Oct 29, 2006; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback (5) Donovan McNabb is chased by Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end (92) Rob Meier during the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © 2006 Howard Smith
Jaguars QB David Garrard started in place of an injured Byron Leftwich against the Eagles in week eight of the 2006 season. He completed just ten passes for 87 yards, but the Jags left Philly with a 13-6 win. The teams combined for 12 punts and kicker David Akers accounted for all of the Eagles' points.
Hopefully the Eagles and Jaguars will play some better football this Sunday, but the NFL isn't banking on it. The league opted to flex the game out of Sunday Night Football in favor of Colts / Vikings. As On Pattison wrote at the time of the announcement, the decision is more of an indictment of the lowly Jags than the Birds.
© Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union | 2024 Oct 27But even before the Jaguars started this season 2-6, the matchup didn't have much juice. Doug Pederson, the man who led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl victory, will coach Jacksonville. Dougie P already faced off against his former team in 2022, however, leaving that storyline a little dry.
The Eagles started off slow against the Jags in the all-time series between the two teams, but now lead 4 games to 3:
Irving Fryar caught three touchdowns in this game, one from Ty Detmer and two from Rodney Peete. But the Jags limited the "Thunder and Lightning" combo of Ricky Watters and Charlie Garner to just 81 rushing yards, and Jacksonville RB James Stewart dropped five (!) touchdowns on the Birds.
The Eagles outgained the Jaguars in total yards, 406 to 267. Donovan McNabb threw two touchdowns and ran for another. But Mark Brunell led the Jags to victory, with help from a 69-yard punt return TD from Bobby Shaw.
This was the Garrard game discussed above. Relive all the magic right here!
No, not interested? We'll move on.
The fourth time was the charm for the Birds in 2010, as they finally broke through with a win. Mike Vick lit the Jags up in this one, completing 17 of 31 passes for three touchdowns and adding 30 yards on the ground. Vick connected with DeSean Jackson for a 61-yard bomb and Jackson had 153 receiving yards on the day.
"Vick did a better job throwing than we expected,'" Jags defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said afterwards. "We gave him so much time and he torched us.'"
Garrard posted a sickly 38.9 passer rating.
The 2014 clash between the Birds and Jags actually provided some real entertainment: Jacksonville led 17-0 at the half, then the Eagles scored 34 straight points over the final two quarters.
Nick Foles lost two fumbles and threw an interception in the first 20 minutes of the game. But he recovered to finish with 322 yards and two touchdowns, including a 68-yard TD throw to Jeremy Maclin.
"You can't lose your head out there," Birds head coach Chip Kelly said when asked about the second-half turnaround. "You have to understand that it's a long game. We felt there were plays to be made."
© Eric Hartline | 2014 Sep 7The Eagles and Jaguars took their show international for this one, playing in London's Wembley stadium. Carson Wentz completed 21 of 30 passes for 286 yards and touchdowns to Wendell Smallwood, Dallas Goedert, and Zach Ertz.
Blake Bortles threw for 286 yards and ran for 43 more in a losing effort.
"We finished it," said Wentz after the defending Super Bowl champs improved to 4-4. "At the end of the day, we finished it. We still didn't finish the way we wanted offensively. We had a chance to seal the deal but went three-and-out, and the defense stepped up. So I think at the end of the day, we finished well this week."
The Eagles fell behind 14-0 early in Doug Pederson's homecoming, with the Jags scoring on a pick-six and a long touchdown drive.
But the Birds racked up 210 rushing yards, led by Miles Sanders' 134 yards on 27 carries, and won their fourth straight matchup against Jacksonville.
The Eagles improved to 4-0 on the season en route to the Super Bowl. Pederson's Jaguars fell to 2-2 en route to a 9-8 finish.
Chapter eight of the Eagles / Jaguars story kicks off at 4:05 on Sunday.
