The Philadelphia Eagles played their 54th season in the National Football League (NFL) in 1986. The team was unable to improve upon their previous output win total of seven. Instead, the team finished with five wins, ten losses and one tie. This was the fifth consecutive season in which the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.
The season was head coach Buddy Ryan's first with the team after serving as the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, who had won the Super Bowl the previous season.
Quarterback duties were split between 35-year-old veteran Ron Jaworski, who started nine games in his final season with the team, and second-year quarterback Randall Cunningham. Veteran quarterback Matt Cavanaugh also started two games. This rotation of quarterback duty resulted in a unique moment in which center Bob Landsee had the distinction of snapping the ball to all three different quarterbacks on the same series. Overall, the Eagles' passing game finished with the third-fewest passing yards in the league (2,540), and the fewest yards-per-attempt (4.1).
The Eagles set dubious NFL records with one of the worst offensive lines in league history. They gave up a record number of sacks (a still-standing NFL-record of 104) and yardage allowed on sacks (708). No other team in football history has ever given up more than 85 sacks or 554 yards on quarterback sacks.Pro-Football-Reference: In a single season, from 1978 to 2011, in the regular season, sorted by descending Sacked The team gave up three-or-more sacks in every single game of the 1986 season, the only team in NFL history to do so.Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the NFL, in the regular season, requiring Sacked >= 3, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.
The lone highlights of the season came on the road. On October 5, the Eagles entered Fulton County Stadium and shut out the Atlanta Falcons, 16–0. Then gained a comeback, 33–27 overtime win against the Los Angeles Raiders at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 30, the Eagles’ first win over the club since the 1980 season and first-ever victory on the road against the Raiders.
NFL draft
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 Players are identified as Pro Bowlers if they were selected for the Pro-Bowl at any time in their careers.= Hall of Famer RoundPick Player Position School 1 10 Keith Byars Running back Ohio State 2 37 Anthony Toney Running back Texas A&M 2 48 Alonzo Johnson Linebacker Florida 4 106 Matt Darwin Center Texas A&M 5 121 Ray Criswell Punter Florida 5 128 Dan McMillen Defensive end Colorado 6 149 Bob Landsee Center Wisconsin 7 169 Cornelius Redick Wide receiver Fullerton State 7 176 Byron Lee Linebacker Ohio State 7 * Charles Crawford Running back Oklahoma State 8 208 Seth Joyner Linebacker Texas-El Paso 9 233 Clyde Simmons Defensive end Western Carolina 10 261 Junior Tautalatasi Running back Washington State 11 288 Steve Bogdalek Guard Michigan State 12 315 Reggie Singletary Defensive end North Carolina State 12 325 Bobby Howard Running back Indiana Supplemental pick
Personnel
Staff / Coaches
Roster
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance 1 September 7, 1986 at Washington Redskins L 41–14 0–1 53,982 2 September 14, 1986 at Chicago Bears L 13–10 0–2 65,130 3 September 21, 1986 Denver Broncos L 33–7 0–3 63,839 4 September 28, 1986 Los Angeles Rams W 34–20 1–3 65,646 5 October 5, 1986 at Atlanta Falcons W 16–0 2–3 57,104 6 October 12, 1986 at New York Giants L 35–3 2–4 74,221 7 October 19, 1986 Dallas Cowboys L 17–14 2–5 68,572 8 October 26, 1986 San Diego Chargers W 23–7 3–5 41,469 9 November 2, 1986 at St. Louis Cardinals L 13–10 3–6 33,051 10 November 9, 1986 New York Giants L 17–14 3–7 60,601 11 November 16, 1986 Detroit Lions L 13–11 3–8 54,568 12 November 23, 1986 at Seattle Seahawks L 24–20 3–9 55,786 13 November 30, 1986 at Los Angeles Raiders W 33–27 4–9 53,338 14 December 7, 1986 St. Louis Cardinals T 10–10 4–9–1 50,148 15 December 14, 1986 at Dallas Cowboys W 23–21 5–9–1 46,117 16 December 21, 1986 Washington Redskins L 21–14 5–10–1 61,816 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 2
Week 6: at New York Giants
Week 10: vs. New York Giants
Week 13
Mike Quick 8 Rec, 145 Yds, 3 TD
Standings
Awards and honors Keith Byars, Franchise record, most rushing yards by a rookie
References
External links
1986 Philadelphia Eagles at jt-sw.com