Earlier I stated that in both the 1980 and 2004 conference championship victories, the Philadelphia Eagles left allot of points on the field. Often this spells a loss but the Eagles were good enough in each game to survive the mistakes. It was otherwise with the following two Post Season Games. Both were at Veterans Stadium.
In both games below, the defense performed below the levels during the season. Lest I be too critical, the offense did even worse. The defense simply had too much playing time and not much of a lead to work with. As always, sacks were a major determinate of who wins.
1990 Washington Redskins
This was the scene of the Body Bag game two months earlier. I looked forward to more of the same. On the first two possessions, Randall Cunningham threw long completions to Keith Jackson deep in Redskins territory. Both times the Birds settled for field goals and a 6 to 0 lead. Following the kickoff, Eric Allen intercepted Mark Rypien at midfield. The Eagles went three and out and did nothing thereafter. The Eagle defense, a monster during the regular season, did not get a sack. Meanwhile, the Redskins had five sacks for 35 yards. Redskins 20 Eagles 6.
Perhaps the Eagles gloated too much over the 28 to 14 win in November. For the third straight year, we lost the first round of the playoffs. Philadelphia also lost Buddy Ryan after the game.
2002 Playoffs vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Eagles won during the season 20 to 10
The Eagles had defeated Tampa Bay four consecutive times. This included victories in the playoffs the two previous seasons. All of these wins were easy with the exception of a throw away game the last weekend of 2001. The Eagles were coasting in that game and still won.
On their first two series, the Bucs went three and out and punted to Brian Mitchell. He returned the first punt to the Tampa 20. Duce Staley ran those yards for a touchdown. One offensive play and a 7 to 0 lead. Mitchell took the second punt to the Tampa Bay 45. The Eagles now went three out. Now Bobby Taylor intercepted Brad Johnson and giving the Eagles the ball at the Buccaneer 40. The Eagles went three and out again. Philadelphia did almost nothing the rest of the game. I still believe the Donovan McNabb was not fully recovered from the broken ankle in November. Bucs 27 Eagles 10.