Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

My Favorite Games – The 90’s

Posted June 18th, 2026 | No Comments »

I thought it might be a fun exercise to go through each decade from the 90’s on and highlight my favorite game from each season. It is always fun to look back to the good games of the past.

1990 – PHI 28, WAS 14

The Body Bag Game. Part of me feels guilty for choosing a game that featured so many injuries. Certainly I don’t want to see anyone get hurt. But it was fun to watch this game and see all the big hits and crazy plays. The Eagles knocked out QBs Jeff Rutledge and Stan Humphries, forcing RB (and future Eagle) Brian Mitchell to go under center.  The Eagles only gained 262 yards, but limited WAS to just 200. Buddy Ryan’s defense came up with 3 takeaways, scoring a pair of TDs. William Frizell had a pick-six and Clyde Simmons returned a fumble for a TD. Heath Sherman did run for 124 yards for the Birds. This was not a pretty game by any stretch. It was a brutal, violent game between division rivals, a reminder of football from a different era.

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1991 – PHI 13, HOU 6 

The House of Pain Game. Buddy Ryan was no longer coaching the Eagles, but the defense didn’t get worse. It got better under new DC Bud Carson. He was able to keep Buddy’s aggression while mixing in some new ideas. Seth Joyner had a breakout season, highlighted by his performance in this game. He was the best LB in the league in ’91. Houston ran an offense called the Run ‘n Shoot. You might think of it like the Air Raid offense you see in colleges these days. It featured 4 WRs and a RB, but no TE. The Oilers, led by star QB Warren Moon, had an explosive offense that finished the season 4th in points and 2nd in yards. The Eagles held them to just 6 points and 247 yards, both season lows. Carson put together a brilliant gameplan and his players executed it to perfection.

The Oilers loved throwing the ball down the field on intermediate routes. This worked great unless you had guys like Andre Waters and Wes Hopkins to punish the receivers. And that’s just what they did. The hits would get them kicked out of the league these days, but that was a different era. Those hits made the receivers nervous about crossing the middle. Combining that with a fierce pass rush and Joyner’s big plays and you had team defense at its best.

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1992 – PHI 31, DAL 7

The Eagles were 3-0 and looked like one of the best teams in the league. Dallas was also 3-0, making this a key showdown. And like the previous two games, it was on Monday Night Football. The hype leading up to the game was huge in Philly. There was Super Bowl talk, with a dominant defense and a healthy Randall Cunningham. You also had a star RB in Herschel Walker. Everything was coming together and this game would show just how good the Eagles could be.

Normally this is where I tell you they disappointed us with a flat performance or mistake-filled game. Not this time. The Eagles were everything we hoped for. The defense had 4 sacks and 4 takeaways. They held Emmitt Smith to 19-67 on the ground. Randall ran for a TD. Walker ran for 86 yards and a pair of TDs. Keith Byars added a rushing TD late in the game. The Eagles controlled the LOS on both sides of the ball. It was a glorious night. The Eagles were dominant and many of us started making Super Bowl plans. Alas, the bad performance came the next week in a frustrating loss to KC and the season went erratic after that. But on this night, the Eagles were special and it was a great feeling.

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1993 – PHI 35, NYJ 30

One of the wildest Eagles games ever. They came into the game 3-0, but needed fourth quarter comebacks to win the previous two weeks. This wasn’t a great team at all, but started to feel like a team of destiny. Randall got hurt in this game and missed the rest of the season. Ditto for Fred Barnett. But Bubby Brister threw a pair of TDs and the team kept making timely plays.

One of the best pick-sixes of all time. And notice Allen went to the back of the end zone and gave the ball to RC, who was already on crutches. Jets TE Johnny Mitchell played the game of his life, going 7-146-3. Life without Reggie White was no bueno.

Here are the NFL Films highlights.

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1994 – PHI 40, SF 8 

I remember being nervous about this game. The Eagles never seemed at their best against SF. The Niners were 3-1, with all three wins by double digits. I settled in for the late afternoon affair and saw the Eagles put an epic beatdown on SF. An offense with Steve Young, Jerry Rice and Ricky Watters was held to 189 yards and 8 points. Steve Young was pulled from the game to avoid getting hurt. William Fuller, a highly underrated Eagle, sacked him in the end zone for a safety and that was a great moment. Eric Allen and DT Andy Harmon both had INTs. Rookie Charlie Garner was 16-111-2 and showed the kind of juice we hadn’t seen since Wilbert Montgomery. Randall had a terrific day and somehow Calvin Williams was the best WR on the field, going 9-122. What a friggin day.

SF went on to win the SB. The Eagles started 7-2, but lost the final seven games of the year. But on this day, they were special.

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1995 – PHI 37, WAS 34 in OT

Another wild game. The Eagles piled up 524 yards of offense, with 272 of them coming on the ground. Ricky Watters, now a good guy, was the workhorse, going 25-139. Charlie Garner was the playmaker, going 9-120-3. Watters was 11-90 as a receiver. The Skins had no answer for him. This was Thunder and Lightning at their peak. WAS only gained 291 yards, but still managed to take the game to OT. STs were the big issue. Brian Mitchell had a 59-yard PR for a score and averaged 43 yards per KOR. Yikes. I need to go back and re-watch the whole game. This was a highly entertaining shootout with a ton of big plays from both sides.

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1996 – PHI 31, DAL 21

The Cowboys were reigning champs. They were at home. But they were only 5-3 and in second place behind the 6-2 Eagles. In comes little old Philly that you just know is ripe to be beaten. Ty Detmer, Irving Fryar and Troy Vincent had other ideas. All three of them stepped up in a big way. Detmer threw for 217 yards and managed the game. He threw one TD and ran for another. Fryar went 9-120-1, outplaying some guy named Deion Sanders.

The Eagles led 24-21 late in the game. Dallas got inside the 5-yard line with less than a minute when magic happened. MLB James Willis picked off a pass in the end zone and started running. He lateraled the ball to Vincent, who took it 90 yards for a TD. I watched this in a sports bar and the place erupted on that play. Eagles fans drove home honking their horns and celebrating a great win. Another magical afternoon with the Birds.

Here are the highlights.

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1997 – PHI 44, CIN 42

This was another shootout involving Boomer Esiason. He wasn’t good enough to handle the heat that future HOF Bobby Hoying had for him that day. Boomer threw for 378 yards and 4 TDs. Hoying threw for 313 yards and 4 TDs, but also ran for 62 yards. Call him Randall Jr. The Eagles ran for 196 yards. Irving Fryar had a big day, going 7-122 as Hoying’s primary target. This was a day where defense was optional for both teams. This performance got Eagles Nation super excited about Hoying’s future, but unfortunately this was his peak. For one shining day, he was a legit star.

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1998 – PHI 10, DET 9

Finding a favorite game from this year was not easy.  The Eagles went 3-13 and had a dreadful offense, scoring a grand total of 161 points for the season. Bad doesn’t begin to describe things. Both teams came out of this game with a record of 2-7, so that should give you an idea of how bad things were. Charlie Garner went 16-129-1 and young Duce Staley was 17-89. He also caught 7 passes. Bobby Hoying went 15-21 for 97 yards. Talk about Checkdown Charlie. Ugh. New Eagle Hugh Douglas had 2.5 sacks to lead the defense.

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1999 – PHI 35, WAS 28

The first start for one Donovan McNabb. He only threw for 60 yards and ran for just 49, but McNabb protected the ball and made some timely plays. Jim Johnson’s defense had 6 takeaways and sacked Brad Johnson 4 times. Allen Rossum returned a KO 89 yards for a TD. Duce Staley was 28-122-1 and served as the workhorse. This wasn’t a sexy win, but showed the potential the team had now that a good coaching staff was in place and they finally had a franchise QB. The next decade or so turned out to be pretty darn good.

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Let me know if you like this idea for a series.

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More Depth

Posted June 17th, 2026 | No Comments »

Howie Roseman isn’t always the most secretive guy. He said earlier this offseason that he wanted better depth at cornerback. Last year’s team just didn’t have it and got lucky that injuries weren’t a major factor.

On Tuesday the Eagles added another CB to help bolster depth. They signed Shaun Wade, who has three years of NFL experience and just had a good season in the UFL.

Wade has good size at 6-1, 196. He has played in 20 NFL games, starting 6 of them. He can play in the slot or outside. He played for the Pats from 2021-2023, after being a fifth round pick out of Ohio State. He was with the Chargers practice squad in 2024 and then got signed by the Bears last summer, but ended up on IR.

In order to make room for Wade, the Eagles cut DB Brandon Johnson and put Joe Tryon-Shoyinka on the Reserve/Retired List. JTS has now served as the veteran who comes to Philly and calls it quits. He had a concussion late last year. That may have affected his desire to play. Hopefully whatever the reason, he’s okay.

It is interesting that both veteran CBs added this offseason, Jonathan Jones and Wade, are former Patriots. They played for secondary coach Mike Pellegrino, who was the CBs coach in NE from 2019-2024.

The secondary was good last year, but looks even better now.

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The Eagles released a video of rookies Makai Lemon, Eli Stowers and Uar Bernard on their first days in Philly. It was fun to be able to see Lemon in action at practice. You can see his quickness, body control and quick hands. I look forward to seeing him this summer.

There isn’t as much of Stowers and Bernard, but you do get glimpses of their athleticism.

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Jeff McLane wrote an excellent piece on Julian Lurie, the heir apparent to Jeffrey Lurie.

(Julian) Lurie is not just Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie’s only son, he is his successor. And while that reality has caused occasional challenges since he took a formal role in the family business four years ago — and as management navigates his increasing influence — many key figures within the organization believe the younger Lurie already has been an asset.

“He is really smart. He’s very creative. He’s very empathetic,” an Eagles source said. “He’s really good at putting himself in other people’s shoes. He’s fair, and he listens and is making a real attempt to understand everything about the organization.”

Ownership has been a key part of the Eagles success over the past 30 years. Jeffrey has done a great job of hiring coaches in that time, with multiple Coach of the Year winners and multiple Super Bowl winners. Not many owners could say that. Chip Kelly is the worst hire and he went 26-21. That’s pretty crazy.

Jeffrey came to Philly as a Boston guy and lifelong Pats fan. He had to learn about Philly and the Eagles. Julian has the advantage that he’s been a Philly/Eagles guy his whole life. That’s important. You want someone who appreciates the special culture here. You want someone who is emotionally invested in the team and not just maximizing profits. This is certainly an encouraging quote.

“If I lived in Philadelphia and I was an Eagles fan, I would feel really good about him as a steward of the franchise in the future,” a team source said. “I really do think he cares about the team and the city and the players.”

Jeffrey isn’t planning to retire anytime soon, but he is doing what he can to make sure Julian is ready when the time comes.

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There is some chatter about the Eagles being hot after Maxx Crosby. This isn’t coming from any well-known sources so I would ignore it. Howie is always looking to upgrade the roster, but I don’t think Howie makes a big deal unless it is too good to pass up. And I don’t see the Raiders offering a discount on Crosby.

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