The 2001 season was the Philadelphia Eagles' 69th in the National Football League (NFL) and their third under head coach Andy Reid.
The Eagles clinched a playoff berth for the second straight year, matching their 11–5 from the previous season. In the postseason, the Eagles defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31–9 in the Wild Card Round and the Chicago Bears 33–19 in the Divisional Round. In the NFC Championship Game however, the Eagles were defeated by the St. Louis Rams 29–24.
Background After defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wildcard round for the second year in a row, and the Chicago Bears in the divisional round, the Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship for the first time in twenty-one years, but lost 29–24 to the St. Louis Rams. The Rams advanced to the Super Bowl, but were unable to stop the New England Patriots, losing 20–17.
This was the first of four consecutive NFC East titles for the Eagles. It was also the first of five Conference Championship game appearances for the Eagles with Donovan McNabb as starting quarterback and Andy Reid as head coach.
Offseason
Draft
Staff
Roster Philadelphia Eagles 2001 final roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams Reserve lists
Practice squad
rookies in italics 53 active, 4 inactive, 5 practice squad
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 9 St. Louis Rams L 17–20 0–1 Veterans Stadium Recap 2 September 23 at Seattle Seahawks W 27–3 1–1 Husky Stadium Recap 3 September 30 Dallas Cowboys W 40–18 2–1 Veterans Stadium Recap 4 October 7 Arizona Cardinals L 20–21 2–2 Veterans Stadium Recap 5Bye 6 at New York Giants W 10–9 3–2 Giants Stadium Recap 7 October 28 Oakland Raiders L 10–20 3–3 Veterans Stadium Recap 8 November 4 at Arizona Cardinals W 21–7 4–3 Sun Devil Stadium Recap 9 November 11 Minnesota Vikings W 48–17 5–3 Veterans Stadium Recap 10 November 18 at Dallas Cowboys W 36–3 6–3 Texas Stadium Recap 11 November 25 Washington Redskins L 3–13 6–4 Veterans Stadium Recap 12 at Kansas City Chiefs W 23–10 7–4 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 13 December 9 San Diego Chargers W 24–14 8–4 Veterans Stadium Recap 14 December 16 at Washington Redskins W 20–6 9–4 FedExField Recap 15 at San Francisco 49ers L 3–13 9–5 3Com Park Recap 16 December 30 New York Giants W 24–21 10–5 Veterans Stadium Recap 17 January 6 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–13 11–5 Raymond James Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 6 The Eagles were able to break a nine-game losing streak against the Giants by winning this game. James Thrash caught the winning TD from Donovan McNabb in the fourth quarter.
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Standings
Postseason
Schedule Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap Wild Card Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6) W 31–9 1–0 Veterans Stadium Recap Divisional at Chicago Bears (2) W 33–19 2–0 Soldier Field Recap NFC Championship January 27, 2002 at St. Louis Rams (1) L 24–29 2–1 Edward Jones Dome Recap
Game summaries NFC Wild Card Playoffs: vs. (6) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 54 yards, as Philadelphia dominated Tampa Bay from start to finish. Bucs quarterback Brad Johnson was intercepted four times, twice by Damon Moore. It was the second consecutive season in which Philadelphia eliminated Tampa Bay from the playoffs during the wild card round, and two days later, Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy was fired.
On the Eagles first drive of the game, Buccaneers safety Dexter Jackson intercepted a pass from McNabb and returned it nine yards to the Eagles 36-yard line, setting up a 36-yard field goal from Martín Gramática. But McNabb made up for his mistake with a 39-yard run on third down and 5 on Philadelphia's ensuing possession
NFC Divisional Playoffs: at (2) Chicago Bears
The Bears surprised everyone by finishing atop the NFC Central with a 13–3 record behind quarterback Jim Miller. But after the Eagles jumped to a 6–0 lead, Miller was taken out of the game in the second quarter with a separated shoulder on a block by Hugh Douglas following Miller throwing an interception. Although Miller's replacement, Shane Matthews, led the Bears to a touchdown (a 47-yard reverse by Ahmad Merritt), and Jerry Azumah's 39-yard interception return briefly put the Bears back in the lead early in the second half, the Eagles controlled most of the rest of the game. Matthews threw for only 66 yards and was intercepted twice. Meanwhile, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another touchdown.
NFC Championship: at (1) St. Louis Rams
The Eagles had a 17–13 lead at halftime, and had not allowed more than 21 points per game during the season and playoffs. But the Rams roared back thanks to Kurt Warner completing two-thirds of his passes for 212 yards and Marshall Faulk's 159 yards rushing and two touchdowns to earn their second trip to the Super Bowl in three years.
References
External links 2001 Philadelphia Eagles at Pro-Football-Reference.com