Rare Birds

The Eagles Fly for Leukemia charity honored me last Friday with its inaugural "Brookie" Award, named for the late Eagles defensive back and broadcaster Tom Brookshier.

I try to limit the number of times I allow myself to be honored, so my friends and supporters aren't constantly solicited for contributions to charities. (I did a pretty good job of hitting them up for consistent campaign contributions.)

But Eagles Fly for Leukemia is a great group of people fighting for a very good cause, and I loved Brookie, so I said yes. I loved the way he played the game and the way he lived every day of his life with zest and guts.

During the dinner, I sat next to Dick Vermeil and we were lamenting modern-day tackling (or lack thereof), and how Brookie would hate watching it because he was an old-fashioned shoulder-first, hard-hitting tackler. As dinner went on, I asked Dick his opinion about which Eagles team during the last 50 years was the best. I half-expected him to pick his 1980 team that went to the Super Bowl, but without hesitation he chose the 1988 Buddy Ryan team that lost in the infamous "Fog Bowl."

Our conversation made me curious, so I went back over the last 50 years and selected four finalists for the best Eagles team ever.

1960

The last Eagles team to win the championship, these Birds went 10-2 in the regular season and won the sole postseason game for the NFL championship, beating Green Bay, 17-13. They were third in points scored (out of 13 teams) at 26.8 points per game. They were seventh on defense (20.5 ppg). That differential was third in the league, and they were plus-15 in turnovers.

This Buck Shaw-coached team had a great passing attack with Hall of Famer Norm Van Brocklin at quarterback (Sonny Jurgensen was his backup) and receivers Tommy McDonald, Pete Retzlaff and Bobby Walston. The running game was mediocre at best (12th in the league). Their pass defense was excellent with an incredible 30 interceptions in 12 games, led by Don "The Blade" Burroughs with nine, but their run defense was second worst in the league.

The weak rushing offense and defense rule it out as the best Eagles team ever.

1980

Vermeil's team that made it to the Super Bowl before losing to Oakland was 12-4 in the regular season and 2-1 in the playoffs (including a great win over Dallas in the NFC Championship Game). It ranked sixth (out of 28 teams) in scoring at 24 ppg, and first in points allowed at 13.9 ppg. The point differential between points scored and allowed was the best in the NFL and it was plus-7 in turnovers.

The defense, which was anchored by the charismatic leadership of Bill Bergey and fellow linebackers John Bunting, Jerry Robinson, Frank LeMaster and Reggie Wilkes, and an excellent secondary composed of Brenard Wilson, Herman Edwards, Roynell Young and Randy Logan, let up fewer than 10 points in six games and fewer than 16 points in 10 games. The line was solidified by All-Pro Charlie Johnson and Carl Hairston.

The offense revolved around "The Polish Rifle," Ron Jaworski, who threw 27 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions (quarterback rating of 91), and a solid rushing attack featuring Wilbert Montgomery, who was also the team's leading receiver with 50 catches. Harold Carmichael and Charlie Smith were the key wideouts.

Overall, this was a very solid team with an overachieving defense and a good offense. It had few stars with only three Pro Bowlers, and though it was a very good team with a truly great coach, it was not the most talented or the best.

1988

Vermeil's choice as the best, despite a mediocre 10-6 regular-season record and a first-round playoff loss at Chicago in the "Fog Bowl." Dick believes this team would have beaten the Bears in normal weather and could well have gone on to win it all. It certainly had the talent with Randall Cunningham, Cris Carter, Keith Jackson, Mike Quick and Keith Byars on offense; the best defensive front four ever in Reggie White, Mike Pitts, Clyde Simmons and Jerome Brown; a secondary of Eric Allen, Andre Waters, Wes Hopkins and Roynell Young; and a linebacking corps led by Seth Joyner and Byron Evans.

The only problem was that Buddy Ryan's team underperformed all season. The offense, thanks to Randall, was fifth in the league with 23.7 ppg, but the defense ranked only 14th, allowing 19.9 ppg. These Eagles did have a great turnover rating of plus-18, though.

All in all, I'll have to disagree with Dick here. Although the '88 Birds were clearly our most talented team, they were just as clearly not the best.

2004

This team marched through the regular season and made it to the Super Bowl and lost a heartbreaker to the Patriots. The team played 17 games that mattered and won 15 of them (disregarding the last two regular-season games, when Andy Reid sat the starters). Our only real losses that year were to the Steelers at Heinz Field and the Patriots in Jacksonville.

We were eighth out of 32 teams in offense, scoring 24.1 ppg (which was lowered by the last two meaningless games in which we scored 17 points combined). The offense was led by three stars who might have been the best at their positions that year - Donovan McNabb (31 TDs, eight interceptions and a 104.7 passer rating); Brian Westbrook, who did it all; and, yes, Terrell Owens (the "good" T.O. had 14 TDs, caught 77 balls for 1,200 yards and a 15.6 yards-per-catch average). Owens was unstoppable and was the real MVP of the Super Bowl despite playing on one leg. We also had a great line anchored by Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan.

Our defense, which ranked second overall (16.3 ppg), was led by the incomparable Brian Dawkins and a great supporting cast in the secondary of Sheldon Brown, Lito Sheppard and Michael Lewis. We had a strong rotation up front with Corey Simon, Jeremiah Trotter, Hugh Douglas, Darwin Walker and Jevon Kearse. We also had a great array of assistant coaches including Jim Johnson (defensive coordinator), Brad Childress (offensive coordinator) and Steve Spagnuolo (linebackers coach).

I believe this team was clearly our best ever and its record speaks for itself.

Although this year is looking improbable, let's hope that it won't be long before another Eagles team surpasses the 2004 team by winning it all, and becomes the best ever.