Last week was a real smack in the mouth. A loss to the lowly Giants with Hurts throwing 3 INTs and Jalen Reagor dropping two game-winners is week ruining at the very least. Now Philly must stay in the Meadowlands to take on the pathetic Jets, but without some key pieces. Jalen Hurts is reportedly out for the contest, leaving former 6th round social media darling Gardner Minshew to take the reigns. It is foolish to speculate how well he will do. Instead, I’m going to hopefully raise spirits after a hard L by detailing the 11 times we have kicked the other team from New York’s butt.
December 9th, 1973: 24-23
A classic come-from-behind story led by former NFL MVP Roman Gabriel, Hall of Famer Harold Carmichael the one-foot wonder Tom Dempsey. The early 70s Eagles were pretty dreadful, while the Jets were only a handful of years removed from their historic Super Bowl win. However, in the 1973 season injuries would sideline hall of fame QB Joe Namath for the majority of games. In this first matchup, the Jets jumped out to an early 17-0 lead. But after two Gabriel passing TDs and a pick-six, the Eagles were in the drivers’ seat. To make matters worse, the Jets kicked a field goal while down 4 in the 4th quarter. Oh to live in a world before analytics. Carmichael finished the day with 5 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.
December 18th, 1977: 27-0
In the late 70s, the Dick Vermeil Eagles were beginning to find their footing and build their core which would lead to their first Super Bowl appearance in 1980. Meanwhile, the Jets were on a downward spiral. Both Joe Namath and legendary coach Weeb Ewbank had moved on from the team years prior. On this day, the Eagles came out to play on defense, picking off Jets QB Richard Todd 3 times on the way to a shutout. The Philadelphia icon Wilbert Montgomery posted 103 yards and 2 TDs on the ground.
November 12th, 1978: 17-9
The very next year, the two squads faced off again. Again, the Eagles defense took over, picking off NY’s new QB Matt Robinson twice, although this one only was sealed in the fourth quarter with a 6 yard TD pass from Ron Jaworski to Harold Carmichael. This win brought the Eagles above .500, and the Eagles were able to make the final wildcard spot in 1978 partially because of this win. Oh, and this win was exactly one week before the original Miracle at the Meadowlands!
December 20th, 1987: 38-27
This year was super weird. The NFL had one of its biggest strikes ever, forcing them to cancel a week of the season, and for fans to be treated to some awful football by the “scabs”. At this point in the season, the Eagles’ season was basically done; after starting 1-4, they built hope with a solid midseason before losing 2 straight before this game. The Jets on the other hand started out a respectable 6-5, only to drop the last 4 games of the year and miss the playoffs, including this one. The Eagles record did not display the full talent on the roster; Randall Cunningham, Mike Quick, Reggie White, Wes Hopkins, Byron Evans, Seth Joyner, Keith Byars, and a young Cris Carter were all rocking Kelly green. The game started off as a back and fourth shootout, but two Cunningham to Quick TDs in the second quarter gave the Eagles a lead they would not relinquish. Both QBs finished with over 300 yards, a rare sighting in that era.
October 3rd, 1993: 35-30
This game is infamous. In 1993 the birds started off 4-0, including this W over New York. However it was in this game that QB Randall Cunningham and star WR Fred Barnett would see their seasons end to leg injuries. The Eagles would go on to lose 6 straight after this with Bubby Brister at the helm. Speaking of which, what a roller-coaster day this must’ve been for him. After falling 21-0 early to the Jets, it was up to the backup QB to rally the troops for a W. Boomer Esiason went to work against the Eagles, tossing 4 TDs including 3 to WR Johnny Mitchell. However, TDs from Cowboys legend Herschel Walker and Giants legend Mark Bavaro kept the Eagles alive. Tied at 28, Brister made a huge mental error by intentionally grounding the ball into the endzone for a safety. When all hope seemed lost, a huge 94 yard Eric Allen pick-six sealed the W for the Eagles.
December 14th, 1996: 21-20
The awkward years between Cunningham and McNabb were, well, awkward. Today it was Ty Detmer, Irving Fryar, Rickey Watters and a rookie Brian Dawkins that were at the center of the stage. On this day, they went into New York with their playoff hopes on the line, facing off against former head coach Rich Kotite after an embarrassing 27 point loss to the Colts. It looked quite bleak at first; the birds headed into the final period of play down 20-7. That’s when the former BYU Cougar came to life. Shaking off a pick-six earlier in the half, Detmer fired a 2-yard strike to Chris Jones, and then provided Irving Fryar with his second tub of the day to seal the comeback. The Eagles were able to sneak into the wildcard where they were shut down by the Niners 14-0, while the Jets fired Kotite after the season.
October 26, 2003: 24-17
The first taste of this matchup in the Reid-McNabb era and one of the first games played at the Linc resulted in the same old story, an Eagles W. Coming off of the second Miracle at the Meadowlands, the birds would now host the catalyst of the first one, Herm Edwards, and his 2-4 New York Jets. Chad Pennington took over halfway through the day, but could not lead his team past Philadelphia. It was a strong day on the ground for Correll Buckhalter who finished with 100 yards and two TDs.
October 14, 2007: 16-9
McNabb v. Pennington II was a snooze fest on the scoreboard. The Jets were on their way to a 1-8 start while the birds didn’t fare much better to open the year. A game with only one TD tipped in the Eagles’ favor thanks to strong performances from McNabb and Brian Westbrook and a Jim Johnson defense that didn’t really bend or break. Not much to say about an ugly win in an 8 win season, but we are inching closer and closer to modern day I suppose.
December 18, 2011: 45-19
The Jets should have won this game. Coming off of two straight seasons where they made the AFC title game, gang green drove down the parkway with a shiny 8-5 record to play the frustrating Philadelphia Eagles in their penultimate Andy Reid season. The talent on paper was there for the birds: an electric QB-WR duo with Desean Jackson and Mike Vick, a flashy RB reaching his prime in Lesean McCoy, and a great cast of supporting characters like Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek. Despite all of this, the birds sat at 5-8, out of the playoff conversation. So how come today the birds lived up to the hype? They jumped out to an early 28-0 lead sparked by a big man Juqua Parker rumble to the house and never looked back. The Eagles had 4 TDs on the ground and made Mark Sanchez look like the Mark Sanchez we know and love today, picking him off twice. Brent Celek finished with a monstrous 156 yards on 5 catches with a TD to boot. The Jets would lose out and miss the playoffs. The Eagles would win out and miss the playoffs.
September 27, 2015: 24-17
Chip Kelly’s first win of his last year came against the surprisingly undefeated 2-0 Jets at Metlife Stadium. The Eagles jumped scored all their 24 points before the Jets could score one, including a mesmerizing Darren Sproles Punt Return to the house. The Eagles made Ryan Fitzpatrick throw the ball 58 times, and picked him off 3 times to halt the comeback attempt. Sammy Sleeves did what had to be done only, throwing 14-28, 118 yards, and a TD. He understood the assignment and moved the all-time record to 10-0
October 6th, 2019: 31-6
After a huge win in Green Bay, Carson Wentz’ go-around against New York came at an opportune time. The Jets were really bad. With starter Sam Darnold out with a bad case of mono, unknown QB Luke Falk stepped up to lead the Jets. The results? Both Orlando Scandrick and Nate Gerry scored touchdowns for Philly. The Eagles defense went ham, sacking Falk and relief QB David Fales a total of 9 times, with Brandon Graham accounting for 3 of those. The Eagles drubbed the Jets like they were a high school team with no answers. This was the most recent iteration of the almost 50-year-old history, and it’s gotta be infuriating for Jets fans to remember.
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Jish Sokolsky is a featured writer at The Birds Blitz. For more from Jish, check out his archive and read through our Eagles articles for the latest news about the Birds.
