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

It wasn't an auspicious start. Ricky Watters, signed as a free agent from the Super Bowl champion 49ers, infamously came up short on a pass over the middle in the Eagles' 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 Arizona 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. Thus, the Eagles were locked into the #4 seed in the NFC.

The 1995 season marked the final year that the Eagles 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 TaylorCornerbackNotre 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 SmothersOffensive TackleBethune-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
  • 35 Kevin Bouie RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 20 Vaughn Hebron RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 73 Lester Holmes T (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 79 Greg Jefferson DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 98 Tommy Jeter DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 84 Kelvin Martin WR/KR/PR (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 72 Joe Panos G (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 34 Kevin Turner RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad

53 active, 8 inactive, 5 practice squad


Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance TV Time
1 September 3, 1995 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 6–21 0–1 66,266 FOX 1:00ET
2 September 10, 1995 at Arizona Cardinals W 31–19 1–1 45,004 TNT 8:00ET
3 September 17, 1995 San Diego Chargers L 21–27 1–2 63,081 NBC 1:00ET
4 September 24, 1995 at Oakland Raiders L 17–48 1–3 48,875 FOX 4:00ET
5 October 1, 1995 at New Orleans Saints W 15–10 2–3 43,938 FOX 1:00ET
6 October 8, 1995 Washington Redskins W 37–34 (OT) 3–3 65,498 FOX 1:00ET
7 October 15, 1995 at New York Giants W 17–14 4–3 74,252 FOX 1:00ET
8 Bye
9 October 29, 1995 St. Louis Rams W 20–9 5–3 62,172 FOX 1:00ET
10 November 6, 1995 at Dallas Cowboys L 12–34 5–4 64,876 ABC 9:00ET
11 November 12, 1995 Denver Broncos W 31–13 6–4 60,842 ESPN 8:00ET
12 November 19, 1995 New York Giants W 28–19 7–4 63,562 FOX 1:00ET
13 November 26, 1995 at Washington Redskins W 14–7 8–4 50,539 FOX 1:00ET
14 December 3, 1995 at Seattle Seahawks L 14–26 8–5 39,893 FOX 4:00ET
15 December 10, 1995 Dallas Cowboys W 20–17 9–5 66,198 FOX 1:00ET
16 December 17, 1995 Arizona Cardinals W 21–20 10–5 62,076 FOX 1:00ET
17 December 24, 1995 at Chicago Bears L 14–20 10–6 52,391 FOX 1:00ET

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 15
1 234Total
Cowboys 7 1000 17
• Eagles 3 386 20
Scoring summary
Q1PHIAnderson 42 yard field goalPHI 3–0
Q1DALSmith 10 yard run (Boniol kick)DAL 7–3
Q2DALBoniol 21 yard field goalDAL 10–3
Q2DALBrown 65 yard interception return (Boniol kick)DAL 17–3
Q2PHIAnderson 27 yard field goalDAL 17–6
Q3PHIWatters 1 yard run (Barnett pass from Peete)DAL 17–14
Q4PHIAnderson 38 yard field goalTie 17–17
Q4PHIAnderson 42 yard field goalPHI 20–17

[5]

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

The game is known in Philadelphia as the "Groundhog Day" game. When the Cowboys didn't make a first down on their second attempt at 4th and 1 from their own 29-yard line with less than 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Philadelphia radio announcer Merrill Reese exclaimed: "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
Round 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

References
  1. 1995 Philadelphia Eagles
  2. "Pro Football Draft History: 1995". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. 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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