1994 Philadelphia Eagles season

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.^[1] The team failed to improve upon their previous output of 8–8, winning only seven games^[2] and failing to qualify for the playoffs.

1994 Philadelphia Eagles season
Owner	Jeffrey Lurie
Head coach	Rich Kotite
Home field	Veterans Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Uniform
← 1993 Eagles seasons 1995 →

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.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1994 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.

1994 Philadelphia Eagles draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	14	Bernard Williams	Offensive tackle	Georgia
2	37	Bruce Walker	Defensive tackle	UCLA
2	42	Charlie Garner *	Running back	Tennessee
3	77	Joe Panos	Guard	Wisconsin
3	103	Eric Zomalt	Defensive back	California
5	144	Marvin Goodwin	Defensive back	UCLA
6	174	Ryan McCoy	Linebacker	Houston
6	193	Mitch Berger *	Punter	Colorado
7	206	Mark Montgomery	Running back	Wisconsin
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[3]

Personnel

Staff

1994 Philadelphia Eagles staff

Front office Head coaches Head coach – Rich Kotite Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Zeke Bratkowski Running backs – Dick Wood Receivers/tight ends – Lew Carpenter Offensive line – Bill Muir Offensive assistant – Bobby Hammond

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/secondary – Bud Carson Defensive line – Dale Haupt Linebackers – Jim Vechiarella Defensive assistant – Peter Giunta Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Larry Pasquale Special teams assistant – Bobby Hammond Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Jim Williams

^{[4] [5]}

Roster

1994 Philadelphia Eagles roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  6 Bubby Brister 12 Randall Cunningham 11 Jay Fiedler Running backs (RB) 25 Charlie Garner 45 Vaughn Hebron 32 James Joseph 31 Brian O'Neal FB 34 Herschel Walker Wide receivers (WR) 82 Victor Bailey 86 Fred Barnett 85 Jeff Sydner 89 Calvin Williams Tight ends (TE) 84 Mark Bavaro 87 Maurice Johnson

Offensive linemen (OL) 72 David Alexander C 78 Antone Davis G 73 Lester Holmes G 68 Tom McHale T 63 Joe Panos G 75 Rob Selby G/T 76 Broderick Thompson T 74 Bernard Williams T Defensive linemen (DL) 96 Mike Flores DE 95 William Fuller DE 69 Burt Grossman DE 91 Andy Harmon DT 98 Tommy Jeter DT 90 William Perry DT 94 Leonard Renfro DT 93 Greg Townsend DE

Linebackers (LB) 54 Britt Hager MLB 52 Vaughan Johnson MLB 58 Derrick Oden OLB 53 Bill Romanowski OLB 55 Ken Rose OLB 51 William Thomas OLB 57 Marc Woodard OLB Defensive backs (DB) 21 Eric Allen CB 23 Derrick Frazier CB 22 Marvin Goodwin SS 26 Al Jackson CB 47 Greg Jackson FS 29 Mark McMillian CB 38 Rich Miano FS 42 Mike Reid FS 30 Otis Smith CB 27 Eric Zomalt SS 36 Mike Zordich SS Special teams  4 Bryan Barker P 66 John Hudson LS  3 Eddie Murray K 14 Jeff Wilkins K

Practice squad -- Phil Bryant RB -- Gregory Clifton WR 67 Chris Dausin OL 80 Tom Garlick WR 97 Ray Hall DT 52 active, 5 inactive, 5 practice squad Reserve 24 Corey Barlow CB (IR) 64 Curt Brown DT (IR) 71 Mike Chalenski DT (IR) 56 Byron Evans MLB (IR) 10 JeMone Smith WR (IR) Rookies in italics

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	30
Cincinnati 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

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(2) Dallas Cowboys	12	4	0	.750	414	248	L1
New York Giants	9	7	0	.563	279	305	W6
Arizona Cardinals	8	8	0	.500	235	267	L1
Philadelphia Eagles	7	9	0	.438	308	308	L7
Washington Redskins	3	13	0	.188	320	412	W1

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

1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-7611-2480-1, p.287
2. 1994 Philadelphia Eagles
3. "1994 Philadelphia Eagles draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
4. Juliano, Joe (February 9, 1994). "Eagles promote John Wooten to director of player personnel". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
5. Newman, Chuck (July 6, 1994). "Redskins scout hired for Eagles front office: Chuck Banker is the new director of pro personnel. Also, Joe Banner was named a vice president". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.

External links

• 1994 Philadelphia Eagles at Pro-Football-Reference.com