NFL team season
The 1990 Philadelphia Eagles season was the team's 58th in the National Football League (NFL).
The team made the postseason yet again with a 10–6 overall record, despite beginning the season with disappointing early-season records of 1–3 and 2–4.
The Eagles ran for 2,556 rushing yards in 1990, which is the most of any team in a single season in the 1990s.[ 1]
Other season highlights were a 28–14 win at Veterans Stadium over the Washington Redskins on November 12, known as the Body Bag Game , since the defense managed to knock both Redskins quarterbacks from the contest plus several other key players. Against the Buffalo Bills in a 30–23 loss on December 2, Randall Cunningham made one of the signature plays of his career, eluding Bills Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith in the end zone before launching the ball into the middle of the field to wide receiver Fred Barnett , who completed the 95-yard touchdown play.
One week prior, the Eagles avenged an opening-night loss at the Meadowlands , whipping the 10–0 New York Giants by a 31–13 score.
Following the season, the team fired head coach Buddy Ryan . Offensive coordinator Rich Kotite was promoted to replace Ryan as Eagles head coach, and would hold the position for the next four seasons.
The 1990 NFL draft was held April 22–23, 1990 . The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season. For the number 1 pick in the draft, the Indianapolis Colts traded with the Atlanta Falcons to select Jeff George a quarterback from Illinois
Under the rules of the draft at the time, the Eagles would pick 24th or 25th in each full round. Teams that went to Super Bowl XXIV would have last 2 picks and then teams sorted out by 1989 record in each round. The Eagles at 11–5 in the previous year tied with Los Angeles Rams . With the 22nd pick in the 1st round the Eagles selected Ben Smith a cornerback from Georgia The Eagles made 12 total picks in the 1990 draft.
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The Eagles held training camp at West Chester State University in West Chester, PA about 20 miles from Veterans Stadium where they play their home games.
1990 Philadelphia Eagles staff Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
Defensive coaches Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
Strength and conditioning – Ronnie Jones
1990 Philadelphia Eagles roster Quarterbacks Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
Offensive linemen Defensive linemen
Linebackers Defensive backs
Special teams
Reserve lists Practice squad
47 active, 6 inactive, 5 practice squad
Rookies in italics
[ 3]
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 9 at New York Giants L 20–27 0–1 Giants Stadium 76,202 2 September 16 Phoenix Cardinals L 21–23 0–2 Veterans Stadium 64,396 3 September 23 at Los Angeles Rams W 27–21 1–2 Anaheim Stadium 63,644 4 September 30 Indianapolis Colts L 23–24 1–3 Veterans Stadium 62,067 5 Bye 6 Minnesota Vikings W 32–24 2–3 Veterans Stadium 66,296 7 October 21 at Washington Redskins L 7–13 2–4 RFK Stadium 53,567 8 October 28 at Dallas Cowboys W 21–20 3–4 Texas Stadium 62,605 9 November 4 New England Patriots W 48–20 4–4 Veterans Stadium 65,514 10 November 12 Washington Redskins W 28–14 5–4 Veterans Stadium 65,857 11 November 18 at Atlanta Falcons W 24–23 6–4 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 53,755 12 November 25 New York Giants W 31–13 7–4 Veterans Stadium 66,706 13 December 2 at Buffalo Bills L 23–30 7–5 Rich Stadium 79,320 14 December 9 at Miami Dolphins L 20–23 (OT) 7–6 Joe Robbie Stadium 67,034 15 December 16 Green Bay Packers W 31–0 8–6 Veterans Stadium 65,627 16 December 23 Dallas Cowboys W 17–3 9–6 Veterans Stadium 63,895 17 at Phoenix Cardinals W 23–21 10–6 Sun Devil Stadium 31,796
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 3 7 0 10 20 • Giants 6 0 14 7 27
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1 2 3 4 Total • Cardinals 0 7 7 9 23 Eagles 14 0 7 0 21
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1 2 3 4 Total • Eagles 3 14 3 7 27 Rams 7 7 0 7 21
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1 2 3 4 Total • Colts 7 3 7 7 24 Eagles 3 14 3 3 23
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1 2 3 4 Total Vikings 7 14 0 3 24 • Eagles 9 0 6 17 32
Date: October 15Location: Veterans Stadium , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 61 °F (16 °C) (Clear) • Wind 12 mph (19 km/h)Referee: Gene BarthTV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf
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1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 0 0 0 7 7 • Redskins 0 7 0 6 13
Date: October 21Location: RFK Stadium , Washington, D.C. Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C) • Wind 9 mph (14 km/h)Referee: Dale HamerTV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden
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Philadelphia Eagles (2–4) at Dallas Cowboys (3–4)
Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 7 0 0 14 21 Cowboys 0 3 3 14 20
at Texas Stadium • Irving, Texas
The Porkchop Bowl
Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP PHI DAL 1 1:08 Eagles Toney 10-yard touchdown reception from Cunningham , Ruzek kick good 7 0 2 0:13 Cowboys 43-yard field goal by Willis 7 3 3 12:11 Cowboys 43-yard field goal by Willis 7 6 4 10:30 Eagles Sherman 10-yard touchdown run, Ruzek kick good 14 6 4 7:53 Cowboys Novacek 29-yard touchdown reception from Aikman , Willis kick good 14 13 4 4:02 Cowboys Smith 3-yard touchdown run, Willis kick good 14 20 4 0:44 Eagles Williams 10-yard touchdown reception from Cunningham, Ruzek kick good 21 20 "TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football . 21 20
1 2 3 4 Total Patriots 3 7 3 7 20 • Eagles 10 10 7 21 48
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Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles 1 2 3 4 Total Redskins 0 7 0 7 14 • Eagles 7 0 21 0 28
Date: November 12Location: Veterans Stadium , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Game start: 9:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 38 °F (3 °C) (Cloudy) • Wind 26 mph (42 km/h)Referee: Jerry MarkbreitTV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, and Dan Dierdorf
This game came to be known as The Body Bag Game .
1 2 3 4 Total • Eagles 0 7 0 17 24 Falcons 0 10 3 10 23
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Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP NYG PHI 1 5:22 Giants Ingram 15-yard touchdown reception from Simms , Bahr kick good 7 0 1 3:39 Eagles Barnett 49-yard touchdown reception from Cunningham , Ruzek kick good 7 7 2 6:21 Eagles Cunningham 1-yard touchdown run, Ruzek kick good 7 14 2 1:00 Giants Bavaro 4-yard touchdown reception from Simms, Bahr kick no good 13 14 3 9:09 Eagles 39-yard field goal by Ruzek 13 17 4 13:12 Eagles Williams 6-yard touchdown reception from Cunningham, Ruzek kick good 13 24 4 12:50 Eagles Interception returned 22 yards for touchdown by Evans , Ruzek kick good 13 31 "TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football . 13 31
1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 0 16 7 0 23 • Bills 24 0 3 3 30
Date: December 2Location: Rich Stadium , Orchard Park, New York Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 42 °F (6 °C) • Wind 16 mph (26 km/h)Referee: Tom DooleyTV announcers (CBS): Verne Lundquist and Dan Fouts
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1 2 3 4 OT Total Eagles 0 10 3 7 0 20 • Dolphins 10 0 0 10 3 23
Date: December 9Location: Joe Robbie Stadium , Miami, Florida Game start: 8:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C) • Wind 11 mph (18 km/h)Referee: Jerry SeemanTV announcers (ESPN): Mike Patrick and Joe Theismann
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1 2 3 4 Total Packers 0 0 0 0 0 • Eagles 7 10 0 14 31
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1 2 3 4 Total Cowboys 0 3 0 0 3 • Eagles 7 3 0 7 17
Date: December 23Location: Veterans Stadium , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C) (Light Rain) • Wind 15 mph (24 km/h)Referee: Gordon McCarterTV announcers (CBS): Tim Ryan and Irv Cross
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Week 17 at Cardinals [ edit ] Week Seventeen: Philadelphia Eagles (9–6) at Phoenix Cardinals (5–10)
Quarter 1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 7 6 7 3 23 Cardinals 0 7 0 14 21
at Sun Devil Stadium , Tempe, Arizona
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance Wildcard January 5, 1991 Washington Redskins (5) L 6–20 0–1 Veterans Stadium 65,287
1 2 3 4 Total • Redskins 0 10 10 0 20 Eagles 3 3 0 0 6
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Franchise Stadiums Culture Lore Rivalries Division championships (15) Conference championships (5) League championships (4) Retired numbers Media Current league affiliations