How do I spend my free time this time of year? Looking through the Eagles postseason record book, of course.
With the Eagles set to play the Giants in the 2022 postseason on Saturday night, I’ve compiled 10 of my favorite postseason stats from both distant and recent Eagles history.
Maybe if we do this again next year, we can fill the stats of AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith and Jalen Hurts.
1. The Eagles played 23 postseason games in Philadelphia and never allowed a rushing touchdown of more than 10 yards. The longest postseason rushing TD ever against the Eagles in a home game was a 10-yarder by Warrick Dunn of the Falcons in the 2004 NFC Championship Game. Daunte Culpepper and Greg Bell had seven.
2. Despite his historic performance in 2017, Nick Foles does not have the best postseason passing performance in Eagles history. That distinction belongs to Rodney Peete, whose 143.3 passer rating in the Eagles’ 58-37 win over the Lions in 1995 is the highest in franchise history. Peete completed 17 of 25 passes for 270 yards on the day with touchdowns from Ricky Watters, Fred Barnett and Rob Carpenter. In the 26 years since that game at the Vet, only eight NFL QBs have had a higher postseason passer rating (Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Russell Wilson, Tony Romo, Matt Ryan, Josh Allen and Matt Stafford). Foles’ 141.4 rating in the 2017 NFC Championship game against the Vikings is the second highest in Eagles history. Peete played 16 years and started 87 other games, but that’s the only time in his career he had three TDs and no INTs.
3. The only Eagles running back in the last 40 years to have at least 22 rushing attempts in a playoff game is Chris Warren, who played just three games for the Eagles. The Eagles claimed Warren on Dec. 7, 2000, the day after he was released by the Cowboys. Warren played in the 2000 regular season finale against the Bengals, rushing 14 times for 42 yards and a 2.8 average. But in the wild-card game against the Bucs, Andy Reid released Warren, and the 32-year-old veteran ran 22 times for 85 yards in the Eagles’ 21-3 victory at Vet. A week later, he was 6-for-11 in a loss to the Cowboys, and never played again. The only other players in franchise history with 22 carries in a playoff game are Steve Van Buren and Wilbert Montgomery.
4. In the Eagles’ 23 home playoff games, they’ve allowed 27 or more points just once – and that was a 58-37 win over the Lions in 1995 in which they led 51-7 at one point. They have held 15 of their 23 home opponents to 17 or fewer points and 19 from 23 to 21 or fewer points. The Eagles are 15-8 in playoff home games and 12-3 when allowing fewer than 20 points.
5. The last Eagle with two interceptions in a playoff game is Damon Moore, who picked off Tampa’s Brad Johnson twice in the 2001 wild-card game. The last Eagle with two sacks in a postseason game is Darwin Walker, who sacked Drew Brees twice in the 2006 conference semifinals. The only Eagle with a sack and an interception in a playoff game is Rashard Cook, who sacked Jim Miller and intercepted Shane Matthews in the Eagles’ 2001 conference semifinal win over the Bears (who drafted Cook two years earlier).
6. Only three teams in the last 50 years have recorded six interceptions in a playoff game, the 1995 Eagles being one of them. They picked off Scott Mitchell four times and Don Majkowski twice in a 58-37 win over the Lions. Six different Eagles had INTs on the day: Barry Wilburn, Kurt Gouveia, Mike Zordich, Greg Jackson, Mark McMillian and William Thomas. The only other teams to have six different punters pick a pass in a playoff game were the 1940 Bears against Washington and the 1955 Browns against the Rams.
7. No one on the Eagles’ 53-man roster has ever had an interception in a playoff game, but someone on their practice squad has. Anthony Harris picked off Brees in the Vikings’ 26-20 win over the Saints at the Superdome in 2019. The Eagles’ last postseason interception was also at the Superdome by Brees – Cre’Von LeBlanc in the first game of the Eagles’ 2018 loss to the Saints.
8. The Eagles have lost their last four playoff games as favorites. They were 3 ½ point favorites over the Cards in the 2008 NFC Championship game (but lost 32-25), 2 ½ point favorites over the Packers in the 2010 wild-card game (but lost 21-16 ), 3-point favorites against the Saints in their 2013 wild-card game (but lost 26-24) and 1-point favorites against the Seahawks at home in the 2019 wild-card round (and lost 17-9). The last postseason game the Eagles won as a favorite was their 26-14 victory over the Vikings in 2008. They are 7-0 all-time as favorites by 6.0 points or more.
9. Jake Elliott is 11-for-11 in postseason field goal attempts, the fourth-most in NFL playoff history without a miss. Robbie Gould is 25-for-25 in the 49ers’ game against the Cowboys Sunday, Chris Boswell of the Steelers is 16-for-16 and Evan McPherson of the Bengals is 15-for-15 in their game against the Bills Sunday. So the three most accurate postseason players in NFL history will be in action this weekend. The only other kicker in Eagles history to attempt at least one postseason field goal and never miss was Bobby Walston, who went 1-for-1 from 15 yards against the Packers in the 1960 NFL Championship Game at Franklin Field.
10. There are 37 players in Eagles history who have played in at least eight playoff games. All 37 played for Andy Reid.