Counting down the 10 greatest defensive plays in Eagles history: Part 1 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The day Brandon Graham announced his retirement, Dave Zangaro and I were chatting on the Eagle Eye podcast about his fabulous career, and one of us wondered aloud where his strip sack of Tom Brady in Super Bowl LII would rank among all defensive plays in Eagles history.
We tossed that around a bit, but it was too good a topic to let go of. So I figured I’d spend a little time putting together a list of the top 10 defensive plays in Eagles history.
Before we start counting down the top 10, let’s talk about a few plays we considered that didn’t make the cut.
You can make a case for Sheldon Brown’s earth-shattering hit on Reggie Bush in the Eagles-Saints playoff game at the Superdome in 2006. But the Saints won the game.
You can make a case for Jalen Mills’ coverage on Julio Jones in the end zone in the final seconds of the 2017 NFC Championship Game at the Linc. But Jones slipped on the play, got up and still had a chance to make a catch, but Matt Ryan overthrew him and Mills was there but didn’t really do anything.
You can make a case for the 73- and 96-yard fumble returns by Chris Clemons and Joselio Hanson three minutes apart in the historic 44-6 win over the Cowboys at the Linc on the final day of the 2008 season that improbably catapulted the Eagles into the playoffs. But it was already 27-3 when Tony Romo and Marion Barber fumbled.
So that leaves 10 plays, two from this year’s Super Bowl run, two from the 2017 Super Bowl run, one from the 2004 postseason, one from 1960 and four from the 1990s.
We’ll count down from No. 10 to No. 6 today and share the top five on Saturday.
10. Jalen Carter, the closer
Jan. 19, 2025
NFC conference semifinal, Lincoln Financial Field
Eagles 28, Rams 22
A 28-15 lead with 4 ½ minutes left had become a 28-22 lead, and the Rams, who couldn’t get much of anything going for 57 minutes, were driving again toward a potential game-winning touchdown. It all seemed to be slipping away for the Eagles. Matt Stafford’s TD pass to tight end Colby Parkinson made it a one-possession game with 2:53 left, and after the Eagles quickly went 3-and-out, the Rams got the ball back with 2:23 left at their own 18-yard-line. Stafford quickly hit a few short passes, then a 37-yarder to Puca Nacua all the way down to the Eagles’ 21-yard-line with 91 seconds left. A short pass to Cooper Kupp (his final catch as a Ram), a false start and a 10-yard completion to Nacua left the Rams with 3rd-and-2 on the Eagles’ 13-yard-line with 1:14 on the clock. The Rams were 13 yards away from ending the Eagles’ Super Bowl dreams, and Stafford couldn’t miss. After throwing for 185 yards on the Rams’ first 10 drives, he had thrown for 146 on the last two. With the season on the line, Jalen Carter showed up in a huge way. On that third down, he overpowered right guard Kevin Dotson, and the 36-year-old Stafford never had a chance. Carter’s nine-yard sack left the Rams with a 4th-and-12 and on their final snap, Carter again pressured Stafford, forcing an incomplete pass that Nacua had no shot at near the right sideline. Ballgame. Carter finished his best game as a pro with five tackles, two sacks, three quarterback hurries, two pass deflections and a forced fumble, and the Eagles were off to the NFC Championship Game.
What Jalen Carter said: “I thought I had a good rush in mind,” Carter said. “I did that rush and got a sack on it. It wasn’t really nothing special but it worked two times in a row.”
9. Dawk crumples Crumpler
Jan. 23, 2005
NFC Championship Game, Lincoln Financial Field
Eagles 27, Falcons 10
This was vintage Brian Dawkins. A hit so vicious, so ferocious, so blood-curdling, it literally changed the course of a game. Late in the second quarter of the 2004 NFC Championship Game, with the Eagles up 14-3, Falcons QB Michael Vick lobbed a 31-yard pass over the middle to Alge Crumpler, a five-time Pro Bowl tight end and at 6-2, 275 pounds, two inches taller and 65 pounds heavier than Dawk. Crumpler, the ball and Dawk arrived at the exact same moment around the 10-yard-line. Somehow, Crumpler held on for a first down as Dawkins stood over him glowering. Crumpler raised himself after a few moments and started jogging off the field, stopping before he got to the Falcons sideline and standing there doubled over for a few more seconds. Warrick Dunn scored from 10 yards out on the next play, but the Falcons were never the same after that drive. They had gained 172 yards and 11 first downs on their first four drives but managed just 68 yards and three first downs on their final six possessions after the Crumpler hit and didn’t come close to scoring. Crumpler caught three passes for 42 yards before the Dawk hit but didn’t catch a pass afterwards.
What Brian Dawkins said: “If you’re going to come across the middle, I’m going to do my best to send a message to you that it’s not going to be just flag football.”
8. P-Rob pick-6
Jan. 21, 2018
NFC Championship Game, Lincoln Financial Field
Eagles 38, Vikings 7
The final score was 38-7, so it’s easy to forget that late in the first quarter of the 2017 NFC Championship Game the Vikings were up 7-0 on a 25-yard Case Keenum TD pass to Kyle Rudolph and got the ball back after the Eagles punted on their first possession and had driven out to their own 43-yard-line. At that point, the Vikings had outgained the Eagles 89-17 and considering that this was a 13-3 team that had won 12 of its last 13 games and was favored by three in Philly, it was definitely cause for concern. On a 3rd-and-8 from the Vikings’ 43 with 6 ½ minutes left in the first quarter, Case Keenum tried to connect down the right sideline to Adam Thielen. But pressured by Chris Long, he didn’t have much mustard on the throw and the ball just floated out toward midfield. Rodney McLeod was actually covering Thielen, but the ball was so under thrown it was Patrick Robinson – who nearly got cut in training camp before moving from outside corner to slot – who picked it off at midfield and began racing down the left sideline. It didn’t look like he had a path for a big return, but he got a good block from Malcolm Jenkins that gave him some space and when things got clogged up along the sideline he cut toward the middle of the field at the 30 and had only Riley Reiff and running back Jerick McKinnon to beat as he crossed the field, angling toward the right corner of the end zone. He easily turned the corner on the 310-pound Reiff and then Ronald Darby took care of McKinnon with a block at the 15. Darby got the worse of the collision with McKinnon, but he did his job, and Robinson made it to the end zone with a 50-yard pick-6, the 2nd-longest postseason interception return in Eagles history – Damon Moore had a 59-yarder off Brad Johnson in the 2001 wild-card win over Tampa at the Vet. That play took all the life out of the Vikings, and the Eagles outgained them 439-244 and outscored them 31-0 the rest of the way on the way to what was at the time the 3rd-largest margin of victory in an NFC Championship Game. To make things worse for Vikings fans, the Eagles – and their fans – took over the Twin Cities a week later for Super Bowl LII.
What Patrick Robinson said:“Two hours before the game, I was like, ‘If I get a pick, I’m not going out of bounds. I was running down the sideline and I was like, ‘No, I definitely can’t go out of bounds.’”
7. “J-Dub! J-Dub!”
Nov. 3, 1996
Texas Stadium
Eagles 31, Cowboys 21
Another historic moment from the 1990s Eagles-Cowboys rivalry. The Eagles, who had lost four straight at Texas Stadium, led the Cowboys 24-21 in the final moments of their game in North Texas, but Troy Aikman drove the Cowboys down to the Eagles’ 3-yard-line and faced a 3rd-and-3 with 56 seconds left. A Hall of Fame quarterback three yards from the end zone. Aikman later lamented his choice of targets, but he threw to backup tight end Tyji Armstrong, who had caught just two passes all year. Linebacker James Willis was covering Armstrong, and while Willis was a very tough run stopper, he wasn’t much of a coverage linebacker. He had two career interceptions in his first 3 ½ seasons, but he picked off Aikman in the end zone and saw enough open field to bring the ball out of the end zone. As he began running up the right sideline, he heard teammate Troy Vincent – who was much faster – yelling to him, “J-Dub, J-Dub!” Vincent was just behind Willis and was calling for the ball. Willis lateraled at the 14 and Vincent did the rest, running the final 90 yards for a 104-yard interception return and 31-21 lead. At the time, it was the longest interception return in NFL history and still third-longest, behind 106- and 107-yarders by Ed Reed – the 107-yarder off Kevin Kolb after he replaced Donovan McNabb at halftime of a 2008 game against the Ravens in Baltimore. In any case, that was the first pick-6 the Eagles ever had against Aikman – Jeremiah Trotter would add one on opening day 2000 in that 41-14 Pickle Juice Game. A personal aside: When I was working on the book, “The 50 Greatest Plays in Eagles History,” 14 years later, I asked Aikman about that play and he spoke for 10 minutes in astonishing detail about every aspect of it, from the play call through the interception.
What James Willis said:“The ball looked huge. It was right in my hands. I’ve been dropping a lot of balls in practice. I couldn’t drop that one”
6. “They stop him again!”
Dec. 10, 1995
Veterans Stadium
Eagles 20, Cowboys 17
The Cowboys had won two of the last three Super Bowls and Eagles-Cowboys games back in the 1990s were bloodbaths. The Cowboys had topped the Eagles 34-12 in Irving six weeks earlier, and they brought a 10-3 record to the Vet to face the 8-5 Eagles in Week 15. Even with the game at the Vet, the Cowboys were nine-point favorites against a team they had beaten seven straight times. The Cowboys jumped out to a 17-6 halftime lead at the Vet. But the Eagles clawed back and tied the game at 17-all on Ricky Watters’ TD run at the end of the third quarter. Just before the two-minute warning, the Cowboys found themselves with a 4th-and-1 on their own 29-yard-line, and coach Barry Switzer decided to go for it, despite the Cowboys being inside their own 30. Emmitt Smith was at the peak of his powers at this point and everybody knew what the play call would be. “The whole world knew what was coming,” Cowboys guard Nate Newton said. The Cowboys lined up in their beloved I formation, with fullback Moose Johnston lead blocking for the Hall of Famer and ran Load Left. Smith leaped up the middle, but he was met for no gain by linebacker Kurt Gouveia. But the officials ruled that the clock hit 2:00 before the play went off, so the play never happened. After the two-minute warning, the Cowboys lined up again in the same formation and ran the same play. This time linebacker Bill Romanowski met Smith head on and stopped him, and defensive end Daniel Stubbs finished the play, pulling Smith down to the ground. “They stop him again!!!!” Merrill Reese bellowed on the radio broadcast. Smith, 18-for-98 with a TD in the first half, was 9-for-10 in the second half.. After the 4th-down stop, the Eagles ran a few plays into the line of scrimmage and then Gary Anderson made a 42-yard field goal for a 20-17 lead with 1:30 left. The Cowboys got to midfield on their final drive before William Fuller ended the upset win by sacking Troy Aikman with nine seconds left. It was the Eagles’ only postseason win under Ray Rhodes and their last for five years. The two teams met again in a wild-card game a month later at Texas Stadium, with the Cowboys blowing them out, 30-11, on the way to another Super Bowl championship – their last. But that 4th-down stop – two of them actually – goes down as one of the greatest moments in an Eagles-Cowboys rivalry that goes back 65 years.
What Ray Rhodes said:“I don’t think my gonads are that big. I think I would have punted in that situation.”
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