Eagles have had their share of memorable Monday nights

SETH JOYNER HAD what he still thinks is the finest game of his stellar career on "Monday Night Football.'' The Eagles were playing in Houston against the Oilers. Houston had a vaunted offense led by quarterback Warren Moon, but the Eagles had an even better defense on that evening in 199l. Stars were everywhere: Reggie White, Clyde Simmons, Andre Waters, Eric Allen, Wes Hopkins, and on and on. But no one stood out larger in what we remember as the "House of Pain Game" than Joyner.

Statistically, the Eagles linebacker was phenomenal. He had eight solo tackles, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two sacks. While Joyner said he has reviewed the game film and counted 10 solo tackles and an interception, this is but a small quibble in light of his overall performance. It was extraordinary, even more so given that he was running a 102-degree fever that evening. It appeared unlikely that he would even play, but as Joyner remembered, "Monday Night Football" was so big back then that there was no way he was going to be denied playing. For a player who in 1986 had been an unheralded, eighth-round draft choice out of Texas El-Paso, Joyner looked upon "MNF'' in a way that players no longer do with the advent of "Sunday Night Football'': an opportunity to showcase his talents.

"Our attitude was, 'Yeah, Houston has a finesse offense, but we are going to go in there and physically break them,' " said Joyner, who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., and coaches his son in Pop Warner Football. "I had gotten sick at the end of that week, but I told myself I was just going to go full speed, take a knee between plays and catch my wind. No play lasts more than 8 or 10 seconds, so I knew I could do it. What I remember, I just had this feeling as if I was in another state [of mind], that I could anticipate plays 2 or 3 seconds before they actually developed."

With their game next week against Chicago at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles will play in their 50th "Monday Night Football" game. Going back through the years, that 13-6 victory over the Oilers is just one in an array of indelible appearances by the Eagles on "MNF.'' Memorably, it began with a 23-20 victory in 1970 over the New York Giants at Franklin Field, a game in which intoxicated ABC announcer Howard Cosell began slurring his words and had to be excused from the booth. But if one were to ask Steve Hirdt, the executive vice president of the Elias Sports Bureau, no "MNF'' appearance by the Eagles is as memorable as the one last November against Washington, when quarterback Michael Vick had a game for the ages.

"Vick was incredible," said Hirdt, who is in his 30th year of providing statistical support for the "MFN'' broadcast. "We had come into the game expecting it to be competitive. The Redskins had hired Mike Shanahan and looked as if they would challenge in the NFC East. But Vick came out and hit DeSean Jackson with an 88-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles scored four touchdowns in the first quarter. Overall, Vick passed for four and had two more running. And the Eagles won, 59-28."

Other highlights? There have been more than a few. In 1979, the Eagles snapped a 5-year losing steak to the Dallas Cowboys with a 31-21 victory. Quarterback Randall Cunningham, a k a "The Ultimate Weapon," dazzled the "MNF'' audience in 1988 by eluding Giants linebacker Carl Banks and connecting with tight end Jimmie Giles in a 24-13 Eagles victory. In a 2004 game at Dallas, wide receiver Terrell Owens tied a "MNF'' record by catching three touchdown passes, Lito Sheppard had a 101-yard interception return and, in what seemed to be the longest 14.1 seconds ever played, quarterback Donovan McNabb evaded pursuing defenders and found wide receiver Freddie Mitchell downfield. Of that play, Hirdt said, "It was one of the more amazing plays by McNabb in his prime.''

But no "MNF'' appearance is more enduring than the "Body Bag Game" against Washington on Nov. 12, 1990. Along with the "House of Pain Game," Joyner said that the 28-14 victory stands apart in his memory. By the end of the game, eight Redskins had departed the game with injuries, including quarterbacks Jeff Rutledge (broken thumb) and Stan Humphries (sprained knee). Washington was forced to finish the game with kick return specialist Brian Mitchell behind center.

"We dismembered them," said Joyner, who played with the Eagles between 1986 and 1993 and in his final season, 1998, won a Super Bowl with Denver. "I look at that game on tape and I still get chills. We played with a speed and aggression that I had never seen before. It seems like we were going 120 mph, and Washington was only going 60 mph. We shut their run down early, and that put us in a position to go after their quarterbacks. It was just a dominant performance, especially on a stage like that."

Joyner remembered that Eagles defense fondly.

"We were highly competitive among ourselves," said Joyner. "That can tear a team apart, but it drove us. If Reggie had two sacks, Clyde wanted three. If Jerome [Brown] had five tackles for a loss, Mike Pitts wanted six. If Eric Allen had one interception, Wes Hopkins wanted two. We just wanted to be as dominant as we could be."

Of course, the Eagles have had their share of "MNF" flops. In fact, they have been shut out three times at home through the years - by Dallas, 34-0, in 1998; by Tampa Bay, 17-0, in 2003 in their first game at the Linc; and by Seattle, 42-0, in 2005 on "Reggie White Night." According to Hirdt, "only 12 teams in the history of 'MNF' have been shut out at home and none [other than the Eagles] more than once." Hirdt added that the drubbing the Eagles took at the hands of the Seahawks was "the most lopsided NFL game" he has ever seen.

"Not by the score - there have been more lopsided scores," Hirdt said. "But just in the way the team looked. I remember the Eagles had Mike McMahon at quarterback and it did not look like they could even gain a yard. Seattle was heading to the Super Bowl that year, and it looked as if in the second half, their coach, Mike Holmgren, took his foot off the pedal to the greatest degree I have ever seen."

And there were other lowlights. That 42-3 pounding by the Los Angeles Rams in 1975 stands out, if only because of how some fans paraded through Veterans Stadium with a dog bone in acknowledgment of the observation by head coach Mike McCormick that his team had "some dogs." In a 1997 game against San Francisco - a 24-12 loss - a fan shot a flare gun into a vacant area of the Vet, which led to a judge and a courtroom being installed in the basement of the stadium. While Hirdt did not remember that incident, he did recall the botched field-goal attempt by the Eagles against Dallas earlier that year.

"The Eagles had the ball inside the 5-yard line at the end of the game," said Hirdt. "It was going to be a short, gimme field goal, almost like an extra point. But the holder bobbled the snap - a guy named Hutton."

That would be Tommy Hutton.

The Cowboys held on, 21-20.

"MNF'' has evolved through the years. When it began in 1970, it introduced the concept of sports in prime time. Gone are wild days when Cosell, Frank Gifford and Don Meredith came swooping into a city with the crew. Other announcers have come and gone. In fact, the game is no longer on ABC. ESPN has carried it since 2006. With the prevalence of sports across cable, "MNF'' no longer has the aura it once had. But as Joyner remembered, it was once a place that as a player you longed to be. America was watching.