December 21, 2023
It's historically a rarity that the NFL has games on Christmas. That's ramped up recently, however, and the league has a slate of three games on Christmas Day this upcoming Monday. Of course, the Eagles are one such game, hosting the New York/New Jersey Giants in South Philadelphia at 4:30 p.m.
This will be the Birds' third Christmas game. The previous two were both wins. The first came down at Texas Stadium against Bill Parcells and the Cowboys in 2006. With "Our Baby" Jeff Garcia leading the Eagles following a season-ending injury to Donovan McNabb, the Birds defeated Dallas 23-7. The Eagles rushed for 204 yards on that day: 122 from Brian Westbrook, 43 from Garcia himself and 38 from Correll Buckhalter, who added an insurance touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Defensively, Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins and Pro Bowler Lito Sheppard each had an interception. The Birds' D overall held a Cowboys offense that finished fourth in points in the NFL to just a single touchdown (to former Eagle Terrell Owens, naturally).
The Eagles did that while seven-point road underdogs. The win moved them to 9-6, clinched a playoff berth and put them in control of the NFC East race, allowing them to wrap things up the following week with a victory over the Falcons.
The other Christmas game came on a freezing night in 2017 against the then-Oakland Raiders. In the 19-10 victory, the Eagles' offense was horrific, not resembling the high-flying unit they were that season in the slightest. This was Nick Foles' second start filling in for Carson Wentz and he did little to inspire confidence that he could lead the Birds on a Super Bowl run. Foles was 19-of-38 passing for just 163 yards, one TD and one INT.
The game wasn't even as close as the score would indicate. In a 10-10 game, the always-clutch Jake Elliott booted a 48-yard field goal with 22 seconds remaining to give the Birds the lead. The Eagles would force a turnover on the game's final play when the Raiders got the ball back, as Derek Barnett found his way into the end zone on a 23-yard fumble recovery.
The Eagles gritted one out by the skin of their teeth, but it was enough to secure home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
As the entire football world knows, Foles was an entirely different QB when it came to that postseason, lifting the Eagles to their first Super Bowl win.
The 2023 Eagles are in a rut. A convincing nationally televised win on Christmas would do wonders for calming down a fan base that, rightfully, has major, major concerns about this squad.
Follow Shamus & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @shamus_clancy | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Shamus' RSS feed to your feed reader
