1985: Eagles Beat Falcons on Quick’s 99-Yard TD in Overtime

Neither of the teams that faced each other on November 10, 1985 in Philadelphia were doing particularly well as they reached the tenth week of the season. The host Eagles, coached by Marion Campbell, had a 4-5 record after losing at San Francisco the previous week, although they were showing signs of life after a 1-4 start. 34-year-old QB Ron Jaworski operated behind a mediocre offensive line. WR Mike Quick (pictured above) was an established star and RB Earnest Jackson, obtained from the Chargers, was a workmanlike runner. The defense featured DE Reggie White, a newcomer from the USFL who joined the club four weeks into the season, and FS Wes Hopkins.

Things were much worse for Head Coach Dan Henning’s Falcons, who were at 1-8. The top performer on offense was RB Gerald Riggs. Long-time QB Steve Bartkowski had been supplanted by David Archer, who was far more mobile but also less talented as a passer. Injuries had affected the defensive backfield and the linebackers were a mediocre unit.

There were 63,694 fans in attendance at Veterans Stadium on a sunny and mild afternoon. The Eagles had the first possession and punted. Atlanta drove into Philadelphia territory helped by two third down conversions. QB David Archer ran for 14 yards in a third-and-seven situation and Gerald Riggs picked up 12 yards up the middle on a third-and-two play. However, after reaching the Philadelphia 34, Archer threw a pass that was intercepted by SS Ray Ellis.

The Eagles went 54 yards in ten plays that extended into the beginning of the second quarter. Ron Jaworski completed three passes along the way, including one to WR Kenny Jackson for 21 yards in a third-and-eight situation and another to WR Ron Johnson for 10 yards on third-and-eight. That set up an eight-yard touchdown carry by Earnest Jackson and, with Paul McFadden’s extra point, the home team held a 7-0 lead.

Following an Atlanta punt, the Eagles started off with Jaworski throwing to Mike Quick for a 39-yard gain, but the drive stalled in Falcons territory and Philadelphia had to punt. The Eagles got the ball right back when Archer was picked off by CB Herman Edwards. Starting at the Atlanta 40, Jaworski threw to Johnson for 37 yards and, after three runs by Earnest Jackson picked up two yards, Jaworski carried the ball himself on fourth down for a TD. With McFadden’s kick, Philadelphia was up by 14-0. Neither offense was able to get anything going for the remainder of the half.

The Falcons punted following their first series of the third quarter and Philadelphia again drove to a score, going 57 yards in 12 plays. Earnest Jackson ran well and Jaworski threw to TE John Spagnola for 12 yards in a third-and-four situation. The drive stalled at the Atlanta 13 but McFadden kicked a 30-yard field goal to extend Philadelphia’s lead to 17-0.

The teams traded punts until the Falcons put together an 84-yard series that went into the final period. Archer had two throws to WR Stacey Bailey for 18 yards apiece and Riggs ran effectively. Finally, Archer threw to RB Joe Washington for an 18-yard touchdown and, adding Mick Luckhurst’s PAT, Philadelphia’s lead was cut to ten points.

The Eagles went three-and-out on their next series and Atlanta again responded with a scoring drive, this time using 11 plays to go 81 yards. Riggs had six carries for 42 yards and Archer ran twice himself for 19 more yards. The last rush by Riggs was for a one-yard TD and, with Luckhurst’s successful conversion, it was a 17-14 score with 5:30 left in regulation.

On the next play from scrimmage, LB John Rade intercepted a Jaworski pass to give the Falcons the ball at the Philadelphia 25. Atlanta largely kept the ball on the ground to get down to the 10 and Luckhurst tied the game with a 27-yard field goal.

The Eagles had to punt on their next series and Atlanta drove into Philadelphia territory on a possession highlighted by Archer’s throw to TE Arthur Cox for 30 yards. But with nine seconds remaining, Luckhurst was wide to the left on a 42-yard field goal attempt and the game went into overtime.

The Falcons had the ball first in the extra period and were forced to punt, but Rick Donnelly’s 62-yard kick went out of bounds at the Philadelphia one. Jaworski went right to the air, tossing a pass intended for Kenny Jackson that fell incomplete. He went to the air again, and this time he didn’t miss as Quick, running a slant pattern and splitting CB Bobby Butler and SS Scott Case, pulled it in at the 30 yard line and went the distance for a 99-yard touchdown. In stunning fashion at 1:49 into overtime, and after having blown a 17-0 lead, the Eagles came away winners by a score of 23-17. It was the first overtime win in franchise history.

The 99-yard touchdown was the longest pass play to decide an overtime game in NFL history and tied the league record that was first set in 1939. Jaworski and Quick became the sixth combination to accomplish the feat (through 2012, seven more had done so).

Philadelphia had the edge in total yards (330 to 310) although the Falcons generated more first downs (20 to 15). Atlanta also had 215 rushing yards, but only 94 net passing yards. The Eagles sacked David Archer six times while the Falcons got to Ron Jaworski on three occasions. Each team suffered two turnovers.

Ron Jaworski completed just 11 of 30 passes for 258 yards and the one touchdown while tossing two interceptions. Mike Quick, with the long score to win the game, had three catches for 145 yards. Earnest Jackson (pictured at right) paced the ground game with 74 yards on 19 carries that included a TD. DE Reggie White and NT Ken Clarke each accounted for two sacks.

For the Falcons, Gerald Riggs rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries. David Archer gained 70 yards on 10 rushing attempts while completing 12 of his 25 throws for 133 yards and a TD and had two intercepted. Stacey Bailey had 5 pass receptions for 51 yards.

“We got beat on a great play by a great athlete,” said Atlanta’s Coach Henning afterward. “If we have to get beat, that’s the way I’d like to see us get beat.”

The Eagles won the next week to briefly rise over .500, but then lost four straight games and finished at 7-9, which placed them fourth in the NFC East. By the end, Coach Campbell was gone – he would resurface as defensive coordinator of the Falcons the next year and would succeed Dan Henning in 1987. Atlanta also came back with a win the following week and ended up with a 4-12 record, putting them at the bottom of the NFC West.

Mike Quick caught 73 passes for a NFC-leading 1247 yards (17.1 avg.) and 11 touchdowns. He was a consensus first-team All-NFL selection for the second time and was named to the Pro Bowl for the third straight year.

Gerald Riggs led the NFC in rushing with 1719 yards on a league-topping 397 carries (4.3 avg.) and scored 10 TDs. He was chosen to the Pro Bowl for the first of three consecutive years. 

1982: Forced to Settle, Eagles Draft Mike Quick in First Round

With the 20th pick in the first round of the NFL draft on April 27, 1982, the Philadelphia Eagles were looking to take a wide receiver. There were a few who were considered likely first round choices, and the Eagles were most interested in Perry Tuttle out of Clemson.

The Kansas City Chiefs snagged WR Anthony Hancock of Tennessee with the 11th pick. New Orleans took Georgia WR Lindsay Scott two choices later. It appeared that Tuttle would be available, but the Broncos, just ahead of Philadelphia in the 19th spot, traded the choice to Buffalo, and the Bills used it to take Tuttle.

Head Coach Dick Vermeil and the Eagles staff, disappointed at losing out on Tuttle, settled on WR Mike Quick from North Carolina State. To be sure, Quick had size (6’2”, 185 pounds) and was known as a good blocker, but was considered too slow.

“We actually were ready to pick Tuttle, but Denver made that trade and Buffalo got him,”
Vermeil said. “We are satisfied. We rated him (Quick) the third best wide receiver in the draft.”

“He's a big kid, very tough, and mature,” Vermeil added. “I think he can come in the first year and make a contribution.”

The contribution did not come quite so soon as Quick had a quiet rookie year in the strike-shortened ’82 season, catching 10 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown while playing behind the 33-year-old veteran Harold Carmichael and Ron Smith. The Eagles, who had gone to the Super Bowl two years before, suffered through a difficult 3-6 campaign and Vermeil resigned afterward.

It was a very different story for Quick in 1983, as he moved into the starting lineup across from Carmichael. He caught 69 passes for a league-leading 1409 yards and 13 touchdowns, and was a consensus first-team All-Pro as well as Pro Bowl selection. He had six 100-yard receiving games, including four straight early in the season. What he lacked in speed, Quick made up for in his ability to catch in traffic and run well after getting the ball. The young wide receiver’s performance was a highlight for a team that lost nine of its last 10 games to finish at 5-11 while also embroiled in front office instability.

Better things were hoped for in 1984, especially with the aging Carmichael let go to make room for another first round wide receiver, Kenny Jackson of Penn State. However, both receivers encountered injury problems, although Quick recovered to grab 61 passes for 1052 yards and nine touchdowns. Jackson, who failed to live up to expectations, had just 26 catches for 398 yards and a TD.

The Eagles were a losing team from 1983 to ‘87, but Quick continued to perform well. During that period, he scored more touchdowns (53) than any other NFL receiver and had the third-most receiving yards (5437). He went to five consecutive Pro Bowls and was again a consensus first-team All-NFL selection in 1985. The league-leading yardage total of ’83 remained his career high, but was the first of three straight thousand-yard receiving totals for Quick, who caught a career-high 73 passes in ’85. His 99-yard touchdown on a slant pass from QB Ron Jaworski in 1985 tied the unbreakable NFL record and won a game against the Falcons in overtime.

Unfortunately, at the point that the Eagles were beginning to develop into a winning team again under Head Coach Buddy Ryan, Quick suffered injuries that greatly hindered his performance and ultimately forced his retirement following the 1990 season.

Five weeks into the ’88 season, in the process of making a difficult catch against the Houston Oilers, Quick suffered a broken leg that sidelined him for eight weeks. In 1989, a knee injury in the sixth game finished him for the year. In his last season, he appeared in just four games and caught 9 passes for 135 yards and one last touchdown.

Over the course of his career, Quick easily justified his first round selection in 1982. He caught a total of 363 passes for 6464 yards (17.8 avg.) and 61 TDs.

As for the receivers chosen ahead of Quick in ’82, Anthony Hancock lasted five years, returned kicks, and caught a total of 73 passes for 1266 yards and five touchdowns. Lindsay Scott stayed with the Saints for four seasons and ended up with 69 receptions for 864 yards and a score. Perry Tuttle, the receiver the Eagles had really wanted, played for three years and had 25 catches for 375 yards and three TDs.

The player that the Eagles had settled on in the first round proved far better than those rated higher at his position – one of many examples of the surprises that regularly occur in the NFL draft process.

1987: Cunningham & Eagles Withstand Patriots Comeback to Win in Overtime

Quarterback Tom Ramsey didn’t have much of an NFL career, lasting just four seasons as a backup for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts after coming over from the USFL. Injuries to Steve Grogan and Tony Eason put Ramsey in the starting lineup for three games in 1987, and in one, at Sullivan Stadium against the visiting Philadelphia Eagles on November 29, 1987, he passed for just over 400 yards and rallied the team to force overtime.

The Patriots stood at 5-5 while the Eagles were 4-6 coming into the contest. Philadelphia took a 17-7 lead in the first half, thanks to a Paul McFadden field goal, a 61-yard pass play from QB Randall Cunningham to WR Mike Quick, and a one-yard Cunningham bootleg.

While ex-Eagle Tony Franklin kicked a 21-yard field goal to narrow the score in the second quarter, the Eagles extended their lead to 24-10 in the third quarter with a one-yard run by FB Anthony Toney. Early in the fourth quarter it seemed as though Philadelphia would cruise to an easy win when Cunningham hit Quick for another score, this one covering 29 yards.

But Ramsey rallied the Patriots in the fourth quarter, completing 15 of 24 passes for 157 yards in the final period. He threw touchdown passes of 13 yards to WR Stanley Morgan and three yards to TE Willie Scott to narrow the margin to 31-24. With 1:05 remaining, Ramsey tied the game with a one-yard rush. New England got the ball back and nearly won the game in regulation, but a fumbled hold on an attempted field goal caused Franklin to miss from just 31 yards out to send the game into overtime.

Both teams missed field goals in the OT period, first the Patriots with Franklin’s 46-yard attempt falling short and then McFadden failed after the Eagles drove to the New England 22 yard line. The game finally turned on a forced fumble by Eagles FS Terry Hoage (who had an outstanding overall performance) on Patriots FB Mosi Tatupu that was recovered by LB Garry Cobb at the New England 39. Four plays later, McFadden redeemed himself by kicking the game-winning 38-yard field goal with 2:44 left to play.

Overall in defeat, Ramsey completed 34 of 53 passes for 402 yards and three touchdowns, against two interceptions. Considering that he threw for just 898 yards and 6 TDs for the season (and for that matter, 1285 yards and 7 scores in his NFL career), it was an amazing performance. He became just the fourth quarterback in team history to reach the 400-yard passing mark in a game.

RB Tony Collins caught 11 passes for 100 yards with a TD to lead the Patriots pass receivers, while the unfortunate Tatupu was the top ground gainer with 58 yards on 14 carries.

For the Eagles, Cunningham passed 31 times, completing 18, for 314 yards with the two scoring throws and one picked off. WR Quick, the recipient of the two TD passes, had 5 pass receptions for 121 yards. TE John Spagnola also caught 5 passes, for 58 yards. FB Toney, usually better known for his blocking than ball carrying, led all rushers with a career-high 123 yards on 24 carries with the one TD.

It was a breakout year for Randall Cunningham, who passed for 2786 yards and 23 touchdowns, and also ran for 505 yards. Mike Quick went to the Pro Bowl for the fifth consecutive season, catching 46 passes for 790 yards with 11 TDs.

The Eagles, a team on the rise under second-year Head Coach Buddy Ryan, ended the strike-shortened season with a 7-8 record (they were 7-5 in non-replacement player games), tied for third in the NFC East. New England, which used five quarterbacks during the season, concluded at 8-7 and tied for second in the AFC East.