The 1987Philadelphia Eagles season was their 55th in the National Football League (NFL). Despite the interruption of the schedule by the second strike in six seasons, the team improved upon its previous output of 5–10–1, going 7–8.[1] However, three of those losses came during the three-game stretch during the strike when teams were staffed primarily with replacement players, or "scabs," who crossed the picket lines to suit up. Despite the improvement, the team once again failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Defensive lineman Reggie White nonetheless had a breakout season, establishing a new NFL record by exploding for 21 sacks in only 12 games.
On October 25 at Veterans Stadium, in the first game back after the strike was settled, Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan called for the infamous "fake kneel" in the final seconds with the hosts leading the Dallas Cowboys by 10 points. The fake eventually led to another late touchdown, payback for Cowboys head coach Tom Landry running up the score with starters who crossed the picket line to play two weeks earlier at Texas Stadium. One week later, Philadelphia won its final road game against the Cardinals at the old Busch Stadium, before the franchise moved to Phoenix for the 1988 season.
Offseason
NFL draft
The 1987 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft was held April 28–29, 1987, in New York City. This again would be a 12-round draft of 28 teams. The Philadelphia Eagles would get the 9th in the 12 rounds. They would make 10 selections in the draft.
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.
The Eagles would also use a pick in the 1987 NFL Supplemental Draft to take Cris Carter a wide receiver out of Ohio State. Prior to Carter's senior season in 1987, he secretly signed with notorious sports agent Norby Walters. When the contract was discovered, Carter was ruled ineligible to play for Ohio State.
In 1987, Mike Quick was part of NFL history. He finished second in the NFL in touchdown receptions with 11. The leader was Jerry Rice with 23. This marked the first time in NFL history that a category leader doubled the total of his nearest competitor.[3]
John Tice 27-yard pass from Dave Wilson (Morten Andersen kick)
17
27
Week Canceled
Because of the NFLPA union's players strike against the NFL, all the games this week were cancelled. Replacement players were used when the season resumed the following week.
The Eagles would have traveled to Candlestick Park to face the host 49ers in what would have been Buddy Ryan's only trip to the Bay Area as the Eagles' head coach. The Eagles sought their second win in San Francisco since 1983 (and also since the AFL-NFL merger). Ryan's Eagles did meet the 49ers once, losing at Veterans Stadium in 1989. The Eagles did not travel to San Francisco until 1992, nor did they win in San Francisco until the final night of the 1993 season.[4]
Week 3
Sunday, October 4, 1987 Kickoff 1:00 PM Eastern
Played at Veterans Stadium on an Astroturf playing surface; 48 degrees with wind at 19 MPH. This was the first game of the season with replacement players. The announced attendance was 4,074, the smallest crowd at an NFL contest in almost 40 years (since October 30, 1949, when 3,678 people attended a Washington Redskins-New York Bulldogs game at the Polo Grounds).
1
2
3
4
Final
Chicago Bears (3–0)
7
28
0
0
35
Philadelphia Eagles (1–2)
0
3
0
0
3
SCORING PLAYS
CHI
PHIL
TIME
1st
Bears
Lakei Heimuli 9-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Tim Lashar kick)
7
0
2nd
Eagles
Dave Jacobs 27-yard field goal
7
3
Bears
Glen Kozlowski 20-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Tim Lashar kick)
14
3
Bears
Chris Brewer 1-yard rush (Tim Lashar kick)
21
3
Bears
Anthony Mosley 9-yard blocked punt return (Tim Lashar kick)
28
3
Bears
Don Kindt 3-yard pass from Mike Hohensee (Tim Lashar kick)
35
3
Week 4
Sunday, October 11, 1987 Kickoff 12:00 pm Central
Played at Texas Stadium on a grass playing surface in 58F degrees with wind at 16 MPH. Played with replacement players.
1
2
3
4
Final
Philadelphia Eagles (1–3)
3
7
6
6
22
Dallas Cowboys (3–1)
21
6
14
0
41
SCORING PLAYS
PHIL
DAL
TIME
1st
Cowboys
Kelvin Edwards 62-yard rush (Luis Zendejas kick)
0
7
Cowboys
Alvin Blount 8-yard rush (Luis Zendejas kick)
0
14
Cowboys
Cornell Burbage 77-yard pass from Kevin Sweeney (Luis Zendejas kick)
0
21
Eagles
Dave Jacobs 40-yard field goal
3
21
2nd
Eagles
Kevin Bowman 62-yard pass from Scott Tinsley (Dave Jacobs kick)
10
21
Cowboys
Luis Zendejas 44-yard field goal
10
24
Cowboys
Luis Zendejas 50-yard field goal
10
27
3rd
Cowboys
Tony Dorsett 10-yard rush (Luis Zendejas kick)
10
34
Cowboys
Alvin Blount 1-yard rush (Luis Zendejas kick)
10
41
Eagles
Mike Siano 13-yard pass from Scott Tinsley (kick failed)
16
41
4th
Eagles
Clemons 13-yard pass from Scott Tinsley (kick failed)
22
41
Week 5
Sunday, October 18, 1987 Kickoff 12:00 pm Central
Played at Lambeau Field on a grass playing surface in 46F degrees with wind at 11 MPH. Played with replacement players.
1
2
3
4
OT
Final
Philadelphia Eagles (1–4)
7
0
0
3
0
10
Green Bay Packers (2–2)
0
3
7
0
6
16
SCORING PLAYS
PHIL
GB
TIME
1st
Eagles
Alvin Ross 5-yard rush (Dave Jacobs kick)
7
0
2nd
Packers
Max Zendejas 42-yard field goal
7
3
3rd
Packers
Lee Morris 46-yard pass from Alan Risher (Max Zendejas kick)
7
10
4th
Eagles
Dave Jacobs 44-yard field goal
10
10
OT
Packers
Jimmy Hargrove 5-yard rush
10
16
Week 6
Sunday October 25, 1987 Kickoff 1:00 pm Eastern
Played at Veterans Stadium on an Astroturf playing surface in 56F degrees with wind at 15 MPH. This was the first week the Eagles played after the NFLPA strike ended.
This was the revenge game for Week 4, where the Cowboys ran up the score against an Eagles replacement squad. Despite the game being effectively over, with the Eagles leading and having possession of the ball, the Eagles performed a fake kneel into a pass. Pass interference was called, and the Eagles successfully scored from the 1-yard line on the next play as time expired.[5]
1
2
3
4
Final
Dallas Cowboys (3–3)
3
7
3
7
20
Philadelphia Eagles (2–4)
3
10
7
17
37
SCORING PLAYS
DAL
PHIL
TIME
1st
Cowboys
Roger Ruzek 23-yard field goal
3
0
Eagles
Paul McFadden 46-yard field goal
3
3
2nd
Eagles
Paul McFadden 45-yard field goal
3
6
Eagles
John Spagnola 10-yard pass from Randall Cunningham (Paul McFadden kick)
3
13
Cowboys
Herschel Walker 1-yard rush (Roger Ruzek kick)
10
13
3rd
Cowboys
Roger Ruzek 25-yard field goal
13
13
Eagles
Anthony Toney 1-yard rush (Paul McFadden kick)
13
20
4th
Eagles
Paul McFadden 21-yard field goal
13
23
Eagles
John Spagnola 5-yard pass from Randall Cunningham (Paul McFadden kick)
13
30
Cowboys
Tony Dorsett 19-yard pass from Danny White (Roger Ruzek kick)
20
30
Eagles
Keith Byars 1-yard rush (Paul McFadden kick)
20
37
Week 7
Sunday, November 1, 1987 Kickoff 12:00 pm Central
Played at Busch Stadium on an AstroTurf playing surface in 68F degrees with wind at 10 MPH.
1
2
3
4
Final
Philadelphia Eagles (3–4)
0
7
14
7
28
St. Louis Cardinals (2–5)
6
0
7
10
23
SCORING PLAYS
PHIL
ST L
TIME
1st
Cardinals
Earl Ferrell 8-yard rush (kick failed)
0
6
2nd
Eagles
Cris Carter 22-yard pass from Randall Cunningham (Paul McFadden kick)
7
6
3rd
Eagles
Keith Byars 2-yard rush (Paul McFadden kick)
14
6
Eagles
Kenny Jackson 70-yard pass from Randall Cunningham (Paul McFadden kick)
21
6
Cardinals
J.T. Smith 14-yard pass from Neil Lomax (Jim Gallery kick)
21
13
4th
Cardinals
Jim Gallery 43-yard field goal
21
16
Cardinals
Robert Awalt 8-yard pass from Neil Lomax (Jim Gallery kick)
21
23
Eagles
Gregg Garrity 9-yard pass from Randall Cunningham (Paul McFadden kick)
28
23
Week 8
Sunday, November 8, 1987 Kickoff 1:00 pm Eastern
Played at Veterans Stadium on an Astroturf playing surface in 52F degrees with wind at 10 MPH.
1
2
3
4
Final
Washington Redskins (6–2)
7
14
0
6
27
Philadelphia Eagles (4–4)
7
10
0
14
31
SCORING PLAYS
WASH
PHIL
TIME
1st
Eagles
Anthony Toney 5-yard rush (Paul McFadden kick)
0
7
Redskins
George Rogers 3-yard rush (Ali Haji-Sheikh kick)
7
7
2nd
Redskins
Art Monk 19-yard pass from Jay Schroeder (Ali Haji-Sheikh kick)
14
7
Redskins
Darrell Green 26-yard fumble return (Ali Haji-Sheikh kick)
21
7
Eagles
Paul McFadden 37-yard field goal
21
10
Eagles
Mike Quick 6-yard pass from Randall Cunningham (Paul McFadden kick)
21
17
4th
Eagles
Mike Quick 32-yard pass from Randall Cunningham (Paul McFadden kick)
21
24
Redskins
Gary Clark 47-yard pass from Jay Schroeder (kick failed)
27
24
Eagles
Gregg Garrity 40-yard pass from Randall Cunningham (Paul McFadden kick)
27
31
Week 9
Sunday, November 15, 1987 Kickoff 4:00 pm Eastern
Played at Veterans Stadium on an Astroturf playing surface in 50F degrees with wind at 8 MPH.