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| Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham accounted for 358 yards of total offense and four touchdowns in the Eagles' overtime win over the Raiders. |
For the Buddy Ryan-led Philadelphia Eagles, it was their game against the Los Angeles Raiders in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 30, 1986 which began the turnaround of the Eagles.
Ryan was in his first season as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles after serving as the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears in their dominant 1985 season which included allowing only 10 points in their three playoff games as the Bears went on to win the Super Bowl.
Ryan came to Philadelphia trying to revive the once-proud Eagles who had four straight losing seasons upon Ryan's arrival.
Even though the team had shown improvement with Randall Cunningham taking over the starting quarterback job from veteran Ron Jaworski and acquired defensive end Reggie White from the USFL, the Eagles were set to finish with their fifth straight losing season as they entered their game with the Raiders with a 3-9 record having lost their last four games by a combined 11 points.
While the Eagles were trying to learn how to win, the Raiders were accustomed to winning as they entered the game with Philadelphia with a 8-4 record, just one win away from their 21st winning season since 1965.
Led by reigning MVP Marcus Allen at running back, head coach Tom Flores and quarterback Jim Plunkett, who was just five days away from his 39th birthday, the Raiders needed a win to keep up in the race for a playoff spot.
Many believed a win over the Eagles would be a snitch as Los Angeles were 11 point favorites over the Eagles.
But little did anyone know, that the ramifications of this game would not alter the course for both teams for the 1986 season, but for the next few years.
The Raiders got the ball to start the game but quickly went three-and-out, punting the ball to the Eagles who took over at their 27-yard-line, but were forced to punt after Cunningham was sacked on 3rd down, the first of 11 quarterback sacks the Raiders would have on the day.
John Teltschik came onto the punt the ball for Eagles, kicking it to Fulton Walker who caught the punt at his own 30-yard-line and darted to the left side, outrunning the Eagles' punt coverage team for a 70-yard punt return touchdown to give LA a 7-0 lead just 3:26 into the game.
After both teams punted on their following their two possessions, the Eagles took over at their 38-yard-line having accumulated zero 1st downs and -17 yards of offense to this point of the game.
That would change on 2nd-and-10 when Cunningham dropped back and fired a bomb for Mike Quick, who made the catch at the Raiders' 20-yard-line, then stiffed arm free safety Vann McElroy at the five-yard-line to go in for a 62-yard touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at 7 with 4:18 remaining in the first quarter.
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| Eagles receiver Mike Quick(82) would catch eight passes for 145 yards, with three of those catches for touchdowns. |
78 seconds later, the Eagles were back in the end zone as Gregg Garrity ran back a punt 76 yards for the touchdown, the first time the Eagles had returned a punt for touchdown since 1978 and the fourth time in NFL history that both teams had returned a punt back for a touchdown in the same game.
However, the extra point was blocked by Raiders linebacker Matt Millen, keeping the score 13-7 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
Following another exchange of punts, the Raiders were in prime position to put points on the board as a Walker punt return gave Los Angeles possession at the Eagles' 39-yard-line.
On 2nd-and-10, Plunkett found Jesse Hester for an apparent 39-yard touchdown, only to have it called back because of a holding penalty on right tackle Henry Lawrence and the Raiders would punt the ball back to the Eagles who took over at their six-yard-line.
The Eagles would go three-and-out again, punting the ball back to the Raiders who once again would start in Philadelphia territory as they took over at the Eagles' 43-yard-line after a 27-yard punt by Teltschik.
An eight-yard run by Allen and an eight-yard pass from Plunkett to Dokie Williams had the Raiders at the Philadelphia 18-yard-line when on 2nd-and-10, Plunkett fired a perfect pass to Jesse Hester, who was open at the goal line only to have Hester drop the sure touchdown.
Allen would be dropped for a three-yard-loss on 3rd down forcing the Raiders to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Chris Bahr, to cut the Eagles' lead to 13-10 with 8:48 left in the first half.
Following the field goal, the Eagles put together their best drive of the first half as they drove from their 20-yard-line to the Raiders' 39-yard-line until another quarterback sack of Cunningham forced Philadelphia to punt the ball again to the Raiders who took over at their 20-yard-line.
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| Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett would complete 16 of 42 passes, but those 16 completions accounted for 366 yards and two touchdowns. |
It didn't take long for the Raiders to get back into Eagles territory as Hester caught a 50-yard pass from Plunkett to put LA at the Eagles' 25-yard-line.
After an incomplete pass, Plunkett hit tight end Todd Christensen for 11 yards and another 1st down on the final play before the two-minute warning.
Three straight runs by Allen gained nine yards, setting up a 4th-and-1 from the one-yard-line.
Most assumed that the Raiders would kick the field goal to tie the game, but Flores decided to go for the 1st down.
However, the gamble did not pay off as Allen was stopped short of the 1st down by Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner, giving the ball back to the Eagles who would run out the clock to end the first half, leading the favored Raiders 13-10.
The Eagles got the ball to start the second half but once again went three-and-out and punted the ball back to the Raiders, who took over at Philadelphia 49-yard-line.
It only took the Raiders one play to get into the end zone as Plunkett faked a handoff to Allen and fired a bomb for Hester, who this time made the catch for a 49-yard touchdown to put LA back on top 17-13 with 13:27 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles would drive to midfield on their next possession before punting again to the Raiders who took over at their 20-yard-line where the Eagles defense come up large as back-to-back quarterback sacks forced a LA punt that was fair caught by Garrity at the Raiders' 35-yard-line, giving the Eagles great field position.
After Anthony Toney picked up one yard on 1st down, Cunningham completed a 17-yard pass to fullback Keith Byars, which was followed by a 14-yard pass to tight end John Spagnola to give the Eagles a 1st-and-goal at the four-yard-line.
That is when disaster nearly struck for the Eagles as it appeared that the Raiders had recovered a Cunningham fumble, only to have the referees rule him down, which was the correct call, giving Philadelphia a reprieve which they took advantage of as Cunningham rolled right, then fired a pass across his body for Quick, who made the catch for the five-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 20-17 lead with 5:43 left in the third quarter.
However, the Eagles' lead lasted only 20 seconds as Plunkett threw another long touchdown pass to Hester, this one for 81 yards to give the lead back to the Raiders at 24-20 with 5:23 left in the third quarter.
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| Raiders wide receiver Jesse Hester had four catches for 193 yards and two touchdowns. |
The game moved into the 4th quarter with the Raiders still in the lead when the Eagles forced their first turnover of the game when cornerback Evan Cooper knocked the ball loose from Christensen after the Raiders tight end made a 12-yard catch.
The fumble was recovered by Philadelphia free safety Terry Hoage at the Eagles' 42-yard-line.
After Spagnola dropped Cunningham's 1st down pass, the Eagles quarterback would complete his next four passes, with the last one being a 10-yard touchdown pass to Quick, his third touchdown catch of the game, to give the Eagles the lead once again, 27-24 with 11:35 remaining in regulation.
The Eagles kept the momentum they had gained from the touchdown going when on the next play from scrimmage, Cooper intercepted a Plunkett pass when Hester pulled up with after pulling his hamstring knocking him out of the game.
The Eagles took over at their 28-yard-line and drove to the Raiders' 17-yard-line in seven plays until a delay of game, another Cunningham sack, and an incomplete pass forced Philadelphia to bring on Paul McFaddin to attempt a 45-yard field goal which sailed wide left, giving the Raiders the ball back at their 28-yard-line with 4:35 left in regulation.
That is when Plunkett found Allen, who turned a short screen pass into a 36-yard gain that gave LA a 1st down at the Eagles' 36-yard-line.
But two plays later, Plunkett was intercepted again when Rod Barksdale bobbled Plunkett's pass, which ended up in the hands of Eagles strong safety to give the ball back to Philadelphia at their 21-yard-line with 2:54 left and a chance to run out the clock and come away with the upset.
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| Eagles defensive end Reggie White had four of Philadelphia's six quarterback sacks of Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett. |
Facing a 3rd-and-12 with 2:02 to go, the Eagles appeared to have the game wrapped up when Cunningham hit Toney for a 30-yard gain to give Philadelphia a 1st down at their own 49-yard-line.
Everyone expected the Eagles to run the ball but Cunningham put the ball back in the air and was intercepted by Raiders cornerback Lester Hayes, whose seven-yard return to the LA 45-yard-line gave the Raiders a chance to pull out the victory as they had 1:43 left on the clock and two timeouts in their pocket.
Plunkett hit Christensen for 20 yards to the Eagles' 35-yard-line to start the drive, which was followed by a nine-yard pass to Barksdale.
Then on 2nd-and-1, Plunkett went for the end zone Dokie Williams could not hang on to the ball as he dove to try to make the catch at the goal line.
Plunkett handed it off to Allen who picked up two yards and the 1st down at the 24-yard-line where the Raiders called timeout with 59 seconds left in regulation.
Allen would get the next 15 yards on the following two plays, the first seven on a run and the next eight on a screen pass, to give LA a 1st-and-goal at the Eagles' nine-yard-line with 45 seconds to go.
But Plunkett would throw three straight incomplete passes, forcing the Raiders to settle for the game-tying field goal, which Bahr made from 27 yards out with 11 seconds left, tying the game at 27 and forcing overtime.
After both teams punted on their first possessions of overtime, the Eagles took over at their 21-yard-line where they drove 18 yards until Cunningham fumbled the football after he was sacked by nose tackle Bill Pickel, causing the football to come loose and go forward where it was caught in mid-air by Raiders defensive end Howie Long at the Eagles' 42-yard-line.
It looked the Raiders were going to bail out the Eagles again as Plunkett threw three straight incomplete passes only to have as Eagles linebacker Garry Cobb was called for holding Christensen, giving the Raiders a 1st down at the Philadelphia 37-yard-line.
The Raiders again dug themselves a hole when Plunkett was sacked by White, the fourth sack of the game for him, to force a 3rd-and-20 at the Eagles' 47-yard-line but got themselves out of it when Plunkett scrambled long enough to fire a pass downfield for Allen, who made the catch at the Eagles' 20-yard-line, seemingly putting the Raiders on the cusp of victory as they were now in Bahr's field goal range.
However, Flores kept the offense on the field and after a four-yard run by Allen, it was 2nd-and-6 at the Philadelphia 16-yard-line.
That is when Plunkett tried to hand off the ball to Allen, who could not get a grasp of the ball, leading to a fumble that was recovered by Waters at the 15-yard-line.
Waters then began to run and stiffed armed Plunkett at the 18-yard-line as the Philadelphia free safety darted to the right side of the field running for about 50 yards, before cutting back to the middle at the Raiders' 30-yard-line with his eyes on the end zone, until he was tackled by Williams at the LA four-yard-line after a 81-yard return by Waters(click to play).
The Eagles could have simply go for the field goal at that point but Ryan put the Eagles offense on the field as they faced 1st-and-goal at the Raiders' four-yard-line.
Cunningham run through the middle for three yards on 1st down, then ran up the middle again, getting into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown with 6:53 left in overtime to give the Eagles a stunning 33-27 win.
The Raiders never recovered from their loss as they would lose their last three games to finish the season with a 8-8 record for only their second non-winning season in 22 years.
In fact, the Raiders would not have another winning season until 1990, four years after Plunkett's retirement and three years after Flores resigned as head coach.
As for the Eagles, they would go 1-1-1 in the last three games of the season to finish with a 5-10-1 record.
The following season, Cunningham was named the permanent starter as the team finished 7-8, which included White recording 21 quarterback sacks over the season.
Philadelphia probably would have made the playoffs if not for the strike early in the season that lead the NFL to call on replacement players for all the NFL franchises, with the Eagles' replacements going 0-3.
However, the next year began a five-year stretch where the Eagles won at least 10 games five years in a row and made the playoffs in four of those five years.
And Eagles fans could point to their win over the Raiders as the mark of their renaissance in the NFL.
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