The 1978Philadelphia Eagles season resulted in an appearance in the postseason for the first time in eighteen years, which ended the longest postseason drought in the franchise’s history and one of the longest in the history of the National Football League.
The Eagles held their last training camp at Widener University in the city of Chester, in Delaware County, Pennsylvania)
NFL Draft
The 1978 NFL Draft The draft was held May 2–3, 1978. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season. The draft was 12 rounds long with a total of 334 players selected.
The Eagles, because of previous trades made, had to wait until the 3rd round for their first pick. They would only have 7 picks and of these 7 players selected, 5 made the team and played during the season. With the 66th pick the Eagles as their first pick in the draft the Philadelphia Eagles selected Reggie Wilkes a Linebacker out of Georgia Tech.
Future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, in 2006, Warren Moon, a Quarterback from University of Washington, went undrafted. He is also in the Canadian Football League's Hall of Fame.
Player Selections
The table shows the Eagles selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick. It is possible the Eagles' pick ended up with this team via another team that the Eagles made a trade with.
Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away.
On August 5, the NFL played its first game in Mexico City. The New Orleans Saints beat the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 14–7.[3]
Regular Season
The Miracle at the Meadowlands is the term used by sportscasters and Philadelphia Eagles fans for a fumble recovery by cornerbackHerman Edwards that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978NFL game against the New York Giants in Giants Stadium. It was seen as miraculous because it occurred at a point in the game when the Giants were easily capable of running out the game's final seconds. The Giants had the ball, and the Eagles had no timeouts left. Everyone watching expected quarterbackJoe Pisarcik to take one more snap and kneel with the ball, thus running out the clock and preserving a 17–12 Giant upset. Instead, he attempted to hand it off to fullbackLarry Csonka and botched it, allowing Edwards to pick up the ball and run 26 yards for the winning score.
Rams – Frank Corral 47 yard field goal, Rams 6 – 0
Eagles – Harold Carmichael 18 yard pass from Ron Jaworski (Nick Mike-Mayer kick) Eagles 7 – 3
3rd quarter
Eagles – Nick Mike-Mayer 39 yard field goal Eagles 10 – 3
Jets Kevin Long 5 yard rush (kick failed) Eagles 10 – 9
4th quarter
Jets – Pat Leahy 41 yard field goal Jets 3–0
Eagles – Harold Carmichael 6 yard pass from Ron Jaworski (Nick Mike-Mayer kick) Eagles 17 – 9
NFC East Standing
Washington (8–3)
Dallas (7–4)
Philadelphia (6–5)
New York & (5–6)
St. Louis (3–8)
Other Teams
Los Angeles (9–2) Leads NFC West
Atlanta (7–4)
Green Bay (7–4)
Minnrsota (7–4)
Passing
Eagles – Ron Jaworski: 13 of 23 for 135 yards, 2 TD, 1 ints
Jets – Matt Robinson: 10 of 23 for 143 yards, O TD, 2 ints
Rushing
Eagles – 43 Att, 154 Yards, 0 TDS
Billy Campfield: 22 Att, 92 yards, 0 TD
Jets – 33 Att, 108 Yards, 1 TDS
Kevin Long: 15 Att, 62 yards, 1 TD
Receiving
Eagles – Harold Carmichael: 3 rec, 45 yards, 2 TD
Rams – Willie Miller: 5 rec, 88 yards, 0 TD
Week 12: at NY Giants
The Miracle at the Meadowlands is the term used by sportscasters and Philadelphia Eagles fans for a fumble recovery by cornerbackHerman Edwards that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978NFL game against the New York Giants in Giants Stadium. It was seen as miraculous because it occurred at a point in the game when the Giants were easily capable of running out the game's final seconds. The Giants had the ball, and the Eagles had no timeouts left. Everyone watching expected quarterbackJoe Pisarcik to take one more snap and kneel with the ball, thus running out the clock and preserving a 17–12 Giant upset. Instead, he attempted to hand it off to fullbackLarry Csonka and botched it, allowing Edwards to pick up the ball and run 26 yards for the winning score.
Week 12: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants – Game summary
Eagles – Harold Carmichael: 5 rec, 105 yards, 0 TD
Giants – Jim Robinson: 4 rec, 73 yards, 0 TD
Giants – Johnny Perkins: 3 rec, 65 yards, 1 TD
NFC East Standing
Dallas (8–4)
Washington (8–4)
Eagles (7–5)
Giants (5–7)
Cards (4–8)
Week 13 at St L Cardinals
After the games of week 11 the Philadelphia Eagles look out of being an NFC playoff team were slim. They were in 3rd place in the NFC East and behind 4 teams for a Wild Card team spot. That was some of the reasoning why the place kicking duties were given to the punter Mike Michel when regular kicker Nick Mick-Meyer got hurt. At the end of week 13 the Eagles find themselves trailing division leading Dallas by 1 game, and tied with the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins for 1 of 2 Wild Card team playoff spots.
Week 12: Philadelphia Eagles at St Louis Cardinals – Game summary
Eagles – Harold Carmichael: 5 rec, 105 yards, 0 TD
Cardinals – Jim Robinson: 4 rec, 73 yards, 0 TD
Team Stats
First downs PHIL 15 – ST L 17
Rush-yards-TDs PHIL 37–95–1 – ST L 25–102–0
Comp-Att-Yd-TD-INT
PHIL 13–25–156–1–0
ST L 20–37–197–1–2
Sacked-yards PHIL 1–7 – ST L 1–5
Net pass yards PHIL 149 – ST L 192
Total yards PHIL 244 – ST L 294
Fumbles-lost PHIL 1–0 – ST L 2–1
Turnovers PHIL 0 – ST L 3
Penalties-yards PHIL 8–74 – ST L 3–25
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Standings
The Eagles were hampered by the loss of their placekicker (Nick Mike-Mayer) in the closing weeks of the season and his replacement (punter Mike Michel) was unable to make several extra point kicks and missed all field goal attempts.
The Falcons won their first playoff game in team history after they overcame a 13–0 deficit by scoring 2 touchdowns in the final 5 minutes of the game. Punter Mike Michel, who took over placekicker duties when regular placekicker Nick Mike-Mayer got injured in week 12, missed a possible game winning field goal in closing seconds.