 Giants Perkins 30-yard touchdown reception from Pisarcik, Danelo kick good 0 14 2 Eagles Montgomery 8-yard touchdown run, kick no good 6 14 3 Giants 37-yard field goal by Danelo 6 17 4 Eagles Hogan 1-yard touchdown run, kick no good 12 17 4 0:20 Eagles Fumble recovery returned 26 yards for touchdown by Herm Edwards, Michel kick good 19 17 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 19 17

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 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.

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys(2)	12	4	0	.750	7–1	9–3	384	208	W6
Philadelphia Eagles(5)	9	7	0	.563	4–4	6–6	270	250	W1
Washington Redskins	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–6	273	283	L5
St. Louis Cardinals	6	10	0	.375	3–5	6–6	248	296	W1
New York Giants	6	10	0	.375	2–6	5–9	264	298	L1

Roster

NO.	Player	AGE	POS	GP	GS	WT	HT	YRS	College
	Dick Vermeil	40	Head coach					3	San Jose State
38	Larry Barnes	24	RB	7	0	220	5–11	1	Tennessee State
66	Bill Bergey*	33	LB	16	16	243	6–4	9	Arkansas State
34	James Betterson	24	RB	9	0	210	6–0	1	North Carolina
25	Bill Bryant	27	DB	3	0	195	5–11	2	Grambling State
95	John Bunting	28	LB	6	6	220	6–1	6	North Carolina
67	Lem Burnham	31	DE	15	0	236	6–4	1	U.S. International
37	Billy Campfield	22	RB	16	2	200	5–11	Rookie	Kansas
17	Harold Carmichael*	29	WR-TE	16	16	225	6–8	7	Southern
71	Ken Clarke	22	NT-DT	16	0	268	6–2	Rookie	Syracuse
46	Herman Edwards	24	DB	16	16	194	6–0	1	California and San Diego State
13	Rick Engles	24	P	6	0	177	5–11	2	Tulsa
30	Cleveland Franklin	23	RB	16	4	216	6–2	1	Baylor
53	Dennis Franks	25	C	16	0	241	6–1	2	Michigan
64	Ed George	32	T	16	0	270	6–4	3	Ferrum, Wake Forest
33	Louie Giammona	25	RB	7	0	180	5–9	2	Utah State
78	Carl Hairston	26	DE-DT-LB	16	16	260	6–3	2	Md-Eastern Shore
68	Dennis Harrison	22	DE	16	6	275	6–8	Rookie	Vanderbilt
89	Wally Henry	24	WR	3	0	175	5–8	1	UCLA
35	Mike Hogan	24	RB	14	12	213	6–2	2	Tennessee-Chattanooga
23	Bob Howard	34	DB	10	6	174	6–2	11	Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and San Diego State
7	Ron Jaworski	27	QB	16	16	196	6–2	4	Youngstown State
65	Charlie Johnson	26	NT	16	16	266	6–3	1	Colorado
49	Eric Johnson	26	DB	16	0	192	6–1	1	Washington State
72	Wade Key	32	G-T	13	12	245	6–5	8	Texas, Texas State
84	Keith Krepfle	26	TE	10	10	227	6–3	3	Iowa State
88	Bill Larson	25	TE	5	1	225	6–4	3	Colorado State
55	Frank LeMaster	26	LB	16	16	232	6–2	4	Kentucky
41	Randy Logan	27	DB	16	16	195	6–1	5	Michigan
63	Tom Luken	28	G	16	6	253	6–3	6	Purdue
32	Herb Lusk	25	RB	3	0	190	6–0	2	Long Beach State
54	Drew Mahalic	25	LB	9	8	225	6–4	3	Notre Dame
2	Mike Michel	24	P-K	10	0	177	5–10	1	Stanford
81	Oren Middlebrook	25	WR	16	0	185	6–2	Rookie	Arkansas State
1	Nick Mike-Mayer	28	K	12	0	186	5–8	5	Temple
31	Wilbert Montgomery*	24	RB	14	14	196	5–10	1	Abilene Christian and Jackson State
50	Guy Morriss	27	C	16	16	255	6–4	5	TCU
57	Mike Osborn	23	LB	16	1	235	6–5	Rookie	Kansas State
86	Richard Osborne	25	TE	16	7	230	6–3	2	Texas A&M
20	John Outlaw	33	DB	14	8	180	5–10	9	Jackson State
83	Vince Papale	32	WR	13	0	195	6–2	2	St. Joseph's (PA) Played no college football
82	Ken Payne	28	WR	16	9	185	6–1	4	Langston
69	Woody Peoples	35	G	15	14	252	6–2	10	Grambling State
52	Ray Phillips	24	LB	10	4	224	6–4	1	Nebraska
26	John Sanders	28	DB	15	15	175	6–1	4	South Dakota
21	John Sciarra	24	DB-QB	16	2	185	5–11	Rookie	UCLA
76	Jerry Sisemore	27	T-G	16	16	265	6–4	5	Texas
79	Manny Sistrunk	31	DT-DE	16	10	269	6–5	8	Ark-Pine Bluff
85	Charlie A. Smith	28	WR	14	5	185	6–1	4	Grambling State
58	Terry Tautolo	24	LB	16	2	232	6–2	2	UCLA
75	Stan Walters*	30	T	16	16	275	6–6	6	Syracuse
11	John Walton	31	QB	4	0	210	6–2	2	Elizabeth City State
51	Reggie Wilkes	22	LB	16	13	235	6–4	Rookie	Georgia Tech
47	Charles Williams	25	DB	7	1	180	6–1	Rookie	Jackson State
	53 Players Team Average	26.7		16		217.9	6–1.8	3.1

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, 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 Coach of the Year: Dick Vermeil

League Leaders^[6]

• Harold Carmichael, NFC Leader, Receiving Yards – 1072 ^[7]
• Wilbert Montgomery, NFC Leader, Rushing Avg – 4.6

References

External links

• Eagles on Pro Football Reference
• Eagles on jt-sw.com
• Eagles on Eagles.net