Tomorrow’s Eagles Game at Lincoln Financial Field will be the 180th matchup between the Giants and the Eagles — this at the tail end of a season that marks 100 years since Tim Mara bought the New York Football Giants for $500.00 and the 100th anniversary of Philadelphia being granted it’s first NFL Franchise when the Frankford Yellow Jackets joined the NFL in 1924. And what better way to mark the anniversary with those great Giants alternate uniforms and allowed the best running back in the NFL to the Eagles (Thank you very much.)
If you’ve watched any of the Birds’ games in recent weeks — particularly in the second half when they are well — dominating the opponent— you might have heard a mention or two of the 1949 Eagles. And if you are wondering about the significance of that team, besides their margin of victory against consecutive road opponents, consecutive victories, and in the category of margins of rushing.
But who were these 1949 Eagles? They were a powerhouse team in the NFL, following a 1948 season where the Eagles won their first NFL Championship ever in a blizzard and the second for Philadelphia since the 1926 Frankford Yellow Jackets. In 1947, the Eagles narrowly lost the NFL Championship 28–21 to the Cardinals in Chicago.
Seventy-five years ago was Head Coach Greasy Neale’s masterpiece. Behind the running of Steve Van Buren — who would set a then NFL record of 1,146 yards and 11 touchdowns, quarterback Tommy Thompson who led the NFL in passer rating at 84.4, and an NFL-best ranking for both offense and defense — the Eagles were nearly unbeatable.
It wasn’t just that the 11–1 team was beating their opponents. Like in 2024 — they annihilated them. Their 364 points still rank 6th in NFL history for largest point differential per game by a nfl team in a season. With rare exception, the games were not even close.
When the Eagles headed west to play the Los Angeles Rams in the LA Coliseum for the NFL Championship — where the 2028 Olympics are highlighted by a TV commercial featuring Jalen Hurts — they traveled across the country by train as Coach Neale didn’t like to fly. The team even stopped for a workout at the University of Chicago while en route.
On December 18th — when the rain started to fall in LA and produced a soaking rain on the record lowest attendance (22,245) for an NFL game that wouldn’t be seen again until the NFL restrictions of the 2020 Covid season, the muddy conditions began to affect the field. Behind the running of Van Buren, who racked up 196 yards on 31 carries — the Eagles would win their second consecutive Championship by a final score of 14–0.
The parallels between the 2024 team that has energized Philadelphia and the 1949 Eagles is unmistakable. They are/were both headlined by elite NFL running backs who were in contention for NFL records. The 2024 Eagles have a ten-game winning streak, the 1949 team had an eight-game winning one. And both didn’t just beat teams handily at home, but also on the road. Steve Van Buren did not win the MVP in 1949. But the Eagles did win the NFL Championship.
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