4th and 26 was a National Football League (NFL) game played on January 11, 2004, between the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles during the 2003–04 playoffs.

[1][3] The Eagles offensive success primarily came from quarterback Donovan McNabb, who accumulated almost 3,600 yards combined passing and rushing.

[4][2] The Eagles relied on a "running back-by-committee" approach with Brian Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter and Duce Staley all rushing for over 450 yards for the season.

[6] The Packers hosted the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs, winning 33–27 in overtime courtesy of an interception returned for a touchdown by former Eagle Al Harris (known as the We want the ball and we're going to score!

[8] Thus, the divisional round playoff game was hosted by the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, scheduled for the evening of Sunday, January 11, 2004.

After a short rush and two incomplete passes, Eagles' kicker David Akers missed a 30-yard field goal attempt.

[13] McNabb threw a deep pass to Mitchell and the Packers' Cover 2 defensive coverage broke down, allowing the reception.

[15] The Eagles gained another 27 yards, almost running the clock out, before Akers made a game-tying, 37-yard field goal, which led to the game going into overtime.

On the first play of the Packers' drive, Eagles' safety Brian Dawkins intercepted a Favre pass and returned it 35 yards.

[19][14] Even though the Packers had kept McNabb under constant pressure during the game, they chose to only rush four players on the fourth down play and go into a soft zone coverage.

[18] Darren Sharper appeared to position himself for an interception instead of trying to stop Mitchell from gaining the first down, while other Packers players in the secondary gave the Eagles too much space and time.

[13] Less than a week after the game, Packers defensive coordinator Ed Donatell was fired following criticisms from the media and fans after the 4th and 26 play.

[20] In 2011 and 2012, the 4th and 26 play was noted in respective articles published in Advanced Football Analytics and the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports.

Author Keith Goldner stated that his Markov model found "the odds that a drive containing a 4th-and-26 from the 25 would end with a successful field goal" was "1 out of 175".

[21][22] Prior to a 2016 meeting in Philadelphia, the Eagles' scoreboard operator posted "4th and 26" as the down and distance to remind the Packers and their fans of that play.