On the Eagle Eye podcast after Brandon Graham announced his retirement, Dave Zangaro and I started wondering aloud where B.G.’s strip sack would rank on a list of the greatest defensive plays in Eagles history.
Needless to say, I turned that idea into a story.
Actually, two stories.
We posted the bottom half of the 10 greatest defensive plays in Eagles history on Friday – you can find plays 6 through 10 here – and today we’ve got the top five.
A refresher on No. 6 through 10: No. 6 was the 4th-down stop of Emmitt Smith – two of them, actually – at the Vet in 1995, No. 7 was the 104-yard combined James Willis-Troy Vincent pick-6 off Troy Aikman a year later at Texas Stadium, No. 8 was Patrick Robinson’s 50-yard pick-6 off Case Keenum in the win over the Vikings in the 2017 NFC Championship Game at the Linc, No. 9 was Brian Dawkins’ devastating hit on Alge Crumpler in the win over the Falcons at the Linc in the 2004 NFC Championship Game and No. 10 was Jalen Carter’s game-saving 3rd-down sack (and 4th-down pressure) on Matt Stafford in the final seconds of the Eagles’ conference semifinal playoff win over the Rams just 2 ½ months ago at the Linc.
The top 5? Here ya go!
5. Reggie sacks Bobby Hebert
Jan. 3, 1993
Wild-card game, New Orleans Superdome
Eagles 36, Saints 20
Between 1980 and 1995, the Eagles won only one playoff game, and it was a wild one – and the second top-5 defensive play at the Superdome. With 10 ½ minutes left in the Eagles-Saints wild-card game, the Saints led 20-10 and the Eagles just couldn’t get anything going. What followed was one of the most insane 8 ½-minute stretches in NFL history. The Eagles outscored the Saints 26-0 over the next 8 ½ minutes, fashioning the greatest 4th-quarter scoring blitz in the postseason since 1934. The Eagles, who had trailed by 13 late in the third quarter, took their first lead of the game on Heath Sherman’s short touchdown run that made it 24-20 and then the defense took over. The Saints had a 3rd-and-23 on their own 7-yard-line when quarterback Bobby Hebert dropped back looking to pass. Reggie White lined up across from right tackle Stan Brock, who was in Year 14 of a 16-year career and just bull rushes him right into the end zone, and he gets to Hebert so fast – about 2 ½ seconds – that Hebert wasn’t even able to get into a throwing motion. The safety extended the Eagles’ lead to 26-20 and a field goal and Eric Allen’s 18-yard pick-6 completed the scoring, giving the Eagles their first playoff win since the 1980 NFC Championship Game (and their last until the 1995 wild-card win over the Lions at the Vet). White played his final game as an Eagle a week later in a loss to the Cowboys.
What Reggie White said: “When we got the safety, I knew we won. I knew that was it.”
3. Eric Allen pick-6
Oct. 3, 1993
Giants Stadium
Eagles 35, Jets 30
The only play in the top five that didn’t occur in a playoff game, Eric Allen’s game-winning 94-yard pick-6 off Boomer Esiason was deemed the greatest interception return in history by NFL Films president Steve Sabol. The game itself turned out to be inconsequential. Going into their Week 5 game, the Jets were 2-1 and the Eagles were 3-0, so it seemed important at the time, although neither team made the playoffs. Randall Cunningham was coming off a monster 1992 season and was off to a terrific start in 1993 when disaster struck late in the second quarter. Cunningham got caught underneath defensive linemen Marvin Washington and Scott Mersereau and suffered a broken fibula in his left leg, ending his season. Bubby Brister came in and played well, with touchdown passes to Mark Bavaro and Calvin Williams. But the Eagles still trailed 30-28 midway through the fourth quarter and the Jets were on the Eagles’ 20-yard-line and about to score again. That’s when Boomer Esiason tried to throw a short pass near the left sideline to wide receiver Chris Burkett. Allen, already a three-time Pro Bowler and now a Hall of Famer, picked off Esiason at the 6-yard-line and proceeded to bob and weave his way in and out of traffic, all the way to the end zone. His first spin move came inside the Jets’ 10 and he proceeded to hurdle defenders and break a couple tackles before reaching open field – thanks in part to a Ben Smith block – and sprinting the rest of the way untouched for the Eagles’ longest INT return in 36 years, since a Jerry Norton 99-yarder off Charlie Conerly of the Giants at Connie Mack Stadium in 1957. As he scored, Allen saw Cunningham, on crutches, standing in the tunnel behind the end zone that led to the Eagles’ locker room. He jogged over to Cunningham and handed him the football – “This one’s for you” – a moment Randall said later that day convinced him not to retire after a second season-ending injury in three years. That was one of Allen’s four pick-6’s in 1993, one of nine in his brilliant career. This summer, he goes into the Hall of Fame.
What Eric Allen said: “I just tried to stay alive. I was like a wolf in a chicken barn .It’s like the guy’s coming to get you, you’ve got the chickens and you’re just trying to get out of there.”
3. Cooper DeJean pick-6
Feb. 9, 2025
Super Bowl LIX, New Orleans Superdome
Eagles 40, Chiefs 18
Up through the middle of the second quarter of the Super Bowl, the Eagles had faced 173 passes in their five Super Bowls without an interception. And Cooper DeJean had played 893 career snaps without an interception. In one historic moment, both those streaks ended. The Eagles led the Chiefs 10-0, and the Chiefs were backed up with a 3rd-and-16 on their own 24-yard-line when Mahomes rolled out of the pocket to his right. He initially appeared to have some running room and also had running back Samaje Perine open in the flat. But Oren Burks sprinted over from the middle of the field directly at Mahomes, cutting off his running lane and also closing his throwing lane to Perine. Mahomes chose to try and force a pass across his body over the middle to DeAndre Hopkins, who was blanketed by Quinyon Mitchell. DeJean was just floating in centerfield and Mahomes either didn’t see him or thought he could squeeze the pass past him. Even if he did, it was going to be incomplete or picked off by Mitchell. But DeJean snagged it as he ran left to right, and turned his first career INT into a 38-yard pick-6. Big block on the return by Jalyx Hunt on left guard Mike Caliendo at the 25 – almost an illegal block in the back but not quite – and then he ran through 340-pound left tackle Joe Thuney and 320-pound right guard Trey Smith inside the 10-yard-line on his way to the end zone. It was only the second Super Bowl pick-6 ever by a rookie – Bears corner Reggie Phillips had a 28-yarder off Steve Grogan of the Patriots in Super Bowl XX 39 years earlier – also at the Super Dome. It was the first postseason pick-6 of Mahomes’ career and also the first pick-6 ever by an Eagles rookie in the postseason. And most importantly it gave the Eagles a 17-0 lead and it may not have quite been dagger time, but it was the pivotal play in a Super Bowl championship and it was turned in by a rookie who had never intercepted a pass on his 22nd birthday. Amazing story.
What Cooper DeJean said: “I was trying to find the fastest way to the end zone. Luckily, I got some blocks out there. I had to avoid some of those big guys, but it was just our defense working together like we have all year. It fell right into my lap.”
2. B.G. strip sack
Feb. 4, 2018
Super Bowl LII, U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis
Eagles 41, Patriots 33
On Tom Brady’s 39th pass attempt of the game – a 2nd-and-2 from the Patriots’ 33-yard-line with 2:16 left – the Eagles got their first sack of the game. Brandon Graham’s historic strip sack and forced fumble of Brady was the biggest play of an offensive showdown that saw an NFL-record 1,151 yards, 54 first downs and 74 points. The Patriots had scored touchdowns on three straight drives and had scored on five straight (not including the end of the first half) when B.G., lining up inside, beat right guard Shaq Mason, lunged toward Brady, stuck his left hand out and dislodged the ball from Brady’s grasp. Derrick Barnett recovered on one bounce and by the time the Eagles ran a few plays and the Patriots got the ball back there was only 58 seconds left. Brady completed a few passes and did have a scary Hail Mary attempt to Rob Gronkowski as time expired, but B.G.’s strip sack was the play that truly derailed Brady, Bill Belichick and the Patriots as the Eagles won their first Super Bowl ever.
What Brandon Graham said: “When the fourth quarter came, we had to go out and make a stop. As a defense, we hadn’t been doing it all game.”
1. Chuck Bednarik buries Jim Taylor
NFL Championship Game
Dec. 26, 1990, Franklin Field
Eagles 17, Packers 13
The difference between Bednarik’s tackle of fullback Jim Taylor short of the end zone in the final seconds of the 1960 NFL Championship Game and B.G.’s Tom Brady strip sack is that the Bednarik play ended the game. The Patriots still got the ball back in Super Bowl LII. None of the newspaper articles about the game say how exactly how much time was left, but it was probably between 17 and 20 seconds. With the Eagles leading 17-13 and the Packers on the Eagles’ 22-yard-line, Bart Starr completed a pass to Taylor and Bednarik stuffed him at the 9-yard-line as time ran out. Bednarik sat on Taylor as the final seconds of the game ticked off the clock and the Eagles had their only championship from 1950 through 2016. That was the only playoff game Vince Lombardi or Starr ever lost. Starr, Taylor and Bednarik are all in the Hall of Fame along with nine other Packers and three other Eagles.
What Chuck Bednarik said: “I made up my mind I was gonna lay on him until it was over. That is known as stalling for time.”
Read the full article here