22 of the Eagles’ best playoff moments

When the Eagles are in the playoffs, the city of Philadelphia has a certain buzz to it. The excitement, coupled with a smidge of trepidation, keeps us warm during the often frosty Northeastern climate of January and February.

Eagles fans have experienced it all — highs (Super Bowl 52) and lows (the Fog Bowl), blowouts and nail-biters, historic performances and inexplicable letdowns.

Here are the most memorable Eagles playoff moments, as chosen by The Inquirer’s Eagles writers and columnists.

Dec. 19, 1948

In a mid-December blizzard at Shibe Park, Eagles halfback Steve Van Buren plunges into the end zone in the fourth quarter for the game’s only score, and five of his game-high 98 yards during the 1948 NFL championship game against the Chicago Cardinals.

Chosen by: Marcus Hayes

Dec. 18, 1949

In the 1949 NFL championship game against the Los Angeles Rams on a rainy day that turned the L.A. Coliseum into a bog, Van Buren rushes for 198 muddy yards in a 14-0 win.

Chosen by: Marcus Hayes

Dec. 26, 1960

Pop quiz: Who scored the game-winning, come-from-behind TD on the day that the Eagles knocked off Vince Lombardi’s Packers at Franklin Field? It was Ted Dean, a Radnor High alumnus who was a rookie that season. Everyone remembers Norm Van Brocklin’s leadership and Chuck Bednarik’s tackle of Jim Taylor, but Dean deserves more recognition for his role in that memorable victory.

Chosen by: Mike Sielski

Jan. 11, 1981

Running on a sore knee, running back Wilbert Montgomery sprints 42 yards for a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage, the highlight of his 142-yard performance that led the Birds to their first Super Bowl.

Chosen by: Marcus Hayes and Jeff McLane

Dec. 31, 1988

If you want a symbol of the Eagles’ inability to win a Super Bowl for the first 51 years of the big game’s existence, there’s none better than the day that soupy mist rolled in off Lake Michigan, settled over Chicago’s Soldier Field, and blanketed the Eagles offense better than the Bears defense ever could. The game also includes Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham’s throwing a perfect pass to wide-open receiver Keith Jackson, only to watch him lose it in the fog.

Chosen by: Mark Sielski and EJ Smith

Jan. 3, 1993

Popular defensive tackle Jerome Brown died in a car accident in the summer of 1992, so the Eagles hang his No. 99 jersey in the visitors’ locker room at the Superdome, then beat the Saints, 36-20, in the 1992 NFC wild-card game.

Chosen by: Marcus Hayes

Dec. 30, 1995

The wildest wild-card game in Eagles history. During his pregame media availability, Lions tackle Lomas Brown dismissed the Eagles’ chances. And just as the clock is about to expire, wide receiver Carpenter hauls in that 43-yard rainbow from Eagles quarterback Rodney Peete, giving the Eagles’ a 31-point halftime lead. The Eagles defense forces seven turnovers as Veterans Stadium literally rocks (and sways). The Birds win, 58-37.

Chosen by: Marcus Hayes and Mike Sielski

Jan. 19, 2002

Although the Eagles had a nine-point lead with three minutes remaining in the game, McNabb’s scramble makes for the perfect ending of a 33-19 win at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

Chosen by: Josh Tolentino

Jan. 11, 2004

Trailing Brett Favre and the Packers by three with just over a minute to play, McNabb hits wide receiver Mitchell with a 28-yard pass that converts fourth-and-26 from the Eagles’ 26 and sets up the game-tying field goal. The Eagles win, 20-17, in overtime.

Chosen by: Marcus Hayes and EJ Smith

Jan. 23, 2005

With the Eagles holding an 11-point lead just before halftime, Dawkins pops Falcons tight end Crumpler on a pass from Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. Impressively, Crumpler holds onto the ball but is visibly shaken when attempting to stand up. Although the Falcons score on the next play, Dawkins’ hit sent Eagles fans into a frenzy. Crumpler doesn’t catch another pass all game. The Eagles dominate the second half, winning, 27-10, at Lincoln Financial Field.

Chosen by: Jeff McLane

Feb. 6, 2005

The Birds are outdueled by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, 24-21, in Super Bowl 39. Wide receiver Terrell Owens, who didn’t play in Eagles playoff wins over the Vikings and Falcons because of an ankle injury and surgery, catches nine passes for 122 yards. From the Eagles sideline, he looks at fans and yells his boast. He was right. The Patriots couldn’t stop him.

Chosen by: EJ Smith

Jan. 9, 2010

Before his final game as an Eagle, McNabb struts through a tunnel onto the field at AT&T Stadium, and NBC’s cameras catch him playing air guitar. The Cowboys then destroy the Eagles, 34-14, and McNabb is traded to Washington three months later. An inauspicious exit for one of the franchise’s greatest quarterbacks.

Chosen by: Mike Sielski

Jan. 13, 2018

A kooky play that maybe saved a Super Bowl run. With the Eagles down by four and driving late in the first half, quarterback Nick Foles overthrows tight end Zach Ertz downfield, and the ball sails right to Neal, one of Atlanta’s safeties. But Neal misjudges the throw, jumps to catch it when he doesn’t have to, and knees it, soccer-style, into the air and into the waiting hands of Eagles wide receiver Torrey Smith. The 20-yard reception leads to a field goal by kicker Jake Elliott. The Eagles then hold the Falcons scoreless in the second half and win, 15-10.

Chosen by: Mike Sielski

Jan. 21, 2018

It’s easy to remember the game as a beginning-to-end blowout for the Eagles. But it wasn’t. They were down, 7-0, and had gone four-and-out on their first offensive possession when cornerback Patrick Robinson picked off a wobbly pass from Vikings quarterback Case Keenum (courtesy of a Chris Long hit) and weaved 50 yards into the end zone. That play changed everything about that game.

Chosen by: Mike Sielski

Jan. 21, 2018

With the Eagles protecting a one-possession advantage late in the second quarter, Derek Barnett goes nearly untouched to strip-sack Keenum deep in Eagles territory. The Eagles defense dominates the entire game, allowing only one touchdown in a 38-7 romp.

Chosen by: Josh Tolentino

Jan. 21, 2018

Nothing about this play should have worked for the Eagles. A few plays after Barnett’s strip-sack, Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen bull-rushes Eagles guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai, driving Vaitai straight backward, and nearly bats the ball out of Foles’ right hand. Foles looks left, pumps twice, and looks right before heaving the ball to Jeffery, the Eagles’ slowest wide receiver. Yet somehow Foles never gets sacked, the Vikings forget to cover Jeffery, and the Eagles take a 14-point lead and control of the NFC title game.

Chosen by: Mike Sielski

Feb. 4, 2018

Late in the first quarter, Foles hits Alshon Jeffery in the end zone with a 34-yard touchdown pass that gives the Eagles a 10-point lead. It’s the first touchdown of the game for either team, proving to the Patriots that the Birds have an offense that can keep up with the Patriots offense and quarterback Tom Brady.

Chosen by: Marcus Hayes

Feb. 4, 2018

Quarterback Nick Foles, playing in place of Carson Wentz, suggests a fourth-and-goal trick play to Doug Pederson that involves all backup players and dupes Patriots head coach and defensive genius Bill Belichick: Foles lines up wide, backup running back Corey Clement receives a direct shotgun snap, flips to backup tight end Trey Burton on an end-around, who throws to Foles in the end zone to give the Eagles a 10-point lead with 34 seconds to play in the first half.

Chosen by: Marcus Hayes and Jeff McLane

Feb. 4, 2018

The play would be illegal now, but in the second quarter of Super Bowl LII, Jenkins ear-holes 1,000-yard Patriots receiver Brandin Cooks with an open-field hit that knocks Cooks out of the game.

Chosen by: Marcus Hayes

Feb. 4, 2018

Nick Foles’ third-quarter strike to Clement – over three New England defenders, in the back of the end zone, on third-and-6 – gives the Eagles a 10-point lead and is his best and most daring throw of the night.

Chosen by: Mike Sielski

Feb. 4, 2018

With the Eagles down one point with two minutes and change left to play, Foles finds Eagles tight end Ertz on a slant route. Ertz lunges into the end zone – the ball momentarily pops out of his hands, but he quickly snatches it back into his arms. The Birds fail to convert the two-point conversion but have a five-point lead.

Chosen by: EJ Smith

Feb. 4, 2018

With just over two minutes to play, clinging to a five-point lead, defensive end Brandon Graham moves inside, bull-rushes guard Shaq Mason into Tom Brady’s lap, then forces a fumble that teammate Derek Barnett recovers, which leads to the game-sealing field goal.

Chosen by: Marcus Hayes and Josh Tolentino