1995 Philadelphia Eagles season

The 1995 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 63rd in the National Football League (NFL). The team improved upon their previous output of 7–9, going 10–6 under new head coach Ray Rhodes[1] and qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

1995 Philadelphia Eagles season
Head coachRay Rhodes
OwnerJeffrey Lurie
Home fieldVeterans Stadium
Results
Record10–6
Division place2nd NFC East
Playoff finishWon Wild Card Playoffs (Lions) 58–37
Lost Divisional Playoffs (Cowboys) 30–11
Uniform

It wasn't an auspicious start. Ricky Watters, signed as a free agent from the Super Bowl champion San Francisco, infamously came up short on a pass over the middle in the Birds' season-opening 21–6 home loss to Tampa Bay. Following the contest, when asked why he didn't commit to catching the ball and taking a hit, he replied "For who? For what?"

Three weeks later, the Eagles were thumped by a 31-point margin against the Raiders in Oakland. However, the momentum swung in a positive direction after that, as Philly won four straight and seven of their next eight to get back in the playoff hunt.

On a frigid December 10 at the Vet against the Cowboys, the Eagles defense twice stopped Emmitt Smith on 4th-and-1 in Dallas territory late in the fourth quarter of a 17–17 tie. The change of possession resulted in the game-winning field goal from Gary Anderson. A win over Phoenix the next week clinched a playoff berth, but a loss at Chicago in the season finale on Christmas Eve torpedoed any hopes of an NFC East crown.

The 1995 season also marked the debut year the team wore stitched up authentic name and numbers on jerseys, and the final year they donned their trademark Kelly green uniforms.

It was the final season with the Eagles for quarterback Randall Cunningham as he retired following the season before joining the Vikings for the 1997 season.

Offseason

The Eagles' training camp was held for 16th and final year at West Chester University of Pennsylvania's John A. Farrell Stadium in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The camp was about 20 miles from their home stadium in south Philadelphia. In 1996 the Eagles would move to Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania about 50 miles away.

NFL draft

The 1995 NFL Draft was held April 22–23, 1995.[2] The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft and before the regular season.

With a 7–9 record in 1994, and tying with four other teams, the Eagles would rotate picking between the 8th pick to the 12th pick in the seven rounds. They would choose eight players in the five rounds they had picks. The Eagles would make a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for draft picks to move from 12th to 7th on the 1st round. With their 1st pick in the draft, acquired from Tampa Bay, the Eagles chose Mike Mamula a defensive end out of Boston College.

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 [3] = Hall of Famer
Rd PICK PLAYER POS COLLEGE
17Mike Mamula
Pick Acquired from Tampa Bay Buccaneers 		Defensive EndBoston College
112Pick Traded to Tampa Bay Buccaneers
250Bobby TaylorDefensive backNotre Dame
258Barrett BrooksTackleKansas State
372Greg JeffersonDefensive endCentral Florida
378Chris T. JonesWide receiverMiami (FL)
4119Dave BarrQuarterbackCalifornia
5pick Made by Detroit Lions
6 Pick Made by Tampa Bay Buccaneers
7210Kevin Bouie
Pick Acquired from Jacksonville Jaguars		Running backMississippi State
7248Howard SmothersTackleBethune-Cookman

Staff
1995 Philadelphia Eagles staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Mike Wolf
  • Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Paul Ricci
  • Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Tom Kanavy
  • Part-Time Strength and Conditioning – Martin Streight

[4]

Roster
1995 Philadelphia Eagles roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance TV Time
1 September 3, 1995 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 21–6
66,266
 FOX 1:00ET
2 September 10, 1995 at Arizona Cardinals W 31–19
45,004
 TNT 8:00ET
3 September 17, 1995 San Diego Chargers L 27–21
63,081
 NBC 1:00ET
4 September 24, 1995 at Oakland Raiders L 48–17
48,875
 FOX 4:00ET
5 October 1, 1995 at New Orleans Saints W 15–10
43,938
 FOX 1:00ET
6 October 8, 1995 Washington Redskins W 37–34
65,498
 FOX 1:00ET
7 October 15, 1995 at New York Giants W 17–14
74,252
 FOX 1:00ET
8 Bye
9 October 29, 1995 St. Louis Rams W 20–9
62,172
 FOX 1:00ET
10 November 6, 1995 at Dallas Cowboys L 34–12
64,876
 ABC 9:00ET
11 November 12, 1995 Denver Broncos W 31–13
60,842
 ESPN 8:00ET
12 November 19, 1995 New York Giants W 28–19
63,562
 FOX 1:00ET
13 November 26, 1995 at Washington Redskins W 14–7
50,539
 FOX 1:00ET
14 December 3, 1995 at Seattle Seahawks L 26–14
39,893
 FOX 4:00ET
15 December 10, 1995 Dallas Cowboys W 20–17
66,198
 FOX 1:00ET
16 December 17, 1995 Arizona Cardinals W 21–20
62,076
 FOX 1:00ET
17 December 24, 1995 at Chicago Bears L 20–14
52,391
 FOX 1:00ET

Game summaries

Week 15
1 234Total
Cowboys 7 1000 17
• Eagles 3 386 20
  • Date: December 10
  • Location: Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, PA
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: 23°F; wind 18
  • Referee: Ed Hochuli
  • TV announcers (Fox): Pat Summerall and John Madden

[5]

NFL Network selected this game as the #5 Moment at Home in Eagles' history.

Known in Philadelphia as the "Groundhog Day" game. Philadelphia radio announcer Merrill Reece exclaimed when the Cowboys didn't make a first down on their second attempt at 4th and 1; "They give it to Smith and they stop him again! They stop him again! And this time they can't take it away from the Eagles!"

Standings
NFC East
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(1) Dallas Cowboys 12 4 0 .750 435 291 W2
(4) Philadelphia Eagles 10 6 0 .625 318 338 L1
Washington Redskins 6 10 0 .375 326 359 W2
New York Giants 5 11 0 .313 290 340 L2
Arizona Cardinals 4 12 0 .250 275 422 L4

Playoffs
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance TV Time
Wild Card December 30, 1995 Detroit Lions W 58–37
66,099
 ABC 4:00pm EST
Divisional January 7, 1996 at Dallas Cowboys L 30–11
64,371
 FOX 12:30pm EST
gollark: If your large group makes about the same quality of decision, it might not.
gollark: If your large group can make better decisions than the smaller ones, it probably makes sense.
gollark: I am arguing against high political integration over large reasons.
gollark: Doesn't Bulgaria get the uncool vaccines?
gollark: Of course, all will be unbeeized if they pick the right thing, so I guess that not being united like that just reduces extreme outliers.

References
  1. 1995 Philadelphia Eagles
  2. "Pro Football Draft History: 1995". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on September 5, 2009. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  3. Players are identified as a Pro Bowler if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their career.
  4. Mulligan, Kevin (May 16, 1995). "Ackles gets power position with Birds". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  5. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Jul-07.
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