1986 Philadelphia Eagles season

The Philadelphia Eagles played their 54th season in the National Football League (NFL) in 1986. The team was unable to improve upon their previous output win total of seven. Instead, the team finished with five wins, ten losses and one tie.[1] This was the fifth consecutive season in which the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.

1986 Philadelphia Eagles season
OwnerNorman Braman
Head coachBuddy Ryan
Home fieldVeterans Stadium
Results
Record5–10–1
Division place4th NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersWR Mike Quick
DT Reggie White
Uniform

The season was head coach Buddy Ryan's first with the team after serving as the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, who had won the Super Bowl the previous season.

Quarterback duties were split between 35-year-old veteran Ron Jaworski, who started nine games in his final season with the team, and second-year quarterback Randall Cunningham. Veteran quarterback Matt Cavanaugh also started two games.[1] This rotation of quarterback duty resulted in a unique moment in which center Bob Landsee had the distinction of snapping the ball to all three different quarterbacks on the same series.[2] Overall, the Eagles' passing game finished with the third-fewest passing yards in the league (2,540), and the fewest yards-per-attempt (4.1).

The Eagles set dubious NFL records with one of the worst offensive lines in league history. They gave up a record number of sacks (a still-standing NFL-record of 104) and yardage allowed on sacks (708). No other team in football history has ever given up more than 85 sacks or 554 yards on quarterback sacks.[3] The team gave up three-or-more sacks in every single game of the 1986 season, the only team in NFL history to do so.[4]

The lone highlights of the season came on the road. On October 5, the Eagles entered Fulton County Stadium and shut out the Atlanta Falcons, 16–0. Then gained a comeback, 33–27 overtime win against the Los Angeles Raiders at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 30, the Eagles’ first win over the club since the 1980 season and first-ever victory on the road against the Raiders.

NFL draft

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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.

= Pro Bowler [5] = Hall of Famer
Round Pick Player Position School
1 10 Keith Byars Running back Ohio State
2 37 Anthony Toney Running back Texas A&M
2 48 Alonzo Johnson Linebacker Florida
4 106 Matt Darwin Center Texas A&M
5 121 Ray Criswell Punter Florida
5 128 Dan McMillen Defensive end Colorado
6 149 Bob Landsee Center Wisconsin
7 169 Cornelius Redick Wide receiver Fullerton State
7 176 Byron Lee Linebacker Ohio State
7 * Charles Crawford Running back Oklahoma State
8 208 Seth Joyner Linebacker Texas-El Paso
9 233 Clyde Simmons Defensive end Western Carolina
10 261 Junior Tautalatasi Running back Washington State
11 288 Steve Bogdalek Guard Michigan State
12 315 Reggie Singletary Defensive end North Carolina State
12 325 Bobby Howard Running back Indiana
  • Supplemental pick

Personnel

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Staff

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1986 Philadelphia Eagles staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches



Roster

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1986 Philadelphia Eagles roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Reserve


Rookies in italics

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 7, 1986 at Washington Redskins L 41–14 0–1 53,982
2 September 14, 1986 at Chicago Bears L 13–10 (OT) 0–2 65,130
3 September 21, 1986 Denver Broncos L 33–7 0–3 63,839
4 September 28, 1986 Los Angeles Rams W 34–20 1–3 65,646
5 October 5, 1986 at Atlanta Falcons W 16–0 2–3 57,104
6 October 12, 1986 at New York Giants L 35–3 2–4 74,221
7 October 19, 1986 Dallas Cowboys L 17–14 2–5 68,572
8 October 26, 1986 San Diego Chargers W 23–7 3–5 41,469
9 November 2, 1986 at St. Louis Cardinals L 13–10 3–6 33,051
10 November 9, 1986 New York Giants L 17–14 3–7 60,601
11 November 16, 1986 Detroit Lions L 13–11 3–8 54,568
12 November 23, 1986 at Seattle Seahawks L 24–20 3–9 55,786
13 November 30, 1986 at Los Angeles Raiders W 33–27 (OT) 4–9 53,338
14 December 7, 1986 St. Louis Cardinals T 10–10 (OT) 4–9–1 50,148
15 December 14, 1986 at Dallas Cowboys W 23–21 5–9–1 46,117
16 December 21, 1986 Washington Redskins L 21–14 5–10–1 61,816

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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Week 2

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Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Eagles 3 0 07010
Bears 0 0 100313

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

  • Date: September 14
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 61 °F (16.1 °C), wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
  • Game attendance: 65,130
  • Referee: Dick Jorgensen
  • TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton and Dan Dierdorf
  • Box scores at Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information

Week 6: at New York Giants

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
Eagles 0 3 003
Giants 0 14 14735

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: October 12
  • Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: 55 °F (12.8 °C), wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
  • Game attendance: 74,221
  • Referee: Jerry Markbreit
  • TV announcers (CBS): Dick Stockton (play-by-play), Dan Dierdorf (color commentator)

Week 10: vs. New York Giants

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Quarter 1 2 34Total
Giants 0 10 7017
Eagles 0 0 01414

at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

  • Date: November 9
  • Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 64 °F (17.8 °C), wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h; 10 kn)
  • Game attendance: 60,601
  • Referee: Fred Wyant
  • TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall (play-by-play), John Madden (color commentary)

Week 13

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1 234OTTotal
• Eagles 13 0776 33
Raiders 7 31430 27

[6]

Standings

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NFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
New York Giants(1) 14 2 0 .875 7–1 11–1 371 236 W9
Washington Redskins(4) 12 4 0 .750 5–3 9–3 368 296 W1
Dallas Cowboys 7 9 0 .438 5–3 6–6 346 337 L5
Philadelphia Eagles 5 10 1 .344 1–6–1 3–8–1 256 312 L1
St. Louis Cardinals 4 11 1 .281 1–6–1 3–10–1 218 351 W1

Awards and honors

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  • Keith Byars, Franchise record, most rushing yards by a rookie

References

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  1. ^ a b "1986 Philadelphia Eagles Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  2. ^ "Milwaukee Talks: Mustangs head coach Bob Landsee". OnMilwaukee.com. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  3. ^ Pro-Football-Reference: In a single season, from 1978 to 2011, in the regular season, sorted by descending Sacked
  4. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the NFL, in the regular season, requiring Sacked >= 3, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.
  5. ^ Players are identified as Pro Bowlers if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their careers.
  6. ^ "Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles Raiders - November 30th, 1986". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
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