Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Both meet in the 1947 & 1948 NFL Championship Games, and meet in the 2008 NFC Championship Game. But other than that, not much else in significant games against each other.

Yes, the Cardinals were the odd-man-out/5th-wheel for the most part as a member of the NFC East from 1970 thru 2001 due to their lack of competitiveness. Of course some significant stuff between they, Dallas, and NYG in 1970 with Washington replacing the Giants during the Coryell years. And then you had the Giants, Dallas, and Washington competing with the Cards all season long in '84 for the division title! StL split with all three of them!

But never anything significant between they and the Eagles. Not only was there never a year in that '70 thru '01 period that both made the playoffs, but never did both have...a winning season!

In '88 you had that battle of 7-5s at the Vet in the Cards' first year in 'Zona. However they were in free-fall mode by then for their 0-5 finish already began the week before. You also had Buddy Ryan's first year in the desert in '94. Already having lost to his old team, led by Kotite, at the Vet two weeks earlier, Buddy's now 4-6 squad welcomed the 7-3 Eagles who lost the week before, would lose to the Cards as well, and then lose all the rest of their games (0-7 finish) while Arizona, FWIW, would head in the other direction and still be in the race going into their finale at 8-7.

Yes, that's about the closest we'd get significance-wise between the two as NFC East division-rivals.

And not much in the time before '70 or since 2002 other than (again) those three championship meetings.

Joe Bugel’s hard luck Cardinals winning at Philly in 1990-1991 and should have made it 3 straight in 1992

CSKreager wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 11:26 pm Joe Bugel’s hard luck Cardinals winning at Philly in 1990-1991 and should have made it 3 straight in 1992

Yes, the goal-line-stand game! Definitely notable games between both Birds, they always played each other tough like a real rivalry, its just that they (as already mentioned) hardly were ever winners at the same time.

My first memory of the two was 0-3 StL, in Hanifan's first year with them, beating an Eagle team at Busch that was 3-0 going in, winning their three by a combined 104-16!

In '83 both teams also met in Wk#4 as well as the Cards starting off 0-3. Only this time, the game was at the Vet and the Eagles were off to a 2-1 start in Marion Campbell's first year as their HC. They beat San Fran at Candlestick in the opener, lost at home to Washington, but then beat Denver at Mile High the week after (yes, Elway did play). Cards would end up winning this one as well by a weird 14-11 final. Eagles would go on to win their next two - both on the road - and then sadly win just one game the rest of the year from there. StL would go on to lose their next two, dropping them to 1-5, but then rally all the way to 8-7-1, burying the Eagles in their finale, 31-7 (late Jaws-to-Quick garbage TD to avert the shutout), to bring the Cards to that above-500 finish.

The following year, the Eagles were actually still alive at 5-6-1 going into 6-6 StL. Each of the five teams in the NFC East had a chance to at least make the playoffs. But Jaws suffered a broken leg that game and that was that. Cardinals 17, Eagles 16.

Their 10-10 tie in '86, Wk#14, has to be seen as maybe the most uninspiring game ever between both teams. Maybe one of the most uninspiring games - period. And, mind you, Eagles were coming off their upset in LA over the Raiders! You'd think that spark would have carried over. Both Phi & StL were bad that year finishing 5-10-1 and 4-11-1 respectively.

The following year, the Eagles were actually still alive at 5-6-1 going into 6-6 StL. Each of the five teams in the NFC East had a chance to at least make the playoffs. But Jaws suffered a broken leg that game and that was that. Cardinals 17, Eagles 16.

That's the same year (1984) where the Eagles almost beat the Dolphins in the OB.

7DnBrnc53 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 24, 2024 1:55 pm

The following year, the Eagles were actually still alive at 5-6-1 going into 6-6 StL. Each of the five teams in the NFC East had a chance to at least make the playoffs. But Jaws suffered a broken leg that game and that was that. Cardinals 17, Eagles 16.

That's the same year (1984) where the Eagles almost beat the Dolphins in the OB.

Yep! It makes you wonder if Walsh and staff looked over this game in preparation for SBXIX? The Cards also played the Dolphins in '84 at Busch in a Wk#5 defeat. Marino vs Lomax. Both played great games with neither throwing an INT. But though the Cards kept it close at moments, it was not at all as close as Phi@Mia later on. A StL garbage TD was scored late to make it that 36-28 final.

The Eagles also played the other SB-participant-to-be, San Fran, at home in Wk#4. A 21-9 SF win, but it was 14-9 after three quarters. The Cards didn't play the Forty Niners in '84.

This would be the Cardinals last winning season until '98 and would be Hanifan's second-last year under the Arch. Perhaps a playoff berth, which of course almost happened in the finale (make that, a 2ND-SEED), and he at least makes it to '86.

Swamp Fox's second-last year in Philly as well. The Eagles, FWIW, weren't bad under him in both '84 & '85 - and Jaws did breathe his last breaths of good moments as a QB - but they were not good enough to make the playoffs.