Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Neither rain, nor snow, nor gloom of a Monday could stop those old Birds
While the Eagles have played to minimal satisfaction in three Super Bowls, their overall experiences playing for NFL championship games is decidedly more satisfying. The history, ancient but significant:
DEC. 28, 1947: CHICAGO CARDINALS 28, EAGLES 21
Just as the Eagles were in the 15th Super Bowl, they were in the 15th NFL championship game.
A week prior, the Eagles needed to win 21-0 in Pittsburgh to break a tie at the top of the Eastern Conference. The Cardinals were 9-3, including a regular-season triumph against the visiting Eagles, and did not have to play their way into the championship round.
As 30,759 in Comiskey Park watched on a 29-degree day, the Cards grabbed a 14-0 lead on a 44-yard TD run by Chaley Trippi and a 70-yard scoring burst from Elmer Angsman.
The Eagles responded with a 53-yard scoring strike from Tommy Thompson to Pat McHugh, but Trippi returned a punt 75 yards for a third-quarter touchdown and Angsman added a 70-yard TD run. Steve Van Buren and Russ Crafteach had one-yard, second-half TD rushes for the Eagles.
With the Bears having won in 1946, the championship remained in Chicago. As for the Cardinals franchise, it would be its last postseason victory until 1999 … and its last championship.
DEC. 19, 1948: EAGLES 7, CHICAGO CARDINALS 0
The Eagles would win their first championship, but not until players from both teams helped remove the protective canvas, which was covered in four inches of snow, from the Shibe Park playing surface.
The NFL had considered postponing the game, but players from both sides insisted on playing … then finished the thing in a breezy two hours and two minutes. Cardinals quarterback Ray Mallouf only threw seven passes and Thomson just 12.
The Eagles recovered a fumble in Chicago territory and Van Buren scored with 13:55 to play. Cliff Patton provided the extra point. With 28,864 in attendance, Van Buren ran for 98 yards and teammate Bosh Pritchard added 67.
When time ran out with Chicago driving, the Eagles had their revenge for the 1947 loss.
DEC. 14, 1949: EAGLES 14, LOS ANGELES RAMS 0
For the second consecutive year, the Eagles won a championship in horrid weather conditions, a driving rain having turned the Los Angeles Coliseum into what was described as a “mud bowl.” Only 22,245 were in attendance.
Because Eagles coach Earle “Greasy” Neale was disinterested in flying, the Eagles took a train to the West Coast, stopping along the way for a Wednesday morning practice at the University of Chicago.
Van Buren rushed for 196 yards on 31 carries. The Eagles scored on a second-quarter, 31-yard pass from Thompson to Pete Pihos. Leo Skladany returned a blocked punt two yards for a TD in the third quarter.
In winning a second straight championship by shutout, the Eagles, who were 11-1 in the regular season, limited the Rams to 119 yards of total offense.
DEC. 26, 1960: EAGLES 17, GREEN BAY PACKERS 14
Since Christmas fell on a Sunday, the game was scheduled for a Monday. With Franklin Field having no lights, the kickoff would be at noon as a hedge against the possibility of sudden-death overtime.
After a 10-2 regular season, the Eastern Conference champion Eagles would fall behind 6-0 on a pair of early Paul Horung field goals. But before halftime, Tommy McDonald would catch a 35-yard TD pass from Norm Van Brocklin (a quarterback for the Rams in the 1949 championship game), and Bobby Walston would add a 15-yard field goal.
A successful fake punt helped Green Bay extend a fourth-quarter drive, which was capped by a seven-yard TD pass from Bart Starr to Max McGee. But Ted Dean returned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to the Green Bay 39, then scored the game-winning touchdown with a five-yard run with 5:21 left.
After the Packers responded by advancing to the Eagles’ 22-yard-line, Starr hit Jim Taylor with a pass. But Chuck Bednarik caught the Green Bay fullback at the Eagles’ 9 and sat on him as the clock ran out.
“You can get up now, Taylor,” Bednarik was known to
yell, “because this game is over.”
As 67,325 exhaled, Vince Lombardi had the only postseason loss of his coaching career.