NFC East Rivalries (Redskins-Eagles)

&W ADVERTISING
SUPPLEMENT
By Michael Ricbman
1-95's Close
Encounters
wo teams about 100 miles apart. Same
division. One wears burgundy and
gold, the other green and white. And,
oh, they've been slugging it out for
exactly 70 years.
Add it up and what do you get? A
combustible rivalry featuring the
Washington Redskins and Philadelphia
Eagles, one of the oldest and most
compelling duels in NFL history.
Since first colliding in 1934, the
Redskins and Eagles have produced an
abundance of wild, bizarre and dramatic
games. From the league's formative
years, to the Eagles' 27-25 victory last
season when Redskins quarterback
Patrick Ramsey rallied Washington from
an 11-point deficit in the waning minutes
before misfiring on a conversion pass in
the final seconds, the Redskins and
In 1968, Phulr J WI llawkins
Eagles have enthralled football fans.
Just ask Redskins Hall of Fame quarterback Sonny Jurgensen, who played his first seven (18) battled Redskins Aaron
seasons in Philly before coming to Washington.
Martin (40) and Brig Owens.
"Look at how many close games the Redskins and Eagles have had over the years," says On the cover: Earnest Byner
Jurgensen, a long-time Redskins radio color analyst. "Regardless of the records, the games
squares off against
will still be close. You knew when you went to Philadelphia, it was going to be a very
Eric Allen in 1990.
physical game, a knock-down, drag-out fight. That's the city's culture. You knew it wasn't
going to be an easy day. Nobody was going to lay down."
Jim Gallagher, a former Eagles front-office official for nearly 50 years, says Philadelphians consider it a "big-time"
rivalry.
'The Redskins are right down 1-95,'' he says. "The Giants are just north of us on 95. We call it the 1-95 series. We've
always had a great rivalry with the Redskins, Giants and Cowboys. We don't like to lose to any of them. When we win, we
think it's a big win."
The biggest win in the series has gone to the Redskins. In the only playoff game between the teams, Washington earned
a 20-6 victory in January 1991 that was oh, so, sweet, for it redeemed the Redskins after a humiliating loss a few weeks
prior in the infamous "body bag" game. The win came at the height of the Redskins-Eagles rivalry, when Redskins coach
Joe Gibbs and his Eagles counterpart, Buddy Ryan, battled it out in the entertaining NFC East from 1986 to 1990, the
longest period when both teams have been true contenders.
The Redskins also hold the upper hand in one of the most lopsided trades in NFL history, the landmark 1964 deal that
brought quarterback Sonny Jurgensen to the Nation's Capital and sent quarterback Norm Snead to Philadelphia. Jurgensen
continued fortifying his Hall of Fame career with dazzling passing performances in D.C., while Snead was above average
at best, a distinction that long infuriated Philly fans.
As for the unruliest fans, former Redskins star running back Larry Brown categorically gives the nod to those in the City
T
I
To T I m
m A SPVCIAL #ISTOPICAL SUPPLEMENT
of Brotherly Love.
"They are by far the worst in the division," he says. "You don't have to be in
the stadium to find yourself in some altercation with a Philadelphia fan. They
treat their opponents poorly not only in the stadium, but it could be in the
parking lot or a public bar or restaurant. If they have some kind of way of
identifying that you're associated with the opponent, they can be very, very
nasty."
The Eagles have won 18 of the past 23 games against the Redskins and five in a row entering the 2004 season, while
establishing themselves as one of the NFL's elite teams. The picture was much different in the NFL's early days, when the
Redskins reached the NFL championship game six times and won twice from 1936 to 1945, and the Eagles were often
among the league's worst squads.
All the while, the Eastern Division foes generated histrionics when facing each other - and the unusual. Like when the
Redskins' Bob Masterson kicked a 10-yard field goal in the final seconds to account for a 30-27 win in 1942, or when the
Redskins' Joe Aguirre missed four extra points in a 3 1-31 tie in 1944.
The Redskins also clipped the Eagles in D.C., on Dec. 7, 1941, in what's called the world's most forgotten football
game. Around game time at 2 p.m. (8 a.m. PST), the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Midway through the first
quarter, the public address
announcer began sending
puzzling and ominous messages
over the loud speaker,
summoning admirals, generals,
cabinet officers, ambassadors
and government officials to
their offices in Washington. By
the third quarter, an estimated
3,000 of the 27,100 fans had
left eerily silent Griffith
Stadium.
By the mid- 1940s, the Eagles
began to dominate the rivalry
and won eight straight games at
one point behind a highpowered offense led by Hall of
Fame running back Steve Van
Buren. Those wins included:
I a 1946 comeback from a 24-0
deficit, the largest second-half
lead the Redskins have ever
relinquished;
H a 45-42 victory in 1947, the
highest single-game scoring
Brian Mitchell (1999 photo)
total in NFL history at the time (87 points); and
wound up playing quarteddc
H a 45-0 demolition of Washington
in 1948. the worst renular-season
loss at the time
"
"
in the 1990 'body bag' game.
in Redskins history.
The Eagles - NFL champions in 1948 and 1949 - were angling for a return to the
title game in 1952. But the Redskins said no way.
Washington's 27-21 season-ending upset spoiled the Eagles' bid. Redskins quarterback Eddie LeBaron threw a
touchdown pass to star receiver Bones Taylor to tie the game at 2 1 with less than five minutes left. Philadelphia needed a
win to capture the division, but Washington's defense held the Eagles on downs in their own territory. LeBaron then
sneaked in from one yard out for the win.
"We were on the l-yard line, and I can remember one of the Eagles players saying, 'Oh, please don't score on us, you'll
give the division title to the Browns,"' LeBaron says.
Three years later, the rivals crafted one of the most bizarre sequences in NFL history when the Redskins erased a 16-0
deficit in two minutes, 17 seconds. The comeback began when Washington recovered a fumble on the Eagles' 32, and
W L TO THE l-KlW
A SPECIAL HISTORICAL SUPPLEMENT
'w ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
LeBaron threw a touchdown pass to
back Vic Janowicz on the next play.
The ensuing kickoff appeared headed
out of bounds and, while the Eagles
watched to see which way it would go,
the Redskins' Ralph Thomas pounced
on the ball at the 2 and slid into the end
zone. Philadelphia fumbled the kickoff,
Redskins linebacker (and future
assistant coach) Lavern "Torgy"
Torgeson recovered and Janowicz ran
for a touchdown.
Final score: 3 1-30 Redskins.
"It was a unique experience,"
LeBaron says. "We made some good
plays, but you never expect the other
team not to recover the ball in the end
Wilbur Moore slips behind the
zone on a kickoff. Those were great things that went our way, terrible things for
Philadelphia."
Philly defense in a 1943 game
Philly won another championship in 1960 behind legendary quarterback Norm Van
at Griffith Stadium.
Brocklin. He then retired, opening the door for a rifle-armed passer with a trigger
Below left: Raleigh McKenzie (63)
release named Sonny Jurgensen.
takes on Mike Pitts in 1988.
Jurgensen became a star, throwing for NFL highs of 235 completions, 2,723 yards
and 32 touchdowns in 1961. He bedeviled the Redskins, then en route to their worst
season ever at 1-12-1, by throwing for two scores in a 14-7 win and hitting Hall of Fame receiver Tommy McDonald with a
last-second touchdown pass in a 27-24 Eagles victory.
By the 1964 offseason, Jurgensen became part of "the swap." New Eagles coach Joe Kuharich, a former Redskins head
coach, overhauled his roster by trading away such stars as Jurgensen and McDonald. Jurgy went to Washington in exchange
for Norm Snead, who had passed for 5,300 yards in three seasons in D.C. Redskins coach Bill McPeak considered
Jurgensen one of the league's top three passers, along with Baltimore's Johnny Unitas and New York's Y.A. Tittle.
Jurgensen, about to enter his eighth season, says he didn't want to be traded. "I was shocked. It happened on April Fool's
Day. Somebody told me, and I thought they were kidding, putting me on. I'd just
met Kuharich, and I didn't know anything about it. But it was the best thing to
1 happen to me."
D.C. fans also loved No. 9, who became a leader on an explosive offense that
also showcased receivers Charley Taylor and Bobby Mitchell, both Hall of
Famers, and gifted tight end Jerry Smith. While riddling defenses throughout the
league, Jurgensen carried a special incentive when playing the Eagles. In his first
game against Philadelphia on Oct. 11, 1964, he threw five scoring passes in a
35-20 Redskins victory.
A All along, many Eagles fans resented what was a very unpopular trade in
Philadelphia, says Ray Didinger, a producer at NFL Films and long-time Eagles
beat reporter. "Snead was not exactly welcomed with open arms," Didinger said.
"Then Jurgensen put up huge numbers in Washington, and the fans kept saying,
'Look at what he's doing down there.' Norm always seemed to suffer in
1 comparison."
The Redskins and Eagles struggled for most of the '60s. But when the
Redskins became formidable in the '70s, reaching the playoffs five times with
w
-
r-
HAIL TO THE REOSKINS A SPECIAL HISTORICAL SUPPLEMENT
AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
one Super Bowl appearance, they beat the Eagles almost week after week. That changed with the arrival in Philly of coach
Dick Vermeil, who guided the Eagles to four straight playoff appearances, including one Super Bowl, through the 1981
season.
But the Redskins, winners of eight of their last 11 games in 1981 under first-year coach Joe Gibbs, delivered a 37-34
shocker in the 1982 season-opener at Veterans Stadium.
Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann was sharp with 28 of 39 completions for 382 yards and three touchdowns,
bringing his squad back from the
brink of defeat time after time.
Redskins kicker Mark Moseley
hit a 48-yard field goal to tie the
game at the end of regulation and
a 26-yarder to win it in overtime.
Once the latter kick split the
uprights, an elated Gibbs leaped
into Theismann's arms.
Gibbs calls it one of the biggest
games during his first stint in
Washington, when the Redskins
went to four Super Bowls and
won three. "They'd been to the
Super Bowl two years before, so
to open up like that at their place
was great," he said. "That was
probably our key game that year,
kind of established us for the first
time as somebody that might win
the division."
The Redskins did more than
that in the 1982 season. They beat
the Dolphins 27-17 in Super
Bowl XVII for the franchise's
first NFL championship in 40 years.
James Thrash (87) has seen the
More wild games were in store. Case in point: The Redskins held a 20-0 first-quarter
rivalry from both perspectives.
lead over the Eagles in a 1989 game, before wilting under an All-Pro performance by
elusive Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham. He posted team records of 34
completions and 447 yards, plus five scoring passes, one of which cut the Redskins' lead to 37-35 with 1 5 0 left.
Redskins running back Gerald Riggs, who rushed for a team-record 221 yards that day, ran 58 yards to the Eagles 22 on
the next possession. But he fumbled soon after, and defensive back Wes Hopkins gained control of the ball and raced 77
yards down the sideline to the Redskins' 7 before a mortified crowd at RFK. Cunningham then found tight end Keith
Jackson for the winning score to climax one of the strangest games in Redskins history.
"We were just icing it at the end when Riggs fumbled," Gibbs remembers. "That ball was one foot from going out of
bounds, and they picked it up. It's unbelievable. That was one of the toughest losses I've ever had. We had more than 400
yards of offense and lost the game."
The Redskins also committed six turnovers against an Eagles defense transformed by Ryan - the architect of the famed
46 defense that shaped the Bears into a juggernaut in their Super Bowl-winning season in 1985 - into one nasty bunch.
The Eagles rode their defense to vie with the Redskins and the Bill Parcells-coached Giants for frst place in the NFC East
from the mid-1980s until 1990, a triangular situation that made for intriguing Sundays. Gibbs defeated Ryan eight of 11
F'!
3
HAIL TO THE REDSKINS A SPECIAL HISTORICAL SUPPLEMENT
AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT
1
times.
That Philly defense pounded the Redskins in the "body bag game," a 28-14
Eagles Monday Night victory at Veterans Stadium on Nov. 12, 1990. Nine
Redskins left the field with injuries, including starting quarterback Jeff Rutledge
and backup Stan Humphries. Rookie running back Brian Mitchell, a quarterback
in college at Southwest Louisiana, was forced into action.
The embarrassed Redskins would have a chance for revenge in a wild card playoff game at Veterans Stadium on Jan. 5,
1991. The Eagles were chest-thumping in the days prior, thinking they would obliterate the Redskins in light of their
dominance in the "body bag" game. The brash and bombastic Ryan,
for his part, predicted that Redskins running back Earnest Byner
would fumble the ball three times. When informed by the press at
Redskins Park of Ryan's comment, the dignified Gibbs refused to
respond.
Indeed, Gibbs and company took care of business on game day,
manhandling the Eagles 20-6 in a game that wasn't that close.
Although retribution was at hand, the Redskins refused to taunt.
Offensive line coach Jim Hanifan remembers a few players, including
guard Russ Grimm, walking on the sidelines saying, "Nobody say
anything bad. Let's not even talk about it." NFL Films caught Gibbs
in the post-game locker room imploring his troops to "win with
style." His adversary, Ryan, was fired a few days later.
Did Gibbs say anything beforehand to remind his players of the
"body bag" game? "When you get your clock cleaned like that, all
we had to do was show the film," he says. "Probably the biggest
motivating factor is to whip somebody really good, and they'll
remember it. That's about as excited as our football team had been in
a while. It stemmed more from having your rear end kicked."
These days, the Eagles are armed with a quarterback Gibbs says
reminds him a little of Cunningham - scrambler Donovan McNabb
- and two-time NFL Coach of the Year Andy Reid. McNabb has
tormented the Redskins, like when he rushed for 125 yards, the
highest total for an Nm, quarterback in nearly three decades, in a 23-20 Eagles win
Darrell Green returns 8 punt in the
that crippled the Redskins' playoff chances in 2000.
1986 opener at RFK Stadium.
Gibbs says he's not looking forward to facing McNabb or Reid, sparks behind the
53
is linebacker Dwayne Jiles.
No.
Eagles reaching the NFC championship game the past three years.
"They've been dominating the NFC East," Gibbs says. "They've pretty much had
their say in this division. So you've got to rate them as the favorite. Andy Reid's doing a terrific job up there. They have a
great quarterback, he's hard to get down and he makes plays all over the place. They just keep coming at you on defense.
They're relentless."
- -
---
-- - -
-
- -- -
Red Cloud. Red Thunder. Red Eagle. Redlands. Red mud.
"The tern reciskin, applied by Europeans to Algonquians in general and the Delawares in
particular," says the Reader's Digest in its book America's Fascinbting Indian Heritage, "was inspired
fat
not by their natuml complexion but by their fondness for vermilion makeup, concocted f i ~ m
mixed wifh beny juice and minerals that provided the desired color." The men "would streak their
aces andbodies with bright red ocher and bloadroot," adds the Reader's Digest.
Indians painted their skin for decorative and ceremoniaI purposes. 'Xed is generally accepted as.
king one of the colars most easily available to and most used by Indians," as Ronald P. Koch states
n his book Dress Clothing ofrhe Plains Indiam.
1
m!L TO THE REDSKIN8 A SPECIAL HISTORICAL SUPPLEMENT