The 1994 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 62nd in the National Football League (NFL). On May 6, 1994, the NFL approved the transfer of majority interest in the team from Norman Braman to Jeffrey Lurie.NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p.287 The team failed to improve upon their previous output of 8–8, winning only seven games1994 Philadelphia Eagles and failing to qualify for the playoffs.
Rich Kotite's fate as Eagles head coach was sealed after a seven-game losing streak to end the season knocked Philly from the top of the NFC at 7–2 all the way to fourth place in the Eastern Division. One key injury was the season-ending broken leg suffered by linebacker Byron Evans, who was lost in game #10 against Cleveland.
The epitome of this collapse came on Christmas Eve at Cincinnati, when the 2–13 Bengals scored six points in the final seconds – thanks in part to the recovery of a fumbled kick return – to steal a win.
The high point of the '94 season occurred on October 2 at Candlestick Park, when the Eagles steamrolled the eventual Super Bowl winning 49ers by a 40–8 count. After the season, Vaughan Johnson retired.
Offseason Additions SubtractionsK Eddie Murray (Cowboys) P Jeff Feagles (Cardinals)DE Burt Grossman (Chargers) S Andre Waters (Cardinals)LB Bill Romanowski (49ers) LB Seth Joyner (Cardinals)DE William Fuller (Oilers) DE Tim Harris (49ers)S Mike Zordich (Cardinals) G Mike Schad (Browns)P Bryan Barker (Chiefs)
NFL draft
The 1994 NFL draft was held April 24–25, 1994. This was the first draft in which the rounds were reduced to seven in total.
Personnel
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Kickoff Network Attendance 1 September 4, 1994 at New York Giants L 28–23 0–1 1:00pm ET FOX 76,130 2 September 12, 1994 Chicago Bears W 30–22 1–1 9:00pm ET ABC 64,890 3 September 18, 1994 Green Bay Packers W 13–7 2–1 1:00pm ET FOX 63,922 4 Bye 5 October 2, 1994 at San Francisco 49ers W 40–8 3–1 4:00pm ET FOX 64,843 6 October 9, 1994 Washington Redskins W 21–17 4–1 8:00pm ET TNT 63,947 7 October 16, 1994 at Dallas Cowboys L 24–13 4–2 4:00pm ET FOX 64,703 8 October 24, 1994 Houston Oilers W 21–6 5–2 9:00pm ET ABC 65,233 9 October 30, 1994 at Washington Redskins W 31–29 6–2 1:00pm ET FOX 53,530 10 November 6, 1994 Arizona Cardinals W 17–7 7–2 1:00pm ET FOX 64,952 11 November 13, 1994 Cleveland Browns L 26–7 7–3 1:00pm ET NBC 65,233 12 November 20, 1994 at Arizona Cardinals L 12–6 7–4 4:00pm ET FOX 62,779 13 November 27, 1994 at Atlanta Falcons L 28–21 7–5 1:00pm ET FOX 60,008 14 December 4, 1994 Dallas Cowboys L 31–19 7–6 1:00pm ET FOX 65,974 15 December 11, 1994 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 14–3 7–7 1:00pm ET FOX 55,474 16 December 18, 1994 New York Giants L 16–13 7–8 4:00pm ET FOX 64,540 17 December 24, 1994 at Cincinnati Bengals L 33–30 7–9 1:00pm ET FOX 39,923 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1 Sunday, September 4, 1994 – Kickoff 1:01 PM Eastern Played at Giants Stadium with 68F degrees and 11 MPH wind
'1st Quarter Highlights QB Dave Brown intercepted by Mark McMillian of the Eagles. KR Jeff Snyder fumbles and the Giants recover. Giants RB Rodney Hampton 1 yard TD run. (7–0 Giants) Giants PR Dave Meggett returns punt 68 yard TD (14–0 Giants)
Week 17 Saturday, December 24, 1994 Kickoff 1:00 PM Eastern
Played at Riverfront Stadium on an AstroTurf playing surface in 38F degrees with a 12 MPH wind
1 2 3 4 Final Philadelphia Eagles (7–9) 3 17 7 3 30Cincinnati Bengals (3–13) 7 3 10 13 33 SCORING PLAYS PHIL CIN TIME 1st Bengals Carl Pickens 14 yard pass from Jeff Blake (Doug Pelfrey kick) 0 7 Eagles Eddie Murray 34 yard field goal 3 7 2nd Bengals Doug Pelfrey 18 yard field goal 3 10 Eagles Herschel Walker 94 yard kickoff return (Eddie Murray kick) 10 10 Eagles James Joseph 7 yard pass from Bubby Brister (Eddie Murray kick) 17 10 Eagles Eddie Murray 23 yard field goal 20 10 3rd Eagles Mike Zordich 18 yard interception return (Eddie Murray kick) 27 10 Bengals Harold Green 5 yard rush (Doug Pelfrey kick) 27 17 Bengals Doug Pelfrey 36 yard field goal 27 20 4th Eagles Eddie Murray 35 yard field goal 30 20 Bengals Tony McGee 8 yard pass from Jeff Blake (Doug Pelfrey kick) 30 27 Bengals Doug Pelfrey 22 yard field goal 30 30 Bengals Doug Pelfrey 54 yard field goal 30 33
Standings
Postseason Shortly after the season ended, head coach Rich Kotite was fired. There were rumors that the Eagles new owner Jeffrey Lurie would not keep him on as coach. His fate was sealed when, after a 7-2 start, the Eagles lost the last 7 games of the season and missed the playoffs.
During the few weeks the Eagles would interview outside the organization for a replacement, they had to wait until the Super Bowl was played to talk to candidates from the teams in the playoffs. Less than a week after Super Bowl XXIX, won by the San Francisco 49ers, the Eagles hired their defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes.
References
External links 1994 Philadelphia Eagles at Pro-Football-Reference.com