2006 Philadelphia Eagles season
The season ended in a Divisional Round playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints, but was seen as a success in the face of the adversity of losing starting quarterback Donovan McNabb to injury in Week 11.
McNabb started the season with MVP-caliber numbers before his November injury, while Garcia was efficient, running the "West Coast offense" perfectly and completing eleven touchdown passes with only two interceptions.
Trade acquisition Donté Stallworth combined with second-year wideout Reggie Brown to catch 15 touchdown passes and amass 1,541 receiving yards.
The early season pass rush was savage, and the team appeared to be on the way to a sacks record, but a season-ending injury to Jevon Kearse and attrition weakened the defensive line.
Quarterback Donovan McNabb, returning from his sports hernia injury of the previous season, declared that he believed the team to be capable of reaching the Super Bowl.
However, with about a week left until the regular season began, the Eagles made a trade to get Donté Stallworth from the New Orleans Saints for linebacker Mark Simoneau and a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2007.
at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia |weather= 81 °F (27 °C) (Sunny) The Eagles Week 2 home opener began similar to the game against the Houston Texans, the Giants marched downfield on their first drive with a touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Amani Toomer.
However, in the 4th quarter, the Eagles completely collapsed on offense with a Brian Westbrook fumble, dropped passes and the inability to convert key 3rd downs to run out the clock.
The game proceeded to overtime with the Eagles offensive woes continuing and the defense allowing the Giants to score a miraculous touchdown on 3rd a long from Manning to Burress.
The 49ers would get one more TD, as QB Alex Smith completed a 15-yard pass to TE Eric Johnson, but fortunately, the Eagles would avenge last week's collapse with a win to give them the lead in the NFC East at 2–1.
at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia |weather= 60 °F (16 °C) (Clear) Following their dominating road win over the 49ers, the Eagles returned home for a Monday Night match-up with the Green Bay Packers.
In the second half, it was all Eagles, as in the third quarter, kicker David Akers got a 40-yard field goal, while McNabb and WR Greg Lewis connected on two touchdown passes of 45 and 30 yards.
With Dallas threatening to tie the score late in the game, cornerback Lito Sheppard, who already had an interception, returned a Bledsoe pass 102 yards for a touchdown.
They were about to get the ball with 1:56 left in the 2nd quarter, but Ryan Moats and Dexter Wynn muffed the punt return, turning it over to the Saints, who proceeded to score on a very short field to send the game into halftime with a commanding 17–3 lead.
without any remaining timeouts, the Eagles watched helplessly as New Orleans ran down the clock before John Carney kicked a game-winning 27-yard chip shot.
at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia |weather= 54 °F (12 °C) (Sunny) Facing a battered Jacksonville Jaguar team missing starting quarterback Byron Leftwich, the Eagles turned in their worst performance of the season to this point.
Philadelphia's explosive offense struck again when running back Correll Buckhalter recovered a dropped pass in the air from teammate Reggie Brown and raced for a touchdown.
Later in the quarter, the Redskins were driving for a score, but quarterback Mark Brunell threw an interception to cornerback Sheldon Brown who returned it 70 yards to the house, putting Philadelphia up 27–3 and closing the door on Washington.
at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia |weather= 32 °F (0 °C) (Clear) Behind a gutsy performance by quarterback Jeff Garcia and their defense, the Eagles prevailed on Monday Night Football against the Carolina Panthers.
With less than a minute left, Carolina drove into Eagles' territory, but Lito Sheppard made a clutch interception of Delhomme in the end zone, preserving the 27–24 win.
Washington was able to run the ball all day and Ladell Betts, who finished with 171 rushing yards, led the Redskins to a 3–0 lead after their first drive with kicker Shaun Suisham getting the field goal.
After having a questionable taunting penalty called against him, Garcia threw his first interception of the year, leading to a one-yard run by New York goal-line specialist Brandon Jacobs.
On the Giants' first play of their next possession, Eli Manning was hit as he threw by cornerback Sheldon Brown, allowing defensive end Trent Cole to gather the interception and return it for a game-clinching touchdown.
The hard-fought 36–22 win avenged the Eagles' Week 2 loss to the Giants, moved them up to 8–6 and, more importantly, putting them in a strong position to claim an NFC playoff berth.
Michael Vick, playing in his last game before going to jail on dogfighting charges (and afterward becoming a Philadelphia Eagle himself), completed a short touchdown pass to Warrick Dunn, giving Atlanta the lead.
Feeley answered on the Eagles' first play of their next possession with an 89-yard touchdown pass to Hank Baskett, who ran a perfect route and escaped the Atlanta secondary on his way to the long score.
Schaub got the Falcons in Eagles' territory twice late in the game, but the Philadelphia reserve defense, playing for pride, held them out of the end zone, preserving the 24–17 win.
The Giants attacked the outside with Tiki Barber on the opening drive, and Eli Manning laced a touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress to give New York a 7–0 lead.
The Eagles drove to the Saints 4-yard line on their next series, but could not get into the end zone, settling instead for a short David Akers field goal that left them behind 27–24 early in the fourth quarter.
The result was a completion to Baskett that would have been good for a first down, but right guard Scott Young (replacing the injured All-Pro Shawn Andrews), was flagged for a false start penalty.
